Youngstown Steel Heritage

06/01/2026

It was a very good day in Youngstown. 58 ran great and 62 got moved around a bit.

05/30/2026

Testing a GE MD 104 1/2 DC mill motor using a Cutler Hammer drum controller. The motor will become part of a flywheel friction drive for the Tod Engine so that we may spin up the engine on days that we do not have steam available.

All of this equipment was salvaged from the US Steel McDonald Mills and is well over a century old.

05/27/2026

It was time to install the throttle valves today. With Rick Rowlands in the crane and Kenny Pratt on the ground we got everything stacked up in place.

Outside, Mike Badila is almost finished painting the McDonald Mill scale house. It will soon be moved inside and converted into the stationary engineer's office.

05/25/2026

05/24/2026

Rainy day on the J&L Narrow Gauge.

05/24/2026

Saturday's progress on the Tod Engine restoration.

05/20/2026

A William Tod Co. foundryman, his identity lost to time, leaves his mark on the Tod Engine.

05/20/2026

A US&S Teardrop Bell found in the River Pump House at McDonald Steel, originally installed in the 1940s, finds a new life in the Tod Engine House.

05/19/2026

View between the cylinders of the Tod Engine over the years. As we found the engine in 1995, during dismantling in 1996 and last week.

05/17/2026

HP crosshead slide after scraping the cosmoline off and polishing. Not bad for sitting a half century. Dirty, messy job!