Sunday, June 27, 2010

Youngstown Invention Comes Back Home

This railroad car, designed to transport 70 tons of molten iron between the blast furnaces and steelmaking furnaces in an integrated steel mill, has been acquired by the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation and is to be moved to the Tod Engine Heritage Park very soon.  This type of car was invented in 1923 by Fred Kling, chief engineer of the US Steel Youngstown District plants.  Mr. Kling assigned the patent to William B. Pollock Co. in Youngstown, who built quite a few of these cars for the steel industry. at least three still exist, all in the Pittsburgh area. 

With the significance of this car to our local history, we were excited to have the opportunity to bring it home and properly exhibit it at the Heritage Park.  It will be blasted, painted and exhibited coupled to our 70 ton diesel locomotive from Ellwood Engineered Castings in Hubbard.