The Rail Making Process

The Rail Making Process. . Soaking Pit , This is the stripper crane removing the mould from the ingot during the Bessemer steelmaking period. Ingots were soaked for several hours in gas feed pits to equalise the temperature. All of this was replaced by a gas fired waking beam furnace when steelmaking ceased. Cold steel blooms were transported by rail from Teesside., Cogging Mill , Once the steel ingot bloom was at the right temperature it would be sent via rollers to the Cogging Mill. This was the first of three rollers that it would pass through and was designed to create a longer but slimmer piece of steel which would be rolled into a rail. After the Cogging Mill the steel would be guided down a side and onto the Rolling Mill floor and presented to the Roughing Mill. The steel would then pass to and fro through the rolls to give a basic shape of a rail., Finishing Mill , The finishing Mil gave the rail full precisely controlled profile and rolled identification marks into the web of the rail. Finally the rails were cut to length at the hot saw and then allowed to cool very carefully being turned occasionally. Cooling was a critical stage in manufacture to preserve key properties., The cold rails were then guided to the Rail Bank where the ends were drilled (for fishplates) and milled., Workington not only produced rails but also a wide variety of track building products in steel, for example plates and sleepers. It supported many other local businesses and processes. Many of the refractory bricks and special refractory products like tuyeres were manufactured at Micklam Brickworks near Parton, from clay mined nearby., Rail Straightener , Once cool, the rail would pass through the Rail Straightener which was a series of rolls that took out any uneven stress in the rail and gave it the quality required by the customer., Rail Bank , Finished rails would receive their final quality checks, and be sorted and stacked ready for shipment. Rails were handed by electric overhead travelling cranes equipped with electromagnets. It was a dangerous place to work.