YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association conducted its second annual Sheet & Tube Day to keep the former company and the area’s rich steel history alive.

“It’s important for everyone to know our past and the importance of Youngstown Sheet & Tube, which was our homegrown steel company,” said Carl Jacobson, the association’s president. “It had a large presence in the Valley from its corporate headquarters to the two mills. We need to talk about our history.”

He added: “We see ourselves as an educational museum. We’re working towards being able to have school groups here. Our mission is education.”

About 25 people came Saturday to the association’s location at the Jim Marter Yard on Poland Avenue in Youngstown to discuss the Valley’s steel history and to look at the numerous rail vehicles in the organization’s yard during the second annual YS&T Day. The vehicles include four locomotives, three cabooses, two boxcars and two slag ladle cars, Jacobson said.

The association built 1,500 feet of track at its location — the former Republic Steel parking lot — and is working to relocate two hot metal bottle cars from YS&T that it owns at a Struthers industrial park, Jacobson said.

The relocation cost is about $32,000 with about half of it collected, he said.

Hot metal bottle cars were designed to transport molten iron or steel from blast furnaces to steel-making plants.

The association successfully moved YS&T’s slag car No. 17 to its site two years ago.

Also on site is YS&T’s first diesel engine, No. 320. Moving the rail vehicles is challenging because of their age and condition, and the logistics of relocating them — having to use cranes, railroad flat cars and semi-trucks, as well as building enough track to house them, Jacobson said.

YS&T abruptly closed its main plant, Campbell Works, on Sept. 19, 1977, known as “Black Monday,” laying off 5,000 workers.

Its Brier Hill Works plant closed two years later and is now the location of Vallourec Star.

Lou DeSimone, who was YS&T’s local sales representative, attended Saturday’s event.

“It’s marvelous what they’re trying to do here,” he said. “The steel industry was vast in the area. Remembering the past is a good thing. History teaches you a lot. You don’t want to give up our history.”

DeSimone added: “Back when it was thriving, there were four to five other jobs for every steel job to support the steel producers. When 5,000 people lost their jobs at Sheet & Tube, there were probably 20,000 others who lost their jobs. That can’t be replaced.”

DeSimone said YS&T was a “good company to work for. They promoted me five times in 10 years. They always took care of their employees.”

Rick Rowlands, executive director of the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation, said: “Youngstown was a pretty big railroad and industrial area. We need to hold on to some of what used to be very common around here and remember it. It’s very important.”

While looking at the various rail cars in the association’s yard, Rowlands said: “When I was growing up at the tail end of the steel industry, I used to see a lot of this stuff operating. It was pretty common to see these things around. But now, they’re practically nonexistent.”

The MVRHA was formed in 1985 to preserve the railroading history and heritage of the Mahoning Valley with a major focus on the steel industry’s railroading.