Ford Steel on the Rouge - The Titanic Rouge Factory 

As long as there is cheaper labour somewhere else in the world that's where the new factories are going to be built.

@@rockets4kids Then those companies need to be banned from our markets.

@@rockets4kids those products shouldn't be allowed in our markets. They should be banned like they were till Nixon sold Americans out and allowed overseas imports. He wasn't called Tricky Dick for nothing!

@@davidjackson3592 what

TheNacropolice You and all people must realize times change and we must change as well.

You’ve probably been to Camp Dearborn as well

@@blauer2551 It was a summer ritual. Did you have family that worked for Ford?

@@timmyeades7908 I live close by Camp Dearborn and occasionally golf there, but growing up in Detroit you always knew someone that was going there on the weekends whose dad or uncle worked for Ford.

My dad worked at Turnpike Ford. They assembled a lot of Ford chassis trucks for different purposes. He would take me with him to work during summer breaks. Saw plenty of ford F series converted to ambulances, tow trucks, flat beds, etc.

My great grand da was born around 1806 started working around 9-10 as an oiler on steam engines, then in his 20's made mechanic then late 20 or early 30's made engineer. He worked all kinds of places, not sure, but mostly steam engines in manufacturing, then much later fuel oil machines while they were running. The machines never stopped, they were maintained while running 24x7 and he worked every day 18 hours a day many times. You were measured by engine down time and maintenance cost and down time back then meant a high possibility of losing your job. Luckily, steam engines were well suited to never stopping. The other way you rose in your career was keeping all your fingers and toes and not dying because you were always working with moving parts. It was a new frontier and a lot of men died trying to figure out how to do things right. The industrial age was an amazing thing that brought great wealth, but that road was paved in blood and many lives. Luckily, he only lost three fingers in his career and lived to see 88. Men that work in manufacturing are the ones that really make the world turn on its axis and they really should be the ones we venerate. It not only took a lot of muscle and endurance, but these men had to be intelligent, and be able to solve complex mechanical problems on their feet while not losing their lives or their limbs. My grand da followed in his footsteps almost exactly but by then, rail roads were well established and that's where he landed and they were much safer. He only lost one finger and a couple of toes. My dad was an auto dealer through luck and working 24x7 which killed him in his 40's but he was "successful". The only one I got to know was my grand da who told me my dad worked with the NADA to rip up all the rail road passenger lines. The NADA was/is one of the most powerful lobby groups in the USA. It was a sticking point for him regardless of what when and why. He was amazed how fast things moved because in his mind, the move to diesel and fuel oil from steam meant that rail was superior because you could run it on anything so it's future was assured. It was more efficient, more cost effective and was safer than automobiles. He did tell me however that the sheer amount of horse dung, thousands of tons, that had to be dealt with every single day in major urban centers was a real problem. They never thought that using it as fuel on a very large scale was really possible but I'm not sure why or maybe they did, but it was a real issue that people were very happy to be rid of with the automobile. I remember as a kid trying to imagine what a hundred thousand tons of horse dung would even look like or smell... kids.

Dick, about what time frame did you work at this plant and is it still in use today??? Thanks

The Rouge still runs today, however ingot pouring has been replaced with continuous casting in the 70s. The old hot strip in this vid was replaced with the newer hot mill, in the 70s as well. I've worked in the Rouge plant (As a contract worker) over the past 15 years, from just after it was spun off by Ford, to be turned into Rouge Steel. RS went insolvent, and was bought by the Russians and operated by Severstal. Severstal sold the plant to AK steel about four years ago, and they operate it today. Of the three blast furnaces in the picture, (A, B, and C) from right to left as viewed from the slip/ore bridges, only C operates....and that isn't the original furnace. The C furnace in the picture was torn down about 10 years ago, and a state of the art furnace was installed. The new furnace produces more iron than the previous three combined. The coke ovens are gone, torn down about 20 years back. The old cold mill (Tandem and 4 pickling lines) has been demo'd and replaced with a new PLTCM (Pickle Line Tandem Cold Mill) and a hot dip galv line. Not sure if the skin mill is still running, but it bet it is, as there has to be someplace to temper the sheet. Annealing furnaces still run in the old cold mill. Three strand continuous caster... Not much more to say, i suppose.. The plant is still fully functional, however.

Yea man...I love info like this...I'd bet you earn yer money there...keep it up. Backbone of our country

We have an ak steel 50 mile down the road in Ashland ky....I'll get in there one day and check it out.

@@GKBigmack thanks man my son works for AK. crane tech at the plant nice to know. he sends me pics of 2to 3 hundred feet off the ground makes me dizzy to look at pics😨

A story truly in need of telling.

I worked at Great Lakes for 8 years and then got out, or I would not be here. Many places were hell holes especially Zug Island where I spend 2 years. A deadly environment for human beings or any other species. People who never experienced it can't imagine the horror.

Thank you Mr. Ford

Almost have my 30 now, been a good run!

They didn't make copper wires there did they?

Back in 1978 we had ingots. soaking pits , bloomer mill and a few other things but no computers on the job . things were a little different when I left. (ArcelorMittal)

US Steel here. Everything is PLC driven nowadays... back then it was all relay logic and training... knowing when to crack the pistol grip one way or another, or to push the correct button....

@PikPobedy And a lot less man hours per ton

A lot has changed. No open hearths, teeming cars, soaking pits. Continuous casting replaced it all.

@@GKBigmack I know, right? No more slate boards, MG sets, mag amps, analog regulator panels, DC exciters, synchronous motors, arc chutes... sigh.

I was thinking "Welcome to flavor country"

What do you mean old days? Its a steel mill not a feelings mill plenty of guys still smoke on the job

That was Henry Ford himself. He liked to think big and made the car industry what it is today.

Just imagine 10k years from now it will all be gone. Turned to dust without a trace. Cars rot into the ground in a single century. Makes you wonder what could have existed in vast ancient times that we have no clue about

@@JohnnyRebKy You need to take a black studies course and learn how in Central Africa 100,000 years ago the technology was far, far more advanced than today. Every modern Europeen technology was stolen from the Africans.

whiteknightcat ASMR

Ford still does this?

Ak forced a lot of good people out.

Only us who worked in furnace can truly appreciate ❤ 4th of July is never the same.

At Inland Steel we had our own bigger toys . Marvelous, engineering and a marvelous pure HELL at times . A lot in this film is old way of making steel , the ingots, open heart and soaking pit are no more. the bof and continuous caster eliminated that. Many people died on the job with out any RESPECT

@Jim Allen SIR . I witnessed (steelworker )and the facts. the mills were GREAT gave me a living .Miss Rand , philosophy and journalism I don't know

Big business sold out to money over country, the men and women in this video built America, not overpaid executives who robbed it ( not specific to Ford)

Maybe it`s because they don`t think we`re all stupid like you seem to think we are.

When someone told you go to hell did you reply. ...just got back and be headed back in the morning

Men like you sir are the role models we need.

What building?

are they hiring?

Severstal?

It's sadly funny to know that people who no nothing of this type of lifestyle and real hard work get praised and worshipped in this country because they were taught how to get wealthy off of the backs of individuals who did this kind of work.

I think we're passed the point of being great again, unless someone who knows the game as well as the great grifters changes some of the rules.

The times, they are a changin - sad but true

Mgmt made out pretty well, fat retirement/golden parachutes. Too bad for the peons, though.

@chris richard You can't blame the unions for the entire mess. They were greedy sure but it takes two sides to ruin a good thing. Corporations are just as greedy imo.

_They_ _were_ _greedy_ _sure_ _but_ _it_ _takes_ _two_ _sides_ _to_ _ruin_ _a_ _good_ _thing._ You can point fingers until the cows come home, whatever floats your boat. The production is elsewhere, where people are happy to have an income, and don't worry about how much the boss is making. Reality bites, and finger-pointing doesn't change it.

@chris richard Bullshit. Germany and France have even stronger unions and labour laws. They can still compete can't they? People say 'but they get government subsidies", but so does GM and Ford in their own way (bail outs, tax breaks etc). Increased profit is the main reason for offshoring. Enough profit is not enough for a modern CEO. Their job is to always increase returns for investors. Charged with the task of achieving endless growth they do whatever it takes, even if it means putting locals out of work. Plenty of profitable plants have been closed down and shipped offshore where they could make bigger profits. They only have allegiance to shareholders, not to the workers of the country where the company was originally formed. p.s. These companies are also masters of avoiding the tax man and hiding their money in the Caymans etc. Public debt in the USA is $22 trillion while the books are always in the red as infrastructure crumbles to an international rating of D minus. The country is spending over half of its discretionary budget on the military because all those offshore assets and US multinational corporation's interests need securing. I do not see how it can continue myself. If it was a business it would be declared insolvent and be forced to restructure.

Well documented Henry ford was supplier of armaments snd equipment for Adolf Hitler. USA had to force Henry Ford to stop producing weaponry for Nazi Germany. They forced him into converting his brand new facility in Willow run Michigan in to a bomber aircraft factory. The largest in the world. He would have been arrested as enemy of the state had he not conceded. That's the truth about your visionary. Henry Ford had many bad things associated with him. But his money has gotten them pushed to the back of the history lesson. He cheated on his wife. He hired felons directly put of prison to be his anti union enforcement group called ford services. They made visits to your family if you talked about union. They followed ford workers to the club, to public events,to bars and if they got any word of you talking with somebody about union you got threats to your family and you beaten up and hospitalized. Thugs these guys were. Ford thugs. Worse than the mob because they had big business money behind them. Even bought off the newspapers and the police. These are documented facts. Labor studies class by Wayne State University exposed me to this and many other attrocities of big business. Plus they provided the source material to back it up. I highly recommend anybody seeking the truth take some classes there.

@@ronaldarchibald2506 He was selling when America was neutral. America sold to both powers during ww1 for a time period. Gun manufactures did that as well. They were called "merchants of death". If politicians had kept the US neutral during ww1 all powers would have ran out of money and be forced to sue for peace.After all the gold standard was a thing back then.

We have never stopped making things and still have industrial manufacturing at the highest levels...Only we now make the hard stuff...Boeing, McDonald Douglas, GE, US steel, The big three car makers still have facilities here, Caterpillar...etc etc etc...Don't sell us short; we make high value high dollar items...Let the third worlds make the widgets...

Just FYI, Trump is irrelevant, a figment of his own imagination. Anyway, soon to be recycled as scrap. B-bye.

Brandon S : tariffs, are just a bargaining tool. Not permanent.

Wouldn't want to take your money because of that disgusting fraudulent combed-over gas-bag. POS

@@jacquesblaque7728 - sure we will bring back a democrat president to put America back into the downward spiral obama had us in.. no thanks!

I was there when he said it. He was right. UAW head, Walter Reuther was always in favor of global trade but it had to include building strong unions in those countries and a wage rate that wouldn't take US jobs away. He lost that battle.

I didn't. I warned anyone that would listen.

@J Smith It's bigger than Trump. He can't change anything. It's too late.

@J Smith What exactly has he reversed? Those 3,000 jobs he claimed to have saved in Indiana are in Mexico or have been eliminated. The tax breaks he gave businesses to expand were used to buy down their debt and raises of 3% haven't kept pace with inflation. Social Security was payable beginning at age 62 and full benefits at 65, today's employees won't see that until they are in their mid-70s, if they live that long without health insurance!

Along with" willow run" plant built the bomers in Ypsilanti i can see from my apt window

Ford sold truck engines and more to Germany, Poland, Russia, US and anybody else who wanted supplies.

Ford was as much on hitlers side lol

@@bradwyrick4738 so was GM, IBM, HUGO, BOSCH. Quite a Lot of companies, even non german, were involved. Even some major companies outside of germany who were european who had plants and facilities in germany were involved. It was pretty much the majority of Mega Corporations at the time.

Thank you Mr. Ford !!!

Look at Toyota.

river rouge is still there today ford owns the assembly side and AK owns the steel side

Ford was a control freak. He even owned The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad that serviced the plant, as well as the ships that brought the ore in.

@@andrewarmstrong7310 he also bought a rubber farm in south America for his tires

@@cplpetergriffin1583 Yes he did and that put him in conflict with both Firestone and Goodyear.

much more interesting.

the bible says 66 times that pride is not good and is the down fall of mankind,,,,,,,,,,,,Willie

yep, most of those men are long dead.

There were drawbacks.

Don't blame Ford alone - - - the infamous "dirtiest spot on Earth" ZUG Island is at the mouth of the river - within eye sight ... Detroit Main Sewer Works • and a host of Heavy industries 🏭🏭🏭

the city is ooooooo so much better now, w/o the industry.....ooooooh so much better, lol.

@@KingRoseArchives whats the copyright on this, i swear that's my dad at 10:48, but he thinks it was shot before he started?

i remember passing Dearborn Assembly Plant, and seeing nothing but Mustangs parked in the lot. You could tell which days they sprayed what color. they would be parked in a hap hazard color coordination

own power plant on site.

@@JamesThomas-pj2lx blew up in 99

The destruction all began with the communist introduction of feminism in America in 1970.....its been all down hill since then........Willie

give omari cooper a hard time.....he's too good of a dude.

@@JamesThomas-pj2lx I would but I didn't know him. I just quit AK. Now at Marathon Refinery.

they sold whole thing in..... 89ish, its still runs tonight.

The steel they make there is obsolete for automakers use. Even in the 90s a good deal of Rouge Steel production was exported.

" What A Movie!!! "

Neal was THERE.

Sheet Steel Cuts!

@Brandon S did you not hear that it took 2 years to learn and 3 to become good? I call that a skill. Not everyone is cut out to be an engineer or fabricator, etc. Producing something yourself makes you self reliant. Paying others (China,Mexico, etc) to do your dirty work makes you a slave to them. When you find your servant is your master. Everything has its ups and downs. You cant deny our economy was better then with more job opportunities. Jobs that paid well too. Skilled, unskilled, white or blue collar.

They didn't live long afterward.

Yeah , kinda goes with the territory.

Yes. This mill is still open. There is a huge steel works along the Detroit River. There are a total of 12 integrated steel mills operating in the US.

Yep. Edgar Thompson in Pittsburg; Arcellor, in East Chicago; Gary Works; Burns Harbor; etc. plenty of mini mills left, too.

Granite city steel division is U.S. steel Granite city Illinois. Iron making to finished coiled steel.

That Marlboro taste better when the ambient temp is around 130 in the plant.

Abraham Darby (1668-1717) was the first man to successfully smelt iron ore with coke. His furnace was not made of iron, and neither are the furnaces used to me steel. The earliest vessels as well as today's are lined with clay firebrick. It's no coincidence that the cradle of British steelmaking sits on top of four seams of coal, one seam of iron ore and two seams of fire clay.

They still need to pour molten metal. Nothing really changes , except technology. Still a hot , filthy job performed by some badass workers who are far from soft.

Trading the jobs to countries like China and Japan. Theres a reason why Trump is changing our trade with China.

What happened? Nothing, they still do. Some expanded and now manufacture and ship back here. Others build here and export elsewhere.

EPA UAW L&I = freeloaders

You got that right ! Pre man buns , woke society and lazy workers.

Your momma.

passed by it mon?

still running strong

Glen Reynol007

Glen Reynol007 ya i work there

The steel mill was sold off and is an independent company now. Was Severstal (a Russian company) sold to AK Steel in 2014 due to the Ukrainian crisis and a fear that it would suffer from the relationship. Still operating today.

It takes a constant temp around 3000 degrees as mentioned in the video.

Those pots are lined with firebrick and other hi temp refractory materials, which protect the steel casings of the ladles, torpedo cars, etc.

Yes like Backyardblacksmith said, furnaces are also lined with those bricks. Our furnaces stay around 2800 degrees.

Cheers lads

the corporations prospered...

Clinton was just a tool of the deep state globalists as were the Bushes and Obammy. That has changed with Trump. He may not be perfect but no one "owns him". That is why so many are out to destroy him, and despite he being very rich already, is very popular with the common man.

Not really, Ford, GM, and Chrysler have all had problems. You can not compete with foreign workers who will work in horrible conditions and for 1/4 what U.S. workers will. As people in non-industrial countries became educated -- there was no holding them back.

We were losing mfr jobs before Nafta .. before Bill Clinton -90's .... Reagan era-1980's is when we lost a lots of mfr'g and down hill from there...

@@johnstudd4245 Nope! Look at GM Lordstown ... closed after over 50 yrs --got Trump tax break but closed plant ... producing Chevy Blazer in Mexico ... If he was "for the common man" why is he giving corporations a tax break--- with no strings attached ? The Corp's should only get tax breaks for creating jobs! This is happening all over USA . Advice: Buy a BIG Jar of Vasaline!

I don't believe so doesn't look big enough to be the fitz

Asbestos fire brick

It isn't a car factory. It's a steel mill.

as of the 90's they were local 600 UAW. Separate unit, different contract but, UAW. Unions are in the business of representing employees. The was no way they would let the steelworkers union get them and get the dues. The workers really didn't want a new union to take over.

uaw

Ford had very intelligent engineers , the best and the brightist . Thats how !