Eastern Railroad Discussion > Cleveland-Cliffs to idle steel plant which produces rails

Cleveland-Cliffs has announced plans to temporarily, but indefinitely idle its steel plants in Steelton and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania and Riverdale, Illinois.  The Steelton plant is one of only three in the United States which produce rails.  According to a company spokesperson, the closures are due to insufficient demand for its products, not tariffs.

The 4.3-mile Steelton & Highspire railroad serving the Steelton plant will also be shut down.  

Source - Trains.com Newswire:

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/rail-making-steelton-pa-steel-plant-to-be-shut-down-indefinitely/

Leave it to Trains to miss out on the fact the Riverdale plant is the destination for the NS bottle trains.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/25 07:43 by Typhoon.

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cleveland-Cliffs has announced plans to
> temporarily, but indefinitely idle its steel
> plants in Steelton and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania
> and Riverdale, Illinois.  The Steelton plant is
> one of only three in the United States which
> produce rails.  According to a company
> spokesperson, the closures are due to insufficient
> demand for its products, not tariffs.
>
> The 4.3-mile Steelton & Highspire railroad serving
> the Steelton plant will also be shut down.  
>
> Source - Trains.com Newswire:
>
> https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/
> rail-making-steelton-pa-steel-plant-to-be-shut-dow
> n-indefinitely/

Probably a difference in their product mix, but I saw an interview with the CEO of Nucor the other day and he said they had as much business as they could handle, particularly their building products operations. He said there are going to be a LOT of commercial and industrial buildings being put up this year.

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Conshohocken is a plate steel rolling mill. A ghost of Alan Wood Steel. That will leave scant business for Upper Merion and Plymouth and interchange via NS to the Coatesville plant.
Go

SDI Columbia City IN is still shipping rail.

Upper Merion & Plymouth is a rarely photographed line.

Posted from Android

Typhoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Leave it to Trains to miss out on the fact the
> Riverdale plant is the destination for the NS
> bottle trains.

Yes, it's worth a mention. 

Sadly, Dolton Jct will not  see any bottle trains for awhile.  It's one of the few places where hot metal trains can be viewed by the general public.


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/25 20:29 by calumet.

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Bottle trains aren’t done yet and Hammond IN is, in my opinion, just a good as Dolton Jct for seeing them. See https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,6021175

Posted from iPhone