Delray Connecting Railroad: Zug Island to U.S. Steel

[@thehappygocurmudgeon5283]

I hired into Great Lakes in 1998. I started in the coke plant when it was still owned by National Steel before U.S. Steel bought Great Lakes and sold the coke plant off to DTE Energy. Left as quick as I could only to come back as an electrical apprentice on the Blast Furnaces from 2003-2007. I left Great Lakes after 18 years and moved on, but I had some great times and made a lot of money there. Thanks for the video.

[@robertkaspert4092]

I remember getting stuck by those trains on Jefferson in Delray right by Zug Island road I didn't know they were still running. I was born and raised in Delray it's great to get a view of Zug Island I never seen before. Great video 👍.

[@phuturephunk]

Amazing footage. Zug Island has to be the most polluted square of land anywhere in the US now. It's a real throwback. I didn't realize they still ran coking operations there.

[@mvanluven78]

Worked there many times during outages running cranes.

[@NarcOfTheCovenant]

seeing that flameball up close on Zug Island is amazing. I've seen it all my life, but only from a distance. Thanks!

[@Orginal_Sinner]

My mom worked here in the early to mid 90s

[@miguelllorentesanz2035]

ART. Thanks for all.

[@jeffvandenberg8422]

Thanks for having me. I'm a huge train and great lakes freighter buff. I've always wanted to tour this. Thanks for sharing.

[@SamLovesTrains]

I’m glad you enjoyed. I also like Great Lakes freighters and would love to feature them in my videos more often.

[@BlakesTrainsandMore4014]

That would be cool to see!

[@millcreekrails]

Amazing content from these mills and plants. These mill videos are some of my absolute favorites! Can't wait for the next...

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thanks! I have more coming!

[@Enjoyer.762]

Better enjoy recording them now before the neo-liberal regime forces them to permanently close.

[@adp5R3x]

Thank You , Sam ... say what you will about Detroit , but for Trains, some of the GREATEST Industrial Trackage you'll find is packed in & around The Motor City

[@jedgeled759]

good video,,i love hearing the birds along with the trains !!!!

[@Intothewild1973111]

Awesome video

[@me-ev3kz]

Very cool, hope yo can record more. Thank you!

[@arthurbagby5406]

New sub! Great work! No talking, no music, just work-a-day trains doing their thing. Love it.

[@vikingofengland]

Hi from the UK. Loving your channel. Anyway I am amazed how much grunt that switcher has pulling that load.

[@thomasmackowiak]

Nice video of action on the Delray Connecting Railroad on Zug Island, Detroit, Michigan, Sam! The Delray Connecting Railroad does a lot of work on Zug Island even though the steel mill has been closed for about three years. Your drone footage of the trains of the Delray Connecting Railroad were fantastic. You drone footage of that one switch engine was great as you followed it as it performed its work assignments.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you!

[@tomroise9426]

Tremendous photography. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us great job keep up the good work.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! I appreciate the comment!

[@jonschuster1029]

Awesome drone work - very nicely done!

[@wolstenholme100]

Amazing! Thanks.

[@WashingtonDistrictRailfan]

Another banger. What a video.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!

[@detroitterminalrailroad1467]

Outstanding!

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thanks!

[@bulgingbattery2050]

People who live in close proximity to Zug island (including those across the river in Canada) often complain about the foul industrial odors which emanate from the plant.

[@gregginter5867]

I imagine it’s a highly toxic setting w/soil n groundwater contamination! And, that’s the reason EPA doesn’t have a presence…it’s probably so bad it’s impossible to clean up!😮😊

[@xray606]

Nice! I’d love to see EJE Kirk and Joliet if you ever feel like it.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Kirk may be in a restricted zone due to the Gary airport, but I wouldn’t be opposed to Joliet!

[@jefftousignant3319]

I drove pile at Zug.. definitely the most contaminated place in Michigan.. they made all of us wear air monitors on a daily basis... Hope I never go back...lol

[@electrictractiontrainsandt3063]

Awesome footage of this mill and railroad!👍Its amazing to see both from above!😃

[@CSXFan5496]

Nice video

[@csxtfarmer]

Just out of curiosity, how do you know if the video is nice or not if it hasn’t premiered yet?

[@vincecrysler3821]

Fantastic footage! Love these videos, Sterling and railroads, the perfect marriage😂

[@thomassalerno5203]

Question where is the USS steel making operation the DRC is serving considering you mentioned a plant closure. Also who is the recipient of the coiled steel being transported? Outstanding impressive drone videography.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! The U.S. Steel Great Lakes Works mill is shown at the end of the video. I believe that’s where the coil cars were going. The blast furnaces on Zug Island are what was closed down in 2020.

[@thomassalerno5203]

@@SamLovesTrains Thanks for clarifying So blast furnace no longer operating. Coke batteries working. Rolling mill operating. Nice steel headed to auto makes and the like I’m sure

[@Enjoyer.762]

​@thomassalerno5203 The managed decline of American blue-collar jobs on purpose.

[@thehappygocurmudgeon5283]

The coils come from Gary Works to the cold mill. It’s the only thing still running at Great Lakes. They have a hot dip galvanizing line that makes outer body steel for the auto industry and for many other things.

[@Steven_Williams]

Outstanding video! Keep 'em' coming!

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! More to come!

[@BOATNIAGARA]

Good video !

[@charleshall6357]

There is not one single structure in this video that I did not perform maintenance on.zug is only a part of the mill there,the main plant is a massive facility.the sound in this video does not show how loud these trains were.

[@HeavyRailProductions]

Great video!

[@samlivingston4130]

Such a bummer that the Blast Furnaces have been idled. Especially that they are on the Water and therefore have cheaper transportation cost. Buying Big River Steel probably had a lot to do with what happened here.

[@centraliowarailproductions2810]

Nice video!

[@Tpackage-my8dx]

The plant life has a weird green color. Surprisingly it can grow in places like this

[@Enjoyer.762]

Not really. All it takes is sufficient water, soil nutrients, and sunlight.

[@csxtfarmer]

🤓🤓🤓

[@tomstarcevich1147]

Awesome vid 👌 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃👍

[@bentrail]

Very well done. Covered a good stretch of the railroad. What drone are you flying ? Thanks for sharing.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! I use a DJI Mini 3 Pro

[@bentrail]

@@SamLovesTrains Wow that’s amazing. Thanks for the quick reply.

[@gregginter5867]

Dang but their drainage system sucks the bag! Gd gravy, even half of their holding tracks were under water!😅🎉

[@mikco99]

Are all those birds sitting on the drone?

[@psychiatry-is-eugenics]

DTE owns the coke plant . Any idea where the coils are coming from ?

[@flynlr]

Great shots. its a shame to see those idle/closed furnaces. our nations steel making capacity is pretty damn pathetic now.

[@ArtStoneUS]

This will become all the more apparent as the US military wants to ramp up production of artillery shells to replenish supplies wasted in Ukraine

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thanks! It is sad, but I’m glad there’s still some mills up and running.

[@farmerdave7965]

As a former steel mill worker, I concur.

[@jKLa]

Agree! I used to love watching some of the operations of a mini mill in Emeryville, CA, which shut down in the early 1990's, whereone could actually see inside to an extent from across the train tracks. It's now home to a large lifestyle shopping center. I could often hear it's furnaces from across town at night. The infamous Windsor Hum across the river in Windsor, ON it turns out really did come from the US Steel blast furnaces on Zug Island, and more specifically from it's 3 massive blast furnaces. A mysterious deep oscillating humming noise I often herd untill very recently where I live also stopped when the Steel Mill several miles from me recently shut down.

[@Enjoyer.762]

👍

[@fitscfo]

Is it unusual for that much trackage to be submerged?

[@SamLovesTrains]

Recent storms likely caused all the flooding. I’m not sure how often it happens.

[@flynlr]

is cliffs using all that coke?

[@SamLovesTrains]

The coke is handed off to CN I believe. I’m not sure where they take it.

[@JeffBey-sd5lc]

Anyone remember Zug Island Rick?

[@CarmenEric-o3b]

Hernandez Sarah Gonzalez Sarah Davis Carol

[@commonsense5741]

The smell of money.

[@classifiedfive4377]

Let’s see some Texas and northern next 😜

[@SamLovesTrains]

If I can make it down that way I’d love too!

[@allenhill5698]

Hello. The last I read was that USS had closed the plant at Lone Star. I used to love visiting there.