W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
Worldwide Narrow Gauges => US Two Footers => Topic started by: Rick Rowlands on May 05, 2016, 08:33:13 AM
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The home rails for the Jones & Laughlin No. 58 will be the J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad, part of the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum. We only have about 1.2 acres of land, but that will be enough for the construction of a sizable steel mill demonstration railroad. Our intent is to recreate the type of rail operations that would have existed in the cramped confines of a steel plant. Narrow gauge was very common in steel plants of the early 20th century for moving ingots as well as charging the open hearth furnaces.
The attached track plan shows the proposed layout of the J&LNG. The track shown in orange includes what is already built plus what we hope to have completed by the end of the year. At the extreme right at the end of the orange track is the single stall enginehouse for the J&L 58. The existing track extends around the 40' radius curve and ends just shy of the grade crossing over the rear access road. From that point we will excavate the top soil and put down a roadbed to lay track northward (left side of pic is north) to a No.4 turnout to the yard lead which will run along the fence line back toward the Tod Engine Building.
The blue denotes tracks to be built in the future, including a switchback. The property is on a hill so the land at the rear is higher than the main yard level. The switchback will be on a rather steep grade, designed to give the 58 a chance to work hard going up the hill. At the upper right we have three shipping containers for storage. This area will be reconfigured, with the three containers rearranged to sit next to each other with a fourth container added to the lineup. At least three of the containers will be set up with rails inside. A 15' turntable is planned to be built in front of them.
The rolling stock we intend to use will be heavy industrial cars. We have two of the Carpenter Steel 4 wheeled flatcars so far, and plan to add a few more as funding allows. We would like to acquire a couple of Koppel dump cars since the Koppel plant was not far from us, and also plan to build a two foot version of the Mon Conn cabooses that were homebuilt by the railroad. An internal combustion locomotive is also being sought so that we do not have to fire up the 58 whenever we want to run trains.
We have collected many pieces of steel industry equipment that would make interesting flatcar loads, including a 100 ton crane hook block, two very large steam engine connecting rods, three open hearth charging boxes, 36" scrap magnet etc. Typical items that would be carried by a steel mill railroad operation.
Track will be built of minimum 85lb. and up rail. The first section is laid with 100RB, and we have 90AS and 100PS rail for this year's track construction. We may build a section using 132RE just to show how ridiculous that will look! That section would also include Pandrol clips because if you are going ridiculous you might as well go all the way!
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh136/todengine/JampL%20NG%20Track%20Plan%204-29-2016.jpg) (http://s255.photobucket.com/user/todengine/media/JampL%20NG%20Track%20Plan%204-29-2016.jpg.html)
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(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh136/todengine/2016-03-30%2013.51.16.jpg) (http://s255.photobucket.com/user/todengine/media/2016-03-30%2013.51.16.jpg.html)
Here are the only two pieces of rolling stock on the property thus far. 58's frame on the 722 flatcar. That is about 35,000 lbs. of steel sitting there. Total engine weight 93,000 lbs., thus explaining the need for heavy track.
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh136/todengine/2016-05-02%2016.42.09.jpg) (http://s255.photobucket.com/user/todengine/media/2016-05-02%2016.42.09.jpg.html)
Standing on the top of the hill looking northeast at our property. The change in elevation between the top of the hill and the main yard level is apparent.
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh136/todengine/2016-04-25%2011.43.24.jpg) (http://s255.photobucket.com/user/todengine/media/2016-04-25%2011.43.24.jpg.html)
Our standard gauge exhibit and the 58's frame at the current end of track. The locomotive is a rare GE 70 ton centercab, made even more rare because its electrical system is 250 VDC instead of the usual 600 VDC. The car is a Kling type hot metal car, built in Youngstown to handle loads of molten iron. You may notice the steel ties. We have about 50 steel ties that will be used on curves. The ties are salvaged from a steel mill in Pittsburgh, cut in half and inserted where needed to better hold gauge. This curve needs a few more inserted between the existing ties.
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Thanks for the tour, Rick. The massive construction of 58 sure is impressive!
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Rick,
Thanks for the photos, map and narrative on what the J&L will look like. The museum will be a good example of steel industry technology and I look forward to seeing updates as the trackwork and other construction progresses.
Good stuff!
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Thanks. I will keep this thread updated as we do anything of potential interest.
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Rick,
What is the history of the 70 ton centercab GE?
Jeff S.
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Built in 1942 for the New York Central as No. 513. Two Cummins diesel engines driving 250 VDC generators. It was used for switching passenger cars and was equipped with diaphragm buffers. The NYC got rid of these oddballs and by 1952 had sold the 513 to Cambria Slag Co. It later went to Standard Slag in Youngstown, then to Valley Mould & Iron in Hubbard. We got it in 2009.
I love it because its generators are 250 VDC, meaning that I can use it to provide power for some of the 250 VDC steel mill equipment in our collection.
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Vesta engineering is the best manufacturers and suppliers of diesel generators that can help you.
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A lot is going on in this photo. What is perhaps the only 24" gauge motorized interlocking in the US is being installed on the passenger lead switch. The first of three signals for what will be Laughlin Junction is in place in the background. The switch will be radio controlled from the locomotive cab, eliminating the need for having a switchman on duty when we run passenger trains.
Also on the left is a whistle manifold, which will be put to use at our annual Whistle Blow this Saturday. 58 has plenty of steam for even the largest whistles that can be mounted on the manifold. After this weekend she will be winterized and put away until the spring.
If all goes well and I have enough time, I will be building a new tender for 58 and an open air passenger car over the winter. Both cars will use fully sprung and equalized German trucks (bogies) which will provide for a much better ride than the unsprung Carpenter cars.
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Nice. Impressive work.
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:)
Rick posted a video about the acquisition of two {more} two foot gauge locomotives, from Canada.
Special Announcement for J&L Narrow Gauge Fans (https://youtu.be/FFT8Rk7uWOo)
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:)
Rick posted a video about the acquisition of two {more} two foot gauge locomotives, from Canada.
Special Announcement for J&L Narrow Gauge Fans (https://youtu.be/FFT8Rk7uWOo)
This is great news.
Jeff S.
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Rick, your vision is totally, wildly crazy. I love it!!!
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Yes we are bringing the two sisters home from Canada. Its just a matter now of doing the paperwork and arranging for the trucking. We are working on the additional track that we have to build to set the locomotives on and hope to start moving them in a month or so.
I don't see any reason why these other two cannot be restored to operating condition eventually. These two are much more complete than 58 was when we started.
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The boiler from J&L 59, which made its way to California in the 1990s, will be loaded for transport to Youngstown this upcoming Wednesday. This spare boiler will be evaluated, rebuilt and either held in reserve for 58 or placed on one of the Canadian Porters' chassis to bring another locomotive back into operation.
When 59 was scrapped in the 1990s, only the frame, cab and saddle tank were destroyed. Just about all other parts still exist and are in our possession. The drivers under 58 are actually those from 59 since they were in much better condition.
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May Update. J&L 58 is undergoing some piston valve adjustments, but otherwise is ready to run. Construction of the eastern extension of about 350 feet of track is about 80% done. We are using 115 and 110 pound rail for this section, finally using the rail size that the locomotive would have operated on in service at the steel mill.
We are ready to move the two J&L Porters from Canada to the US, just waiting for the Covid restrictions to be lifted in Canada. Apparently the Ontario stay at home order ends on June 2, however I will believe it when I see it.
We will probably not have any public runs this year as our goal is to complete the eastern extension and improve visitor amenities before getting back into the tourist railroading business. When we do open it will be a far different experience from our initial 2019 season.
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https://youtu.be/3UL47Wya7Bs (https://youtu.be/3UL47Wya7Bs)
For our last steam run of the season, we moved several trains of dirt out onto the fill on the front of our property. 58 is now drained and winterized and ready for a long list of maintenance and improvements to take place over the next few months.
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After much work this spring we have the J&L 58 running pretty good. Straight air brakes have been installed on the locomotive and will soon be extended back to the tender and passenger car, which was delivered from the fab shop earlier this week. The passenger car's roof and floor are yet to be installed. Seating will be repurposed church pews.
Here are two videos of running the 58 with a loaded train of steel mill equipment last weekend. We plan to add additional cars with loads to give 58 a decent load to pull up the 6% grade.
https://youtu.be/NtDg3tlkcvA (https://youtu.be/NtDg3tlkcvA)
https://youtu.be/kVSZfft1MXE (https://youtu.be/kVSZfft1MXE)
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Spring is arriving early in Youngstown and we are immensely grateful. There is quite a bit of work to be done here in the three months before opening day. We had over 400 paying passengers last summer and have set a goal of 1,000 for this year and are making improvements to the site to improve the visitor experience and streamline the operation of the railroad.
58 is getting a few upgrades in the off season including adding a second water glass, making some adjustments to the valve timing and the addition of a duplex pump to supplement the injectors. We will be taking indicator cards on 58 operating on the hill this spring to determine the health and squareness of the engine and help determine what additional work may be needed. This involves me riding in a temporary seat bolted to the cylinder heads, which should make for an interesting day!
We are currently building a four wheel multi purpose flatcar. Originally designed so that a mini excavator can be moved around the railroad, this car will have fully functioning brakes and will be used with the passenger train to provide additional braking effort. We are working on a long term project to replace the German trucks on the passenger car and tender with new trucks and until we get those trucks built those cars will not have brakes. By using this flatcar or "brake van" on our train we satisfy our requirement of having brakes on the rear car. To provide the additional weight needed to make the brakes effective, the flatcar will be loaded with four open hearth charging boxes to mimic a rather common narrow gauge car found in the steel industry.
Finally after over twenty years owning this property, we have an office on site. Last fall we purchased a New York Central bay window caboose at an auction and moved it to our site where it now sits out front and serves as our general office and crew room. It has been so useful that I don't know how we ever got by without it before.
Our schedule is available at our website at: https://youngstownsteel.org/ (https://youngstownsteel.org/)
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It has been so useful that I don't know how we ever got by without it before.
I share this sentiment. I find that after I acquire a tool, I find seemingly endless uses for it, and wonder how I managed without.
The truth seems to be that "projects scale as the available tools." But the truth is also that we make do with what we have.