I LOVE this ! I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, known in the day by what they called “Bessemer furnaces”. Birmingham at one time had the distinction of the only place with all the ingredients of steel making located in one place: iron ore, coal, coke, and limestone. I remember as a child visiting an executive at one of the last plants still operating, and being handed an iron paper weight. The whole area was littered with closed mines and plants - no fences in those days - a boy’s heaven dreaming about the ghosts of workers and heat and products. Growing up, the paper printed on the front page every day the particulate count as people were becoming aware of the health effects of this particular air pollution. Frequently, as my parents would drive over the mountain to Birmingham proper, the city would be hidden by a brown atmospheric layer that stretched across the wide valley. And related, the steam shops of Southern Railroad were located close to “Sloss Furnace” in downtown (historic landmark - preserved and open for tours) were kept operating, helping keep steam alive for some years, until the CEO of Southern retired with the merger with Norfolk Western. THANK YOU.
Thanks Rick, I worked as a cast house laborer at the Weirton Steel Blast Furnaces in the early 70s. Looking forward to the continuation of this interesting story.
I'm going to start calling you Professor Rowlands. Your explanations are great, and easily understood. I love the idea of multiple videos for this. And we appreciate you Rick for sharing your passion, your hard work, and making these videos.
Carro torpedo, estrutura metálica rebitada, alto forno e sala de corrida. Tudo me é muito familiar. Pois a primeira siderúrgica do Brasil é de origem Americana. Onde trabalhei por anos.
Did they ever cast pig or ingot iron there in the early years or was it always set up for the hot melt cars to be taken to the open hearth for steel making?
Going to watch your tour series. I have been very interested in steel making for a long time now, having it as one part of a model railway layout. I did a lot of research in European steel making, some blast furnaces and steel mills were not that far away from where I live, maybe 30 miles, these are all closed too now but I have visited the places a few times when still in operation 25 years ago. When was this blast furnace built? it looks as a design built in the 1920s-1940s period to me but I'm not sure if this assumption is true.
The VAST SCALE , EXTREME TEMPERATURES AND MASSIVE OUTPUT...ALL BEYOND NORMAL ... BUT THE MINES , TRANSPORT , PROCESSED CONTENTS AND RESULTING GARBAGE.. OH MY... THE WHOLE OPERATION DEMANDS A FULL SET OF IN ACTION VIDS.. HMMMMM
