McKenna Process Company Image 1

McKenna Process Company
Plant formerly located in Joliet, Illinois - ca. 1920.
Image 1 - Rail rerolling plant viewed from the southeast

Note: These are still just thumbnails.  Click on any one 
in order to be take to the full-size image.
1. Rail rerolling plant viewed from the southeast.  The 
rail storage yard is in the foreground; the rolling mill 
is in the background. 
Details scanned from the original print:
  a. The Yard-Overall - at left
  b. Foreground Rails  
  c. Men Grading Rails  
  d. More Men in Background  
  e. Panoramic View
  f.  Unloading Operations
  g. Crane Unloading Incoming Rails
  h. Men Handling Incoming Rails

Foreground Rails

Men Grading Rails

More Men in Background

The Yard-Panoramic

The Yard-Unloading Operations

The Yard - unloading operations panorama - Image 1

Crane Unloading Incoming Rails

Men Handling Incoming Rails

The Yard - men handling incoming rails - Image 1

As you will see, this crane and one
other are the sole mobile prime
movers in this plant. All the rest of
the rail handling is done either by
conveyors and systems of rollers or
by manpower. As rails weighed
between 500 and 1000 pounds, it took four men or more to lift and carry one
rail from where it was dropped by the crane to the dolly seen in this image.
These men were well paid for the time and were even placed on stipend during
slack periods of the company so that the collective experience of the workforce
could be maintained when there weren't enough rails on hand to warrant
starting the mill. There is no other explanation why so many men would be
seen assembled in such a concentration as seen here.