In the casting house, a chute from the hearth under Stack #7 brought molten iron into a large open room where deep sand on the floor had been shaped into molds. As the iron poured into the molds, workers used flat-edged shovels to guide its flow while protecting themselves from the brownish, taffy-like substance, which could cause severe burns if they stepped wrong or made it splash. Their protective clothing consisted of wooden shoes slipped over their boots and extra layers of fabric wrapped around the lower parts of their legs. Each long mold was divided into shorter sections by a brick that became embedded in the iron, and after cooling, workers used a crowbar to crack the iron at each brick, producing relatively light pieces called pigs. The men then loaded the iron pigs onto donkey engines, which carried them to the main rail line for shipment on the Massasoit. From Lock Ridge, the iron went to factories where it was melted, reworked, and made into finished metal products.