Youngstown Steel Heritage has had a four year relationship with the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corp. and the Carrie Furnaces National Historic Landmark located in Rankin, PA. As the only steel plant blast furnace complex preserved in the US, we have found multiple opportunities to work with them to help preserve the history of steel industry railroading.

We currently have two pieces of equipment at Carrie Furnaces. The first is an Atlas scale car originally built for the Wheeling Steel Co. Steubenville Plant. We acquired it in 2012 and moved it to Carrie where it is undergoing a slow conversion into a replica of a scale car that originally was used at Carrie. Earlier this week we started painting the car into a blue, grey and yellow scheme which is in line with what US Steel uses for some mobile equipment. There is still some additional work needed on the car including finishing of the handrails and installing the drive which will happen as time permits.

The ultimate goal is to move the car into the stockhouse and operate it on the scale car track for demonstrations.

YSH will also be moving the restoration of Jones & Laughlin 23" gauge Porter No. 58 from our facility in Youngstown to Carrie Furnaces. With winter approaching we decided that it was better to work on the locomotive inside the cavernous 100' x 280' blowing engine house instead of outside in Youngstown. The building has welding and fabricating equipment on hand as well as being closer to a larger group of volunteers. The restoration of 58 in the Mon Valley will also be the first steam locomotive project undertaken in the area since the B&LE 643's work in 1987. Our agreement thus far is only for the restoration of the locomotive. No operation at Carrie is planned, although that could change if there is sufficient interest in seeing a steam locomotive in operation in the Pittsburgh area.

The 58 was built in Lawrenceville by Porter and used at the J&L South Side Works, making it a truly Pittsburgh locomotive.

In these photos, the saddle tank is being moved into position for work, and the driver sets from scrapped sister 59 were also move in to place for evaluation and "unsticking" of the bearings.

The scale car and J&L 58 will be sharing the blowing engine house with an 1898 Mackintosh Hemphill 48" universal plate mill that we moved into the building last summer. That is a 50" x 60" horizontal 2 cylinder reversing steam engine in the foreground. Crankshaft weighs 132,000 lbs. and the entire mill weighs 1,200 tons. This engine, and the Tod 34" x 68" x 60" cross compound engine at Youngstown Steel Heritage are the only steel industry rolling mill engines preserved in the US and I am proud to say that I have moved and reassembled both engines!

The 58 currently resides at Youngstown, waiting for its various components to be shipped off for work. The boiler will be going back to JS Company for new tubes, smokebox patch and other work. The frame will be going to Reichard Industries, the sole remaining builder of hot metal cars, to have the front pilot and rear platform remade and reinstalled. After the frame and boiler work is completed each will be moved to Carrie. The drivers will go straight to Carrie but will not be used as the 59's drivers have a better tread profile.

All of the smaller parts including side rods, valve gear etc. will be loaded into steel boxes and transported to Carrie for refurbishment and reinstallation. A completely new cab is to be built following the Porter drawing which we happen to have. We were the recipient of a Tom E. Dailey Foundation grant which will help in the construction of the new cab.

And while I'm at it, I might as well talk a bit about the other three items in the collection. The McDonald Steel Alco S2 is still at McDonald waiting for its trip to the Lake Shore Railway Museum for display and continued operation and restoration. The GE 70 ton centercab and Kling type hot metal car are on static display at the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum. Both pieces still need some additional cosmetic restoration work done to them which will happen as time permits.

You're crushing it out there Rick. Keep up the awesome work.

fantastic job. not much left of the old Steubenville plant.

In conjunction with the Carrie Furnaces National Historic Landmark we are assisting in the creation of an iron foundry, for use both for art pieces as well as castings for restoration projects. We have done five iron pours at Carrie so far, and plans are in the works for constructing a dedicated foundry building on site. We have been pouring molds outside, but the foundry building will allow us to move indoors and provide for easier metal handling.

The first functional parts cast at Carrie was a set of new grates for the J&L 58. Fortunately I found a grate pattern that I could use without much modification, and made 11 molds from it. We then poured them at our last iron pour.

I like your attitude of "getting it done", with a direction and goal of accomplishment. You have the skills and you use them!

Rick,

Great work!!! Very impressive.

Regards,

Randy

Its a joy working on small equipment. Want to pull the boiler? Don't call out any cranes, just grab some ties and fire up the forklift. Even drizzling rain and with no help it still only took about a half hour. Then I rolled the chassis back into the enginehouse and worked on removing the rust from the saddle for the rest of the day.

It looks like somebody torched the rear part of the frame off of your locomotive. That would slow ME down a bit, but best of luck to you and give it Hell.

You can't keep a good lokie down....

I'm eyeing up a big chunk of 4 3/4" thick plate to remake the rear platform that was torched off. There are also a few pieces of 2" plate needed. A local heavy fab shop will donate doing the burnouts and welding, so we are in good shape with the frame repairs.

J&L #58 is one lucky little lokie. NOBODY wanted these little engines, because they were way too heavy, were 23" gauge, and (no doubt you'll disagree) way too ugly. Along with USA 2-8-0 #611, I and many others figured that these little steel mill engines should be put out of their misery.

It certainly looks like you and J&L #58 were made for each other. How nice it is to be proven wrong once again !!!

Take Care & WORK SAFE

They are so unique, and the 58 restored to its as built appearance helps tell the story about the very unique narrow gauge operation at Jones & Laughlin. It shows how a steel mill, hemmed in to a small site but wanting to increase production, went to a local locomotive builder to craft a locomotive that would fit within the limited clearance yet still pull the loads required.

Historic preservation isn't just about preserving the Berkshires, Pacifics and Northerns, it is about preserving the unique locomotives that were designed to solve a specific problem. I dismiss out of hand calls from people to alter the locomotive to make it lighter. She was 45 tons and by god she will be 45 tons again!