What is left of the South Side Works and HK Porter Plant?

[@gilcore5245]

Thank you for your hospitality today, I enjoyed meeting you and seeing the collection!

[@PRR5406]

Wonderful video lesson, Rick. People in Lima, Ohio, are furious that the locomotive plant was demolished to make way for nothing. Nice to see some heritage locations remain to this day.

[@JH-qi7fz]

Fascinating information. Sad to see so much gone, but very impressive to see what's left.

[@stephenkent8903]

It was nice to see the H.K.Porter plant buildings in Pennsylvania. My dad worked as a machinist at your sister forging plant in Somerville 43 , Massachusetts. When I drive into Boston I still look towards where their plant was still hoping to see the Octagon roof of the forging plant. I love to find tools that they forged and made there as a way of keeping my dad's spirit alive. I have over 20 tools that I've found and restored tools all the way back to 1906. They all still in great working condition.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Nice tour of "what's left" of the J&L south side works and HK Porter. Thanks for sharing! Fortunately, most of the large steel mills in northwestern Indiana have not suffered the safe fate .... yet!

[@crazydavek]

Great tour Rick. Thanks for the history.

[@OldIronVideo]

I've been the Lima plant theres nothing other than concrete lot, amazing to see so much at the porter plant

[@bcbloc02]

The Lima plant was a glorious place 20 years ago before they Urban renewed it into a vast field of nothing.

[@natefessler3961]

I walked past the Porter plant dozens of times when I lived in Lawrenceville, and I didn't even know it! Very cool to see your footage back-to-back with those old photos

[@williamwintemberg]

Wonderful history lesson! A double edged sword for me. It's nice to see the land reclaimed with new structures built. My heart remains in what was, never to return.

[@codybrox4693]

Hopefully the steel plants will be rebuilt and opened across America again someday

[@TheDaf95xf]

Really interesting Rick. Would like some more of the same please 👍🏻 Living in the U.K. it’s very interesting seeing the old railroads of the USA 🇺🇸 🤩 Cheers Stevie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@elsdp-4560]

Thank you for sharing. Great history, Enjoyed.👍👀

[@Stoker58]

As a southside resident post J&L demolition and redevelopment with an interest in the areas history it’s awesome to see you drive through and place where things in the mill used to be. Regarding the porter plant I’ve been wondering about this myself for sometime. I find it hard to find any information online but I figured by the age of the buildings on site some of them were likely original.

[@SunnyJohn45]

This video brought back memories. In 1963-64, I got hired as a college intern at US Steel's National Works in McKeesport, up the Monongahela River from South Side. It was a vertically integrated plant that made the iron, then the steel and finally made pipe, including the seamless tubing it was famous for. I worked and walked everywhere in the plant. I've never had a better work experience and I've worked in multiple nuclear power plants. At the time, it was obvious the steel industry was doomed. Work practices, ancient facilities that had been worn out by World War Two and corporate neglect were obvious even to a nineteen year old. National Works had last seen improvements in the teens. It was doomed, as were all the other mills of its vintage. They lasted until the eighties. It seemed like overnight and they were gone. They won't return in my or many of your lifetimes.

[@randyclyde4939]

Rick, thanks so much for taking the time and effort to make this video! It gives me a much greater sense of how large an operation the Porter Locomotive Works actually was. I look forward to each video!

[@alanroy5629]

Thank you for the history lesson. Always wondered where they made so many engines in my hometown.

[@robertsanders6463]

Thanks Rick, I have done the old building crawl thing to and found it very depressing, (CNR in Stratford) Cheers

[@davelewandoski4292]

Great video Rick, thanks for doing these. Truly sad how much industrial might our area had and is now gone.

[@midwestmodelrailroadworkshop]

Awesome history in this video! Loved seeing the old photos of the plants and what's left! Time has really changed that area. Reminds me alot of Bethlehem. Great video!

[@P61guy61]

Excellent. Thank you for posting

[@timeflysintheshop]

Hey everyone! Check out the sign on the building on the right at 4:40! Rick must have been in the right place! 👍😀👍😀👍😀

[@TrainsOhio]

Love the tour!

[@alexprocyk8805]

There was a building that had dual gauge trackage coming out of it untill recently but I think that is where the modern apartment sits now.

[@jeffbrown3963]

Interesting video, thanks!

[@BigHoss1745]

Love the historical stuff are you going to do one on the Dickson locomotive works in Scranton PA?

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

great video

[@50sussie]

So cool Thanks

[@ReneSchickbauer]

8:00 These blocks along the wall looks like they could have been used inside the building to rest various pieces of (unfinished) machinery while they are being worked on.

[@Running-with-skizers]

The ingots are on the homestead side of the hot metal bridge they are on a 23 inch gauge flat car that 58 and 59 probably pulled

[@theextremeanimator4721]

At least H&K Porter did the impossible and survived to this very day!

[@davidkoehler136]

loved it

[@mr.sir.]

Now all are steels made in China... RIP to Bethlehem steel and all the other steel mills we've lost.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

A lot of U.S. integrated steel mill production has been lost to those domestic "mini-mills" (electric arc furnace steel production) as well.

[@jd3497]

Redevelopment, disgusting. How many skilled jobs lost, to be replaced by low-paying service industry work?

[@s16100]

so depressing. Progress...........backwards. This country is so stupid! :(