Step-By-Step Build Series - Walthers Ashland Rolling Mill

[Trucklover]

First up on the build series is the Walthers Ashland Iron & Steel Rolling Mill



Finished Mill measures: 32 x 11-1/8 x 10" (81.3 x 28.26 x 25.4cm)

This rolling mill will be built with a slight kitbash. Instead of arranging the base plates as the instruction suggests, I have arranged them so that the Rolling Mill Stand and Machinery is on the right side of the structure, and the tracks are all on the left side. Walthers has the kit arranged for tracks on either side of the structure, but most people do not have the room to get tracks in on both sides of this massive structure, so this will make it a little easier and take up less real-estate in the end for someone looking to build a steel mill.

Next post will cover Step #1, which is the assembly of the 4 base components.Step-By-Step Build Series - Walthers Ashland Iron & Steel Rolling Mill

[Trucklover]

Step 1 involves assembling the 4 base components for the Rolling Mill. As mentioned above, I have rearranged the orientation of the base components. Walthers suggests putting the Rolling Mill Stand and the Machinery in the middle of the structure and tracks on either side, however, most people do not have the room to have tracks coming from both sides of a structure. This way, this structure could be used in a corner.

Pictures of the assembled base with a couple Red Caboose BNSF Coil Cars

[lajry]

Is there a coil unloading device included w/ this kit?

[Trucklover]

Is there a coil unloading device included w/ this kit?

Are you talking about a overhead crane? No there is no overhead crane included, but im sure one could be installed

[Trucklover]

Steps 2 & 3 involve assembling the Roller Stand, the Lower Motor and Drive Shaft as well as installing the Platform w/Stairs.

Its pretty basic construction, and painting is done as needed when building.

[Gary S]

You're off to a great start there, and I really like the machinery. I agree that it would be a nice addition to put an overhead crane in the building.

Well, upon closer look at the building, couldn't see the crane though.

[mountaingoatgreg]

I know nothing about the steel industry but this is a neat looking building.

Just make sure those cars are spotted correctly as running into the rolling machine might get expensive.

Keep up the Great Work!!!

[Trucklover]

Thanks Gary and Greg, there is alot more to come. After I finish this one, ill be building the Blast Furnace w/Blower Engine House as well as the Coke Oven & Quencher Tower kits.

I may see if I can get an overhead crane installed, but not on this one. Ill save that for the one im going to need to build for my La Mirada Industrial District Modules

[Trucklover]

Steps 4 & 5 were to build and install the Upper Motor and Drive Shaft. The Motor sits atop the platform, and the end of the drive shaft ties into the Roller Stand

[Trucklover]

Steps 6 & 7 are to assemble the Roller Conveyors and the Platform Handrails, pretty self explanatory lol

[Trucklover]

Steps 8-10

Step 8: Assemble and install the Roller Stand Platform Handrails
Step 9: Assemble and install the Roller Stand Platform Stairway
Step 10: Assemble and install the 4 Roller Conveyor Guard Rails

[lajry]

Is there a coil unloading device included w/ this kit?

Are you talking about a overhead crane? No there is no overhead crane included, but im sure one could be installed

Yes Josh an overhead crane to unload the steel coils. Here's a URL showing the one at LAJ/ATSF Fruitland Yard: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tinyurl.com/3ypslap">http://tinyurl.com/3ypslap</a><!-- m -->
The Santa Fe is on west side & LAJ on east (Fruitland Ave runs E-W). They don't connect now, but there's talk the J may take over Malabar yard since BNSF owns them. First 6 pix are Bing birds eye views & last 3 are Historic Aerials (2-2004 & 1-2003). The last 3 show Hooded coil cars & regular gondolas w/ coils. There's no rolling mill here. It's just for unloading onto trucks for transport to rolling mills elsewhere. The old Santa Fe side was used for all kinds of steel not just coils. Santa Fe called them "shapes". So will be looking for a 2 track crane for my version of the LAJ!

[doctorwayne]

I'm not familiar with strip mill roll stands, but my guess is that this is what this mill is meant to represent, and possibly only the final stand in the process. In that case, the coil cars would be for outbound coils. (All of my steelmaking books are on-loan to a friend, so I can't be sure.)
Since the roll stand seems to represent neither the beginning nor the end of the process (there's no machinery to make the actual coil) a crane wouldn't be necessary for coil handling (although most mills do have overhead cranes for servicing the machinery).

Wayne

[faraway]

Is there a coil unloading device included w/ this kit?

Are you talking about a overhead crane? No there is no overhead crane included, but im sure one could be installed

I did look with google and bing a lot at the rolling mill south of Chicago when I thought about a rolling mill for my layout. They do use special vehicles to move the coils. One takes the coil in the middle and is hard to rebuild. The other is a kind of a forklift with a single beam as a fork. It is a huge forklift but the Kibri model used for the containers should be a good starting point ( http://www.hobbylinc.com/gr/kib/kib11751.jpg )

[doctorwayne]

As Reinhard mentions, most in-plant coil handling is done by rubber-wheeled road machinery, either large forklift-type vehicles or straddle carriers. Overhead cranes, equipped with large "C" hooks, would do in-mill movements, including loading and unloading coil cars, as most coils sit longitudinally on the cars.
At the plant where I worked (not in the strip mill, though), coils not completely processed were stored outdoors, on the ground. When required, they were picked-up, run through a "pickle line" to remove scale and surface rust, then the other processing was completed. Finished coils were often shipped in plugdoor boxcars, a high percentage of them, surprisingly, lettered for Union Pacific. These finished coils, often coated (tinned or galvanised, etc.) were stored indoors in an area adjacent to, but not a direct part of the finishing mill, so the shipping was a separate operation. Likewise, raw material in the form of slabs was received, often dead cold, for re-heating, then went through a multi-stage rolling process to become a coil - this could end up either in the outdoor storage area or move on the the finishing steps.
Because our strip mill was an older one producing specialty strip of a narrower width than many of the applications required nowadays, larger slabs were shipped (by truck) to another company operation where there was a modern strip mill. Once the slabs had been converted to coils, many were returned to our plant for further processing, specifically galvanising. If I'm not mistaken, most of these coils moved in the same trucks used to carry the slabs. I don't recall seeing many coil cars at all, although that may have been dependent on the type of coils being produced.
My guess is that the Walthers rolling mill is a generic mill that could represent a part of one of the many rolling mills used in steelmaking.
The mill where I worked turned ingots into slabs and was only the first of several rolling mills encountered before a finished product went out the door. There was also a strip mill, bar mill, billet mill, plate mill, and many specialty rolling mills that produced specific rolled products, shapes, or grades of steel. Nowadays, most of these products are made elsewhere, and very little of the original operations remain.

Wayne