Working rail roads and their tracks.

[MossRoad]

I believe I seen some Columbia rails when I was cutting up old rails at my work.

They haven't been at that location long enough to have old rails, I'd guess. My wife went to college in Ft. Wayne in the early 80's. I'd visit her quite often, as it's only 90 miles away (about an hour for a doofus on a motorcycle (me)), and it wasn't there in the 80's, 90's. I doubt it's 20 years old yet.

 

[MossRoad]

Wonder how long it’ll be before they can’t meet stricter emissions standards and have to close

Good question. I dunno the answer. It's not an old mill. I'd guess less than 20 years.

 

[MossRoad]

You do know what the initial primary motivator for SDI to locate in Indiana was?

Free corn?

 

[MossRoad]

Or maybe right to work?

 

[MossRoad]

We buy a lot of steel from them, I've toured their mill a couple of times. Pretty cool place. 2 electric melt furnaces. The scale of the facility is hard to comprehend.

Did you happen to find out how long it's been there? Wasn't there when the wife was in school in the early 80s.

 

[5030]

Or maybe right to work?

BINGO

 

[5030]

I will say the cafeteria in the 'Human Building' at SDI, Butler has good food. I've eaten there many times. I know a lot of the employees as well. Place is so clean inside ( production areas) you can eat off the floor. SDI prides itself on safety and productivity. That is Bussey's credo.

The also own Omni Source.

 

[jjeff]

You do know what the initial primary motivator for SDI to locate in Indiana was?

Didn't "Right to work" pass less than 10 yrs ago in Indiana? Long after steel Mills made Indiana as there production hub. Imo it is pretty centrally located around manufacturing hubs that use the steel, iron ore from the northern great lakes , and the coal mines in Appalachia, for blast furnaces and coke.

 

[Aquamoose]

Amazing! I wonder if we could even build something like that anymore with the entire generations of welders, steel erectors, and train/track building companies mostly now done by foreign countries?
Almost worth a trip across the country to enjoy that!
The video alone was beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Must have made an amazing train ride….

I’ve actually thought about that while riding the trail. I’m a history nut and often imagine what it’s like to be the surveyors who plotted the route for the crew to build & tunnel through, especially with limited technology and access to resources. If you like the outdoors, the area is rich with sights and things you could do with thousands miles of trails, various bodies of water, including one the Navy uses to test submarine prototypes (chosen because it’s deep & quiet) multiple hydroelectric dams, and many quaint towns you can explore.

 

[MossRoad]

BINGO

 

[Aquamoose]

I haven't ridden much in the past few years, but that looks like an interesting ride. I'll be 71 next summer and rail grades are usually pretty easy riding, although a 30 mile round trip might be a bit much, but it would be fun to try. Although when I was in riding shape, distance wasn't that big of a deal as long as I was fueled and hydrated. Rode a metric century the week of my 60th birthday just to say I did it.

It’s downhill one way and you can let them bus you back (on logging roads) to the exit of the first tunnel to pedal back through to the parking lot. Electric bikes are welcomed. I can totally see myself at 71 still riding it. Dotted along the route are information about the history of the Hiawatha line. Breathtaking every single time.

 

[5030]

Didn't "Right to work" pass less than 10 yrs ago in Indiana? Long after steel Mills made Indiana as there production hub. Imo it is pretty centrally located around manufacturing hubs that use the steel, iron ore from the northern great lakes , and the coal mines in Appalachia, for blast furnaces and coke.

Been longer than that because I retired over 10 years ago and SDI was there at least 10 years before I retired SDI, Butler). reason why I know a bit about SDI is Bussey's son and I are friends and no, he don't work for his dad either.

Gary mills are union btw. ASW.

Right to work only means you (as an employee) don't have to join the union to work in a union shop or what is referred to as a 'closed shop'. In Indiana you can have it either way and interestingly whether you are a union member or not, in a union shop, the union still has to represent you in an initial grievance, after that it's all on you.

If I lived in Indiana, I'd probably be working at an SDI facility even today. I don't (live in Indiana) and retirement is nice. I can farm without interruption.

 

[5030]

...lol What is brown and lays in the grass.... 'Gomers Pile'...

 

[MossRoad]

Much of this travels by rail in the US to yards around the country, where it's loaded onto trucks for delivery... we see a lot of steel on trains in Northern Indiana.

Indiana makes more steel than any other state in the U.S.
Indiana has the largest steel mill in the U.S. in Gary.
The US produced 81.6 million metric tons of steel in 2017.
The US imported 34.6 million metric tons of steel in 2017.
Of the total 116.2 million metric tons of steel in the US in 2017, only 8.1 million metric tons of steel were imported from China in 2017.
In 2017, the US exported 7.6 million metric tons of steel.

That means the net import of steel from China displacing US produced steel was 0.5 million metric tons in 2017.

That's 0.43%.

Can we please get back to railroads and their tracks?

 

[MossRoad]

...lol What is brown and lays in the grass.... 'Gomers Pile'...

That bad....

 

[5030]

Certainly with one exception, US Steel in Gary is now Accelor Mittal, least I believe they are. Been away from the industry for a while.

 

[MossRoad]

Certainly with one exception, US Steel in Gary is now Accelor Mittal, least I believe they are. Been away from the industry for a while.

Yes, and they have quite the rail system there. Look it up on Google Earth. Quite impressive.

 

[MossRoad]

Quite the busy place...

 

[5030]

One last trivia thing Mossy....Know why some master coils are loaded in gondola's and some on coil cars with no lids, while other have lids? ...and you do know wo owns Accelor Mittal right? Hint, not us....

 

[ArlyA]

They haven't been at that location long enough to have old rails, I'd guess. My wife went to college in Ft. Wayne in the early 80's. I'd visit her quite often, as it's only 90 miles away (about an hour for a doofus on a motorcycle (me)), and it wasn't there in the 80's, 90's. I doubt it's 20 years old yet.

May have been Cambria steel I seen.

as seen on wiki
---------------------------------
The Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a major 19th-century industrial producer of iron and steel. Founded in 1852, it had the nation's largest steel foundry in the 1870s, and was renamed the Cambria Steel Company in 1898. The company used many innovations in the steelmaking process, including those of William Kelly and Henry Bessemer. The company was acquired in 1923 by the Bethlehem Steel Company. The company's historic facilities, extending some 12 miles (19 km) along the Conemaugh and Little Conemaugh Rivers, are a National Historic Landmark District.

A number of works by the firm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1][4]