There are still quite a few operating steel mills in the US, just most are much smaller than they used to be. Electric Arc makes the process much more streamlined allowing for more steel to be created in smaller batches and in shorter time periods. Chaparral Steel here south of Dallas has 2 such furnaces and operates pretty much non-stop. The mill in Pueblo is one of (if not the) top producers of rail in the US.
I posted this in another steel thread, but check out USS Gary Also check out this N mill layout if you haven't... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Vncda8ZZ4"]YouTube - N Scale Steel Mill Model[/ame]
Jonathan Fritz Yes... I've been following his layout progress for two years now. Absolutely stunning. Jonathan's work has been my main ispiration, and in fact, his blog is acutally my default homepage! -Dr.J
State of the Nation I’m sure you’re all familiar with threads showing layout’s progress; well you’re in for a treat with maybe the first ever thread showing reverse progress! If you’re just tuning in, I’m in the process of moving into a new house, so a bit of dismantling is in order to move the layout to its new home. Included are some shots of the layout, bench work and wiring as it is. Unfortunately all the track and wiring will have to be pulled out. Not only because I need to take apart the bench work modules, but the layout is going to have a completely different track plan in the new house. As sad as it is to take apart all this work; I am looking forward to having the rare experience of starting with a fresh clean slate all over again. -Dr.J
Oooooo Man!! Imagine this in etched brass!! Well, a good daydream anyway. There is a much smaller on one in the Baltimore Harbor http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=qj9b528mkqxd&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=7166466&encType=1 .
Shopping Well I've got all the kits ordered that I want to use to make the massive steel-making facilty. In all, I've got: 4 Rolliong Mills 2 Electric Arc Furnaces 1 Superior Paper Co. Walthers has a great sale on their N scale Cornerstone Series, so the timig is great for me to grab all this. Frustratingly though, being in Australia, I probably won't have it all for another five weeks though!! -Dr.J
Tha't's a 'wow' project. Several years ago I had the opportunity to participate in a site assessment if the LTV Steel Works complex in Cleveland, OH. They had 800+ company owned cars just on the site, and two company-owned railroads. I'm not sure if you are freelancing US or not or just going freelance, but I ended up with a lot of photos for reference - after the plant was closed and before Mittal bought it and reopened part of it. That reclaimer is AWESOME. Gonna make it spin??? If you are looking for oddball Whitcomb centercabs for mill switchers, I'm your guy! This is the post WWII 65-tonner at Bethlehem Steel: This is after Bethlehem Steel sold theirs to a shortline: That's one of my earlier ones - they now have photoengraved steps.
More "Anti-Progress" My layout is now completely apart and packed away in prep for the big move. First, all the track was lifted up. Then all the wiring pulled out. The foam was pulled up with a bit of help with a mallet and chisel, and all the bench work disassembled. Normally I wouldn't have completely taken it apart, but I am going with a completely differnt trackplan layout when I put it back together. So, that's it until around the first week of November if the house construction stays on track. In the meantime, I plan on finishing the two blast furances, and maybe even the blast air blowing house (aka walthers car shops). I'll keep you posted on the progress of these ofcourse! -Dr.J
Layout Plan It will change of course, but for now this is the new trackplan I have in mind when I rebuild this thing. 12" grid. What I'm missing this time is the elvated "high-line" track to feed the hoist skips for the two BF's. I'm thinking of using the highline deck parts from the kits and just using them at ground level and extending the skip hoists so they go under the track. Kinda like the way they have it on the coke oven kit. This way I can keep everything at the same level and not worrying about scratch building a massive highline because the BF kits one are so short and flimsy-looking. -Dr.J
A brief update As promised, I’ve been working on the two blast furnaces while the layout is currently disassembled in prep for the move. If you’ve done a Walthers Blast Furnace before, you’ll know that it’s an intense kit (especially in N),and of course, doing two kits is twice the fun! To help with spray-painting all the cylinders and pipes, I’ve wacked a bit of a jig together with some scrap wood and dowels. -Dr.J
There has also been a steel mill at Whyalla, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, for as long as I can remember. It's currently owned by OneSteel. They made the rail for the Alice Springs - Darwin railway there. Interesting thread, thanks for sharing. My first post, by the way - long time lurker, first time poster. Now maybe I won't see that special little note at the top of the page every time I log on!
That's fantastic! I had no idea. Thanks for posting. I've got a friend who lived in Whyalla, I'll have to get up him for not mentioning it. Just doing a quick Google search, this mill looks pretty tight and a very achievable prototype for wnyone who's up for the task! -Dr.J
Quick Update It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted (been busy with work and my two-year-old's birthday party and the associated in-law's visits). I have been slowly ticking along on the two blast furnaces, focusing on all the piping with the stoves and gas washers. I've also been recieving the kits I ordered last month for the big steel making complex; I'm just waiting on two more rolling mills. I've also decided to change the colour scheme I want to use for the project, which has lead me to dismantling some of the housing on the furnaces to re-paint... two steps forward, one step back. Hopefully I'll post a couple progress pics this week. -Dr.J
Dust Storm and Blast Furnace Bashing You may of heard in the news that Eastern Australia experienced a big dust storm last week. Pretty much all of New South Wales and some parts of Queensland were affected resulting in creepy looking skies and a nice layer of red dust coating pretty much everything. Unfortunately my garage was no exception… I’m still cleaning all my models. Al I can say is that it’s good that I’m modeling a “dirty” industry; it’s like free detail weathering from Mother Nature. Dust "Shadows" I had plans to get a lt more done this weekend than I did, but the weather has turn cold again with heavy frost and the evenings in the un-insulated garage don’t lend themselves to much progress. I have done a bit of kit-bashing though; pretty much chopping one of the blast furnaces into two, so that I can but the two mantle columns side-by-side and extending the casting house, to make on larger structure. The mantle columns will be turned 90 degreed to that the blast air will be coming in from the side, rather than in line as the kit has it. Plus I’m bunching up all the stoves into a “six-pack” which I think looks pretty cool. The gas washers and dust collectors will also me modifies with a pipe going back to the sintering facility, to recycle the material. Because I’m modeling a “modern” era, I’m going to have a fair bit of additional steel frame work surrounding the mantle columns and a conveyor feed system rather than skip hoists. I’m also going with a modern color scheme using light grey and blue as the dominate structure colors. All my orders have come in for my ‘intergraded steel complex.’ The four rolling mills will be combined to make one long one, I’m thinking of putting one EAF lit on top of the other to make a taller building as part of the sintering facility. The superior pulp and paper kit will making up part of the large steel making structure, and part of the New River Mining kit will make up the “blending house” that the main feed conveyor for the blast furnace will be charged with the optimum mix of coke, lime, and iron ore. Again, I won’t even attempt building any of this stuff until we move into the new house, and just focus on the already-stared Blast Furnace. -Dr.J
hey doc looking good, i like the work you did with the furnace. i think of doing something kinda like it. but will do a one here and one over there set up. here is a quick pic
Thanks for posting the pic, especially because of your rolling mill. It's good to see a similar colour sceme, so I can better visualise how I want to do mine. For so long, I had the "two blast furnace thing" planned, but with the new layout, I want to fit a lot in a much smaller space, so I had to sacrifice one of them. It's not really the blast furnace structure itself that takes up the room, but all of the lead-up track turn points and swithcing tracks that feed into it; under the pouring floor, slag run, and dust colectors. Again, thanks for the pic. -Dr.J
hey dr j the blue is humbrol Mediterranean blue. seems to be the right color for gary steel. after reading jonathans web site for months now, i KNOW i want to run a BIG steel mmill complex!!! http://users.livejournal.com/_nonamenoslogan/
