Preserving Steel & Steel Railroading in the USA - J&L Narrow Gauge
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 1 фев 2025
- @YoungstownSteelHeritage is quite the neat place, and gearing up for some really cool things. Huge thanks to them for having me out, and to Coal And Steel Photos for the thumbnail shot!
Visit the channel shop: hycetrains.com...
Join my discord: / discord
Become an ES&D Train Crew Member and get extra perks!
/ @hyce777
![[SFS] The only time I YELLED at a coworker when I worked for the Railroad. | Stories from the Shop](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UKs9GO_dIV0/mqdefault.jpg)
To quote fellow railroading RUclipsr Chris Eden-Green when he got to drive the J&L Porters, "Now how's that for stack talk?!"
And you always love hearing the phrase "We have more hill that we've got brakes."
If you come and visit Sweden I’ll get you behind the controls of a standard gauge locomotive on our 8 mile line that has among the steepest grades in Sweden.
Count on it! Just... not sure when. lol!
Vilken bana är det?🤔
Swedishhh
Vilken förening?
That whistle was jarring. I'm used to the deep throated bellowing of the really big choo choos, so that whistle was weirdly small, while at the same time being anything but. Kinda like the choo choo it belongs too - small, but very powerful at the same time. Awesome you got to driver her! Lucky!
We don't know where the 5 chime came from. Closest we can tell it was on a Rhodesian Railways 4-8-4. It's the default whistle when guest whistles are not on site
Mose of the old 1860s locomotives sounded like that. Tiny steam whistles were more common. I suppose the deeper loud whistles just travel further I the cool night air.
Calling it a choo choo is jarring.
Hyce: "They've made a two-foot-gauge 0-4-0 that weighs upwards of ..."
Me: "Two-foot? So, what, 10, maybe 15 tons?"
Hyce: "...90,000 pounds."
Me: WAT.
That is just slightly absurd. Well done to the Porter engineers that designed her!
Also the part where Hyce said "more than a thousand tons of steel" and I mentally filled in "per day?" and he said "at a time" gave me much the same feeling.
There really isn't much that these 90,000+ lb locomotives can't do! 58 specifically has a working boiler pressure of 200 lbs (her later sisters worked at 225), and boasts around 12,000 lbs of tractive effort!
Steel switching in no joke. From hoppers full of ore, coke, and limestone to keep the blast furnaces going. Turning around and hauling torpedo cars of molten iron to the oxygen furnace to make steel. And finally if necessary hauling ladle cars of molten steel to the cast house to make the final product. This goes 24/7/365 no off days rain or shine.
soo 90,000lbs into metric is.... 40 Tons! it's a chonky industrial
lol quite the Ohio contrast to the Bosnian driving instructions of: “you. Drive.”
Very different indeed, lol!
Yeah and also, squeak with chimes sounds a lot better than just squeak. I choose squeak with chimes as long as it sounds like the Hooterville Cannonball
But... Bosnian instructions were more fun!
You taught us that what diesel-electric can _start,_ it can't pull; and what steam can _pull,_ it cannot start.
This little solid-steel outhouse seems to have basically infinite torque from a standstill; ergo, anything you can physically hitch to it, it _will_ start, and it _will_ pull!
I suspect the limiting factor on this little _ironclad Dwarf engine_ is the size of her wheels, the supply in the tender, and the mechanical strength of the couplers. Like Gimli said: very dangerous over short distances.
In this instance, it's good to be narrow-minded when it comes to preservation. Nice video, as always.
I didn't know J&L was working on steel production before this video! I just love my 0-4-0 rolling ingots!
58 is just pure insanity--Here's an engine thats just a block of solid steel, that as-built, has a higher axle loading than an ALCo S2.
Then if ends up at Crown Metal Products, loses a large part of its weight (cab deck, cab, and pilot were lopped off). It eventually ends up at Jonas Stutzman's shop in Middlefield missing the saddle tank (recovered from a farm near Elizabeth, PA) looking like not much more than a hulk when Rick bought it.
The fact that all but two and a half (only the frame and cylinders of 59 were cut up) of the seven of these things got scrapped is wild for a purpose-built mill locomotive design.
I was going to say, that looks like some serious axle loading. Hyce, any idea what poundage of rail they're running it on? I imagine it's not the typical two-foot-gauge stock.
@@BrooksMoseswe're using about 120 pound rails for the main and 75 for storage tracks.
@@broncozephyr7931 : That's pretty solid!
That loco kicks arse; it's lke a nuggety prize fighter that packs a lot of punch with a small shadow! Not a single square inch of wasted space on that thing. Having said that, it'd be no good on the ES&D with that 'safety first' attitude!
Great to see that telling the story of the US steel industry is in good hands. Cheers!
Loco 58 resembles a underground coal mine loco ' hauling mule'. In old days mine mechanics disassemble 'mule locos' on serface to fit it in the skip cars of a cargo hoist to bring them down at 3/4 of a mile.. In underground those mech guys assemble the 'mule locos' back to let them stay down there for entire life. Most of 'mule locos' brought back to surface in pieces for scrap metal, and some of them are still underground abandoned in far corners of mines...
The only train that would look normal in Minecraft.
I love it! It’s a handome lill’ Feller.
Warm greetings from the Netherlands🇳🇱.
Locomotive*
Great video. Something you said at the beginning made me happy, and that's that some young people are helping keep things going. They care about keeping the historic railway living and breathing. Keeping the Iron horses running, not just on static display.
I'm sorry, did they say a 40ft radius curve? That is absolutely insane, I think the tightest I've seen on standard gauge is about 90' radius (military base, later removed and replaced with something saner). Admittedly, narrow gauge, but still!
Also, remembering that a lot of Welsh railways were 2' gauge (or close enough), I suddenly have a desire to see one of these bricks next to a Welsh engine, just for size comparison. Though I'm pretty sure if you took one of these ingots over there, you'd break every single rail they have!
This thing would tower over a Quarry Hunslet
Yes, we did in fact say a 40 foot radius curve! Not unlike what she probably would have encountered at Jones And Laughlin South Side Works!
Welsh Railroad Superintendent: "So how did that brick of an American locomotive do on the excursion run?"
Engineer: "Ran great save for one issue sir."
Welsh Railroad Superintendent: "What could have gone wrong?"
Engineer: "Well sir we are no longer a 'railway' in the conventional sense."
Welsh Railroad Superintendent: "What?"
Engineer: "We are now a plate railway. The American locomotive squished the rails flat. All of them sir."
@@Hybris51129 that made me giggle
@@GreatEasternRailfan I try my best.
I follow Rick's channel here on RUclips and watched him restore 58 from the ground up basically by himself. It's so awesome to see what's become of 58 and a little operation she works for.
Also, it's nice to see that the timing issue has been fixed. She sounds damn good now!
I kimda like the whistle. It's shrill, but it fits. It doesn't sound like it's gonna empty the boiler if you blow a long crossing signal...
Gotta love little engines with specs that sound like insanity. She is definitely something.
That whistle is sure to wake the dead! Amazing!
My favorite part of this video is watching you focus. After watching at least three too many of your videos, it's such a contrast to see you go from fun loving/auto-pilot to super focused, trying to control 90k lbs of steel and angry water. It's a testament to the relationship between man(or woman) and their machine. Both are living, breathing beings that need to communicate and work together. LOVE IT!!!!
I love you watching operate these other preserved steam locomotives. Gives us a nice look into what its like to actually operate these.
Side note, i love all the sounds and noises the 58 makes. Every sound she makes just screams (sometimes literally) heavy industry. The chuffs, the whistle, just everything is fantastic. Very unique and i love it
The small baby engine plus that whistle is a combo to remember
Love that whistle, such a big sound from a small engine lol. Ive seen videos of this little railroad, glad you made a video about it!
It was a pleasure meeting you at J&L! Loved your video on our awesome museum, thank you for filming it for others to see! Hope to see you back sometime!
I had a smile on my face the entire time, so cool you got to do the thing! Definitely quite challenging backing down that grade, especially after hearing you got more choo choo than brakes!
God looks like you had to shake the living daylight outta that throttle 😂
it was *awful*
@@Hyce777 🤣
Ayyyy this is my local narrow gauge! Love these guys and their weird little engines!
Breaking News: Hyce Drives World’s Strongest Brick!
Local Train Buffs Stunned By Whistle Incongruety!
As someone from pittsburgh, i remember my grandfather talking about the J&L mill amd of course his time on the P&LE railroad too. Its so cool to see theyre preserving as much as they can and actually using it too
New definition of "little engine and big men.“ What awesome folk!
The way he lovingly speaks to the locomotive is such a mood. When I gotten used to a loader at my previous job I would talk to it. The L90D is the only good loader we had and the others were all mechanically unsafe in some way and I made sure she knew how much I appreciated her reliability.
Hated that job, miss that loader
And I'm sure the loader misses you everyday. (Not officiated with Twitter)
#ServiceVehiclesformoral 🙂😊🚂
I used to sing to my boat when she was sailing well. A bit embarrassing if you have passengers however. My sister talks to her sewing machine. And we all tend to name cars and so forth.
I think as humans we are naturally driven to find personality in things, even if they are inanimate. But it takes a little something more to make it stick. I don't talk to my dishwasher. Some kind of little quirk that makes the device unique, perhaps.
Always awesome to see local teams keeping steam alive! Especially when the J&L is about 20 minutes away from me!!!!!!
I was supposed to do the engineer program that was part of the NNGC on Friday when the boiler tube leaking issue showed itself. Wasn't able to run 58 myself, but it was interesting to see the issue at least and the staff let me stick around to watch them troubleshoot.
Hopefully next time you come back, you'll get to take the throttle!
We're not stopping till we get Hyce all the way to running the UP big boy!
Here's hoping! I doubt it, but, you never know!
Hyce was grinning on the inside the whole time even with the " serious business " expression on.
Oh yes on the lady having a beautiful voice on that hill. My personal highlight of each J&L video is the stack talk on the grade.
90,000 lbs is 40.8 metric tons. This gives it an axle loading of 20.4 tons, which is more than most German main line steam locomotives had. Wow!
I live in Pittsburgh and one of the areas that CSX runs through the South Side of Pittsburgh is called “J&L tunnel” on the foamer land where J&L steel used to be and where those little engines ran I believe
Wow Mark that was great! I never knew anything like this existed. Gives a new definition to narrow gauge for sure. The J&L crew’s preservation efforts are amazing, truly unique. Through this video, I learned yet another fascinating facet of choo choo (and industrial) history. Many thanks Professor for sharing with us your fabulous experience and as always cheers to you!
Very cool little 0-4-0 with a great sounding whistle.
Brick, iron ingot all good ways to describe the lovely little engine. It definitely has the weight low to the ground to help it stay glued to the track.
loved seeing the porter going up and down that hill. That was a very cool place to go visit. Thanks for sharing the history and running the train!
Man if that thing were to hit a truck it would just punch a porter-shaped hole into it and keep moving looney tunes style. What a beauty
"Truck? What truck?" -- No. 58
Thank you Hyce for sharing a little bit of your adventures. That's a little engine with a big heart.
It’s awesome seeing that little locomotive at work
Hyce havin fun with a mini choo choo
Glad you got to see and drive the 2ft gauge Brick in person as part of your Narrow Gauge tour. Can’t wait to see what other narrow gauge engines will be getting the spotlight in said tour.
that whistle is absolutely glorius on a smol but mighty choo choo, love it
My great-grandfather serviced the "north works" of J&L. He worked on the Aliquippa and Southern RR. I believe from 1936 to 1957. Its always interesting to me seeing stuff like this, thank you for the video!
Thats awesome. I especially loved when you were doing the signal whistles and callouts with the other fella. "Crossing clear. signal clear." Im not surprised the brakes wouldnt hold her back too great at normal pressure she weighs to quote you in that one video. A s--- ton.
watching hyce have a hooting time on that iron ingot porter is fun to watch.
I don't care if it's a Big Boy or an 0-4-0, steam engines are just super cool, and I love the 2-ft gauge and also the solid brass handles in this little cab. I love all the other 2-ft gauge equipment they have, the mini diesels and the steel fabrication & transfer cars, pure gold.
I also love the fact that they have built dedicated 2-ft track and not a mind blowing 2', 3', Meter & standard gauge trackage to run everything they can.
Telling the story of the Steel Industry is just like the lumbering & coal mining Industries. AA++ ❤💯
I had been wondering when you would end up in my neighborhood, super excited to watch this one
That rail looks hilariously thick for the track gauge it is being used on. I swear the rails are thiccccer than the gauge.
the most disporportionate looking rail ever, but if the choochoo weighs 45 tons and goes screaming and rocking around curves like that..... Kudos to the MOW crew, it's a hell of an alignment to take that punishment!! :)
It's a little over-heavy for what the locomotive's axle loading is, but it does make for a fun sight.
@@Hyce777 as a strictly armchair opinion which is no one's but mine, is it all bad that the road's a bit overbuilt? :)
Reminds me of seeing pics of the WP&Y with their heavy welded rail...it looks hilariously out of place on 3' gauge track. This looks even more oversized!
Track guage is 23.5"
That little brick really gets up and goes when it wants to wow, also that throttle is gonna give you tennis elbow with the amount shaking you had to the thing XD
That was so awesome seeing Hyce drive No. 58. Great job Hyce. ❤️👍😎
there is something *so* amusing to me seeing at 1:35 that brick sh*thouse of an industrial switcher pulling the single open passenger coach, but I suppose thats railroad preservation for you :P I certainly would have paid for a ticket on that ride too
I normally watch videos at 2x rarely do I watch a Hyce video at x2 speed I love every minute!
What a cute little loaf of steel.
Hey you visited my home town and I hadn’t a clue. Awesome footage
If you're going around to different railways, I highly recommend you go to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield village and see the equipment they have there.
Yeah that near where i live. Youngstown Ohio was built around the Steel Mills
I would absolutely love to make a CAD model and 3d print in 1:32, after I finish my B&O p7 in the same scale
thrilled you made it to J&L they have a lot of cool stuff. cant wait for their roller mill to be operational.
also, maybe look at a sennheiser headmic or clip mic to get better speech quality on its own channel
I've known about Youngstown Steel Heritage for about a little under a month now, they got quite the fleet of Porters.
I currently am hoping that some day J&L #58 there can haul freshly made steel again, possibly even with one of her sisters if 57, 60, or 62 can get running eventually.
Great video. Lovely music.
Just got back from the train show here in Kirkwood. Hyce, you’d be amazed by how many folks there I met who are subscribed to your channel, haha. Sadly, no SN3, I looked everywhere in your honor. I did find three 70s era GBW boxcars, the one and only car it seems to even exist for the Green Bay & Western, and of course 30 years later than when my grandpa worked on it in WWII. Still, I’m always hoping! It was a good little railroad in its day.
Also, I’m pretty sure the frame of El Chonko Poco Grande #58 Special there is thicker than the belt armor on most interwar era heavy cruisers, maybe even some battleships… same steel, though.
I sooo want this loco in model form now! It looks soooo robustly amazing!
This is so cool. Wish I had the option of having my own train yard.
That whistle sent shivers up my spine, instantly made me think of peticote junction when I heard it scream 😂
I saw a video on their acquisition of that equipment awhile back. Pretty cool seeing you at the throttle.👍
PS I grew up in Pittsburgh and J&L sponsored my Junior Achievement company way back in the day.
The 5 chime is nice, but that 3 chime... Oh man, I love it! It sounds like the whistle from "Petticoat Junction" which, if I remember correctly, is a shortbell Lunkenheimer 3 chime... I wonder if it's the same whistle, dimensionally speaking, on the 58... Either way, it sounds great! They've done a great job restoring the 58, and I need to get out there some day.
Very nice little engine. That is an insane grade of 6% and she handles it very well.
What whistle is 58 wearing? I love the screeching noise it makes, almost like a banshee but with a lower noise lol. Or a USATC S160’s whistle
I got to run this locomotive this summer! Was a wonderful time.
Copyright on YT being what it is you probably couldn't post reactions to it or anything like that, but with you being a music lover, I have to recommend David Goulder to you. He's a former fireman for British Railways' Midland Region (ex-LMS) and wrote many songs about life as a locomotive crew member. I particularly recommend Eight Freight Blues and Black Five.
Hyce in Y-town? Hell yeah! (I live near an ABC yard a few dozen miles away)
Hyce next year you should come on up to heritage park in Calgary they have 2 operating usra 0-6-0s and a 2-10-4 Selkirk on display
That little porter hunts something crazy!
58 is an absolute unit. It talks big, and has the cojones to back it up!
Last I heard they are trying to get 2 more of the Porters operational. They were even throwing around the idea of converting one to a standard type (not a 4-4-0) without a saddle tank.
This place is amazing as I went there before and it’s great I wish to go again
I absolutely love that old porter brick.
Oooooh The ingots, amazing little locomotives
Hyce you'd better be putting this absolute unit into CoS! 😍😍
Glad you’re in Ohio for a change. Very interesting episode, thanks!❤️🚂🚂🚂🚂😀❣️
Hey Hyce you should come to Sterling Illinois we have a museum here with a 0-8-0 steel mill switcher. The museum is the Dillon Home Museum. Maybe stop by on one of your trips. There's even videos on youtube of them working in the late 70's.
Wow, I saw that thing come around the corner and man, thats a cool looking porter steam.
They really milled her out of a solid block, didn't they :D Neat one!
Damn near, lol!
MAWP: 999
Look at that freaking box, I love her
I imagine it must be so satisfying when you master how to drive one of those steam locos.
It is quite the wonderful feeling, yes. :)
Man that little dude moves!
I live very close to this and I promise it's worth it! Nothing but history 6 ways to Sunday!
The whistle on the engine sounds like the one they used in petticoat junction
What a neat little engine! Is the reason why it's 2' gauge cause of the crazy weight the railroad would be dealing with?
I'm not sure why. I think as built it was 23" gauge but I'm not sure how to explain why. Lol
@@Hyce777maybe due to the curves lol
Originally the J&L Porters were built to 23" gauge, but we regauged them to 24" by moving the drive wheel tires out slightly. I believe our mainline is 120 lb rail to be able to bear the load of the 90,000+ lb locomotive. They were built to narrow gauge size to be easier to fit through steel mill buildings
@@Hyce777As mentioned the locomotives were built to 23” gauge originally for use in the J&L Mill. Where the mill was situated there were a lot of coal mines in the hill right behind it. Our best guess is that a few of the mines were using 23” gauge and it just carried over into the mill.
In preservation the locomotive was re-gauged to 2’ for equipment compatibility. The reason for the heavy rail is mostly down to availability. Standard gauge rail weights are more readily available and affordable especially when you get into turnouts.
I thought the 23 inch gauge had to do with it being outside the jurisdiction of the FRA / ICC.
The HK Porter locomotives are the very definition of big things coming in small packages, they made hundreds of little industrial switchers that were all built like bricks.
Another great one, Hyce. It must be a blast too get to run all these different locos worldwide. I hear they still have some little steam, engines running in Philippines and other areas of the Spice islands.😀 30-40 years ago there was a lot more steam in worldwide use. Today, not too much except what is being preserved. Even little preservation operations like this are special as they tell a tale much like some the little ones in England. I enjoyed the visit to East Broad Top which I first became aware of almost 30 years ago. One thing I have wondered about the engines is their stability being inside framed. Your mikados are outside framed for better stability, any insight on this?. Keep up the good work.
Someday we should have you come out to Utah to visit Golden Spike some day, show you the in's and outs of running our replicas on a 1.5 mile alignment :)
That 5-chime reminds me a lot of the Chinese 5 that NYSW 142 used to wear
First locomotive I ever ran! That hill there is no joke
The stationary engine has corlis valve gear.
It does! I couldn't think of the name. It's cool.
@@Hyce777 it's like half rotary and half eccentric
@@Hyce777 ruclips.net/user/shortsaVclb9FxfZw?si=chW_fKPYJwx2ZPon
With Poppet valves.
Guess I need to make a trip to Youngstown.
great video !
What a fascinating machine