Steel Mill Trains inside Indiana Harbor and Gary Works

[@SamLovesTrains]

Quick correction: The mill at the beginning of video is actually former LTV/ISG, not Inland.

[@billscott356]

And before that, Youngtown Sheet and Tube. Today the former Inland (where I worked) and YST are a combined facility.

[@z00h]

another correction, it's harbour not harbor.

[@danielthoman7324]

@@z00h I'm from that area. It's Indiana harbor.

[@z00h]

@@danielthoman7324 so it's a "harbour" with a spelling mistake, got it.

[@ThisIS_Insane]

@@z00h Only if you're from Great Britain, or Australia...

[@ingo_8628]

No stupid music, just the enviromental sound, i like it.

[@vietnammodeling]

For a moment I thought this was an amazingly well built model railroad.

[@hoosierhobbies]

This is without a doubt the best steel mill video that I have ever seen!

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed!

[@LeoStarrenburg]

Same here, and a first for the loaded torpedo cars 👍

[@MervynPartin]

Absolutely 👍

[@Ben-tw7lf]

Geez, this is the most realistic layout I've ever seen. Moving water and everything!

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

Thank you Sam for filming these "off limits" industrial places. It immensely helps with modeling. Got the gears turning.

[@justinmarcotte5272]

How were you able to fly inside the plant? I would have assumed it would be off limits? Keep in mind, I don’t know drone laws. Also, the audio, is that stock or recorded by the drone?

[@franzbrunner499]

as you mention modeling: where can i get torpedo (8-axle) / slug cars shown here in HO? internet shows Märklin (Krupp), but 18-axle! thanks for helping

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

@@franzbrunner499 Franz. Look up "State Tool & Die" in USA . This company makes a version of eight axle torpedo cars in HO. Great kit that can be easily super detailed .

[@heybeerdan1820]

Exceptional video, Sam! Drone work is perfect. Plenty of inspiration here for modelers, I'd say. Well done.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! I’d love to model a mill like this some day.

[@Nethanel773]

This vast iron and steelworks complex makes this place look so otherworldly. I like you filmed this. Thanks for putting this up.

[@Nethanel773]

13:10 - 14:30 brings to mind scenes from the movie, Koyaanisqatsi. Actually, a few of the zoom, pan, and flyover shots bring that movie to mind.

[@stumpfarm3714]

This is the coolest model railroad I’ve ever seen.

[@jasondelaney6849]

It's a real railroad, not a model railroad

[@nigelmorse3909]

@@jasondelaney6849Sorry if I’m stating the obvious, but I’m sure 3714 was joking

[@midwestrails8317]

Killer stuff! The shot of the bottles from above is my favorite.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thanks!

[@davidballoid2118]

Awesome, I could watch this operation for hours. I really like steel-mill trains and watching the Larry Cars on the High Line.

[@SamLovesTrains]

I’m glad you like it! I hope to go back for more footage soon. I’d like to get some shots of the lake freighters unloading at the mills.

[@sanddabz5635]

What's a Larry Car?

[@brucybabyy7355]

Oh man the size and scope of it is mind-boggling fantastic filming love those bottle cars at the end

[@josephcrowshaw950]

Fascinating! The drone view gives a better idea of how sprawling this mill is.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thanks! Drones really let you capture scenes that you’d otherwise never see.

[@stevenreay7833]

I worked on sites such as this on Teesside and Sheffield in the 80's in England. Much much smaller, and that includes the trains but processes all look so familiar. Superb photography, the sound is especially good. I'm so glad I found this and I'm looking forward to watching your other work. Many thanks

[@andrewpalm2103]

Wow, just wow! Great footage. It's nice to see end-cab switchers still working hard. In the 60's I worked four summers at US Steel Gary Sheet and Tin, so this brings back some memories. I travelled past the Gary Works many times by auto and the CSS&SB, but had no idea how extensive they were. And in the 50's my family would occassinally drive through Hammond, first on US20 and later on the new Toll Road. I remember trying to hold my breath as the smell was so bad. I can even vaguely remember PRR sharknose diesels parked on yard tracks near US20, too.

[@SamLovesTrains]

I’m glad the video brought back good memories. It’s great to see the industry still going *somewhat* strong in Gary, despite mills closing down all the time this day and age.

[@ThisIS_Insane]

@@SamLovesTrains When they pulled out, Gary lost over 160,000 residents. Now there's barely 70,000 living there. USS built that town and the mill to supply jobs, but then just said, "Hey, we changed our plans, you're all on your own."

[@JohnBath-f8p]

Memories of Sheffield 45 years ago. River Don Works. Plus secondments to my native South Wales. Drove molten iron trains as part of my duties.

[@doinitforthestreets]

I've always wanted to see the inside of this plant, thanks for posting this!

[@Bob.W.]

Great shots of those loaded torpedo cars

[@mattberg916]

The furnaces at USS Gary are 4,6,8 and 14. The ore shuttle gets loaded by the ore bridge (clamshell on the overhead) and dumps into bins below the highline. The area below the highline is called the stock house and runs the full length of the furnace row, it's all bins for coke, limestone, ore and sinter, shakers and conveyors. The materials are loaded by conveyor into the skip tubs that climb the skip incline to the charge deck of the furnace. I worked for the EJ&E for a bit and then was back at USS as a carpenter building scaffold. I've literally been inside, on top of and underneath those blast furnaces and every nook and cranny in between. Not to mention just about every other place in the mill from the dunes out on the far east end of the property to the basements of the coil houses on the far west. Fascinating place to be, kinda crappy to work in. You've made some excellent video!

[@BossSpringsteen69]

Never had any inspirations to model a steel mill until after watching this video.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Makes me want to as well!

[@jessewalker9241]

Worked a decade field and shop repair on the US Steel locomotive and rail cranes fleet on that and the other bop shop and furnace high lines until it was handed over to Gary Railway. It was great working in the locomotive shop that was built in 1906 and being part of that history.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

They used to have high lines in Port Talbot Steelworks many years ago too, much of it is still visible in spite of landscaping caused by new road development.

[@allenzackery1639]

I was glued to the set ! Very interesting !!!

[@Travis-kw3mo]

Jesus that place is huge. How many acres does it cover

[@victormioduszewski4729]

Great video....Just the size and scope of these plants is amazing....To think of all the products that are made with steel from these plants and are in yesterday's and todays households.....

[@RHJ3]

Hot metal cars from above, what a treat, fantastic! Thank You.

[@eugenenewton1909]

These are great…. You wanted to follow that switcher through the barn at 4:28. You thought about it

[@SamLovesTrains]

Haha! Maybe if I’m feeling brave some day. Would be game over if it went down anywhere inside that plant.

[@Travis-kw3mo]

Such a cool looking old industrial site. Probably polluted as hell though

[@wolstenholme100]

Incredibly good. Thanks for sharing.

[@terry7340]

Fresh from college I worked at Inland Steel in 1966/7 until the draft board caught up with me. A huge blizzard shut everything down that winter. I think they even banked the blast furnaces.

[@jserkiz06]

SamLovesTrains, your videos make me stand tall with American pride! The massive size scale, the complexity, the intellectual genius of making this work, I am beyond words. THANK YOU for your superb video product.

[@Steven_Williams]

This is awesome! Nice to see what's on the other side of the tracks when I railfan.

[@arnomrnym6329]

cool footage. 👍🏾😎 Thx. It's a pity that much of the railroad infrastructure has been dismantled, but you can still see how it was in the golden days.

[@Starsnu1]

WOW, what a great view of those steel mills in Gary, IN. I've driven by them many times and rode by them at least 10 times on The Lakeshore Limited. I would love to see more of this. Great Work

[@AndreiTupolev]

What a fantastic view! It's obviously much reduced in extent, but it still gives the impression of an entire industrial city

[@williambarry8015]

Im from California where we have no manufacturing industry. I urban explored an old concrete plant by Buffington Harbor that was being demolished. The place was freakin huge. It completely blew my mind. I loved that area. It made me feel like i was in America.

[@jackcampbell2479]

Cal had steel mills 60 yrs ago

[@gp3829]

I really enjoyed your video. It reminded me of the former Steelworks at Redcar in Cleveland, North Yorkshire, UK - which is now unfortunately closed. Similar Switchers and Bottle-cars (Torpedo cars) semi-decrepit Buildings, redundant gear. It had same fascinating Industrial Archeology about it as well as its setting - being surrounded by other Industries. The river Tees here was known as 'Steel River' with all the Iron-ore that was mined in the nearby Cleveland Hills. Thanks for posting.

[@DavidWilson-hh2gn]

I used to be involved with the Lackenby - Workington steel trains when I was on the Signalling,the steel was used for manufacturing railway track at Workington.

[@gp3829]

@@DavidWilson-hh2gn Love Teesside. Miss it like anything.

[@remylopez4821]

Fascinating video I can only imagine what that area was like during world war two production years, but I found amazing other than that locomotives and other vehicles driving about you never saw anybody walking from building to building or working outdoors on anything I would love to visit a place like that too bad it’s off-limits for nerds like me

[@jiml9692]

I use to work there years ago. Believe it or not but that train is remote controled. One man operation. Great video.

[@ThisIS_Insane]

There was the switchman, and I saw the safety vest of another man sitting in the cab of that engine.

[@jiml9692]

If you look on the side of the engine it says remote controlled. And i worked there back in the mid 90s.

[@ThisIS_Insane]

@@jiml9692 It was a bit hard to see those huge letters on the side. Nevertheless, I know what can be seen in that Cab.

[@EagleCreekRailRoad]

This is just awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[@eduardodeazevedoesilva6833]

Definitely, THIS really is the Best Steel Factory Video I've ever seen.. It's a Serious and Huge Siderurgic Complex, with a Rich Distribution of Railway net. The train has access of almost all Technical departments of the Complex. Since l am a Serious Railway Fan, l believe everyone will understand when l say: ". . . This Industrial Complex is like a Paradise!!! We also can see liquid Steel inside those Special Steel transport. Serious Congratulations for this Vídeo Producer.

[@Vzw-dj9rf]

Wow, very cool to see how big, complex and interesting these plants are. Fascinating track dump machine, starting about 13:12.

[@B1221C]

And here is where the Terminator was born.

[@farmerdave7965]

As a former steel mill hot end worker, I approve of this video.

[@plunkervillerr1529]

The most realistic layout I`ve ever seen.

[@tomgiorgini9154]

nice video, I did some work at the coke ovens in buffalo in 94 used to spend hours watching the coal trains being dumped by the rotary dumper, and the quench car gathering up the coke and going thru the quencher. wish I would have took some video, I had to dig for a half hour in the morning then come back in the afternoon to backfill for about a half hour the rest of the day I would drive my tlb around and watch the action, best job I ever had

[@LibertyRailfan]

Very cool video, always great from the bird's eye view, scenes you wouldn't have been able to get otherwise..

[@captainhuggyface6731]

i dont know why, but i have found a great fondness for this locomotive and its harbour, thanks for the video

[@thomassalerno5203]

Incredible cool video of hot metal transport & service Excellent Impressive Videography !

[@craigpennington1251]

Delivered & picked up out of there a lot over the years when flatbed trucking. That place is enormous. It sure isn't what it once was. Pretty much a ghost town now.

[@johnvrabec9747]

I covered one of our routes that delivered Hinckley & Schmitt bottled water to Gary Works. Very cool to be in there, but I was lost all day there lol so freaking huge.

[@coolruehle]

WOW! This is THE BEST! Give me many ideas for ground cover, roads, etc.

[@Harveycartoonlvr11]

OH, YEAH! Without a doubt, that is the Cleveland Cliffs Steel Plant in East Chicago, when I saw it crossing the Indiana Harbor Canal, I KNEW it was right off the bat! I do miss Inland Steel/Acerlor Mittal because AT LEAST they'd let you photograph Trains in their primarily UNUSED PARKING LOT at C.P. 502, and now you can't because security will only chase you away now. Love that NS Intermodal Crossing the Canal by "HICK" Tower.

[@strobx1]

There's the Ped Bridge that the State of Indiana owns that you can video from

[@RailFanRob]

Wow love this industrial footage. Awesome video man thanks for sharing!!!

[@unpasaro]

WOW !!! what a fantastic video, excellent filming. I live in a small country and it is hard for me to assimilate seeing industries of such size, impressive , congratulations

[@SamLovesTrains]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@flynlr]

I have stared at this mill and integrated mills all over the world via google earth. this video really shows the details I was missing looking at them this way. recently tried street views around this mill to no avail. couldn't see much of anything that way. thanks so much for this. .

[@MervynPartin]

That was excellent. Great drone filming-steady and clear. I've always found steel making fascinating, with so much going on throughout the plants. In the past, I was lucky enough to visit a couple of now closed steel mills- a school visit to Guest Keen Iron & Steel in Cardiff, Wales and also when unloading a cargo of Canadian iron ore to Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Baltimore MD. The railroad operations were extensive, handling coal, coke, iron ore, molten iron, slag and of course the finished product-steel. Your video brought back memories.

[@timkis64]

as a truck driver i've delivered turnings to a few steel plants.their sprawling acreage allways amazed me.

[@xray606]

Very nice. I spotted the old EJE Lake Terminal unit in Gary. I could definitely watch more of that. There's been very little shown of Gary over the years.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thanks! I plan on heading back for more soon!

[@classifiedfive4377]

Ex Ej&e 460 can be captured

[@critical_always]

Fantastic camera work. I am a total random, not even into trains or modelling but this was a pleasure to watch. Watching on a 65" screen and listening on quality studio speakers. The sound is very good too.

[@sanddabz5635]

This place is massive, I don't know if it's all one big place, because some of it looks abandoned. At 4:40 as the locomotive approaches the railroad trestles/bridge with missing track and rail, That would have been way cool to watch trains traverse that!..... also at 7:17 The two elevated tracks on the right that are merging, I wonder if that is used anymore? Thanks for showing us this!

[@strobx1]

CP502 and Hick Tower

[@bholberg561]

That elevated track that is severed looks like a former highline track that served some demolished blast furnaces. Saw some stoves still standing...

[@sanddabz5635]

@@bholberg561 Thanks! This place is an amazing example of industry at its peak and now in its decline, kinda sad.

[@blauer2551]

I was delivering some stuff in that plant when the train went by and I could see the molten interior, I was thrilled like a little kid

[@SimpleMechanic931]

I love these videos because, having been born after the heyday of steel making, I’ve really only ever seen steel mills once they’ve been bankrupted and closed. So it’s very nice to see a real blast furnaces being charged by working skip cars and all the little details of a functioning mill, though the first one in this video doesn’t look to different from what I’m used to haha

[@kleetus92]

6:45 I like how the gates go up when the train comes through!

[@raztaz826]

Bleak looking landscape, but also fascinating

[@ggdaddy6676]

Superb! I'll definitely be checking out more of your vids.

[@SamLovesTrains]

@@ggdaddy6676 Thank you! I appreciate it!

[@ЗвездноеНебо-ч3ш]

Awesome video! Thanks a lot!

[@globetrav00]

Supper cool video! I've always wanted to see inside Gary Works and now I have. Thank you!!

[@ajwawrzyniak]

Fascinating Video! Great drone work!

[@montgomeryrail]

Seeing the exFairfield Southern SW1500 at the end take me back. That was either #352 or 351

[@SamLovesTrains]

I was wondering what railroad that unit was from. I figured it was from another steel mill railroad. I assume the slug that was paired with the SW1200 at the end of the video would also be ex-Fairfield Southern as well.

[@montgomeryrail]

@@SamLovesTrains honestly I am not sure I'd need to see it closer if it is yellow with a red stripe then yeah it's exfs/bsrr the 351 and 352 are exBSRR 351&352 before that they were BLE

[@libertyvilleguy2903]

Excellent footage. Thank you.

[@korhing1066]

Excellent Drone work and content Thank you

[@johnpoulson384]

Wow. Very well done.

[@ThePaulv12]

I enjoyed that. Great stuff. 2 slugs in revenue service in 17 mins - wow!

[@lawnmowerdude]

Man that layout is very detailed!

[@jonmacgill9244]

The car at about the 13:25 mark is a ore transfer car, material transfer car. Takes iron ore (taconite) from the ore bridge crane and dumps it into the bins under the high line. Underneath those bins is a scale car that the bins dump into. Scale car weights the burden and then dumps it into a Larry car that will take it to the top of the blast furnace and dump it in. Simple explanation. Great video. Do more

[@sunglassesron9464]

That looks a big site! We used to have industry like this in Britain until we got sold down the river...

[@VasjaLar]

Wow, it's all incredabale! 7:42 Let's see when this giant coolers is on!?

[@elsdp-4560]

Thank you for sharing.👍

[@toomanyhobbies2011]

Awesome! Thank you.

[@davebrock6618]

Loved the video,also great to see that drag of loaded coal cars heading through the site,probably on their way to West Olive Michigan

[@ThisIS_Insane]

Or the Bailly Power plant to the East, near Burns Harbor...

[@__Dude_]

The sheer size and state of decay makes it look frighteningly inhuman. Gives me the shivers.

[@tomroise9426]

Tremendous video thank you for sharing. Definitely one of the best industrial videos of all time. And in 17 minutes you showed very little of these massive industries. Will be looking for more of these types of videos! great job.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Thank you! I just posted some more footage of Gary Works the other day.

[@HavelockYard]

Awesome work! Love those molten steel shots from above!

[@cjbeyer8340]

Wow, what a wonderful video of Indiana Harbor & Gary Steel Mill/ railroad! So impressive, thanks for sharing & be safe making these videos!😊

[@marvwatkins7029]

Amazing volume on those speakers (assuming that it's not dubbed in).

[@AlbertaBoundRailfanning]

Very nice coverage! Those are quite the fascinsting operations and facilities there! Love the drone work for areas like this, nicely done!

[@thomassalerno5203]

Great videography on Cliffs CP 103 fabulous posts ….subscribed to you you tube channel Bottle Cars flats …nice very nice

[@FastLaneLyfe]

The best train diorama on YT!!

[@POLARTTYRTM]

Sorry if this is a noob question, but... at 4:55, that's a GE unit. All the times I've seem Iron Ore/coal trains in the US, they were always led by EMD units, most of them didn't have a single GE unit. Why in this case it's a single GE pulling the train unit and why are EMDs used almost all times for iron ore/coal trains? I always see this in the Belen, NM cam from Raifan, I've never seem that type of train being led by a GE unit before, let alone a single one.

[@thomashynes4042]

At first I thought that this was the BEST looking HO Model Railroad I had ever seen ...the detail was amazing, but then the people walking around LOL

[@FrogandFlangeVideo]

Fabulous aerial footage !! Steel mill modelers pay attention. lol. Loved seeing that rather large transfer car on the highline. That site is just chaulk full of industrial gear. James.

[@jonathanblair5255]

Totally awesome!!!

[@LSFIREVIDEOS]

all I can say is that this is an incredible video. GREAT WORK!!!

[@marvwatkins7029]

I use to see the "bottle trains" go past Dolton Tower late at night. Their glow was fascinating to watch.

[@eaglesfly5236]

Awesome footage

[@davidb8872]

Great work

[@classifiedfive4377]

Would you please return to Gary works and make more videos. I’d love to see more GRW equipment

[@SamLovesTrains]

I plan on it soon! I’d like to see one of the lake boats unloading there as well.

[@classifiedfive4377]

@@SamLovesTrains GRW stored quite a bit of former J cars near the coke ovens, if you get a chance fly around that area they have a former J caboose sitting there along with a Ej&e scale test car gondola. Just don’t get your drone caught.

[@SamLovesTrains]

@@classifiedfive4377 I’ll keep that in mind! I’m always looking out for mill security. I’m sure they wouldn’t be happy if they saw me flying.

[@SamLovesTrains]

@@classifiedfive4377 I saw some old switchers on google maps seemingly abandoned just east of the mill at what looks to be a disused power plant. I’d like to check that out too.

[@classifiedfive4377]

@@SamLovesTrains yep and a few tonners as well. Btw ex EJ&E 460 sw1500 is back working. Apparently they have a few delray connecting units as well. Keep an eye out for those too !!!

[@freshpack8928]

I thought this was a train set at the beginning.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Yes, I think the idea is with that device at13:25, ore is loaded into the hoppers and then it's discharged onto conveyors below where it's required

[@onenickthomas]

Amazing!

[@ingomoba1001]

Nice Video🤩👍. Like the Steelcompany Salzgitter AG/ Niedersachsen in Westgermany.

[@shed66215]

A tour can be booked around the steelworks in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire using old brake vans for the passengers (caboosses to our US friends). Only run on selected days but are very popular.