American Industry, the way it used to be

[Jcarlton]

Switching a steel plant in 1989:

Lot's of action, moving rather fast.  Lots of dirt and smoke.

[3railgreg]

J, gone never to return. I worked on the Great Lakes freighters in 80s and early 90s, seen US Steel and Bethlehem mills in Lackawanna, Gary, So. Chicago, etc. Should of filmed these places then. Most are just barren fields, can't build.. too toxic now. Weirton is gone now too I believe. Thanks for the post.

[Mudkip Orange]

Definitely impressed by how closely these guys were running. At 4:05 the yellow switcher enters one trailing point just as the one in front has cleared the facing point coming from the other direction... there probably wasn't 10 seconds where the entire length of the switch was clear there.

 

From what Google tells me, Weirton went through a series of downsizings and buyouts and ended up in the hands of Arcelor Mittal (same guys who inherited Bethlehem), who run it as strictly a tin finishing operation. Most of the unused land is slated to be sold to the redevelopment authority, who are keeping mum about their plans. Hopefully not another casino :/