What do Engineers do for enjoyment on business trips? I try to be on the lookout for things that are interesting. Recently I was in Mexico for two days and here’s what caught my eye.
I was in San Luis Potosi (SLP) for a project meeting and fabrication review. SLP is in central Mexico, so it’s not a huge tourist destination but is an industrial city of about a million people.
This is an ATR 42 turboprop regional airliner. I’d never flown on one before or even heard of ATR, apparently it’s an Airbus/Italian venture and is built in Naples. Since I’m from Canada we usually use Bombardier Dash 8’s for this sort of thing. It’s a pretty reasonable small plane, although I prefer the Dash 8 if only because it’s fun to watch the landing gear unfold from the engine nacelles. The ATR 42 keeps the gear in those side pods where you can’t see it.
One comforting thing about flying in Central or South America is that every airport seems to have a WFS plane (Withdrawn From Service) lying around in case you need parts. I didn’t get a shot of it, but here’s the maps view of an engineless 737 at SLP airport. From a bit of internet searching I can tell you that this is probably airframe 22647, built in 1981 and a former America West aircraft awaiting its fate off the edge of the tarmac.
SLP is a relatively prosperous place, the economy has been doing well for several years and there are several large plants in town including Cummins and GM. Driving around you see a real mix of vehicles, from a few examples of the formerly ubiquitous VW Beetle to “normal” North American cars to things like the 2015 Ford Ranger pickup, which is not available in the US or Canada.
There were posters up at the hotel for this local classic car show. Do you suppose an actual Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet showed up? I can only imagine what would happen if I had signed up with my 1963 Beetle. It would probably confuse people, since I’d guess “vochos” are still considered beaters and not classics.
The fabricator we visited uses a mix of modern, old and ancient equipment to get their job done, and I took a few photos of the oldest machines I saw, to try and figure out how old they actually are:
First up is this lathe, not currently in use but located inside the machine shop building. The Niles Tool Works Co. of Hamilton Ohio merged with another company in 1928, so it must have been built before then.
I couldn’t see any markings on this old lathe other than “1900” cast into the end of the bed, but this machine has been re-purposed into a system for applying rubber onto conveyor rollers. It’s no good for cutting metal anymore, but still useful.
Lastly we have this machine, which is a plate roller for bending flat steel plates into curved tank wall sections. It’s outdoors in a lean to, but from the open can of paint I’d say it’s being refurbished and used occasionally. They have a newer and bigger unit elsewhere.
Rushworth & Co. Makers, Sowerby Bridge, England is currently Morgan Rushworth and has been in continuous business since 1872. Here’s an 1883 catalog shot of a similar machine.
Despite being made in the UK, I don’t think the 1883 guarding complies with the current EU Machinery Directive, which is a very strict standard of guarding and safety. (Engineer humor there 🙂 if you didn’t recognize it.) Wouldn’t it be interesting to know this machine’s history, and trace it’s path from West Yorkshire to Central Mexico?
The actual fabrication work was progressing at a number of stations like this. A couple of guys working outdoors on a concrete pad with a lean to for storing tools and materials. Despite what you might think, the productivity and quality that these guys put out is phenomenal. I’m no weld inspector but I know pretty welding when I see it.
Ten years ago Mexican fabrication would have likely meant inferior quality, but that is no longer always the case. Not here anyway, despite appearances this shop is highly organized and quality driven, and they work with the local University for welder qualification and inspections.
As it turned out our meetings went well, the client was impressed with the progress at the fab shop and we were off to the airport again to catch a Bombardier CRJ to Dallas, then an American Airlines MD-80 back to Canada.
I haven’t flown on an MD-80 in years, this flight may have been my last chance since AA is phasing them out by 2017. The basic design is older than I am, the DC-9 first flew in 1965. It’s the only plane I know that has three seats on one side of the aisle, and two on the other. Does that make it want to fly in circles?
It was +20C when we left SLP but we arrived home to -22, no wonder so many Canadians go South for the winter. If you’ve never experienced the glamorous world of business travel, that’s pretty much as good as it gets for me. Safe travels, a positive meeting and a few interesting things to see along the way.
It’s amazing how much cleaner that beetle looks without the turn signals perched on the fender tops.
There is still a Niles Rd up around the Hamilton/Fairfield OH area, presumably there is SOME relationship to Niles Tool Co.
I have flown Allegiant a couple of times recently, but always on A320 variants…I keep hoping we will get at least one ride on an MB83(?) before they phase them out. That polished finish on the AA planes is such a clean look…I wonder how much effort they have to put into that to keep them shiny.
I’m going to miss these MD-80 series AA planes too. They were always such a refreshing contrast to the sea of 737s, and now the Airbus 320 family. And one’s odds of avoiding a middle seat doubled. 🙂
I always like the MD-80 for its two seats on one side of the aisle in Coach. American, which called it the “Super 80” for DC-9 Super 80, its original name before the McDonnell-Douglas merger, and most others had the paired seats on the captain’s side, while Alaska Airlines had the triple seats on that side. I am not saying “left” and “right” side because while a passenger may see those one way, a cabin crew member, standing at the front of the aircraft looking to the rear, sees them the other way…and that is THEIR “standard.”
On one occasion, my being on an American MD-80 meant avoiding a diversion to an alternate airport. At an airport with both a commercial and general aviation runway, a plane taking off had hit the instrument landing equipment on the commercial side, putting it out of service. Coming from Dallas-Ft. Worth, and in the First Class cabin (two million miles on American has its privileges), I noticed the captain looking worried as he had an extra cup of coffee while stretching his legs. He also spread out his charts on the flight attendant’s serving cart…now, that was strange. Our approach to the destination airport was different from normal, the descent on final steeper, the landing harder, and the thrust reversers and braking more powerful than normal on an MD-80. We had landed on the general aviation side, on a runway half the length of the commercial one. We then taxied for over a mile to the terminal, as the pilots of Pipers and Cessnas stared up, at what looked so big to them while being small in the airline world.
The MD-80 (and MD-90 and Boeing 717) is stlll officially a DC-9. If you get a chance when boarding one, take a look at the Federal certification plate, which still identifies it as such.
I forgot to note, too…and the Edit timer ran out…that the MD-80 was key to the American Airlines strategy to becoming the world’s largest airline. CEO Bob Crandall realized that having the seats to sell would be key to growth. American leveraged itself to buy and lease over two hundred MD-80s, which by themselves dwarfed the entire fleets of many major airlines. Crandall is among the greatest airline executives ever, being handpicked by a great AA predecessor from decades before, C. R. Smith, to pull American out of its 1970s doldrums. Ultimately, Crandall’s strategies enabled American to become the very last of the “legacy” airlines to seek bankruptcy protection arising from the horrible slump the industry underwent in the early 21st Century.
There are still some around, in the form of the Boeing 717. These are used in Australia by Qantas on regional routes and elsewhere – I have seen some in South America. The 717 was first released as the MD 95, being a derivative of the DC9. It became the 717 when Boeing took over McDonnell Douglas. Yes, in economy it has three seats on one side and two on the other. BE 127’s had the same seating layout from recollection.
..and speaking of WFS aircraft, airports in Latin AMercia are always good for a few of those! Most unusual one I saw was an Catalina at Santiago airport (Chile).
The B717 is also used by Delta and Hawaiian. Delta picked up 88 units from Southwest which they didn’t want with the AirTran merger plus 3 or 4 units from an Scandinavian airline. Plus Delta has approximately 200+ MD 80 & 90’s. Looks like the 2+3 seating arrangement will be around for awhile.
Ive ridden on many DC-9 thru 717 on Hawaiian over the years. Now, my trips between Kona and the mainland are non-stop on Alaska 737’s. Introduced at the same time as the DC-9, the 737 has grown to take over the role of the original 707 in size and range. I still like the five across seating and the cleaner look of the Douglas design.
While working at the Long Beach former Douglas Aircraft Boeing plant, I was able to board a new Hawaiian 717 during preparations for the 2500 mile delivery flight. Hawaiian owns a set of auxiliary fuel tanks that mount in the passenger cabin above the wing. A few rows of seats are unbolted and stowed forward. There is a hatch in the floor for the plumbing.
Interesting stuff. Was that old Niles lathe belt driven? Or is that a big motor perched on top?
As a manufacturing economy, Mexico seems to be waking up. I understand that it had lost out to China as a cheap producer, and has had to compete more on quality recently.
It was likely belt driven originally, with a motor added later up top where the drive barrel would have been. Lathes built with electric motors usually have them at the lower rear.
You can see the same thing done to the blue lathe but I think they added another reduction with it so it turns really slowly.
With companies like Toyota building factories deeper in Mexico, their manufacturing will really wake up, and there is word that other car makers are considering it as well.
It did lose out to China in the 90s and 00s. But a lot of manufacturers pulled out of China and relocated to Mexico in the past 10-12 years because it was not always simple to move manufacturing to China, because of quality control issues, oversight, etc. And there is the shipping and the strong increase in Chinese wages. Mexico’s manufacturing sector has boomed in the past 10-15 years, especially in larger goods like appliances, cars, etc, where shipping is not an insignificant factor.
Lack of or weak intellectual property protection is another challenge with sourcing manufacturing in China…
…yes, and it’s reportedly a tad nippy atop Mt. Everest. Also, water is said to be somewhat damp.
Shipping space from China is at a real premium, which is why Chinese cars in America haven’t happened and the auto industry’s preferred low-cost producer is Mexico; cars are large and not having to ship them across an ocean makes up for relatively higher wages.
This is also why so many large, bulky, simple objects (think one-piece molded plastic lawn chairs) now proudly sport “Made in USA” decals.
That lathe from Niles Tool Works looks strikingly similar to some that were in daily use at a plant I worked quality control for back in the ’80’s. They produced electrically heated rollers used in Xerox machines. The core unit was a metal cylinder with fiberglass end fittings. The rolls were inserted into molds where a silicon product was injection molded onto the outer surface of the metal, then there were finishing lathes employed to grind the silicone down to the correct thickness and texture. They were monstrous old machines with hinge-topped oil fittings in strategic locations. I was always in awe of the reliability of these old monsters. They were nearly silent in their operation, and just whirled away for three shifts a day year after year, with nothing more that an occasional lube job or grinding wheel replacement. Brings back memories.
I love how you reference the frame number. Great work! The plate roller looks like those I saw in use at the Syracuse NY Carrier plant, TR1, to roll steel chiller barrels back in the 90’s I believe it was originally the site of Franklin Motors production in the 20′ and 30’s before Carrier took it over after leaving Newark NJ
Nice article , a clean and tidy shop and yes , those welds look impressive , not many stateside have this ability these days sad to say .
I had a 1982 Mexican Beetle , it was a terrific car (remember,I’m a VW fanboi) , low compression engine to run on any crappy fuel and long legs gear wise ~ once you had it in fourth (top) gear it just flew and would do so for hours on end .
Sadly the evil U.S. Gubmint found out about it and sent me a rude letter so I sent it back South again , I still miss it ~ it wasn’t this austerity model, it was a nicely trimmed out car with radio , chrome bumpers and hub caps etc.
I hope Mexico figures out how to end it’s drug cartel problem as it’s a nice place and deserves better .
-Nate
Your business travel exceeds mine in being memorable. I go to St. Louis (San Luis?) for a work related function later today and regularly go to Potosi with work. But not San Luis Potosi. Plus you fly; I drive an Impala or Silverado.
This was a very enjoyable tour, I love seeing old machines.
Thanks for the help with formatting this post. Jason has vastly more experience than I do at this and suffered my questions well.
Yep, the oldtimers who run this place are a great help.
I love those old machines. They look like they are purposely built to last 100 years…and obviously they can.
I’d have to agree, I work for a major coatings manufacturer in a small plant producing paint colorants, and when we first started producing them at this site, (having been transferred from an older site which had closed) the containers used were the old metal oil cans which came in with the bottoms seamed on, and we filled them with colorant and seamed the top on. The seamer used at this time (1995) was a vintage 1937 Angelus can seamer. Compact, all cast iron and brass and bronze, these things were indestructible. The company’s rep who came in to service them said that they were still in heavy use in the salmon canneries in Alaska
where he spent 3 month a year maintaining them. he stated that quite a few were close to a hundred years old and still were running strong. The average line speed at the canneries was 1200 cans per minute, which they handled flawlessly. We averaged about 60 cans per minute. 😀
Did I think I’d ever see Sowerby Bridge on CC? What a great surprise here to see that equipment!
Thanks DougD.
Business travel is not always quite as glamorous as it looks in airline ads. A few years back, I went to Malaysia and spent 5 days/4 nights in the airport hotel, airline offices in the airport terminal and in restaurants in the concourse.
This piece makes we want to get my photos of India out again though!
More than you need to know about Niles Tool Co. (Hamilton, OH paper, 1927):
Niles Tool article (lower half):
You probably have heard of the ATR’s after all, unfortunately due to crashes involving them, they had a bad rep for icing issues. The last significant event in the US was about 20 years ago in Illinois where an ATR-72 crashed due to icing on the wings, 60+ people perished. From what I understood the wing over the fuselage design doesn’t help with that but the bigger issue is the onboard deicing system does not extend over the entire wing surface. Many carriers don’t use them in northern climates anymore. But there are still regularly issues/incidents with them worldwide, no doubt partly due to them being somewhat popular in regions with relatively lax regulatory agencies.
I flew on an ATR-42 in Morocco on my honeymoon back in 2000 with Royal Air Maroc, while I’m not superstitious it’s the one flight number that I recall, that being flight #666. The other memorable part of the flight was the stewardess and the pilot literally screaming at each other without pause as we were boarding until everyone was more or less seated, then they separated and started doing their jobs. Other that all that, it was a good flight. Good times…
Yet another interesting new topic for CC. Cc has cars of course, but also planes, trains, boats, ships, toys, bicycles, busses, and now machine tools. Very cool. I’m a mechanical engineer by degree, so old equipment like that always catch my eye.
The “Made in Mexico” label is going the way “Made in Japan” did 50 years ago. I’m not sure where that misnomer came from; in my 30+ years here in Texas the Mexicans (as well as Central and South Americans by extension) have done nothing but impressed me with their work ethic and ability.
Just so Dave ;
Given the chance and proper tools and training , Mexicans bring an incredible work and pride of product ethic to manufacturing .
Being a poor agricultural country most folks only think of Mexico and Mexicans as poor uneducated peasants who’ll ‘ do anything ‘ to get by .
Plus of course, they’re considered non white , a big deal to pinheads in general .
I have traveled extensively in Mexico since 1969 and more often than not have been impressed be their hospitality and work ethics .
-Nate