What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

[G3750]

George,
Got my OST yesterday. Well written article. Hope to see more in the future.

Thank you, Roger! That means a lot to me.

George

[G3750]

Updated 12/25/2019:

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I discovered this video of the Weirton area on Youtube yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3gnTgkUZzo


I reviewed the video and noted some items of interest in the timeline.

1:42: Brown’s Island. As the camera moves north (upriver) you’ll see a cleared area. That’s the former site of the Weirton Steel Coke plant. Note the bridge to the WV side (Weirton Steel) at 2:40.

3:55: We are now at the extreme northern end of Weirton headed south (downriver).

5:07: The other (WV side) of the bridge to Brown’s Island is visible to the right of the picture. The train tracks are the former PRR New Cumberland Secondary.

5:13: Weirton Steel’s ore yard is dead center.

5:24: Just beyond the ore bridge to the left is Weirton Steel’s No. 4 Blast Furnace. The street to the left of it is 4th Street. The Greek Orthodox Church used to be on that spot. It was sold, disassembled, and moved farther to the left up to County Road where it still exists. 4th Street is crossed by Main Street.

5:29: We are flying straight up the Highline of the blast furnaces – 4, 3, 2, and 1. No. 4 is the latest (youngest) and the largest capacity blast furnace.

5:41: The mill to the left is a warehouse. To its left is the mill wall and Main Street. The field beyond the blast furnaces was once the site of the Open Hearth, the Structural Mill, the Blooming Mill, and the powerhouse.

5:53: The elevated highway going left to right is Main Street. Near the top of the frame, where it crosses the tracks, is Crawford’s Crossing.

5:56: The large mill in the frame is the Basic Oxygen Plant (BOP). Built in 1967, it was referred to as “the mill of the future”. The large space to its left was originally occupied by part of the shell factory (which the BOP replaced).

5:59: At the extreme lower left you can see a small part of the Mill Administration Building (MAB). The road above the green line is Weir Avenue. Between Weir Avenue and the mill, where the green line makes a 90 degree bend, is the beginning of Terrace Circle. My maternal grandparents lived there until Weirton Steel bought the neighborhood for the BOP.

6:53: In this frame, the mill to the left of the tracks is the HCl acid recycling plant. The coil yard is to the right. Cove Road cuts across the frame left to right; City of Weirton municipal building is along Cove Road to the right. The blue train bridge spans Harmon Creek.

7:04: To the left of the green line is the Panhandle

7:56: Where the ramp at the right splits and crosses over the tracks is the approximate site of WC tower (to the left of the tracks).

8:01: The piles to the right may be the former Standard Slag. I’m not sure.

8:33: The tracks in the center of the frame curve to the right and onto the ex-PRR bridge (top center). The Veterans Memorial bridge (automobile) is visible at top right.


George

[rogruth]

George,
Interesting enough to me for at least a Wow!
Unfortunately I have been away from the upper Ohio Valley so long ( @65 years ) I don't remember enough.
Any idea when that view was made? I don't think there were any multi lane highways in that area when I lived near-by.

[G3750]

George,
Interesting enough to me for at least a Wow!
Unfortunately I have been away from the upper Ohio Valley so long ( @65 years ) I don't remember enough.
Any idea when that view was made? I don't think there were any multi lane highways in that area when I lived near-by.

Well, the fact that the Blast Furnaces are present says that at least some of the footage was recorded prior to 2017. The ore bridges came down around then as well. The BOP was demolished in May of 2019. I think the drone footage could have been recorded anytime from 2010 to 2015; that's my guess. And a guess is all it is. The 4-lane highways (bypass) dates from the 1970s; the Veterans bridge opened in 1990?

George

[rogruth]

As I said, it has been a long time but I think maybe the elevated roadway, US 22 ?, that passed over some of the mill property may have been four lane.
Probably in the '60s when I was last through there.
I also remember that Weirton Steel was advertised as the largest privately/employee owned mill in the U.S.
My hometown down the river, Bellaire, Ohio, had what was the largest glass factory in the world ( now the important part ) under one roof.

By the way, My cousin in Steubenville says that part of the Mingo Jct. mill is reopening. That is all she knew.

Everything I have read and seen about your layout looks good.
I am also enjoying your articles for OST. I have said this before but IMHO if you want to know what true modeling is and how to improve your layout
or modeling skills this is the magazine to go to. It has it all except inside third rail. Any rail modeler can learn something from OST.
On the other hand there are a few that know everything.

[G3750]

Roger,

The elevated roadway that passed through the mill between North Weirton and downtown Weirton was Main Street (part of WV 2).

From 1984-2001, Weirton was the largest employee-owned steel company (ESOP).

I think I also heard that a mill in Mingo Junction might be re-opening. That's great news!

I have a lot of good ideas and plans for the layout. Turning them into reality is the hard part!

George

[healey36]

I seem to remember reading a year or so ago about one of the plants being brought back online after a significant retooling/refurbishment by an offshore international conglomerate. Have there been any signs of that refurbishment? Steel seems feast-or-famine these days, running short to glut in the marketplace. It'll be interesting to see if they can get going again, especially for the area.

[G3750]

I seem to remember reading a year or so ago about one of the plants being brought back online after a significant retooling/refurbishment by an offshore international conglomerate. Have there been any signs of that refurbishment? Steel seems feast-or-famine these days, running short to glut in the marketplace. It'll be interesting to see if they can get going again, especially for the area.

Steel-making has always been a cyclical type of business. In the late 1970's, the combination of inept company management, distrustful and intransigent (they had every right to be) unions, and the dumping (selling at below cost due to subsidizing by their governments) of foreign steel (aided by Congress, the best legislative body money can buy) led to a huge downturn. The Pittsburgh area lost over 100,000 good paying steel jobs from 1978 to 1981. The industry has never recovered from that gutting, although there have been up-ticks. The changes in the cycles seem to have become more frequent, so the chance of being whipsawed has increased. And not to make this a political discussion, but the only President to give a damn about foreign imports and their effects on American jobs has been Trump. Unfortunately, the timing has been about 30 years too late for steel.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/03/2020:

I am working through the scenery placement and construction around the tunnel portal on the C&P. This is on the western shore of the Ohio, just under and north of the bridge. I have constructed foam hills and placed ground foam (varying colors). The next step is the selection and installation of trees to mate up with the backdrop. It's a bit slow going, but I'm hoping to have this part done soon.

The shoreline itself and the ballasting of track is next. I will then install a stone wall around the base of the western bridge abutment, apply ground foam to its top, and declare victory in Ohio.

The WV shore and eastern approach to the bridge will be next.

George

[G3750]

Updated 1/28/2020:

Well I have come to a decision. I started looking at the eastern (WV) shoreline and terrain and realized I made a mistake. Back in 2017 I incorrectly specified the dimensions of Pier 1 (the shorty). On the real bridge, pier 1 is the oldest, a holdover from the second bridge. It is smaller (length & width) and has no taper. I've been trying to make my incorrectly dimensioned version work ever since. I've come to the realization that it won't. The pier will need propping up in a Rube Goldberg fashion and I'm done with that approach.

As a result, I've gone back to my machine shop with new, more accurate dimensions and expect to have a replacement in 3 weeks.

I guess the next steps in this descent into OCD is to join the P1:48 cult and tear the 3rd rail out of my track.

George

[E7]

Updated 1/28/2020:

I guess the next steps in this descent into OCD is to join the P1:48 cult and tear the 3rd rail out of my track.

George

Was just going to comment that you sounded like a bloody 2 railer!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I guess the next steps in this descent into OCD is to join the P1:48 cult and tear the 3rd rail out of my track.

It doesn't hurt 1/2 as much as you might think,

[G3750]

Rufus,

You mean 1/3, right?

George

[healey36]

ay caramba...back to the bridge we go, lol.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus,

You mean 1/3, right?

George

Maybe..................but you won't suffer too much either way.