Did you see the new RAilPACE magazine with a big article about Mingo Junction ??
have to see if I can find that...Mingo is a ghost town since the mill closed.
On the cover there is a nice big photo of the mill. I want to copy it-maybe use it as a back drop. I will sent it to you.
Maybe Pat's Trains sells it. One photo of a yard with the remains of an overhead signal. A remnant of the Panhandle line.
jim pastorius posted:Did you see the new RAilPACE magazine with a big article about Mingo Junction ??
I believe that's Wheeling Pitt on the cover not Weirton Steel or am I missing something?
If it's Mingo, then it's Wheeling Pitt, they had mills up and down the Valley, Weirton Steel is just in Weirton.
Steamer posted:If it's Mingo, then it's Wheeling Pitt, they had mills up and down the Valley, Weirton Steel is just in Weirton.
Actually Weirton Steel was in both Weirton and Steubenville but the Steubenville plant was closed decades ago. However, I think you are correct that the picture on the cover of this magazine is Wheeling Pitt not Weirton.
never knew that, thanks.
So long ago I forget but, I thought, Weirton steel was in Weirton. The credit inside says "the former Steubenville North Blast furnace just south of Steubenville." A nice big photo of a blast furnace, not too many of them around. as the magazine says "everything is gone" The article itself is about Mingo Jct.
I've been here since '65, and I never heard of there being part of Weirton Steel in Steubenville. Wheeling Pitt was all over Steubenville,Mingo,down the river, on both sides. Weirton Steel (now Archlor Mittal) remains...but a shadow of it's former self.
jim pastorius posted:Did you see the new RAilPACE magazine with a big article about Mingo Junction ??
No, I haven't. Let me clarify a few points.
With regards to the Pennsylvania Railroad, Mingo Junction was a service and storage location for locomotive power on the Panhandle. I believe there was a roundhouse there.
First of all, Weirton Steel did have a mill in Steubenville. My father was an industrial engineer and he did some work there. I think it existed in the 1940's and part of 1950's.
If anyone is interested in photos of Weirton Steel, you may wish to contact the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center. They have the entire holdings of the Weirton Steel publication "The Bulletin". Throughout the glory years of the town and the mill, you couldn't turn around without bumping into a Bulletin photographer.
Tell Dennis Jones (the director) I said "Hi".
George
jim pastorius posted:So long ago I forget but, I thought, Weirton steel was in Weirton. The credit inside says "the former Steubenville North Blast furnace just south of Steubenville." A nice big photo of a blast furnace, not too many of them around. as the magazine says "everything is gone" The article itself is about Mingo Jct.
That's right, the blast furnaces south of Steubenville, OH are from the Wheeling Pitt Steubenville Plant. They were torn down recently. I'll see if I can locate some pictures of the tear down.
Steamer posted:I've been here since '65, and I never heard of there being part of Weirton Steel in Steubenville. Wheeling Pitt was all over Steubenville,Mingo,down the river, on both sides. Weirton Steel (now Archlor Mittal) remains...but a shadow of it's former self.
You can find many different articles on Weirton Steel and it's Steubenville plant. He is an excerpt from one found on the internet (http://www.fundinguniverse.com...corporation-history/)
"The expansion of the city coincided with the expansion of Weir's mills. In 1910, ten more mills were added. In 1911, Weir acquired the 12-mill Pope Tin Plate Company in Steubenville, Ohio, and in 1915 and 1916, two more hot mills were constructed at Weir's strip steel plant. Weirton's facility thus became the flagship of Weir's enterprise, and in 1918 Weir named his concern Weirton Steel."
thanks! I'll check that out. I've seen some other books on local history, and between the steel mills, potteries, and the brickyards, there was a TON of industry in this area. sad that so much is gone, and a lot of it since I got out of school.
Steamer posted:thanks! I'll check that out. I've seen some other books on local history, and between the steel mills, potteries, and the brickyards, there was a TON of industry in this area. sad that so much is gone, and a lot of it since I got out of school.
Very sad isn't it?
yup.....especially everytime you see how much "Made in......" is in all our stores.
Steamer posted:yup.....especially everytime you see how much "Made in......" is in all our stores.
It is sad. At one point in time, Weirton Steel was making 20% of the tinplate for the world's tin cans. 
That's an amazing statistic.
George
I work in a Litho plant minutes from Mittel (Weirton Steel) and their quality has really slipped. we don't get a lot of their coils. The coils we get from Germany, and Korea, have much better quality. USS steel is as bad as Mittel. ANd about the time we do start getting more Mittel, they jack up the price and drop the quality a bit more.Dang shame.
Steamer posted:I work in a Litho plant minutes from Mittel (Weirton Steel) and their quality has really slipped. we don't get a lot of their coils. The coils we get from Germany, and Korea, have much better quality. USS steel is as bad as Mittel. ANd about the time we do start getting more Mittel, they jack up the price and drop the quality a bit more.Dang shame.
Too bad. Once you fall off the tightrope, it's hard to get back on. I hope Weirton gets their act together and stages some sort of (small) comeback. I would hate to see them disappear altogether.
George
Updated 9/12/2016:
Spent part of the morning today working on the layout.
The river surface module was installed, along with the piers, pedestals, and bridge shoes.
Have not gotten to a few electrical problems areas, but that is next.
George
Updated 9/19/2016:
Happy to report that I fixed two areas of intermittent electrical conductivity, aka dead spots. 
Also learned a valuable lesson for the next version of the Panhandle - save your fit-up connectors for spots away from the bridge. The next time, the bridge will get pins.
George
George,
Glad you are figuring everything out. Hope you can post some pictures again soon.
Tom
MNCW posted:George,
Glad you are figuring everything out. Hope you can post some pictures again soon.
Tom
Thanks Tom.
There isn't much new to post, at least regarding photos. Now that the 3 dead spots are history, I will be working on the piers and abutments.
George
George....your heart and soul is in this thread..... Beautiful work and incredible dedication!
Peter
Putnam Division posted:George....your heart and soul is in this thread..... Beautiful work and incredible dedication!
Peter
You are too kind, Peter.
Are you headed to York next month?
George
Updated 9/23/2016:
The train room has been cleaned and a lot of debris removed. Excess and scrap building materials are lined up to be thrown away. I am starting to prepare the layout for what I call a Smoker (running trains with guests) in early November. The good news is that track performance has greatly improved and stabilized. I'm still having trouble getting block occupancy signals reconnected and operating properly. Not sure what the problem is exactly, but de-bugging continues.
Samantha is taking a rest after "helping" me.
Inventory has been updated. I have started putting away materials and tools.
The workshop has also been cleaned up to some extent. Still lots of junk to discard.
George
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G3750 posted:Putnam Division posted:George....your heart and soul is in this thread..... Beautiful work and incredible dedication!
Peter
You are too kind, Peter.
Are you headed to York next month?
George
Up in the air. My wife had a knee replacement this past week and it my be too early to leave her alone, and certainly too early for her to make the trip.
Peter
Putnam Division posted:G3750 posted:Putnam Division posted:George....your heart and soul is in this thread..... Beautiful work and incredible dedication!
Peter
You are too kind, Peter.
Are you headed to York next month?
George
Up in the air. My wife had a knee replacement this past week and it my be too early to leave her alone, and certainly too early for her to make the trip.
Peter
Oh wow. Best wishes for her early and complete recovery. Hope to see you there.
George
Putnam Division posted:G3750 posted:Putnam Division posted:George....your heart and soul is in this thread..... Beautiful work and incredible dedication!
Peter
You are too kind, Peter.
Are you headed to York next month?
George
Up in the air. My wife had a knee replacement this past week and it my be too early to leave her alone, and certainly too early for her to make the trip.
Peter
Peter,
Best wishes for her to have a speedy recovery. Good time for her to have some good books to read.
Tom
Updated 10/4/2016:
I'm getting to the point where forward progress on the original Panhandle is becoming difficult. I've abandoned work on the bridge abutments. In fact, I've completely re-thought the original design as well. I think it was too difficult to build. It did not use the right materials or play to their strengths. Chances are the plywood sheets for the abutment sides would have warped. It would have required a lot of effort to make them match up without a guarantee of a decent outcome. I'm learning. In the past, I would have powered through and hoped for the best.
I've decided to re-design the abutments and have them made by the same person who did the wonderful job on the bridge piers. As the bridge is the centerpiece of the layout and the expansion will improve the accuracy (wrt the prototype), this makes the most sense. The result should be better than what I could deliver and it will compliment the bridge.
I've also decided not to spend any effort re-attaching signals. The layout is coming down in mid-January.
George
10/10/2016:
We're making steel! Or at least we appear to be making steel.
I got the Open Hearth smokestacks wired up.
George
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Updated 10/16/2016:
I received the first of my new piers today. It will be going to York later in the week when I speak with the bridge builders.
First, the prototype.
Now, the model.
I think they look pretty similar. What do you think?
George
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Those piers will look great!
Peter
I see that bridge several day sa week, those look great.
Peter & Dave,
Thank you. I am very happy with the look as well. It will be interesting to see what the builders think of it.
I am currently working on the abutments (end piers). I think those are going to be fascinating; they are very different from all the others.
Peter - have your odds of attending York improved?
George
Updated 10/23/2016:
Figured I'd wire up some MTH Floodlight towers using my 12VDC bus. Did the first one and this is what I got...
I'm seeing 9.6 VDC at the bridge piers (they have Evans Design U3TR slow red blinking LEDs on them as navigational aids). I might have to go to a nearby 12VAC bus (same one that fires the smokestacks at the Open Hearth).
Here's a view of both floodlight towers.
That's annoying. I just spent 30 minutes under the layout.
George
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Looks great George! I like the look of those towers...
Andy
Updated 10/24/2016:
Lamp issue fixed. I was putting 9.6-9.7 volts through the MTH Floodlights. Although they are rated for 7-16 volts (AC or DC), obviously 9.6v produces a very dim light.
I took my 12 VAC feed (from a PowerChief 120F) to my Open Hearth smokestacks and ran an extension to one of the floodlights. Turns out to be 13 VAC at the accessory.
But at least the tower lights up. It's somewhat brighter than before, but not overpowering.
And yes, that Pennsy signal in the background has lost its mind. It's indicating "ALL CLEAR" when it should be indicating "STOP". Not sure what's up with that.
George
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Updated 10/25/2016:
Got both MTH Floodlight towers hooked up to the 12VAC accessory bus. The view is looking "north" with the Open Hearth on the immediate right.
George
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What about the relay controlling the signal might be bad or The board in the signal is bad
