Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- As Kurt Sanders stood near numerous artifacts that represented a local bygone era, the memories seemed to flood back.
"I worked at the (Youngstown) Sheet & Tube Co. from 1974 until Black Monday," Sanders, of Vienna, said, referring to Sept. 19, 1977 -- the day the company's Campbell Works suddenly closed, idling more than 5,000 steelworkers and marking the start of the area steel industry's demise.
During his three years with the company, Sanders, who also served the same amount of time in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1974, worked as a laborer and a brakeman who also placed slag materials in the furnace.
Sanders was among those who brought his recollections to the Mahoning Valley Heritage Association Museum's P&LE Day on Saturday morning at the museum on the Jim Marter Yard, 1340 Poland Ave., on the South Side.
The three-hour gathering paid homage to the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, also known as the "Little Giant," that was chartered in May 1875. The Pittsburgh-based rail company was pivotal in carrying massive quantities of iron ore, coke, limestone, coal and steel to the Mahoning Valley's burgeoning steel mills.
"Today, we highlight the P&LE, one of the railroads that serviced the steel mills when they were running," Mike McCleery, the museum's treasurer and secretary, said.
The rail also was a key part of the region's industrial history, added McCleery, who retired after having worked 33 years at General Motors Corp.'s Lordstown plant.
The P&LE Railroad began operating in 1879 and started as a single-track railroad that connected Pittsburgh and Youngstown, and by 1890, it became among the main rail routes in the eastern U.S. The railroad continued to grow in the 20th century, thanks largely to advances in technology, according to www.historicpittsburgh.org. As all-steel cars developed, the trains were able to carry loads of up to 50 tons.
In addition, advancements in brake technology allowed the trains to carry heavier loads of coal while running faster and safer, the website shows.
The Marter Yard is to have about 15 train cars on its three sets of tracks. Two of them are in Struthers and two more are on the other side of the Mahoning River from the museum, McCleery said, adding that the yard formerly was a parking lot for Republic Steel.
The museum, which he described as containing "a little bit of history up close and personal," is in a 76-year-old yellow caboose with a metal stove, ice box and lockers, as well as a space in the front for the conductor and a work area in the back.
Among the memorabilia outside of the museum were an original radio that was used to communicate with different departments and the trains, painted lanterns that were on P&LE cars, a train schedule from Dec. 4, 1898, an original switch key, a manual detailing safety rules, time sheets and a photo album with numerous photographs of steelworkers, train cars and newspaper articles. Also included was a black-and-white photo snapped in 1961 of a blast furnace on Republic Steel's property close to the original Center Street Bridge in Campbell.
Also during the event Saturday, Joe Vasko and Carl Jacobson, the museum's vice president and president, respectively, worked to reassemble an old three-panel switch stand that contains what were called "retarders" that slowed a train's wheels and allowed it to safely and gently roll down a hill to stop.
Its other feature is an elaborate network of switches lining 35 sets of railroad tracks, the same number of tracks that led into and out of the Gateway Yard, which the P&LE operated on more than 200 acres near the original Center Street Bridge. The yard, built in 1957, sorted railcars.laden with raw materials and finished products for the steel industry.
It closed in 1993, though portions of trackage are still used for short-line and freight operations. The yard, tower and other structures still stand, however, and are visible from Wilson Avenue.
The switch stand will eventually be part of the museum's permanent display, but for now, it will be temporarily housed in a secure, water-tight storage building, Vasko said.
The nonprofit Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association was established in 1985 to preserve railroading history in the Mahoning Valley, with an emphasis on the steel industry. In the MVRHA's early days, the organization began to collect railroad equipment, and in 2007, it acquired 3.5 acres from the city for its current location.
For more information about the MVRHA, go to www.mvrha.org.