Morgan Crane In Operation

We are starting to dismantle the Morgan Crane, but before we do here is a video of it in operation.

Open Top Hot Metal Car Displayed

In January the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association moved their Pollock open top hot metal car from Brier Hill to their proposed Steel Valley Railroad Museum site on Poland Avenue in Youngstown. This car was built for either YS&T or Valley Mould & Iron, and was acquired from Ellwood Engineered Castings in 1993. At the time it had been sitting off track in front of EEC's melt shop.

The appearance of the car is a good sign that the MVRHA is making progress toward constructing their museum facility. They have a long road ahead as they own almost 20 pieces of equipment and have about 200 feet of track laid thus far!

Has Anyone Seen This Model?

This is a working model of a three stand cold strip mill. It was one of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube models, of which the seamless, butt weld pipe and 79" hot strip mill models now reside at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. However, this model is absent. This photo was taken at a trade show in the 1940s.

I have not seen any photos or mention of this model until I found this photo today. I did hear rumors that some museum out east (Smithsonian and Hagley come to mind as possibilities) had acquired a YS&T model. Could this be the one?

It sure would be great to someday find and return this model to Youngstown, if it still exists.

1892 Morgan Crane to be Preserved

The Tod Engine Foundation has recently acquired an 1892 vintage overhead crane manufactured by Morgan Engineering in Alliance, Ohio. This crane is of particular historical interest and will become an important artifact for display and use at the Tod Engine Heritage Park. The crane was originally built for Otis Steel Co. in Cleveland, and used there until the plant closed after WWII. At that time it was sold and moved to Masury, OH and placed in a new building there. It is there to this day. Still fully operational, the crane continues to make lifts to its rated capacity. However due to its age and its need for a dedicated operator, it is to be replaced with a more modern AC crane.

We will be moving the Morgan crane to the Heritage Park this spring for inclusion in the engine house. however, this complicates matters since to include it in the building we have to redesign the structure for a narrower width and add crane columns and runways. This will increase the cost of the structure, however that will be mitigated by the sale of our current 5 ton Wallace gantry crane. In the end having an authentic steel mill crane in our building will certainly make for a much more authentic visitor experience.

Demolishing the Marshall Street Bridge

Here are the trusses of the Marshall Street Bridge in downtown Youngstown being demolished in October, 2004.

Scranton Iron Furnaces

In Scranton, PA just up the tracks from the Steamtown National Park are four stone blast furnaces. The site is now a park open year round, but a century ago was a bustling iron smelting, puddling and rolling operation. Largely unknown by the throngs that visit Steamtown, it is perhaps one of the most unique stone furnace sites in the nation.

Turntable Pit in Sharpsville

I'm a bit unclear about who would have built this, but also located in Sharpsville about a half mile downstream of the Shenango reservoir dam is this turntable pit. Its located near the old alignment of the Erie mainline so there may have been a small engine facility at one time. The pit is easily accessible, located on park land near a gravel parking lot on the road which leads up to the dam. I think I paced it off to be 50' diameter.

Shenango Furnace Pump House

I don't know if this building still stands, but two winters ago I found the former Shenango Furnace river pump house in Sharpsville, PA. To get to it one had to walk along the former Erie mainline from Sharpsville west about a mile. A friend remembers seeing pumps inside the building but all we found was an empty shell. This building would have housed the equipment to pump Shnango River water up to the blast furnaces operated by Shenango, Inc. This is the same plant that the Mesta blowing engine at Pittsburgh's Station Square came from.

Rivers of Steel in Homestead, PA

Those of us interested in industrial heritage should make a point to visit the Bost Building at the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area in downtown Homestead, PA. The facility includes an archives library and a large exhibit area, pictured here. They are open Monday through Friday 10 am to 4 pm, Saturdays by appointment. Across the river can be seen Carrie blast furnaces 6 and 7, which have been spared and will become a future historical site.

US Steel Ohio Works

The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor has a wonderful collection of photographs depicting various rebuilds of the Ohio Works blast furnaces in the 1940s and 1950s. This particular photos from their collection shows all six blast furnaces with a section of the stockhouse trestle between 5 and 6 being rebuilt. I am sure this caused some operational headaches for the ironmaking department, although I don't think number 6 furnace was operating at that time.

Great News!

Over the past week the Tod Engine Foundation has brought in $9,000 for the Tod Engine House construction project! The money represents a $2,000 gift from Daniel Becker of Struthers, OH, $2,000 from the sale of an asset and $5,000 gift from the William B. Pollock Co. Foundation. The Pollock check arrived in the mail today, and I was literally dancing around the engine with it in my hand! :-)

My 12 year old dream of saving the Tod Engine and restoring it is coming true, piece by piece. With these latest donations the purchase of the steel building will be fully funded. There is still one more contribution that we are expecting, and when that comes in the foundation work for the building will be fully paid for. There is still much more to do and I will be working on the second phase of our capital campaign, but for now its time to sit back and appreciate just how far we have come.

Just think, in 1995 when I discovered the Tod Engine, it was sitting deep in an active steel mill scheduled for demolition. I was 22 years old, never been in a steel mill before in my life, had no money and no idea what I was doing. The first miracle was getting North Star Steel to donate the engine, which had a high scrap value to them. The next miracle was getting 250 tons of parts taken apart, moved and stored and do it for under $10,000. The Tod family paid for half of that and I maxed out a credit card to pay the rest.

Four years went by before I found a piece of property that I could afford to buy for the engine. Some may not think it to be the ideal location but for what I could afford its better than nothing. So I forked over another 15k to buy the land (I'm still paying that line of credit off). Then it took another six years to move all the parts to the new site, and much more money. I don't keep track of how much of my personal money goes into the project but as you can tell from the ratty truck I drive I don't spend anything on me!

During 2007 we decided to go big time, set our sights high and put up a good quality steel building for the engine. With the leadership of the Tod family we have raised $18,500 from local foundations this year, bringing the total income of the Foundation to over $40k. 2008 we will continue to build upon this and raise additional money to finish off the building and grounds while I spend all of next summer actually erecting the structure.(I don't hire contractors, I'll do all this work myelf).

Come 2009 we hope that our building will be finished and the engine cosmetically restored enough to hold an official grand opening for the Tod Engine Heritage Park!

So its a very Merry Christmas here at the Tod Engine Foundation! I can't believe the incredibly good year 2007 has been to us. Thanks everyone for your continued support of our project. God bless!

Tod Engine Foundation Starts Steelheritage.org

On December 8 the Tod Engine Foundation started steelheritage.org, a website that will eventually become a clearinghouse of information about all aspects of the study of the steel industry. The site initially hosts only a series of discussion boards covering topics such as steel history and preservation, contemporary steelmaking and steel modeling. However it will expand to include many more resources geared toward prople who have an interest in the steel industry beyond the business aspects.

Please take a look and join in the discussions!
http://www.steelheritage.org

Become a Friend of the Tod Engine

You can show your support for our project and take part in one of the most important steel industry preservation projects in America by become a Friend of the Tod Engine. I know the Tod already has many friends by the number of visits to our websites, now you can make it official! You can become a Friend with a minimum $20.00 contribution to the Tod Engine Foundation. As a benefit of membership you will receive a discount on our expanding array of merchandise as well as the personal satisfaction that comes from helping a worthy cause.

All income that we receive goes straight to our main goal of preserving the Tod Engine and building the Tod Engine Heritage Park. You can pay your dues online here:
https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=311728637
In the Designation field please put "Friend of Tod Engine" so that I know to add you to the membership roster.

You can also mail the dues to Tod Engine Foundation, 2261 Hubbard Road, Youngstown, OH 44505.

Thanks so much!

Tod Engine DVD Available

Back in 1996-97 when we dismantled the Tod Engine I brought along a camcorder on many of the work sessions. This DVD is created from that raw video and is a documentation of the process of taking apart and moving the engine to the plate mill in Girard for storage. At the end of the video is footage of the big Tod twin tandem compound engines in operation at Bethlehem Steel and a visit to the now demolished Tod water pumping engine at Lake Rockwell in Kent, Ohio. Jeff Borne at Prairie Works has done an excellent job creating this DVD, and $15.00 from each sale comes back to us for use in preserving the Tod Engine. Go to Jeff's website http://www.prairie-works.com/iron.html and order this DVD. You will enjoy it!

Tod Engine Heritage Park Progress Report

Things have settled down at the Heritage Park due to the onset of colder weather. We still plan to set the crankshaft in place in the main bearings and put the flywheel together this winter. All preparations have been made for that to happen and we are now waiting for Grim's Crane Service to fit us into their schedule.

The hot metal car is also just about ready to be moved. The display track is finished, and only a little bit of work remains to ready the car for its trip to Youngstown. IT would probably be better if the ground were frozen when we move the car so as to keep the crane from sinking into our front yard at the Heritage Park.

Fundraising continues for the new building. I am still confident that we will raise the amount neccessary to begin construction come spring. So far there is over $12,000 in the bank, another $5,000 pledged and proposals are out for more. The goal is $30,000 and the deadline for that is summer of next year.

Over the winter Ken Izzo and I will be moving the YS&T Brier Hill drawing collection to a new home. The drawings are currently stored in Sharon, PA in a rented room, however I own a vacant house about a mile from the Heritage Park and recently decided that the house would be a better repository for the collection. There is more room at this location and it is closer to our main facility. The eventual permanent home for the collection will be at the Heritage Park in a proposed library.

We have recently decided to begin offering "Friend of the Tod Engine" memberships. The membership dues are $20 per year although sending in any amount over that would be appreciated! I think a great number of our supporters would want to have a membership structure for the organization, as do I. Its been a "one man show" for much too long and I want to encourage volunteer participation in this project. To join send your dues to the Tod Engine Foundation at 2261 Hubbard Road, Youngstown, OH 44505. We will publish a quarterly newsletter and also give discounts on Tod Engine merchandise, of which we may have several new offerings soon.

2008 will be a big year for us, and if everything goes as planned it will be the year that the Tod Engine is fully enclosed in a permanent building and restoration work can begin in earnest.