Youngstown steel museum to restore vintage locomotive

By BRANDON KLEIN

bklein@vindy.com

HUBBARD

Steam Locomotive

Video

A 1937 steam locomotive used in the steel industry will be restored in Youngstown.

A nearly 80-year-old railroad steam locomotive has found a new home at the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum.

The locomotive was transported Tuesday afternoon from Middlefield to the facility at 2261 Hubbard Road by Diamond Steel Construction. Museum volunteers will start the restoration process so the locomotive is operable for demonstrations.

“We’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do,” said Rick Rowlands, executive director of Youngstown Steel Heritage.

The locomotive was built in 1937 in Pittsburgh for Jones and Laughlin Steel Co., and was used to move ingot molds at the company’s furnaces. The train bears the road number 58 and weighs 45 tons.

The museum purchased the locomotive from Ohio Vintage Coal Co. Mining Museum, which is based in Pataskala in central Ohio.

Additionally, construction of the track for the demonstration railway already has started. There are also plans to replicate several of the ingot mold cars used at the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Brier Hill Works. Once completed, the locomotive would be operated during open houses and special events at the museum.

The total project cost is about $50,000, Rowlands said.

Although the locomotive originated from Pittsburgh, Rowlands said it would be effective in its goal of educating the public about the history and technology of steelmaking in the Mahoning Valley.

“This is similar to locomotives used in the Youngstown district,” Rowlands said.

Restoration of the locomotive is slated to be completed in the summer of 2016. The public can see the museum’s progress at its open house June 6.