George, what is the significance of painting some pipes yellow and some gray? Did yellow signify a particular use (gas or liquid) that they carry?
@Mark Boyce posted:George, what is the significance of painting some pipes yellow and some gray? Did yellow signify a particular use (gas or liquid) that they carry?
I have a chart somewhere that indicates yellow was for oxygen or air. At least that's what Weirton Steel used it for. In this modern age, there are standards for almost every type of gas that might be encountered. I don't know what served as a standard for the 1950s.
I'm going to use a liberal dose of "Modeler's License" on the piping for this mill. In addition to this pipe which is simply transiting the mill, there will be some gray larger tubing for blast furnace gas and a few other odd-ball pipes. Supposedly, Dean Freytag did this as well.
George
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Updated 3/4/2025:
We have some more interim progress to show. We are slowly inching our way across the mill front.
And then there's this development! 
Somebody's got some explaining to do. 
More when I know it. 
George
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Well if Dean did it, then it’s so! 😉
Did the cat pick the gate latch?
@Mark Boyce posted:Well if Dean did it, then it’s so! 😉
Did the cat pick the gate latch?
No, the gate has been gone for a while. I thought she couldn’t jump that high, but forgot there are boxes to help her.
George
@G3750 posted:Updated 3/4/2025:
We have some more interim progress to show. We are slowly inching our way across the mill front.
George,
Nice work. Adding piping is a transformative detail. What are the pieces that you are using to secure the yellow piping to the structure?
Dave
@luvindemtrains posted:George,
Nice work. Adding piping is a transformative detail. What are the pieces that you are using to secure the yellow piping to the structure?
Dave
Thank you, @luvindemtrains Dave! The yellow piping (1/4" Plastruct TB-8) is being held with SC-8 pipe clips (on the left in the photo below). The other items are 3D printed railings for the Crawford's Crossing overpass project.
George
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Updated 3/8/2025:
We are inching along. Large vertical pipe (I don't know what it was for, but the prototype had it) got installed.
I have one more vertical wall to cut on Pouring (left) side. That large opening will get a strip across the top, providing a spot for a few more pipe supports and the continuation of the yellow pipe. The hole will remain large enough to allow the interior to be seen. After that we'll touch up the paint and apply weathering to the whole she-bang.
More when I know it.
George
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@G3750 posted:Thank you, @luvindemtrains Dave! The yellow piping (1/4" Plastruct TB-8) is being held with SC-8 pipe clips (on the left in the photo below). The other items are 3D printed railings for the Crawford's Crossing overpass project.
George
Thanks George but that clip on the left doesn't look like what you have the yellow piping secured to the building with.
Dave
@luvindemtrains posted:Thanks George but that clip on the left doesn't look like what you have the yellow piping secured to the building with.
Dave
Dave, actually there are 2 types of clips. The one in the photo is being used to secure the yellow pipe to roof of the "Lean-To". The other supports the pipe running along the face of the building.
George
Really Nice George. Amazing how the details make it pop.... the cat... - obviously one of the stray mill cats... but not to scale.
90's: yellow= NG (natural gas), Green = O2 (oxygen), Blue = H20, Purple (hydraulic fluid), Orangish-Yellow (safety railings).
COG ((coke oven gas (which would have been used a fuel in the Open Hearth back in the day)) - I do not remember - mustard yellow / green?
Back in the day there wasn't any standardized color codes for utilities. Each company used the color they designated for that gas or liquid company wide. Starting around the 80's, the industry adopted a standardized system of color coding due to accidents. (taking a cutting torch to an unmarked "dead" line only to find it was an active oxygen line - fatal) You can find these color codes on line. A lot of water pipes were just black pipe and not painted. Steam pipes were always insulated with usually a silver or white (asbestos) hard shell covering and had the typical expansion "hump" in the lines.
Tom
Looking great, George!
Tom, thank you for the scoop on color codes!
@TomSuperO posted:Really Nice George. Amazing how the details make it pop.... the cat... - obviously one of the stray mill cats... but not to scale.
90's: yellow= NG (natural gas), Green = O2 (oxygen), Blue = H20, Purple (hydraulic fluid), Orangish-Yellow (safety railings).
COG ((coke oven gas (which would have been used a fuel in the Open Hearth back in the day)) - I do not remember - mustard yellow / green?
Back in the day there wasn't any standardized color codes for utilities. Each company used the color they designated for that gas or liquid company wide. Starting around the 80's, the industry adopted a standardized system of color coding due to accidents. (taking a cutting torch to an unmarked "dead" line only to find it was an active oxygen line - fatal) You can find these color codes on line. A lot of water pipes were just black pipe and not painted. Steam pipes were always insulated with usually a silver or white (asbestos) hard shell covering and had the typical expansion "hump" in the lines.
Tom
Thank you, Tom!
I'll get to work on that out-of-scale cat. 
George
Updated 3/10/2025:
I began the process of weathering the Open Hearth today. The Charging Side main roof and Lean-To roof both received a base of Grungy Gray accented with Rusty Red (iron ore dust from the process). The stacks also got a layer of Grimy Gray. I still have to do the walls facing the viewer.
More when I know it.
George
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Very nicely done, George!
Updated 3/11/2025:
I took a break from weathering today (actually there was a lot of non-modeling "stuff" going on) to spend a bit of time on the pipe bridge that will go between the Open Hearth and the Strip Steel mill.
Here is part of the structure under construction on the bench. I built the upright "H" supports first and am now stringing them together longitudinally. Wish it was a bit straighter, but most of it will be between the buildings and the top will be the most visible. What I really needed here was a Kenner Girder and Panel kit! Hey, who remembers those? 
And I also did some work on the large pipes that will feed Coke Oven Gas or Blast Furnace Gas into the Open Hearth.
More when I know it.
George
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The Kenner set would work great! My brother and I each got a Kenner set for Christmas from our Aunt and Uncle one year. We loved them. I wish I still had mine. Mum must have decided to throw them out.
@G3750 posted:...What I really needed here was a Kenner Girder and Panel kit! Hey, who remembers those?
...
Girder and panel sets are still out there - saw a few on eBay that weren't ridiculously priced. A company called Bridge Street made them relatively recently (until 2016 according to Wikipedia). The one from my childhood is lost to the sands of time - as I remember, the panels and base weren't very durable. I have one of the Bridge Street sets that I've been meaning to assemble and place on the layout, but you know how that goes...
Updated 3/12/2025:
Back on the weathering and painting today. By the way, I am quite disappointed in the Testors 1214T yellow (spray). The paint takes a long time to cure and then flakes off. Much better choice is the Tamiya TS43 Camel Yellow - great paint!!!
Here are some pipes being painted in that color. Note the unique use of "T" pins I stumbled upon.
Here's a nice and dirty steel mill. I still have more piping to install and then it will get a lot of DullCote.
More when I know it.
George
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Updated 3/14/2025:
We've got a little of this and a little of that going on today. Let's talk about cats, specifically one that is on my s*** list. Maggie got up on the layout, which isn't a problem unless she bumps into things and does this... 
Fortunately, it did not fall to the floor. I found it laying on a box under an access hole in the Staging Area.
While I was working on the Open Hearth, I decided to remove the tubing for the smoke generator that supplied the stacks. Here's what the tubing looked like after the unit failed and started to burn. It was a lucky thing that I was standing there when the unit failed and started shoot flame up into the "T".
Yeah, not good. But I haven't given up on the idea of smoke coming out of the stacks. Originally, I bought this Seuthe #500 unit for another project, but it's just too big for that. However, I think it might fit in the top of a stack with wires running down, through, and out the bottom to my 12VDC power supply. We will have to build a cradle 2" wide to fit in the top of the stack. The unit uses the bottle as a supply, so the cradle will be a bit tricky. I'm still working out the details. Right now, it's mostly a glint in my eye.
Replaced the Lean-To roof sections that had been misplaced (or cannibalized) after the roof rebuilt. They got weathered today as well. Here's the Charging Side and Lean-To portions of the Open Hearth. The stacks got more gray and a hint of red residue. DullCote is still to come, which will tone down the brightness of the red.
I also got to the Pouring Side and did both the roof and side walls.
And here's a closer look at the front of the Pouring extension. I'm hoping some additional pipe supports arrive on Monday, which will allow me to finish running the pipe across its front.
More when I know it.
George
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Looks great, George! That is fortunate that the car hit the box and not the floor!
@Mark Boyce posted:Looks great, George! That is fortunate that the car hit the box and not the floor!
Thank you, we're getting there.
Yes, at some point I will have to carefully examine it to see if it can be fixed. At first glance, I think so. That darned cat! 
George
Updated 3/17/2025:
I'm declaring victory (or at least enough) on the Open Hearth. The Dullcote can wait. I've got to start getting the train room in shape for RPM-East 2025 coming up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (layout tour). Here's where we are:
More when I know it.
George
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George, it really looks great! My guess no one will notice it doesn’t have dullcoat at the open house, which you are aware of.
The last photo charging the open hearth with iron really gets me. The glow of the iron is absolutely perfect!
@BillYo414 posted:The last photo charging the open hearth with iron really gets me. The glow of the iron is absolutely perfect!
Thank you very much! It means a lot to get that from someone who works in the industry. 
George
Updated 3/20/2025:
I think we are finally ready for the layout tour following RPM-East 2025 this Sunday. The train room has been cleaned up, buildings moved to their locations, and cars and locomotives prepped and staged.
The photo below shows the mock-up of the Crawford's Crossing between the mills as compared to the photo of the prototype (which appears courtesy of and with the permission of the Weirton Area Museum & Cultural Center).
That elevated road between the mills will cross the 2 tracks, then curve and descend until it meets the purple paper (stand-in for Main Street).
This is the west end of the Panhandle bridge. Note the bumpers now installed on incomplete loop. Hopefully we won't need them.
Below are photos of QN Tower and Highland Avenue (yes, @luvindemtrains I have not forgotten it. That's your grandmother's house beyond the Decapod.). Again, there is a bumper on the incomplete mainline.
More when I know it.
George
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What a terrific layout in a wonderful room! Have a great time with the open house, George!
@Mark Boyce posted:What a terrific layout in a wonderful room! Have a great time with the open house, George!
Thank you, sir!!!! I really want to get the whole loop completed. But it does brighten the spirits to see it clear and clean and running trains. It might be true after all, this saying that "Model railroading is fun!"
George
I have to say that I had a blast at the RPM-East 2025 meet this past weekend. The clinic on Weirton Steel's Open Hearth was well received. I learned a lot from the excellent clinics. I renewed some acquaintances and made some new friends. And the Panhandle's open house today drew 23 visitors and many compliments. I think it's true: "Model railroading is fun!"
George
That’s great, George!!
Updated 3/26/2025:
It was too cold to open the basement window ventilation system (we had snow this morning!!! ) and apply DullCote. Instead I worked on the pipe bridge that will sit between the Open Hearth and the Strip Steel mills.
Here's the beginnings of the assembly.
Since the area underneath the pipe bridge is a roadway, it makes sense that the inner sides of the columns would be (sloppily) painted yellow so the 1:48 truck drivers can see them.
I'm using this piece of wood as a spacer to mount the pipe vessel saddles.
Finally, here's a test fit of the coke oven gas pipe on the vessel saddles.
More when I know it.
George
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Very nice looking, George!
