The Tod Engine Heritage Park in Youngstown is a manifestation of a dream that I had back in the early 90s to create a true "steel museum" for the Mahoning Valley.  Nothing like the sanitized version as handed down by Columbus at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, but something built by Youngstowners and incorporating examples of the equipment that gave the steel industry its unique place in American history. 

 

I formed a non profit organization now known as the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation and went about trying to save the last of the gigantic steam engines that used to power the rolling mills.  Built in 1914 by the William Tod Company in Youngstown, the "Tod Engine" became our centerpiece of the collection.  At over 260 tons it is one of the largest stationary steam engines ever moved for preservation.

 

. by Todengine, on Flickr

 

This photo was taken a couple of months ago.  The building that the Tod is housed in was built in 2009 and is designed to replicate a typical steel mill building with overhead crane.  Even the overhead crane has historic significance. It was built in 1893 by the Morgan Engineering Co. in Alliance, OH and first installed at the Otis Steel Co. in Cleveland.

 

YSM Aerial current property lines by Todengine, on Flickr

 

This is an aerial view of the Tod Engine Heritage Park.  The large grey structure is the Tod Engine building.  Behind it is our "hot metal train" consisting of a diesel locomotive from Ellwood Engineered Castings in Hubbard and a Kling type hot metal car built in Youngstown by the William B. Pollock Co.  In front of the building is half of a teeming ladle and an ingot mold which will become a very large steelmaking sculpture whenever I get around to completing it. 

 

. by Todengine, on Flickr

The hot metal train. 

 

The museum still has a ways to go before we can be considered officially open, but we will be on site during regular hours in the summer of 2013.  This is truly what can be done when just a handful of people get together to make a difference in their community.  No taxpayer money has been harmed in the construction of this museum.    Please feel free to visit us when the weather warms up.    http://www.todengine.org

 

 

I certainly will visit! Nice job and thanks so much for your contributions.

Awesome work, and thanks for posting about it on UO!  I'm sure you'll get at least a few visitors from here, too.

The Ohio Works of US Steel in Youngstown had its own 25 Hertz generating system.  It powered the plant and powered the McDonald Rolling Mill upstream.  The original 19th century AC distribution system was 25 Hertz, not 60 Hz.  I think that the original Niagara Falls hydroelectric plants were 25 Hz.  That rail car is cool, too.

The original plan for AC was to use 25 cycle power for electric motors and 60 cycle for lighting loads.  Westinghouse actually planned on two completely separate AC systems because most equipment at the time was designed to operate at slow speeds, comparable to the speed of the steam engines they were replacing, and 25 cycle motors spin at much slower speeds than 60 cycle.  But at 25 cycle, light bulbs flicker and that was unacceptable.  Rhe idea of two separate electrical grids never caught on except in steel mills where slow speeds were essential and they were making their own power anyways.

 

The third major electrical system in steel mills was 250 volts DC which was used to run most of the auxiliary equipment such as overhead cranes, roller tables, skip hoists, ore bridges, etc.  DC motors are variable speed and series would DC motors are insanely powerful and have huge overload capability, essential for starting heavy loads from a dead stop.

McDonald Steel is still going strong.  We visited them last September. 

 

016 by Todengine, on Flickr

 

No. 14 shape mill.  Dates to 1918 and is still profitable.

 

002 by Todengine, on Flickr

 

Shear at the end of the cooling beds.

Thanks for the pics. There is a forumer here at UO who works at McDonald Steel. I'm hoping she'll chime in.