What's New on the PRR Panhandle Division?

[G3750]

Looking good George Can we see some closer pics of the steel mill Did you build it?

Ben,

Only two of the mill structures are complete - the Blooming Mill and the Open Hearth Furnace. I will get some shots up on those. Here's a shot of the Open Hearth I happen to have on hand.

SAM_0390W.jpg (44.04 KiB) Viewed 9293 times

I still have lots to do on the steel mill, but it is taking lower priority to track improvement, Standard Slag (and its access hatch), and the bridge replacement (and its related track improvement).

George

[G3750]

Updated 6/12/2012:

Got a few things done this past weekend. The younger son had an all day lacrosse tournament in Malvern, PA on Sunday and I had a business trip yesterday. Anyway, here's what's shakin':

• My order of electrical connectors (2 pin and 6 pin) with leads arrived. The 2-pin connectors are going to be used for structure lights all over the layout. The 6-pin connectors will be used for the switch machines on the Curtis double cross-over on the PRR bridge (4) and 1 will be used for the switch at Weirton Junction.
• I gave my steel piling wall to my friend for casting.
• Collected a few critical wiring diagrams for the Curtis double cross-over and the MTH PRR signal bridge (uses a DZ-1008A relay) into my layout manual.
• Cut some additional foam for the Standard Slag area. I've finalized the position of the access hatch, but there will be a piece of scenery (the north end of Standard Slag) that will act as a "plug". To remove the hatch, you pull the plug which allows the hatch to swing out a little for removal. It's a little complicated, but I think it will hide the joint well.

Tonight I hope to finish bulding the plug and maybe start applying joint compound or Water Putty to the hatch itself.

Ben, I haven't forgotten about the mill photos.

George

[G3750]

OK, as promised, here are some more shots of my Open Hearth Furnace 3-D backdrop.
Here's a shot of the building under construction. I used 2 Lionel Industrial Smokestacks in the building.

100_1688W.jpg (73.15 KiB) Viewed 9252 times

100_1694W.jpg (44.83 KiB) Viewed 9249 times

This was my first scratchbuilt structure and I made more than a few mistakes. First, it was way too ambitious.

Second, I failed to adequately brace the walls and had to add some later. Unfortunately, some walls did warp a bit.

George

[bluelinec4]

Looks great I like the way ou put the stacks through the roof

[G3750]

Looks great I like the way ou put the stacks through the roof

Thank you! It is prototypical, but it was a real bear! Because the building hides a yard lead, the stacks are actually sitting on a wooden platform about 6" over the track.

Figure 11W.jpg (73.38 KiB) Viewed 9246 times

Making the roof fit around the stacks was a trial and error process. First you have to install the foamcore boards on the main roof as far down as they will go.

Figure 20W.jpg (41.29 KiB) Viewed 9243 times

Then you fit the styrene roof piece, draw a semi-circle, carefully nibble out the hole, repeat. And then repeat for the bottom half of the roof.

Figure 24W.jpg (45.42 KiB) Viewed 9245 times

George

[G3750]

Updated 6/14/2012:

I'm making slow progress on the access hatch. I've glued together the "plug" that will keep the hatch in place; I still have to carve, putty, and paint it. The steel piling wall has been delivered to my friend's house for casting. Today I plan to pick up real slag at Scenic Express on my way to my parent's house.

I'm trying to have all the paint and scenery work done on the slag pit before I do the track and wiring work, but I may end up changing that order slightly. Still feeling my way...

George

[G3750]

Bit of a digression here - to the prototype.

This past weekend I came back to Weirton, WV to attend the family reunion held at Tomlinson State Park in New Manchester, WV. Just before heading out to the reunion, my father suggested that I get some more shots of Weirton Steel because many of the structures are being demolished.

It's my intention to eventially put up a few of the shots, but I'll describe it here as astonishing (and sad). The Blooming Mill is completely gone. Only about half of the Open Hearth remains. Blast Furnaces are in the process of coming down. The "Mill of the Future" as the BOP was called in 1967 is scheduled for demolition. Parts of the valley floor are visible. Whole sections of mill are gone, creating views of the river that hadn't been seen in 100 years.

And Mother Nature continues her irresistable and inexorable reclamation of North Weirton. Where houses and streets once stood, there are now patches of woods and underbrush cut by cobblestone paths.

George

[bluelinec4]

Very sad!! Another victim of the shrinking US manufacturing sector. I get the same feeling when I visit Bethlehem Pa. The mill remnants are now a casino

[webenda]

You can get some good arial views by entering "100 Pennsylvania Ave, Weirton, WV" in Google Earth.
Even better images at http://www.bing.com/maps/
And lots of information at http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/ca/wv/webpa ... 68908.html

I really like your Weirton Steel building. It looks large compared to your trains, but after viewing the images referenced above I can see it is extremely downsized. I suppose the size of the model goes along with Mittal Steel's statement that they are currently in the process of downsizing the Weirton site.

[G3750]

I really like your Weirton Steel building. It looks large compared to your trains, but after viewing the images referenced above I can see it is extremely downsized. I suppose the size of the model goes along with Mittal Steel's statement that they are currently in the process of downsizing the Weirton site.

Wayne,

Thanks for the links and for the kind words.

Yes, the mills are very big in comparison to the trains, but that is what they really look like. I would make them bigger, but space barely permits what I have now. My timeframe for modeling Weirton Steel is the mid-1950's. So Mittal's ownership and downsizing hasn't happened yet, and never will.

This is what I would do if I had the space. (Actually, this photo is severely cropped and only shows about 15% of the mill complex). The original photo (in the possession of the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center) is mural sized. The JPG is 14GB.

1957 Weirton Steel.jpg (74.1 KiB) Viewed 9148 times

George

[rogruth]

George,

I did not know that part of the mill had been/was demolished.Is it all going to go?

In contrast to the other mills in the area,Steubenville,Mingo Jct.,Yorkville,Martins Ferry,Wheeling and Benwood,the Weirton mill was, much more modern and was for sometime considered to be the best of mills.I have heard that almost all of the mills I mentioned are closed.Benwood and Wheeling have been for many years.
Do you know the status of the mills in that area?

[G3750]

George,

I did not know that part of the mill had been/was demolished.Is it all going to go?

In contrast to the other mills in the area,Steubenville,Mingo Jct.,Yorkville,Martins Ferry,Wheeling and Benwood,the Weirton mill was, much more modern and was for sometime considered to be the best of mills.I have heard that almost all of the mills I mentioned are closed.Benwood and Wheeling have been for many years.
Do you know the status of the mills in that area?

Roger,

I'm afraid I don't have many details. To my knowledge, Weirton hasn't made steel since before 2009. They have been shipping in coils and running the Tin Mill and parts of the Strip Steel. Apparently, the No. 9 Tandem Mill is what the whole deal is at this point. The BOP and blast furnaces are all shut down. The other structures I mentioned are all gone or going.

I can't speak to the other area mills.

George

[rogruth]

George,

I had not noticed that you were from Hummelstown.That's the other side of the state from the Weirton area.

But you do have an abundance of hobby shops where O gauge can be found,and York.

[G3750]

Here are some photos that may be of interest:

From 2005:

WSX Open Hearth Mill W.jpg (41.66 KiB) Viewed 9120 times

In 2012 the same scene:

Reunion 001W.jpg (136.14 KiB) Viewed 9119 times

In 2005, I took this picture of a hot metal car being filled at No. 4 Blast Furnace:

Hot Metal Car @ WSX No. 4 Blast Furnace.jpg (39.95 KiB) Viewed 9117 times

In 2012, the blast furnace is shut down and the area is so overgrown that I can't reach the fence to shoot the scene.

George

[Roy]

73 years ago, Chinese-Americans protested US sales of scrap iron to Japan, which used it to wage war in China. In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, one of the aims of which was to dramatically increase steel production. Now, China makes the most steel of any country, followed by second-place Japan. The US trails both, at #3.