Walther's New Steel Industry ~~ **Future Plans**

[Trucklover]

Here is the plan i stared up in EE



This is the top level. Grid Spacing is 6". Minimum radius is 22". Central Valley #8 Turnouts.

Starting from the left side of the drawling we have the Tri-State Power Authority, a Substation, and a High Voltage Transmission Tower. More Towers will be added when more buildings are added in. Power Authority will have coal service on the right side of the building.

Next is the Rolling Mill which is double long using 2 kits bashed together making it 64" long x 11" wide x 10" tall. The rolling mill is not in its final spot yet, i just drew it up and placed it in the general area it will go.

Next is the BOF or Basic Oxygen Furnace. This building is 56" long x 14" wide x 22" tall and will be completely scratch built. A total of 3 tracks will travel through the entire building and emerge out on the left side of the building. On the left side of the building will also be a few truck docks. Along the whole front of the building will be a series of doors of various sizes for rail docks and lots and lots of piping detail. Tracks need to be finished running in front of the building and through it

Next we have the kitbashed Blast Furnace (2 kits) and the Blower Engine House along the right side of the layout. The long skinny thing is the Coal Dump Tracks that are raised up. The start the incline at the beginning of the second turnout coming off the mainline. 2 Tracks emerge out of the end of the Blast Furnace at the top for the Cast House which is double long. The track along the back of the BF is the track that will have tank cars to transport the gas that is produced in the BF and also serves the track where Slag Cars will be loaded from the cast house. the total length of the BF and Blower Engine House is 70" x 14" wide x 21-1/2" tall

Next is the Coke Oven and Quencher which has been kitbashed to make a double long oven. It measures 42" long x 19" wide x 14" tall. Bottom track is the coke track where the Quencher Cars will go into the cooler tower to be cooled after being backed in the ovens, then they will be transported to the BF on the raised coal dump tracks in Coke cars. I am thinking of modeling a building where the Quencher Cars would go into where the Coke would be transferred into the Coke cars, this has get to be put in place and would have to be scratch built. The Top track represents the track where a coal train would pull into to be unloaded for its transformation into Coke. Both tracks need to be finished and connected back to the mainline

I had originally wanted to model the Coke Retort, Gas Plant, and Gas Storage Tanks near the Coke Oven, but due to lack of room, i think they might have to be left out, and maybe only one of them could fit, i havent decided yet, well see how it works out in the end lol.

Still to be added is the Open Hearth Furnace which will be located up behind the Rolling Mill offset a bit. This will be a backround building and serve as a backdrop, it will be very large and long, but skinny. I was thinking of 2" wide x 70" long x 22" tall, so it would be towering over the Rolling Mill. This would also be a scratch built building....

More progress to come as i do it lol, should see some more tomorrow somtime


In the meantime, what do you guys think? I know besides i am crazy. Does this sound like a do-able layout operation wise? Basically i am trying to replicate the Steel Making Process from Coal and Iron Ore to Steel in its various processes and buildings it travels through before it becomes steel lol

[Trucklover]

Last Update for the night lol



I opted for 4 Bridge Cranes instead of 2 Bridge Cranes and 2 Hulett Unloaders, 1) because of the price of 2 Hulett Unloaders is outrageous lol and 2) i think this will work out better then having 2 of each, or even 4 Hulett Unloaders (again that would be an enormous amount of money for 4 of them lol)

For the Bridge Cranes, Instead of unloading barges and dropping the materials into stock piles, the materials will be dropped into waiting empty hopper cars. i Also set this up in a way that a train will have to be loaded up, connected into one long train, and then run all the way around the layout to get back the coke oven to unload. I will also have to add either a run around track somewhere on the layout to enable a train to back into the Coke Oven or just deal with the fact that a full train will not be able to be unloaded or back into the Coke Oven and instead just pull straight in and run up to the wall..... Haven't decided a good way to do this yet... Any suggestions for that this situation?

Red tracks are the mainline so far which will be a complete loop when finished

Obviously the blue represents water and the harbor where barges will be unloaded with the 4 bridge cranes..... 5 Tracks should be sufficient amount of tracks to load a full coal drag

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?

[doctorwayne]

Don't overlook the fact that those bridge cranes, if they're like the prototype, have not only a trolley that runs back-and-forth on the bridge, but that the bridge also travels on its own rails, parallel to the boat or barge being unloaded. More than one would make it difficult for the cranes to work efficiently, unless you model a lake boat pretty-much close to scale size. Huletts, while a totally different design, also have both moveable bridge and trolley.

Wayne

[Trucklover]

Don't overlook the fact that those bridge cranes, if they're like the prototype, have not only a trolley that runs back-and-forth on the bridge, but that the bridge also travels on its own rails, parallel to the boat or barge being unloaded. More than one would make it difficult for the cranes to work efficiently, unless you model a lake boat pretty-much close to scale size. Huletts, while a totally different design, also have both moveable bridge and trolley.

Wayne

Wayne, i was aware at the fact that they moved, but i thought it would look cool to have a row of them lol. Would it be better and more prototypical to have only 2 bridge cranes in this space?

[Russ Bellinis]

Josh, I suspect the situation is like the "hammer head" cranes in the harbor. You have to have a long enough dock to justify the number of cranes you install, and you have to have a bit of extra dock space where they can be moved out of the way and parked when the ship is docking or leaving. The number of cranes in use will then depend on the size of the ship. When I worked in the harbor, we had small ships come in that would be worked with 2 cranes and we had large ships come in that would handle 4 cranes.

I have one question about your plans for the manufacture of parts. I'm not familiar with the steel industry, but I don't think steel mills make any parts other than perhaps a machine shop on premises to make parts in house needed to keep the machinery running. I think the steel mill would send out the steel in rolls, slabs, or structural shapes to other companies who would have foundries or whatever was needed to produce finished parts. For instance, the auto industry receives steel in rolls that goes to the stamping mill at the plant to make body panels. They receive ingots that goes to the casting plant to be cast into engine blocks, cylinder heads, etc. Even the frames for cars are made on site from raw steel.

[Trucklover]

Josh, I suspect the situation is like the "hammer head" cranes in the harbor. You have to have a long enough dock to justify the number of cranes you install, and you have to have a bit of extra dock space where they can be moved out of the way and parked when the ship is docking or leaving. The number of cranes in use will then depend on the size of the ship. When I worked in the harbor, we had small ships come in that would be worked with 2 cranes and we had large ships come in that would handle 4 cranes.

Thanks Russ for the reply, i always enjoy reading what other have to say about the plans i make

I would like to have at least one large barge in the top Harbor. Should i take out one of the Bridge Cranes? Would that give them enough room to move around and such if i spread them out a bit? Each crane is 10-1/4" wide, so if i take one out, i can divide that space combined with the space that is already between each crane right now (2-1/2") and that should give a little space in between each one so that they could move around....

I have one question about your plans for the manufacture of parts. I'm not familiar with the steel industry, but I don't think steel mills make any parts other than perhaps a machine shop on premises to make parts in house needed to keep the machinery running. I think the steel mill would send out the steel in rolls, slabs, or structural shapes to other companies who would have foundries or whatever was needed to produce finished parts. For instance, the auto industry receives steel in rolls that goes to the stamping mill at the plant to make body panels. They receive ingots that goes to the casting plant to be cast into engine blocks, cylinder heads, etc. Even the frames for cars are made on site from raw steel.

That gives me an idea for a small to medium on site building for manufacturing parts for the complex. I was just going to do a bunch of small to medium sized buildings that would represent different Manufacturing buildings where the steel slabs, coils..... would be turned into parts of whatever, wheather it be parts for machines, parts for bridges, parts for buildings.... But now that you said that, it got me thinking, and i have a building that i kitbashed a while ago that was 2 of the Allied Rail Re-builders kits. I could use that building as machine shop for the entire complex. It was quite a large building, 10 x 20" so i think it would fit well with the scene.

This leaves me with alot of open space now that i wont be adding in a few small to medium sized buildings for Manufacturing buildings. Ill have to get creative in these areas lol

[doctorwayne]

Josh, if you want smaller structures for a steel mill complex, here are some suggestions from the plant where I worked. Locomotive shop, for loco repairs - our's did complete rebuilds, with some components sent out - plenty of opportunities for some good scenes.




Also, car repair shop - most integrated steel mills (ones that take raw materials and produce finished or semi-finished steel) have enormous fleets of in-plant cars - think hundreds of ingot buggies, scrap gondolas, ladle cars, torpedo cars, hoppers, and flats. Most of these are not equipped with brakes, but road cars (Stelco owned several chemical tank cars for transporting coke-oven by-products to various customers) have to meet all requirements for interchange.
Also, a diesel repair shop, for the plant's fleet of mobile cranes, dump trucks, scrapers, bulldozers, loaders, and generators.
A carpenter shop - the carpentry department built scaffolding, falsework for brick construction, and forms for concrete work, and also made tables and benches, etc. for lunch rooms and change rooms.
An in-plant canteen, where workers can eat or get take-out food. We had 5 or 6 of them.
A building for brick storage - the furnaces, stoves, soaking pits and re-heating furnaces are all lined with refractory brick of various types, and are being constantly re-built.
A machine shop for turning bearings, making repair parts for in-plant machinery, etc.
A pattern shop - most plants cast many of the repair parts for the heavy machinery they used, and there was a separate department just for making the patterns.
Roll shop - for turning (on a large lathe) the rolls used in forming the slabs into plates, sheets, and coils.
Motor shop - this shop rebuilt and serviced the thousands of motors used to turn the work rolls mentioned above, but also the roller lines, cranes, ingot delivery buggies, and car pushers.
Stores Department - everything from paper clips and office supplies to lubricating oils, safety boots, gloves and hardhats, soap, you name it.
Blacksmith shop - in addition to repairing various items, this shop fabricated the bars, hooks, hammers, and other tools peculiar to the steel industry.
Fabricating shop - the fab shop did all sorts of metal work around the plant, from re-roofing a building to making duct work, railings and steps, machine guards, you name it, they'd build it.
Pump house and water treatment plant - steel plants consume an enormous amount of water - while much of it doesn't have to be potable, it does have to be free of most sediment and debris - a blast furnace, in addition to being lined with refractory brick several feet thick, is also covered in a jacket of water cooled castings, and all rolling mills use water to cool the rolls and to carry away scale and scrap. The mould of a continuous cast is water cooled, too.

There are more than this, too, but this should help you to fill up some of those smaller pockets of empty real estate.

Wayne

[Trucklover]

Wayne that is a tremendous help!!! I had no idea just how complex a Steel Mill could be and all that certainly gives me tons of idea for small buildings to fill up the scene. Im liking the idea of an engine and car repair shops buildings, i usually dont model such buildings, but i think i may add them in this time lol. Im liking the ideas of the Machine Shop, Fabricating Shop, Roll Shop and Pattern Shop

[Trucklover]

Changes that have been made include:

• 1. Took one Bridge Crane out and spaced the 3 equally
  2. Made the BOF twice as big and added more tracks. The BOF can have rail docks along the bottom section of the building. Along the left wall section can be some truck docks in between the tracks. The top track for that runs through the BOF is a track so that Hot Metal Bottle Cars can reach the OHF and the EAF without hitting the mainline tracks.
  3. Added the Rolling Mill in its spot with the 3 tracks equally spaced inside running the entire length of the building. The tracks at the left side of the Rolling Mill will lead to the yard on the left side of the layout (still needs to be added)
  4. Added the large Open Hearth Furnace (OHF) backround building which will tower over the Rolling Mill by 12"
  5. Added the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) backround building
  6. Added a Machine Shop next to the rolling mill where as Wayne said is where making spare and repair parts for on-site steel mill machines. This building is 2 Walthers Allied Rail Re-builders Car Shops
  

[cnw1961]

Josh, great start. I think it is a great idea to dedicate a layout to a single, big industry. . Did you think of searching HABS/HAER ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/">http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/</a><!-- m --> ) for "steel mill"? Inspired by your plans, I gave it a try and came up with a lot of very interesting pics and maps. Especially the drawings of Bethlehem Steel. Corp. Lackawanna plant, U.S. Steel Homestead works and U.S. Steel Duquesne works can be very helpful and inspiring as they show all the structures and all the tracks.

[Russ Bellinis]

Josh, if that track plan is drawn to scale, your barge dock is just barely big enough to justify 2 cranes. A real dock that size would probably only have one crane.

[Trucklover]

Josh, great start. I think it is a great idea to dedicate a layout to a single, big industry. . Did you think of searching HABS/HAER ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/">http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/</a><!-- m --> ) for "steel mill"? Inspired by your plans, I gave it a try and came up with a lot of very interesting pics and maps. Especially the drawings of Bethlehem Steel. Corp. Lackawanna plant, U.S. Steel Homestead works and U.S. Steel Duquesne works can be very helpful and inspiring as they show all the structures and all the tracks.

Kurt, thanks for the link, ill have to check it out and see if i can get some ideas

[Trucklover]

Josh, if that track plan is drawn to scale, your barge dock is just barely big enough to justify 2 cranes. A real dock that size would probably only have one crane.

Hey Russ, The dock is 5' 9" as it is right now and i dont think i could make it any larger lol. I took one of the cranes out so now there are only 2 Bridge Cranes on the dock. I think it looks better and less crowded in there, and now they really have some room to "work" lol



Ive also added in the stud ended yard and added the lift out for this level that would cross a door. I also added another run-around track on the left side of the layout on the inside mainline track. Now both the inner and outer mainline tracks have run-arounds.... There are also 2 Walthers Double Crossovers on the mainline, one at the top just below the BOF and one just below the Bridge Cranes


This is how this layout would work.

• 1. Coal trains would be loaded up in the harbor with the bridge cranes.
  2. Trains would run around the layout and either back in or pull into the coal dump tracks at the Coke Oven.
  3. Coke would go into the Quencher Tower to cool off and then travel into a separate building (which is not on the plan yet) where they would be dumped out of the Quencher Cars and loaded into Coke Cars.
  4. Coke Cars would be brought out to the mainline and then head off to the Blast Furnace where it would be dumped in the Materials Dump along with Limestone and Iron Ore.
  5. This mixture would be melted to produce Molten Iron and be loaded into Hot Metal Bottle Cars and shuffled off to the Basic Oxygen Furnace (which the Molten Iron would be mixed with Oxygen), Open Hearth Furnace (which the Molten Iron would be mixed with Lime, Flux, and more crushed Iron Ore), and or the Electric Arc Furnace (which the Molten Iron would be mixed with Lime, Flux, more crushed Iron Ore, and Scrap Steel)
  6. From the Basic Oxygen Furnace, Open Hearth Furnace, and Electric Arc Furnace it would be pushed over to the Rolling Mill where it would be pounded, rolled..... into coils and giant slabs of steel
  7. Finished products would be shipped out on Coil Cars and Flat Cars

[Trucklover]

Here is the start of the bottom level for the layout



Again the 2 levels WILL NOT be connected, although i am thinking about doing it somehow. I dont think i could get a helix in there and a long straight grade would be a bit of a challenge of a long freight train/coal train to travel up 24" or more between the 2 levels.... Any Suggestions on that?

Details about the bottom level

• 1. Coal is mined from the Coal Mine in the Open Pit Mines, brought to the Mine Buildings and then loaded into coal hoppers in trains.
  2. Trains could either run around the bottom level of the layout or head off to the Ore Dock for unloading
  3. Ore dock consist of 4 Ore Dock kits, the 1st being the full 48-1/2" of the kit with the approach modeled, and last 3 are an approximate of the docks modeled without the approaches and connected to the Full Ore Dock. Ore dock is about 11' 3" (again not for sure, dont know how long each ore dock is without the approach) with a total of 72 chutes.
  4. The Harbor and Ore Dock are sunken into the benchwork so only the top 4" of the Ore Dock are above the base of the layout. This is mostly due to the fact that i didnt want to build up a huge incline of 10" to reach the top of the dock lol
  5. I will need to add a small yard, thinking on the top space. Also need to add at least one run-around track on this level
  6. The rest of the open space will be scenery and mountains and such.....
  7. All benchwork on the bottom level has a depth of 24"

[Trucklover]

And last one for now, showing the small yard at the top and the run-around i added on the left side. The yard could also serve as a runaround track for the inside mainline....