I admire your knowledge and the persistence it took to move this massive engine. You have preserved a piece of history that would have been lost forever. Also, rescuing the Porter engines was a major feat that rescued another part of the steel mill history. Thanks for all you do.
This is amazing. Thank you for your efforts to preserve this engine. Really good explanations as to the 'How and Why' of what you are showing us in this presentation. Keep them going ! Bill S.
Great video, thanks for putting it together. My father was a machinist at Brier Hill from ‘43 until ‘77. He probably had his hands on that engine at some point.
Great job Rick 👏 👍... Hope to be back out soon. Maybe May while going to bother Pete Jedlicka. Happy new year 🎉! Richard Bause Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad
Glad to see work back on the Todd. I would have figured those dog bones to be 500+ pounds. If I saw someone carrying them off I would probably just have to let them go. Lol😂
Thanks Rick, i've been waiting for this. I love the Porters, but the Tod engine is what brought me to your channel a few years ago. The valve gear is very interesting. Enjoyed as always! Cheers bud.
We called those drive shafts between the pinion stand and the work stand with the specific term as spindles. At mill changeovers some older and smaller rolling mills required remove/install each roll individually. On our Blooming 1150 mill its massive rolls were assembled into cassette of 2 rolls and were pulling out of the stand after 2 spindles got disconnected from the rolls. The installation of another cassette took a reverse sequence. I believe the moving of the cassette was assisted by hydraulics. I'm sure the cassette rolled on 2 rail type guides. Near the work stand was designated area for operations with cassettes. By the way there're exist the specific names for work stands with 2 work rolls call 'duo stand', with 3 work rolls-'trio stand', with 4 work rolls-'quattro stand'. All steam engines were gone at major relines of all rolling mills at our steel mill works in 30's of last century. What was interesting with the ~25-30' in diameter flywheel in the old rolling shop#3 was that there were 4 different mills in one shop with the group drive of all 4 mills. That flywheel was still fully functional even everything ran from electric motors. The old mill 280 in that shop could produce one specific hot strip end product for grain harvesters. That interesting strip, called by steelworkers 'a bitch' with grooves or teeth spaced at 45 degrees and a depth of 3/8"-1/2"along the entire length of the strip. The grain harvester manufacturer wanted to acquire entire mill, when rumors spread about the closure of the shop.
Sadly many small towns are the dumping grounds for poor. I live in a small town in Canada and the "bad people" steal everything that's not bolted down. Love the videos, thank you for all the eddort!
If you ever visit England you should make a point of going to Sheffield in Yorkshire and visit the Kelham Island Museum where there is a 12000HP 3 simple cylinder reversing vertical steam engine that originally drove an armour plate mill in the River Don works of the Cammell Laird Company. It is steamed from a gas fired package boiler and is demonstrated running two or three times a day! It has a version of Joy valve gear and can go from full speed forward to full speed reverse in 2 seconds! My oldest son lives in Sheffield and every time we go to visit him I make a point of going to see this impressive engine running. The museum also has a lot more of interest regarding the iron and steel industry and the extensive cutlery manufacturing that Sheffield is world famous for! Malcolm Young.
Rick, Thank you for Todd engine overview. The dual piston valves on the HP combined with the Corliss on the LP is very unique. The fact of you saving this engine is an amazing accomplishment! In 2008, you made a video on the United Engineering / Todd twin tandem compound blooming mill engine at Weirton, WV. video here ……. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hJru_jwop6A.htmlsi=X_GqcD_mdjB_Q1PT We recently had an engine driven gas compressor built by Bidell at their Weirton shop which, as I understand, occupies the former machine shop at the former Weirton Steel facility. Upon looking at the Google Maps last year (and still does today) shows the blooming mill steam engine in the middle of a lot by itself with small piles of scrap close to it. I was stirred up thinking it survived, it did not. Last year, after our compressor inspection I took a thorough look from the perimeter of the property plus made contact through a party at Cleveland Cliffs, though site staff scrapping the remains of the Weirton plant and to the developer who now owns that portion of the former Weirton Steel property, the engine has truly been removed, from what I gathered it may have lingered to possibly 2017. Thank you for making that film and especially preserving the Todd engine you have! I too witnessed large iron going to extinction. I was able to survey (2) large Skinner uniflow steam generators I believe they were 25 ft in length at least, also with tail rods on the pistons. They were scrapped with the demolition of the power house at an old Zenith plant in Watsontown, PA. We, the few who care about this industrial history are few and so much of it quietly dies in the chaos and swarm of progress. Great job Rick! There will hopefully be others willing to carry the memory forward. Take care now, Randy
I was able to salvage some parts off of the Weirton engine years ago before the building was demolished. Mostly some lubricator parts that were unique to the Tod engine as well as a tachometer, piston rings and other misc. items.
