I was lucky enough to get my foot in the door on the very first J&L 58 Experience this weekend. It was a rewarding and unique experience that is worth seeking out, and I thought I'd share my day here to help Rick fill the remaining Experience openings this year. If you're near or passing through the Youngstown, OH area it's worth checking out! The public runs and "Experience" days can all be found on their website at http://www.youngstownsteel.org.
For those unaware, Rick Rowlands (seen below in the green t-shirt) has brought a Jones & Laughlin Steel narrow gauge steam locomotive back from the beyond in Youngstown, OH - a city formerly known as Steeltown, USA. 58 and her sisters were used inside the J&L mill in Pennsylvania to move ingots and equipment around the tight confines of the mill. Due to their expected service, they were very stout for their size and gauge at over 45 tons. They also feature cylinders disproportionately large for the boiler to allow for their weight to be turned into tractive effort, but the lack of boiler horsepower means they can't keep it up for long especially at speed.
To start the experience we met Rick at a local restaurant for breakfast. Of the 4 seats that were filled, only 3 of us showed up. Breakfast was good, and Rick started answering any questions and filling us in on the history of the locomotive in use, and his stories from the restoration.
After breakfast we headed to the locomotive's home at the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation. Walking through their main building, you pop out the other side to a perfectly-sized little engine house with the number "58" peeking out through large windows.
First things first after opening the doors - assemble the buffer and coupler on the back of the engine that otherwise would prevent the doors from closing. It's a tight fit!
The tender, which is new for this year, was backed onto the engine by their gas switcher which they procured from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. It's a nice little locomotive with a great sound - Ford 351 powered!
While they were backing the locomotive out of the roundhouse I snagged a quick photo of another item from the RMPA - this "donkey" engine that was used on the Whiskey Island Docks under the Hulett Unloaders on the near West side of Cleveland.
Once backed out one of the participants helped chock the wheels and we were ready to start prepping the locomotive for the day.
First, I grabbed a couple of quick shots of the engine house.
With a wood fire built by myself and one of the other participants, Rick lit it off with a torch.
After some time, and with the first layer of coal on the fire and smoke starting to show, it was time for a quick walk around the grounds.
Rick started by showing us the signal system he's installed on the one motorized switch on the line on the switchback between the shop and the hill. Being a sparky, I made sure to grab a picture of the panel's guts.
Rick then showed us 58's two sisters that he's acquired. There's another one in Colorado, but he estimates its purchase and movement to be prohibitively expensive for now.
Another recent addition is this old CSX boxcar that they are making into a larger steam shop. The track entering the boxcar will be a couple feet off the ground, allowing for a short section of elevated track that will provide easy (or at least easier) access to the bottom of the locomotive and rolling stock should it be needed.
We then took a stroll up the hill, which Rick reported to be about 6% (!!!). It travels past an old Erie caboose that he wants to turn into their office, and up to the End of Track sign adjacent to their man-made pond used to collect water for eventual treatment and boiler use.
Coming back down the hill, and the coal had definitely lit. We shoveled on another layer and Rick opened the cylinder co*cks and started to move the locomotive around a little to warm the cylinders. He also went through and tested the appliances.
Looking around the grounds, it seemed like there was something new at every turn. In this case - literally. A couple of very large, very new drivers for a very exciting PRR project were being stored here for the time being.
With the boiler pressure building and more coal on the fire, it was already time for lunch. Some really good pizza was ordered from a local Pizza Joe's. Cold drinks were provided all day as-needed, and all the meals were included in the price for admission.
Rick's interest in steel mills goes beyond the J&L - this was actually the first equipment relocated to the site. An original William Todd steam engine that used to power a local rolling mill, manufactured right there in Youngstown. The J&L 58 felt like it could fit inside one of its cylinders - it was massive!
The walls were adorned with all sorts of signs and memorabilia from the local mills.
Rick had a couple of 3D-printed models of the J&L 58 on display, but not for sale. They were reportedly done by a 17-year-old HS student in his school's STEM lab - nice!
After lunch, we did our final rounds, and all boarded for a trip up the switchback and then up the hill with Rick driving.
From there, Rick got us participants into the seat and let us drive from the tail of the switchback up the 6% hill. It's not a long run, but the stack talk was impressive.
Once at the top of the hill, we backed all the way to the tail of the switchback mostly just coasting and riding the air brakes down. The air is supplied by a small gas-powered Honda air compressor in the back of the tender for now.
Once back at the tail of the switchback, it was time to prep the engine for another run. The relatively shallow firebox and steep climb means that the fire needs tending between most every run, or at least every other.
In between participants I was able to grab some nice shots of the 58's "office" - definitely tight! Your left leg doesn't sit too far from the backhead, so long pants are definitely required here.
Now that we were getting the hang of it, we were all allowed to run a second time. Thanks to there only being three of us, we were allowed to run up the hill twice on this second round.
After our runs were completed, it was time for a little switching to get their one passenger car out of the switchback tail so the tender could be aligned with their coaling apparatus. In this short clip you can hear the Ford 351.
Finally it was time to back the 58 to the switchback tail, tidy up the tender, and Rick hopped on their large fork truck to lift to get their "coaling tower" into place. While fueling, we had some time to look around the engine one last time.
A couple of us took turns taking pictures of each other in the engineer's seat.
Finally Rick took the controls and delicately positioned the 58 back in the spot we found her in the moring.
Two meals, drinks, gloves, and a complete waking up to putting away day of steam locomotive fun for $258. I've paid more for larger, longer, and faster - but this struck me as perhaps the highest value, unique, and educational of the bunch. Definitely worth checking out for any steam fan or person interested in our steel or industrial past.
