Newark, NJ: before 1910+1935 Pennsy Depots

Predecessor: ("slightly south of the current station.)

1935: (Satellite)

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗝𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘆 & 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸 posted
Penna R.R. Station • Newark NJ circa 1910!
Bernie Wagenblast shared

Market Street Station - Newark, NJ

The predecessor station to the current Pennsylvania Station. It was located slightly south of the current station.

Jim Kelling shared

Newark NJ Pennsylvania Railroad station (pre-1935)

 

Bernie commented on his share
This Sanborn Fire Insurance map from 1908 provides additional details.

 

Raymond Storey posted
NEWARK NJ

Raymond Storey posted three photos with the comment: "NEWARK NJ...THE OLD PRR STATION."

Bernie Wagenblast: Interesting to see before and after the tracks were elevated.

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1935

safe_image for First Phase of Newark Penn Station’s $160 Million Overhaul Begins
[Note the towers for the Dock Bridge in the background.]
"Newark Penn Station is the seventh busiest rail station in North America. The property was visited by about 50,000 commuters daily before the COVID-19 pandemic and provides service via NJ TRANSIT commuter trains, the Newark Light Rail, the PATH, and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line."

NJ Transit photo via JerseyDigs

History's Mirror posted

June 12, 1935 - Newark Passenger Station, Pennsylvania Railroad

The waiting room at the Pennsylvania Railroad's Newark Passenger Station on this day in 1935 was a scene of calm and understated elegance. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style, the station featured high ceilings, grand arches, and expansive windows that allowed sunlight to pour into the waiting area. Passengers sat patiently on wooden benches, some reading newspapers or chatting quietly as they waited for their trains.

The photo, captured by Gottscho-Schleisner, beautifully highlights the interplay of light and shadow, emphasizing the station’s architectural grandeur and the daily rhythm of travel during the height of rail’s golden age. This moment in time reflects a bustling yet composed era when train stations were gateways to adventure and commerce, embodying both function and beauty.

Glenn Brown shared

Jim Kelling: It was recently renovated again and basically looks the same as it did in 1935.

Glenn Brown shared

Rudy Pipich: Since people rarely say it in these posts I have to ask. Is it still there?

John M Rose: Rudy Pipich This is now the Amtrak waiting room

Still a dramatic space

Newark Penn was the beneficiary of an $190 million restoration about 10 years ago. Did a wonderful job

Amtrak, NJT, PATH, light rail, bus; place is busier than ever

Huron, OH: NKP/W&LE Ore, Coal, Grain and Lime Docks

(Satellite, the part between the northern slip and the lake was cement manufacturing. Before that, it was the coal loading dock. The land between the two slips was ore storage with the two Huletts on the north side of the southern slip. A grain elevator was on the south side of the southern slip.)

Note that the ore dock also had an ore bridge.

Cleveland Press Collection
Huron Harbor, Ohio - 1959.

In fact, the Huletts were evidently a rather late addition to the ore dock.

Cleveland Press Collection
Aug 11, 1950
Biting 17 tons of iron ore at one clip, this new electrically-operated Hulett unloader was placed in service today at the Nickel Plate dock in Huron, O.

Jim Prrfan posted two photos with the comment: "PR Photos      Location?  Date??

Jim PRRFan collection" 

John Travers: This was the first try-out for the then-new 17-ton capacity electric Huletts located at the old W&LE (later N&W) ore dock at Huron Ohio. The vessel name is not known but the date was August 11th, 1950. These 2 Huletts operated from August 1950 to late 1985 and were demolished in April-May 1989.

Mike Delaney: Regular stop for Hanna Boats.

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1959 Huron Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Bill Kloss posted
From the Chuck Drumm folder, an undated photo of Cliffs Victory under the Huletts in Huron, OH.

Cleveland Press Collection
Feb 18, 1965
Huron River - Huron, O. Port.

 

Marine Historical Society of Detroit posted
Unloading ore from the Ernest T. Weir at Huron, Ohio 1962. Willis McCaleb photo/MHSD collection.

Brett Miller: What steel plant or facility was here ? And how long did ship unload here till

It closed

James Evans: Brett Miller plus the grain elevator on the left is no longer there.

Bill Kloss shared

 

Marine Historical Society of Detroit commented on Brett's comment
Huron, OH was the main ore receiving port for the original Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, which was leased by the Nickel Plate Railroad in 1949. They hauled iron ore to mills in variety of cities including Wheeling, Steubenville, Canton, the Pittsburgh area and Youngstown. Here is an excerpt of a 1951 iron ore commodity flow map from the Lake Superior Iron Ore Association. The figures are in 1000 tons, so Huron received over 2.1 million tons of ore in 1951. The Hulett unloaders were dismantled in 1989 but Huron continued to receive ore by self unloaders until 2011.

Dan Meyers posted
I grew up in the town of Huron Ohio in the 1960's &'70's and always was fascinated with the docks, lake boats and most of all the Huletts. I've watched them hour after hour and it saddens me that we no longer have any intact examples of these amazing machines for people to see. Much like this photo not one thing still exists.
There are one pair left disassembled and left rusting not far from where they labored on Whiskey Island at the Port of Cleveland.
[Some comments discuss a Hulett arm preserved in Ashtabula Harbor, but no one gave a location.]
B Tupper Upham: Ernest T Weir??? Sad, nothing is left in this picture. Only Huron Lime gets an occasional load of stone.
Jeff White: B Tupper Upham that plant is shut down. And being slowly torn down.
NS sold the dock and all property up to the Chicago line in 2017 to the city of Huron for a dollar.

They did an "energetic felling" of the grain elevator. The bangs start at 5:26.

Screenshot

Cleveland Press Collection
Jan 24, 1927
Ore & coal docks, Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry. at Huron,

Cleveland Press Collection
Jul 16, 1987 [I can believe this date was when it was digitized, but not when it was put into commission. The coal dumper appears in the above 1959 photo.]
New $1,000,000 coal dumper of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad put into commission at Huron, Ohio.

Cleveland Press Collection
Mar 30, 1961
Huron River - Huron. Showing ore docks & Eastern States Farmers Exchange.

USACE, p4
City of Huron – Former ConAgra Plant: 19.8 acre parcel formerly occupied by ConAgra foods which ceased operations on site in 2005. Purchased by Ohio Department of Natural Resources in 2006, with title given to the City of Huron. Buildings to be demolished and site presently has public boating and fishing access with launch ramps, parking and docks. Future use to include restaurants, retail, condominiums and green-space.

Decoursey, KY: CSX/L&N Railyards, Roundhouse and Coaling Tower

Old: (Satellite, it's now brownland.)

New: (Satellite, it's now Progress Rail Services and Lally Pipe & Tube. )

Mark Hinsdale posted

"Shoving the Hump"

A pair of Louisville & Nashville GE U25C's, originally built for California's Oro Dam Constructors Railroad in 1963, are working what appears to be the tail end of a Penn Central manifest train over the hump at Decoursey, Kentucky in March, 1976. The sprawling complex alongside the Licking River, was all but abandoned in the early era of CSX, in favor of the newer Chessie System facility at Queensgate, across the Ohio River in Cincinnati OH. Today only a handful of tracks remain here, used mostly for storage, transloading and staging for local industries. March, 1976 photo by Mark Hinsdale

Mark Hinsdale shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on Mark's post

I see there are two yard towers still standing in the old yard.

39°00'37.3"N 84°28'55.8"W

Dennis DeBruler commented on Mark's post

The new yard contained a turntable, but according to topo maps, it did not have a roundhouse.

38°59'59.2"N 84°28'01.9"W

Rick Shilling posted
1959 Louisville and Nashville Railroad Roundhouse, Turntable and Coaling Tower at DeCoursey, Kentucky Yard. E.G. Baker
Photo, Jim Herron Collection.

1970 Newport and 1981 Alexandria Quadrangles @ 1:24,000

According to topo maps the new (southern) yard was built between 1961 and 1970.

1961 Newport and 1961 Alexandria Quadrangles @ 1:24,000

According to a Apr 1993 Google Earth image, the hump yard was in the center of the new southern yard.

This closeup shows that they replaced the old steam engine servicing area with some tracks when they built the new yard. 

1961 Newport Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

The turntable I found on a contemporary satellite image in the new yard was not for a roundhouse. It was just a turntable.

1961 Newport and Alexandria Quadrangles @ 1:24,000

Clearfield, IA: Rectangular Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

Rectangular bins are much more rare than circular bins because it is a weaker shape.

Chris Eiel posted
Grain elevator in Clearfield, Iowa.
J Pete Hedgpeth: Clearfield was located on the old Keouk & Western...Humeston and Sheandoah line. It was just east of Conway on the Creston-St. Joe line. The junction where the lines crossed was called "Merle" and the line west of Merle was abandoned sometime in the 40's. IIRC the line from Merl Jct remained almost until the Creston branch was abandoned in the80's. Clearfieled was served by a mixed local which ran between Creston & St. Joe on alternate days.
Jerry Krug: J Pete Hedgpeth Which modern railroad served the line until abandonment? CB&Q/BN?

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jerry's comment

According to the 2005 SPV Map, it was a CB&Q route that was abandoned by BN. The photo is evidently contemporary and that rectangular elevator is still standing.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer..

McKeesport, PA: 1872 Dura-Bond/US Steel/National Tube Works

(Satellite)

history

This site was initially used by Woods Works.

McKeesport Past posted
National Tube McKeesport Shared by James Swift
Derrick Parfitt: Looking east (roughly)
James Torgeson shared
USS National Tube Works - McKeesport

Ray Schloss commented on James' share
Isn’t it Dura-Bond Pipe now?
Jason Sessoms: Ray Schloss yes running the old ERW lines.
Ian Hapsias: Rick Rowlands you’re looking at the Yough River in this photo. Photographer took this from Dravosburg along the edge of the hillside. McKeesport’s People’s Building is dead center frame. The Monongahela would be bottom of the frame if it were included.

 

Bob Dranko posted
1915 McKeesport, PA Steel Mill & Blast Furnace
Jay Krajcovic shared

 

Jessica Van Glana posted

The old blast furnaces of National Tube company, McKeesport Pa 

Year unknown

Kajal Chauhan posted

The old blast furnaces of National Tube company, McKeesport Pa . 

Year unknown

James Ujevich: I remember seeing them demolished in 85. Heartbreaking 💔

 

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted

The National Tube Works in McKeesport, Allegheny County in 1910.

(Photo from http://www.steelcactus.com/)

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 posted
McKeesport PA • 1950s!

 

Steve Pierce posted
The work continued on the blooming mill outage in 1954. The two new turbo-blowers were installed in the blast furnace blowing room and were designed to deliver 90,000 cfm of air at 25 lbs. pressure to assure adequate blowing capacity for a sustained 4 blast furnace operation. The turbine end of these blowers operated on steam at 850 lbs. pressure and 750 degrees F. and exhausted at 150 Ibs. pressure into the existing plant steam system, part of which powered the blooming mill steam engine.  And here is the blooming mill with the guys working on the final punch list.

Jeff Picka posted
At the site of the National Tube Works, McKeesport PA. A good history timeline for the plant can be found here:
http://www.tubecityonline.com/steel/nat_works_timeline.html

George Merriman posted

 

Bob Clementi posted two images with the comment: "Tube City-McKeesport PA I came across a number of 8X10 photos I saved when we cleaned the file room at the office."

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Frank Jacobs III posted
National Tube, Pittsburgh. Did any of you work here?

 

Ross Cameron commented on Frank's post
Actually McKeesport PA. My home town. I was just a kid when all the mills closed. It says 1987 but I would have sworn it was much earlier.

Kenny Hall posted
Jeff Madden .. Blast Furnace in McKeesport Pa.
William Moutz: I believe those were Bessemer Furnaces .
John Groves: Yes definitely Bessemer converters

Patrick Tuttle posted
A single word says it all; "Homestead". 
Kris Rossmiller: This photo is McKeesport.

 

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
The National Tube Works in McKeesport, Allegheny County in 1910. (Photo from http://www.steelcactus.com/)
Jack Davis shared

McKeesport Memories posted
The color photo was a sort of fold out poster of National Tube. I have no idea where this one came from.
Deborist Benjamin: http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-252
James Torgeson shared

 

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Blast Furnaces of the National Tube Company in McKeesport, Allegheny County in the 1960's.
Jack Davis shared

 

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
P&LE 1591 at McKeesport, PA on April 29, 1979. (Jack G. Tyson photo)
[With at least one blast furnace in the background.]

Jason Sessoms: When did the hot end of national tube shut down?

Joseph Sapienza: Jason Sessoms 1985

Dave Brown: WE interchanged with the P&LE West of here URR had a small Yard called the P&LE Yard #62 Crew we hauled these Subs to Duquesne BOF...70's..

James Torgeson shared

Dan Arbster: worked on Union railroad, and we would load those subs and take them from Duquesne mill to the P&LE at Edgar Thompson and they would take them to national tube in McKeesport.

Kevin Tomasic posted seven photos with the comment: "A few more oldies for everyone. USS National Tube in McKeesport, PA. Keith Clouse and I spent a lot of time here in the early 80's shooting the blast furnaces and the Alco switchers that called the mill home. The mill was served by Chessie (B&O), Conrail (PRR), P&LE and had it's own railroad, the McKeesport Connecting."

Ian Hapsias: Almost everything in this picture today is gone. Steel making stopped in 1981, pipe production stopped in 1986, last 21 employees left the plant for the final time in 1987.

Ian Hapsias: Durabond is there running the ERW lines.

Louis Toman: Last McKeesport Connecting crew retired 2013, then was merged into Union Railroad.

Sam Carroll: It was at one time, the largest pipe mill in the world.

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Comments on Kevin's post

I went further south from the plant to catch the B&O label in the lower-left corner.

1953 Mc Keesport Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

See B&O Depot and Tower for an aerial photo.

safe_image for “It’s like walking into a tomb”

Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
Monongahela Blast Furnaces in the City of McKeesport, Allegheny County in 1914.
Jack Davis shared

Adam Norris posted three photos with the comment: "Pipe mill previously owned by US Steel now operated by domestically owned Dura-Bond Pipe in McKeesport, PA."

William Postelmans: electric weld tubing

Rick Laughery: Too bad Drew ran all the experienced people out of there, I left because of him and I worked in that building for 24 years !

Dan Harkins: They got too deep in the business to support fracking. When that dried up so did the need for all the piping.

Bob Clementi: USS. First National Tube, then Camp Hill, then USS again, now Dura-bond. The rest of McKeesport Works was idled in the ‘80,s after the USS Fairfield Seamless Pipemill opened in Alabama.

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Ron Salazar commented on Adam's post

Brandon Peck posted four photos of photos with the comment: "I have this photo but u can see Baltimore and Ohio steam engine in it."

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2, cropped

3, cropped

4, cropped

Dave Kuntz posted
Durabond pipe plant in McKeesport PA

Scott Elliott: Worked in that building loading RR cars with 16" pipe when it was USS ERW (Electric Resistance Weld).

William David: That was the old national tube works for USS. It was re- opened by USS in the early to mid 2000’s and then sold to Durabond . My dad started there in in 1962 $2.10 / hr before transferring to homestead works a few years later.

Jacob H. Ford Photography posted

Taking it back to a few weeks ago, to an afternoon I spent in McKeesport capturing some images of the old roundhouse, but also decided to get this composition of some of the other old buildings that were once part of the National Tube Works Co. These buildings have since been restored and repurposed, while the original architecture remains preserved. I thought these were interesting looking buildings, and would make for an interesting composition. The building on the left now serves as Consortium for Public Education. The little mound of melted snow along Industry Road throughout this business park leads to this building and some others that look similar, and gives this composition nice depth and perspective. The afternoon lighting was also particularly nice in this composition. Enjoy!

Photo taken: February 22, 2025

📸: Jacob H. Ford Photography