Steam & Excursion > Restoration of Jones & Laughlin Steel No. 58

The long since closed and demolished Jones & Laughlin Steel Pittsburgh Works utilized a 23" gauge interplant railroad at their South Side operations. This railroad dates back to the original construction of the plant in the 1870s and over the years the equipment and motive power continued to grow in size and power in order to handle the increasing loads that the very narrow gauge railroad was asked to handle.

H.K. Porter built all of the J&L's 23" locomotives, including a final batch in 1937 through 1941 which by all accounts are the heaviest constructed steam locomotives ever built if measured by weight per unit volume. J&L 58 is the last survivor of this group of locomotives and I am proud to say that two months ago I began her restoration to operation.

The J&L 58 would weigh in working order 93,000 lbs. with an axle loading of 46,500 lbs. The frame is built of heavy steel plate burnouts welded together. The drivers are steel plate burnouts, the smokebox front is 4" thick, even the bottom plates of the water tank was 3" thick. Anywhere and everywhere that Porter could add weight to this locomotive it was done.

By the time we acquired the locomotive, it only weighed 56,000 lbs. So in reality only 60% of it remains. The cab, tank, front pilot and rear platform had been removed and scrapped over the years, leaving basically the main portion of the frame and the boiler. We moved the locomotive to the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum on December 30, 2014 and immediately began dismantling it for restoration. As soon as the snow melts the boiler will be shipped off to a code boiler shop for repairs, the frame sent to a heavy plate fabricator to have the pilot and rear platform remade, and we are even looking at sending the roller bearing equipped driving sets out for rework. A sheet metal shop down the street is now working up a price for a new cab (to be partially funded by a grant from the Tom E. Dailey Foundation), and later this year I hope to get them working on a new saddle tank as well.

We were making very good progress on this locomotive until we got snowed in, but fortunately we were able to construct a single stall engine house and get her rolled into it to spend the first time inside a building in over half a century.

I will continue to update this thread as restoration progresses. I create regular video updates which I will provide links to. The goal of the project is to build a small 23" gauge demonstration railroad at the museum to demonstrate the operation of narrow gauge steam in the steel industry. We have nicknamed the 58 the "Rolling Ingot" because her frame is as solid and as heavy as an ingot!

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J&L 58 Restoration Videos. Start here with Part 1:
http://youtu.be/IO077WQEm6Q

What a cool engine... Good luck!

I could only imagine the size rail used around the plant. Must've looked like the track structure was on steroids.

Our initial section of track is built with 100 lb. rail, and it is laid out into a 40 ft. radius curve. The minimum size that we will use is 85. I have access to components for a No. 8 115RE turnout, and this spring I plan to lay them out and see if a workable turnout can be made from them. Ultra heavy rail on an extreme narrow gauge railroad was one of the other unique features of J&L's railroad and we plan to replicate that as well.

I will post a few more photos of the railroad later today.

I like it...!!

Keep up the good work...
leroy

We built this 10' x 20' enginehouse mostly out of materials we had on hand. I just wanted something big enough to get the locomotive out of the weather and built as inexpensively as possible. It is built on three 8" I beams which are clipped to the rails for alignment. The one side wall still needs finished, a roll up door installed at the end and the trim applied. We are considering spray foaming the interior and pouring a concrete floor with an in floor hydronic heating system so as to keep the locomotive above freezing in the winter. In this way it would be possible to operate even over the winter if we choose to do so.

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These photos show the construction of the 40' radius, 100RE, 23" gauge curve. The ties are US Steel I beam ties that I was able to salvage from a steel mill in Pittsburgh. By cutting them in half I get two full narrow gauge ties. The rails are held to the ties with No.63 rail clips.

To build the track I first laid out the steel ties radially at the 40' radius using a string. Each tie had holes cut on each end through which I could drive a 30" long piece of 1" rebar. The rebar effectively holds each tie in position. We then started laying the outer rail (in hindsight it would have been easier to lay the inner rail first) and clipping it in place as we went. To bend the rail I used our forklift to pull it over, then installed the clips. In some areas we heated the rail to make it easier to bend, especially near the ends.

I plan to install additional ties in between the initial ties so as to maintain roughly 24" spacing. We have run out of the steel I beam ties so I started fabricating new ones out of 1/2" plate and they work just as well. Once we get into the straight track I'll switch over to wood ties, and then go back to steel ties in turnouts. I can only go about another 250' beyond the end of the curve before we reach our property line, but that is just fine as we intend to use this railroad to demonstrate switching operations and there is plenty of room for a runaround track and a few sidings within our current boundaries.

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"Flying In" the J&L 58. 56,000 lbs. on the hook.

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I love it all. Reminds me a little of a backyard/garage mechanic working on an old car. Amazing what you can acomplish with what's laying around!

Imagine what a puller (and surprise) that would make as a Live Steam Locomotive! One-third scale is almost perfect, or as the modelers say, 4"=12" Scale. 7.5"/23" 3.0667 - Close enough!

I think it would make a great 7 1/2" gauge locomotive! I just have to find a live steamer to take on the project with me.

Work has been happening at a quick pace on the J&L 58 and we plan to keep it up all winter.
We found the saddle tank at a farm west of Pittsburgh earlier this year.  It was loaded up with a lot of dirt and debris but had no large openings to access the interior. So we decided to cut a large opening in the top of the tank for an access cover.  3x3x3/8 angle was used to make the frame, and a 1/4" plate will be bolted on for the cover itself.  The interior of the tank will be cleaned out, blasted and coated.  I'm open to suggestions as to what to use to coat the interior of the tank to prevent future corrrosion.  

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

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The boiler was removed from the frame and hauled up to JS Company in Middlefield, OH for new tubes and a smokebox patch.  I pulled it off the frame using my forklift one rainy morning.  

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

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I haven't updated this thread in a while so this is where we currently stand with the restoration of J&L 58:

Frame: The frame is being stripped down in preparation to it being shipped to Reichard Industries in Niles, OH for replacement of components that were cut off and scrapped in the past.  Depending on weather the frame may be sandblasted and primed before it leaves.

Drivers: the spare set of drivers that we have from the scrapped J&L 59 have been found to be in much better condition than the drivers under 58, so they will be used instead. The tires are practically new, there is very little lateral movement of the boxes and the crank pins are in very good condition.  It appears that the 59 received wheel work shortly before it was retired.  

Boiler:  The boiler is at JS Company awaiting its turn in the shop for rebuild.  It will be getting new tubes, new lower half of smokebox, new studs and new dome cover.  The new MAWP will be 180 psi to conform to Ohio antique boiler law.  It was originally built for 200 and later locomotives using the same boiler were built for 225.  

Tender:  We have constructed a small slope back tender for the 58 from an upended riveted coal bin and a Carpenter Steel 24" gauge flatcar.  The car wil receive a longer frame making it 8' long overall.  There will be enough room for 3/4 ton of coal and two riders. Originally these locomotives were not delivered with tenders.  The mills just used a flatcar or ingot car with a box on it for coal.  Our new build is in keeping with that tradition. 

Our goal is to have the 58 back in operation by the end of 2016.  It wil lbe a busy year for us to get all of the work done, but I am certain we can make it happen.  

 

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

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Another view of the removal of the drivers from 58.

Here is one of the drivers from the 59 mounted to a steel bloom so that it can be rotated by an electric motor for wheel reprofiling.  We may obtain a Wheel Truing Brake Shoe and grind each tire down until they are the same size and we have removed most of the pits and corrosion.  The tires
are generally good except for some pitting where the loco sat in the dirt for years. 

Note the difference in thickness between 58's main driver tire (above) and 59's front driver tire (below). 

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/16 08:37 by RickRowlands.

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It has been ten months since my last update.  In that time we have made some progress but not quite as much as I would have liked due to standard gauge loco projects getting in the way.  Anyways, the frame did make it over to Reichard Industries in Niles, OH where the new front plate and rear frame extension will be attached.  The boiler is still up at JS Company awaiting its turn through the shop.  The saddle tank has been moved up to Youngstown and is now in the enginehouse.

Currently I am working on the saddle tank, repairing corrosion damage and making a few modifications needed to make it suitable for our purposes.  The tank has four notches for the sand boxes.  The first one that I started working on had a couple of holes in one of the side plates, and the other side plate had substantial corrosion from dirt being packed in between it and the sand box itself.  So I determined that it would be easier to just cut the entire pocket out, fabricate a new one out of 3/8" plate and weld it in. Removing that pocket also allowed me access to a corner of the tank not otherwise accessible for cleaning, so the corresponding pocket on the other side will also be cut out and replaced.  Once all of the sectiosn to be replaced have been cut out I will sandblast the entire tank, coat the interior with Apexior No.3 and then weld in the new sections, followed by a touch up application of Apexior to the affected areas. 

While the frame is out I'm also working on the driver sets.  All four tires have to be heated and moved out 1/2" to regauge the loco from 23" as built to 24" of the railroad that we are constructing.  The roller bearing axle boxes have been cleaned out as good as possible and out of spec. wear liners replaced.  When the frame returns I will then be able to lower the frame down onto the axle boxes and begin reassembly of the running gear.  I'm not in too much of a hurry for the boiler as I would like to get the running gear together and tested with air before moving onto the boiler.  

First pic is of the new rear frame extension piece that is to be welded in place.
Second pic is of the frame being picked up by a 60 ton forklift for shipment.
Third pic is of the saddle tank after unloading from the trailer.  

 

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

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First Pic- Cutting out areas to be replaced on the front of the saddle tank.  The tank was built with either 5/16" or 3/8" thick walls so even after 80 years of abuse there is still quite a bit of thickness left in most places.  However some places have rotted almost clear through. 
Second Pic- One of the sandbox notches cut out of the tank.  
Third Pic- One of the reasons for removing the notch is evident.  All of this dirt, scale and debris was otherwise inaccessible due to the tank's construction. 

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

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The frame awaiting its turn for welding work.

This Porter ad contains three of the four known photos of the J&L locomotives at work.  

Rick Rowlands
Hubbard, OH
Youngstown Steel Heritage

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