A few CVRR pictures and some other related pictures....2

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Everything everywhere in those Pittsburgh metropolitan area steel mills was tremendously noisy , able to be heard banging into such positions as those pictured there, all the way up the hills above the mills, in suburbs miles away, and exuded danger from every inch of everything, including in and around such RR cars as those .

Within a siding, a friend and I, as teenagers, crawled into and out of a couple of such hoppers, within the precincts of a mill, sliding down their empty insides , and wiggling out the chutes at their bottoms. Crazy stuff. Mental cases, for sure, until we got discovered and were chased out of the yard, never to return .

We considered ourselves adventurers.

Needless to say, we never told our parents of such shenanigans.

P. S. My friend went on to serve in Vietnam , and I went to college, both determined not to build a lifetime around and financed by any steelmill employment .

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I'd like to know more about those gons and hopper cars; looks like there are 2 men at the one end by the top of the steps. End wheel set of the end gon looks maybe a little askew....

[rogruth]

Coke plant?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Coke plant?

Gons do look like they were for carrying coke.

[rogruth]

Everything everywhere in those Pittsburgh metropolitan area steel mills was tremendously noisy , able to be heard banging into such positions as those pictured there, all the way up the hills above the mills, in suburbs miles away, and exuded danger from every inch of everything, including in and around such RR cars as those .

Within a siding, a friend and I, as teenagers, crawled into and out of a couple of such hoppers, within the precincts of a mill, sliding down their empty insides , and wiggling out the chutes at their bottoms. Crazy stuff. Mental cases, for sure, until we got discovered and were chased out of the yard, never to return .

We considered ourselves adventurers.

Needless to say, we never told our parents of such shenanigans.

P. S. My friend went on to serve in Vietnam , and I went to college, both determined not to build a lifetime around and financed by any steelmill employment .

Wheeling Steel's Benwood plant was across the Ohio River from my Ohio hometown. I agree with the noise.
Even more interesting is that when steel was being poured the heat could be felt across the river in Ohio.

[robert.]

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Fabulous historical shot right there . I had heard about those earlier gas "stations" but have only rarely seen a photographic record.

I believe that the earliest ones were somebody having installed a pump at curbside in front of their store .

[chuck]

That's just two blast furnaces with four "stoves" each (in the center) to produce the heated air for the furnaces. The rail gondola's look like a mixture of limestone, ore, and coke that are used to charge the furnace.

And yes, the latent heat from tapping the furnace is quite impressive. If you thought it was hot/bad on the other side of the river imagine what it was like in the mill/plant.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...
And yes, the latent heat from tapping the furnace is quite impressive. If you thought it was hot/bad on the other side of the river imagine what it was like in the mill/plant.

Very, very true. I can recall working in a steelmill, in PA, for a Summer, and giving ourselves some relief from the in-house heat by stepping out into the 90+ or 100 degree days to cool off a bit and feel the "breeze." The entire experience sure further inspired me never to work in a mill again and to behave in all aspects of life and to stay in college and get my degree. Yup. Never went back after that torture in the 60's . Instead, I gained a perspective .

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Lydick's Drug Store in Clymer, Pa