3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

Yes, I believe the older method of casting was done right on the floor, where the iron was guided into a sand-lined runner that branched off into rectangles; the formation kind of looked like piglets feeding from their mother, and so the runner was called a "sow" and the iron blocks as "pig iron."

That's what I had always thought, but the recess seems too shallow to accommodate the diameter of the piston center and shaft... but perhaps there were some extra blocks laying around somewhere...

@Rumble thanks for that AND all the excellent technical information!

Yeah the cleanup costs drive up redevelopment of these places so much, and are why so many are left to rot. Lead, asbestos, underground tunnels, unmarked patient cemeteries; however, there are plenty of instances where these old hospitals have been rehabbed without demolition.

You're right autoguy, there's a shadow of a rail underneath all that crap on the floor.

Yup I've watched slag getting knocked out of these kinds of cars as they slammed the thing into the ground a few times, but wasn't sure if they were also used for the good stuff.

Nice! Neat to see the weight on the skimmer arm slide down and keep it in the up position, and the metal flowing so fast down that trough.

I love watching them tap the furnaces at U.S. Steel on summer nights; the brightness of the liquid metal is intense, even from far away.

Ladle car hot tub takes the cake, that would be amazing.

@Mica Yep the pipes over here were painted blue for some reason.

@autoguy Yeah I wish I just ran around this place shooting everything, but I'm glad I got a better look during my first trip. I recall that these were supposed to be preserved and turned into some kind of museum, but haven't heard much in recent years; I assume the project was unsuccessful, unfortunately. http://bethengines.blogspot.com/ (last updated 10 years ago)

Thanks! Hm I'm not sure, it looks like a gas flare but it might be too short...

@John Galt Thanks; the Bethlehem furnaces are still there, but unfortunately I believe the closest you can legally get to them is from outside a fence on the casino property, but at least they're still standing.
I know these are even farther away and maybe you're aware of them already, but you can actually walk through the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord furnaces in Germany - stoves, casthouse, coal bins; just a fantastic museum. I believe this can also be done at the Völklinger Hütte furnaces, also in Germany.

Thanks! Yep looks like a spotlight to illuminate the skip car loading process.

I wonder if they're hooked up to the vents on top of the furnace, maybe as a way to manually release the heat in case of malfunction.

I wonder if protective gear would do much vs. molten metal, seems like it would go through anything.

I heard a similar story from a guy working at a local steel mill who cleaned giant tanks with extremely high pressure water jets; said he saw a guy get sliced in two when he dropped his line. Crazy stuff.

Also had the chance to acquire a steam burn on my foot once, the blister blew up to about the size of a grapefruit. Fun stuff.

Not me; somehow I haven't had a ghost appear in any of my photos.