Nice Vid for a Christmas morning. When I started working at Dofasco in Hamilton 37 years ago I started as an electrician on the ore bridges. It was one of my favorite jobs. We had three bridges two 25 tons and one newer bridge capable of 35 tons. They were all about 600 feet long and 85 feet to the main level. Much bigger than this one. The small ones had a 600 Hp motor generator set and the larger #3 bridge MG set was 1200 Hp. They were very fast the new #3 bridge hoist ran at 350 ft/min with 35 tons of ore in the bucket. We didn't use a dumper as we just ran the ore cars up the highline and dumped directly in the blast furnace ore bins. Our ore field stored about 12 million tons for the winter. Thinking of me on these old beasties gave me a nice feeling and that I thank you for. Merry Christmas to everyone there and wish you and yours a wonderful year ahead.
@@YoungstownSteelHeritage Still it looks very similar just single track instead of double. The new Ore Bridge was from the early 70's I think and the other two were from the 50's. I'm retired now and I have to visit the J&L and see the mill steam engine. I worked on a 5 stand 56" Temper mill and other finishing mills and I know what it takes electrically to roll steel so I just want to see the steam equivalent in person. That baby looks massive.
I worked a few shifts on the ore car dumber at Weirton Steel in the early 70s during the winter months. It was a cold place to work with all the metal and the wind blowing through the structure. One thing you did not mention was that the entire ore car was violently vibrated when it was turned up side down. This had to be done to get the frozen ore to slide out of the car.
I've never seen this end of a steel mill documented before, and this was an excellent explanation of the details. Thanks again Rick. I'll bet the coffee and brats in the shanty by the retarder, cooked on the coal stove, would be something great. Cheers!
P.S. cedar falls rail yard new haven, CT is abandoned but those interchange break mechanism is intact - view some photos online have good one god bless!
In Port Augusta, the coal train would go to the power station. The couplings could be rotated so the cars weren’t disconnected but rotated to empty the coal. The cabooses were low profile so they can fit in the car dumper. Later the cabooses were no longer used.
If you would like to see how a car dumper similar to this one works, the Heyl & Patterson car dumper in Huron, OH is still in operation. This video shows it in operation. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3AsP0CMUT5g.htmlsi=sPnXdnwpKhxP0HB0
A bit difficult since it would probably take a crew of a 100 and it has to run 24-7 365 because it is a continuous process. My dad worked for USS for awhile in the 80's and I can remember being in the steel plant watching the big ladles being transported to the open hearth steel furnaces and it was super loud and hot.
@@YoungstownSteelHeritage indeed, maybe the youngstown museum could move here in the future, theres a lot more room and it'd be a very accurate setting for everything you guys have :).
RU-vid turned me on to your channel a few days ago. Thanks for doing this! Enjoy your content and style! Grand Dad worked for Superior Steel in Benton Harbor, MI, and I always wondered about our once world class steel industry. The Carrie Furnaces are now on my list of places to visit. Is it possible to get a better look at that car dumper? It must have had some big counterweights itself? How did the ore exit the dumper hopper? Conveyor? Tractor?
