Blacksmith Elmer Loos

Illinois Central Railroad blacksmith Elmer Loos, Carbondale, Illinois, demonstrates how a piece of round iron is worked on the forge and on the anvil to form an eye. Gauging the temperature of the rod by eye, Loos removes it from the forced draft coal fire at the correct moment, starts a kink in it with his ballpeen hammer on the shoulder of the anvil, then quickly slides it down toward the point, working the comparatively soft metal around into the desired shape with accurate strokes of the hammer. Here, he shows the completed eye. The metal is still red hot. The entire operation took less than 30 seconds after the iron was removed from the forge. Loos has been working with the IC railroad for 35 years.