This desolate scene at Mingo sums up the state of the US economy and steel industry in the spring of 2009.

A freshly painted switchers moves a cut of hot metal towards the BOF at Edgar Thomson Plant of US Steel's Mon Valley Works. The engine is a former P&LE SW1500.

Back in the days of operating steel mills in Pittsburgh, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad served this mill and PAT streetcars on Route 64 passed by. One car was late, thanks very much for that bit o... (more)

Steel mills and railroads can often be mentioned in the same breath. That point is demonstrated here by WPSX 1551 and the NS Ohio River Secondary in the foreground of the former Wheeling-Pitt Stee... (more)

Its a beautiful day for railfanning in North Bessemer! The Bessemer has just pulled in with a heavy train of iron ore pellets as the Union railroad awaits departure.

Q217 heads by what is just a small fraction of the remaining steel works in Pittsburgh.

While walking back to the car after shooting the NS local, we were caught by surprise by the CROW switching in the yard while going down a dead end track which ends about 500 feet to the left. Her... (more)

An older switcher sits at the CWRO engine facility, on the East Bank of the Flats

A CROW SW1001 pulls a cut of flat cars around the perimeter of one of the mills in the Flats of Cleveland.

There are two paint schemes used at the ET plant, the older red worn by ET-4 and the more recent gray and blue on ET-2.

Mill switchers and bottle cars congregate outside of US Steel's Edgar Thomson plant.

ET-3 scurries about with a bottle car in tow.

Two bottle cars and a ingot car remain on the site of one of the largest steel mills in the nation. Now this serves as the Duquesne City Center although most of the land isn't used, making for a d... (more)

ET monopolizes most of the URR's time. 30 years ago US Steel alone had four intergraded mills within two miles, of which ET was 2nd smallest! Today, ET is the only intergraded mill in the area.

The only green engine on the roster, URR #17 leads the afternoon slab train from the Edgar Thomson plant.