Standard Steel Casting Company
Encyclopedia
The Standard Steel Casting Company, commonly referred to as Thurlow Works, was a steel production and steel casting facility founded in Chester, Pennsylvania
in 1883 by shipbuilder John Roach
. The company was established primarily to supply steel ingot
s for Roach's steel mill
s, which included the Chester Rolling Mill
and the Combination Steel and Iron Company
, although it also manufactured steel casting
s. Standard Steel was the first company in the United States to manufacture commercial quantities of steel utilizing the acid open hearth process
.
Roach relinquished majority ownership of the company in 1884 to Robert Wetherill. In subsequent years, Thurlow Works made a name for itself as a manufacturer of large steel castings, especially for the railroad industry. America's first cast steel locomotive frames were poured at Thurlow in 1893.
The Standard Steel Casting Company was merged with several other steel casting companies in 1892 to become the American Steel Casting Company. The American Steel Casting Company was itself merged some years later to form one of America's largest steel companies, American Steel Foundries.
, established the Combination Steel and Iron Company
to take advantage of the growing demand for steel products in the United States. Roach initially used the company to manufacture steel rails for the country's rapidly expanding railroad industry, but he soon discovered that America's existing steelmaking firms could not keep pace with nationwide demand, frequently leaving his new company unsupplied. Roach decided to rectify the problem by founding his own steelmaking firm, and on July 22, 1883, he incorporated the Standard Steel Casting Company on ten acres of land at Thurlow Station, on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Burwood Railroad line, not far from his network of other companies at Chester.
Roach selected a highly respected metallurgist to manage the new plant, Pedro G. Salom, who had considerable experience in steel quality control methods. Salom became president of the company, while William E. Trainer, Richard Wetherill and John B. Booth became vice-president, treasurer and secretary respectively.
For the steelmaking process itself, Roach and Salom selected the new Siemens-Martin open hearth process, which differed from the more well established Bessemer process
by being slower and more easily controlled, allowing for a higher quality of finished product. Roach installed a 10-ton Siemens furnace
and an 18-pot Siemens crucible
furnace, allowing for the production of 18,000 tons of steel ingots and 3,000 tons of steel castings per annum. The Works, which commenced production on March 1, 1884, was housed in a 160 x 114 foot building and employed a workforce of 70 hands.
s.
thumb
The company gradually acquired a reputation for itself as a manufacturer of heavy steel castings and as a pioneer in steel casting experimentation. In 1888, for example, the company accepted an experiment to build one of the largest steel-cast guns ever produced in the United States to that time, a six-inch rifled
breech-loader weighing approximately 11,000 pounds. The weapon was manufactured using the company's open hearth process, while another company built a second weapon using the Bessemer process. In test firings, the Bessemer-produced gun failed after only the second round. The Thurlow-produced gun fired all ten of its test rounds without incident, but was finally failed after the barrel was found to have become slightly enlarged. The Thurlow Works management later had the gun mounted in its yard as testimony of "a courageous attempt to expand the uses of cast steel."
Other large and difficult jobs taken on by Thurlow Works included castings for ship anchor
s, stern posts for battleship
s and large industrial housings. In 1893, the company became the first in the United States to manufacture a complete cast steel frame for a locomotive, built for the Baldwin Locomotive Works
.
, to become the American Steel Casting Company. The new company was headed by a prominent executive in the steel industry, Dan Eagan. In 1902, the American Steel Casting Company was itself merged with several other large steelmaking firms across the country to become one of America's largest steel casting companies, American Steel Foundries, a specialist in the manufacture of railcar
frames and coupling
s and other railcar parts. American Steel Foundries is known today as ASF-Keystone, Incorporated.
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
in 1883 by shipbuilder John Roach
John Roach
John Robert Roach was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis from 1975 to 1995.-Biography:...
. The company was established primarily to supply steel ingot
Ingot
An ingot is a material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. Non-metallic and semiconductor materials prepared in bulk form may also be referred to as ingots, particularly when cast by mold based methods.-Uses:...
s for Roach's steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
s, which included the Chester Rolling Mill
Chester Rolling Mill
The Chester Rolling Mill was a large iron rolling mill established by shipbuilder John Roach in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States in 1873...
and the Combination Steel and Iron Company
Combination Steel and Iron Company
The Combination Steel and Iron Company was a steel mill founded in Chester, Pennsylvania by shipbuilder John Roach in 1880. Unlike Roach's other companies, Combination Iron and Steel was initially established not to support the operations of his Chester shipyard, but to produce steel rails and...
, although it also manufactured steel casting
Casting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
s. Standard Steel was the first company in the United States to manufacture commercial quantities of steel utilizing the acid open hearth process
Open hearth furnace
Open hearth furnaces are one of a number of kinds of furnace where excess carbon and other impurities are burnt out of the pig iron to produce steel. Since steel is difficult to manufacture due to its high melting point, normal fuels and furnaces were insufficient and the open hearth furnace was...
.
Roach relinquished majority ownership of the company in 1884 to Robert Wetherill. In subsequent years, Thurlow Works made a name for itself as a manufacturer of large steel castings, especially for the railroad industry. America's first cast steel locomotive frames were poured at Thurlow in 1893.
The Standard Steel Casting Company was merged with several other steel casting companies in 1892 to become the American Steel Casting Company. The American Steel Casting Company was itself merged some years later to form one of America's largest steel companies, American Steel Foundries.
History
In 1880, shipbuilder John Roach, proprietor of America's largest shipbuilding company, John Roach & SonsJohn Roach & Sons
John Roach & Sons was a major 19th-century American shipbuilding and manufacturing firm founded in 1864 by Irish-American immigrant John Roach. Between 1871 and 1885, the company was the largest shipbuilding firm in the United States, building more iron ships than its next two major competitors...
, established the Combination Steel and Iron Company
Combination Steel and Iron Company
The Combination Steel and Iron Company was a steel mill founded in Chester, Pennsylvania by shipbuilder John Roach in 1880. Unlike Roach's other companies, Combination Iron and Steel was initially established not to support the operations of his Chester shipyard, but to produce steel rails and...
to take advantage of the growing demand for steel products in the United States. Roach initially used the company to manufacture steel rails for the country's rapidly expanding railroad industry, but he soon discovered that America's existing steelmaking firms could not keep pace with nationwide demand, frequently leaving his new company unsupplied. Roach decided to rectify the problem by founding his own steelmaking firm, and on July 22, 1883, he incorporated the Standard Steel Casting Company on ten acres of land at Thurlow Station, on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Burwood Railroad line, not far from his network of other companies at Chester.
Roach selected a highly respected metallurgist to manage the new plant, Pedro G. Salom, who had considerable experience in steel quality control methods. Salom became president of the company, while William E. Trainer, Richard Wetherill and John B. Booth became vice-president, treasurer and secretary respectively.
For the steelmaking process itself, Roach and Salom selected the new Siemens-Martin open hearth process, which differed from the more well established Bessemer process
Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...
by being slower and more easily controlled, allowing for a higher quality of finished product. Roach installed a 10-ton Siemens furnace
Furnace
A furnace is a device used for heating. The name derives from Latin fornax, oven.In American English and Canadian English, the term furnace on its own is generally used to describe household heating systems based on a central furnace , and sometimes as a synonym for kiln, a device used in the...
and an 18-pot Siemens crucible
Crucible
A crucible is a container used for metal, glass, and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes, which can withstand temperatures high enough to melt or otherwise alter its contents...
furnace, allowing for the production of 18,000 tons of steel ingots and 3,000 tons of steel castings per annum. The Works, which commenced production on March 1, 1884, was housed in a 160 x 114 foot building and employed a workforce of 70 hands.
Heavy castings company
In 1884, Roach, possibly due to his growing cash flow problems, relinquished majority control of the Standard Steel Casting Company to Robert Wetherill & Associates. The Works soon began making steel castings for the railroad industry, such as driving boxes and crossheads for locomotiveLocomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s.
thumb
The company gradually acquired a reputation for itself as a manufacturer of heavy steel castings and as a pioneer in steel casting experimentation. In 1888, for example, the company accepted an experiment to build one of the largest steel-cast guns ever produced in the United States to that time, a six-inch rifled
Rifling
Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
breech-loader weighing approximately 11,000 pounds. The weapon was manufactured using the company's open hearth process, while another company built a second weapon using the Bessemer process. In test firings, the Bessemer-produced gun failed after only the second round. The Thurlow-produced gun fired all ten of its test rounds without incident, but was finally failed after the barrel was found to have become slightly enlarged. The Thurlow Works management later had the gun mounted in its yard as testimony of "a courageous attempt to expand the uses of cast steel."
Other large and difficult jobs taken on by Thurlow Works included castings for ship anchor
Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...
s, stern posts for battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and large industrial housings. In 1893, the company became the first in the United States to manufacture a complete cast steel frame for a locomotive, built for the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
.
Later history
In 1892, Thurlow Works was merged with several other steel casting companies including the Solid Steel Company of Alliance, OhioAlliance, Ohio
Alliance is a city in Stark and Mahoning counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 22,322 at the 2010 census. Alliance's nickname is "The Carnation City", and the city is home to the University of Mount Union....
, to become the American Steel Casting Company. The new company was headed by a prominent executive in the steel industry, Dan Eagan. In 1902, the American Steel Casting Company was itself merged with several other large steelmaking firms across the country to become one of America's largest steel casting companies, American Steel Foundries, a specialist in the manufacture of railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
frames and coupling
Coupling
A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. Couplings do not normally allow disconnection of shafts during operation, however there are torque limiting couplings which can slip or disconnect when some torque limit is exceeded.The...
s and other railcar parts. American Steel Foundries is known today as ASF-Keystone, Incorporated.