My meager understanding of how a locomotive inspector’s hammer was used is not consistent with the nature of the failure on the hammer shown in the first two photographs.

http://s1055.photobucket.com/user/slide ... %20IHammer

The fracture appears to be the result of a classic fatigue failure. It appears to have started at a stress concentration caused by the 3 ½-inch line, and propagated across the shaft of the peen to the opposite side, where the final failure occurred.
With only light hits, it seems that it would have taken millions of blows to produce this type of failure, if that is even possible. I have never seen a failure like this on any other kind of hammer.

Was this type of failure common with these hammers?
to what extent was the composition or heat treatment of the steel a factor? Was this hammer abused? (The face of the peen does not show signs of severe usage.)

I have not seen many examples of this type of hammer. There is a detailed drawing of one at:
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/an ... er-113873/
This drawing not only gives the dimensions of the hammer it also describes its multiple functions. The drawing is attributed to the Southern Railway System.

This design appears to have been widely adopted. I have three other hammers that are nearly identical. One is marked, “AT&SRY.” Two of them have inch, and half-inch, marks. One does not. One is marked at 3-inch intervals along the handle. I have one other that is of a slightly different design. All are shown in the photos.

I have not found a video showing one of these hammers in use. There is a modern photo of one in use on a railcar in China at:
http://www.echinatravel.com/blog/the-best-worker

Bruce E. Babcock

I bought a brand new China Rail hammer in 2005 while visiting the JiTong Tielu in Inner Mongolia. It looks pretty much like your examples, with the small end being like the pointed one, and with no dimensional markings. The head looks to be drop forged, case hardened, finish ground, and chrome plated. Identification is a China Rail iron horse symbol, printed on a sticker similar to a banana sticker, stuck on the handle.

I'm guessing the one you have broke because somebody was wrenching on something with it, concentrating the stress on the side, maybe using a hammer for emphasis. In China it was routine to use inspection hammers to loosen the plugs in wet cellars, or tighten them back up, and these caps are drilled for this.

I'd have to review many hours of Reverand Ron McElrath videos to say for sure, but there's a good chance that REVELATION VIDEO has some explicit footage of Chinese enginemen knocking around, performning routine inspections.

.

Looking at my China Rail hammer again, I probably should have said "deburred with a grinder" instead of "finish ground".

What's interesting is that the tapered end is square in section, rather than round like your examples. It goes down to a point like one of those does, and the corners are heavily chamfered. Must have been made like that for a reason, like turning or adjusting something with a square or slotted opening in it. I guess you COULD tighten or remove a pipe plug with it, if you put one of your hands next to the head so you don't break the handle when you wail on it.

Kelly,

You are right. Its as hard as glass. A file won't touch it.

Thanks,

Bruce

.

Josh

One of the things you are looking for is loose nuts. One trick is to hit the nuts to tighten them. In the second link in the first post it gives you a drawing that labels some of the things you can measure. In many cases, these were ICC requirements. We used these hammers on the Grand Canyon and they are very effective.

Robby