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"Youngstown Built (in 1913), Youngstown Preserved"
"By George NelsonYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- An artifact of the city's industrial heritage is finding a new home on the East Side.Flatbed trucks transported the disassembled pieces of a stationary steam engine that operated for 65 years in Youngstown Sheet and Tube's Brier Hill Works yesterday to a new home on Hubbard Road. Built by the William Tod Co. in Youngstown in 1913, the steam engine was used to operate a rolling mill, and was in use from 1914 to 1979."Its purpose was to make tube rounds that were later made into seamless pipe at the Campbell Works," explained Rick Rowlands, president of the Tod Engine Foundation, the nonprofit organization raising funds to develop the Tod Steam Engine Historical Landmark.A former locomotive engineer for CSX now working at the Fast Cast foundry in Struthers, Rowlands said he discovered nine years ago that the steam engine was still intact at what was then North Star Steel. After North Star officials agreed to donate the engine for historic preservation, Rowlands began assembling a group of volunteers to help with restoring the engine."These engines haven't been built since 1920," Rowlands said. The Brier Hill engine, which he described as a "historic, mechanical and materials-engineering landmark," is one of only two of its kind still in existence in this country, and both are begin preserved. "It's definitely a labor of love for me."The engine will be the centerpiece of the small industrial museum that also will feature other artifacts the foundation has acquired from various Sheet and Tube plants. The first part of the engine was being delivered Thursday, and those pieces will be assembled next week on a concrete display pad. Rowlands said he hopes to be able to move the rest of the engine to the site next year, once enough money has been raised to complete site work and transport the pieces. "Sometime early next year we'll bring over the other bedplates and then the crane shaft," he explained. "We'll completely reassemble the engine sometime early next year." The museum building will be constructed around the 260-ton engine once it is assembled.The foundation already has spent $50,000 on developing the landmark, he said, including purchase of the Hubbard Road property and site preparation work costing about $10,000. He estimated the project would cost another $20,000 to $30,000, including the museum building. Some of the money raised has come from the sale of railroad memorabilia donated to the foundation, and Rowland said he also has donated his own money for the project. Steam engines like these "powered the world" before they were replaced by electric motors and other forms of power. An amateur historian, who studied the local steel industry, Rowlands said he didn't have a choice when he discovered the engine. "This was locally built by a Youngstown company in 1913 and it was used by a Youngstown company, and it was designed, built and operated by all local talent," he remarked. Zara Shah, Rowlands' girlfriend, has been helping him with the project. "He's very excited. He's so passionate about this engine. You're infected by it after a while," she said. "I had to do this."David Rupert of Masury, an Erie Railroad retiree, brought his grandson, Ryan Borris, to watch the pieces being delivered to the Hubbard Road site. "It's history. That engine was made right here in Youngstown and I'm glad they're saving it," he said. Nancy Haraburda, site manager at the Youngstown Historical Center of History and Labor in Youngstown, affirmed the value of preserving the steam engine. "Anything that preserves the industrial heritage of the area is important and should be displayed somewhere or used in some capacity," she said. "It relates to local history and for that reason alone it's important to our community."Contact George Nelson at [email protected]"