Some things have happened since 1916 - not always for the best (I remember a Wilson Welding ad for autogenous welding of driver tire flats -- "$2 saves $200" ... yikes!)
AAR standard M-106 covered tires while they were legal and found on working railroads - this is essentially replaced by ASTM standard A551. The ESC work that produced the current FRA 49CFR230 sections on tires did not specify any constraint on tire fabrication method that I can see. Prior to this work (e.g. in the days of the ACE3000 project) there was some belief that drivers would have to be made cast with integral tires, not a pleasant prospect either for new builds or comprehensive restorations (although there was very little question they would not be safer, just as for modern car and locomotive wheels).
As with locomotive axles, centrifugal casting represented a comparatively late manufacturing advantage; I am still interested in seeing trade references for them.
Asking about specific fabrication here is far less sensible than asking over on RyPN, where regular posters have first-hand experience with modern tire fabrication. Kelly Anderson at Strasburg and the 765 people in Fort Wayne are two primary sources who will be interested in responding to you with definitive information.
tdmidget Page 14 http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/nbstechnologic/nbstechnologicpaperT61.pdf
Page 14
http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/nbstechnologic/nbstechnologicpaperT61.pdf
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
So I know how the tires got put onto the wheel center, but how were (are) tires made in the first place? Casting? Rolling? Something else I'm not considering?
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