Skip to main content

Several months ago I submitted an article and photos to O Gauge Railroading Magazine on my finally completed 8' x 8' steel mill platform. The article was published in the June/July edition and was titled "Hot Metal in Steel City".  In the article I described my attempt to model portions of the Jones and Laughlin (J&L) Southside Works in my hometown of Pittsburgh during the late 1950's and early 1960's, with special emphasis on trying to capture the heat of molten iron and steel in various stages of its production.  Attached are some photos that I had submitted with the article that were not used, but I think turned out pretty well.  Hopefully this post and attached photos will get the discussion going again on modeling steel mills.

Doug Chiado

Attachments

Images (10)
  • 5A3A7306: Early morning light casts shadows across the electric arc furnace onto the rolling mill and an already busy mill scene.
  • 5A3A7322: This photo captures the remelting of scrap steel in the electric arc furnace (blue light ) which is then poured into ingot molds (left front of photo).  The lighted ingots have been stripped from their molds and are starting to cool.
  • 5A3A7355: Inside of electric arc furnace as early morning light shines through the EAF building.
  • 5A3A7332: Hot metal from the blast furnace cast house floor is poured into a hot metal car.
  • 5A3A7271: Maintenance and repair shop in evening light.
  • 5A3A7279: Interior of maintenance and repair shop.
  • 5A3A7282: Hot slag is poured from a slag car over a hillside.  In the backgrtound hot metal pours from the blast furnace into a waiting hot metal car.
  • 5A3A7289: Same picture as before in evening light.  The lower room light better shows off the effect of molten metal being poured.
  • 5A3A7309: To the left are molten ingots loaded onto mill cars, waiting to be moved to thee rolling mill to the right side of the photo.
  • 5A3A7293: Evening view of slag being poured over a hillside.  In the background is the Joe Magarac Foundry.

First. Congratulations Doug on getting your article published. I know as an ex author the amount of work that goes into an article for a magazine. Good stuff mate!

I will keep a lookout for the issue they actually have OGR at my local newsagent here in Perth only 16,000 miles away there is hope for us yet. Ha Ha.

It's a nice touch having the ingots and slabs lit up the engine house or workshop looks good did you snap a photo of the overall layout ?  I'm interested, if you say, yes, it's in the article, I will keep my eye out for that issue maybe even order it. Thanks. Roo.

 

Doug,

What an amazing job of story telling through your incredible detail and layout. Thanks for the informative labels desribing each photo.

I, too, am interested in an overall shot should the article include one -- your choice of an 8x8 (square and relatively small) base intrigues me.  I can imagine it worked best to fit in the various stages of the steel process?

The ingots and the slag cars are great but I feel for those guys in the "space" suits. 

I grew up in Pittsburgh in your modeling time period had a relative who worked for J&L (Beaver).  Seeing your amazing work was a great way to start the day!

Congratulations on completing your project and congratulations on your article. 

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Pete, Roo and Tomlinson.  Thanks for the kind words.  I've attached a few photos of the 8'x8' platform.  The lalley column in the middle of the platform doesn't help, but I was unwilling to remove it and see the platform crushed as the house fell on it.  As I said in the OGR magazine article, when I first thought of trying to build a steel mill complex on a 8'x8' platform I had real concerns as to whether I could even do it and still maintain the large size of the buildings in relation to each other and to the trains.  It turned out better than I expected.

Doug 

Attachments

Images (3)
  • 5A3A7252: Overview of the Jones and Laughlin Southside Works in Pittsburgh.Looking into the Electric Arc furnaceittsburgh
  • 5A3A7254: Looking into the Electric Arc Furnace with the Blast Furnace in the background.  A former engineer at Bethlehem steel described it as a thunder and lightning storm in a building, and scary as hell.Left to right -
  • 7257: L to R - Blast furnace, Ore Bridge, Joe Magarac Foundry.

Tom,

Thank you for your kind words.  They are much appreciated.  One of the reasons I submitted my article to OGR in hopes they would publish it was because of some of the comments on this thread from fellow O gauge modelers who stated they would like to build a steel mill scene or platform but weren't sure how to do it in a small space.  Hopefully the article and photos along with those I just posted may be of value to them.  Perhaps the best way is to come and view the platform, if you don't mind a drive to Bloomsburg, PA.  If you or anyone reading this is interested in viewing the platform to get ideas, email me at drc1949@ptd.net and I'll give you directions along with other things happening in the area to make the trip worthwhile.   Steamtown National Historic site in Scranton is about an hour drive away and although I have not been there in a number of years, it used to be well worth the drive to anyone interested in railroading.  Also about an hour away is the town of Jim Thorpe, which has train excursions through the Pocono Mountains.

 

Doug

Doug,

Thanks for the extra photos -- they really make the relationships in the layout clear.  And, yes, the 8x8 works really well for the scale.  An awful lot of research must have gone into this project well before the obviously large amount of building and detailing time.  

Operations are a great way to enjoy the hobby, and this layout has tons of interest :-).  I hope you get in some well earned "play" time now.

TRRR

Roo,

As always your kind words are certainly appreciated.  As I look at photos of your layout, I always think to myself "now these are the results of someone who knows how to model" and wish I had your skills and patience.  And more than a few times after I viewed your photos, I would go back and rework or add to whatever structure I was working on to try and make it more realistic, based on what I could see from your photos.  So I have to thank you and other Forum members who posted photos of their model steel mill scenes that made me go back and make better what I had previously been satisfied with.

The article photos were taken by a coworker, Shane Kiefer,  who is not a professional photographer but who has an eye for photography and produces some great work.  I think the lighting in his first two photos attached to my post of  7/16/19 are so well done, but I have no idea how he did it.  I do know that he simply used the lighting that was in the room (overhead LEDs and spotlights, or floor lamps), turning them on and off to get what he felt looked good.  He also had a very good camera that gave him a lot of options.

Roo, please keep posting photos of your layout progress because even though I say my platform is finished, you never know when one of your photos will send me back to try and make something I thought was good, even better.

Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 

DRC posted:

Roo,

As always your kind words are certainly appreciated.  As I look at photos of your layout, I always think to myself "now these are the results of someone who knows how to model" and wish I had your skills and patience.  And more than a few times after I viewed your photos, I would go back and rework or add to whatever structure I was working on to try and make it more realistic, based on what I could see from your photos.  So I have to thank you and other Forum members who posted photos of their model steel mill scenes that made me go back and make better what I had previously been satisfied with.

The article photos were taken by a coworker, Shane Kiefer,  who is not a professional photographer but who has an eye for photography and produces some great work.  I think the lighting in his first two photos attached to my post of  7/16/19 are so well done, but I have no idea how he did it.  I do know that he simply used the lighting that was in the room (overhead LEDs and spotlights, or floor lamps), turning them on and off to get what he felt looked good.  He also had a very good camera that gave him a lot of options.

Roo, please keep posting photos of your layout progress because even though I say my platform is finished, you never know when one of your photos will send me back to try and make something I thought was good, even better.

Doug

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doug. Thank you for your very kind words but don't under estimate yourself.

One thing I like about this forum the majority of us are "battlers" as far as modelling goes. Yes there are exceptional builders here and we learn from them but I get lots of ideas from the average bloke as well as the "pros" I'm glad I can help others even if it's just for the entertainment of looking at my threads! 

Your OGR article.

Your friend Shane did a very good job on those photos and deserved's to be congratulated of course without your great layout it would not have happened !

I'll keep posting here and keep the members up to date with what's happening of course being a 2-Rail layout I have the added burden of converting rolling stock all the time which interferes with the layout building but that's life, you cop it sweet and keep going mate.

Thanks again. Roo.

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×