June 1999

Tweetsie Railroad Shop Milling Machine

This was kinda neat. This milling machine was...well...milling the journal box sides where they slide up and down in the pockets on the frame. The axles of the drivers run through these boxes. The wearable surfaces had been built up with welded on (brass?) and were being milled back down to a smooth, and within clearances, surface. Interesting to watch this cutting head slowly work its way across this rough metal, leaving a perfectly smooth surface as it passed. Glad I don't have to clean this place up.