USS #73 PRESERVATION PROJECT
Bruce Springsteen wrote of the experience of an Ohio Works family in his 1995 song "Youngstown."
"Well my daddy come on the Ohio Works
When he come home from World War Two
Now the yards just scrap and rubble
He said, 'Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do.'"
(Dale Maharidge, "Journey to Nowhere," Hyperion, New York, 1985, pages 17 - 21)
The USS #73 Locomotive was one of the few pieces of equipment to escape the "scrap and rubble" of the Ohio Works demolition. It was originally purchased by the USS Ohio Works, then a 2.3 million ton per year, basic steelmaking mill, located in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1946. It serviced the iron making Blast Furnaces, Bessemer steelmaking furnaces, Open Hearth steelmaking furnaces, Blooming Mill slab rolling facilities, and Billet Mill bar rolling facilities, until the plant shut down in 1980. At that time, it was moved to the USS McDonald Works rolling mills, 3 miles away. In the early 1980's U S Steel sold the McDonald Works to McDonald Steel where the USS #73 was renumbered as the "lucky" #777. As the #777 it pulled Passenger Cars around the plant giving rides to visitors and moved billets and bars around the plant as needed.
In recent years the #777/#73 was seldom being used by McDonald Steel, and was turned over to the preservation efforts of Rick Rowlands, of Youngstown Steel Heritage. He was able to secure a used set of batteries to keep the engine in running condition and perform other necessary repairs.
McDonald Steel went out of production in 2024 and was sold for scrap. Another entity put in a purchase offer for the #73 but was unable to complete the purchase and move it. When the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association (MVRHA), found out that the #73 was for sale, it was already slated to be cut up during the week of May 25, 2025. The MVRHA was able to secure a purchase plan for the #73 and devised a plan to move this "brass axle bearing engine," that includes, cranes, a railroad flatcar, and semi-trailers.
Preservation is not new for the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association, it preserved and still maintains, the #301 Baldwin 0-6-0 at the Canfield Fairgrounds, in Canfield, Ohio. At the MVRHA Museum, The Jim Marter Yard, we have recently moved a Pollock Company, Blast Furnace Slag car, using cranes and trucks. Previously we moved a Pollock built Ladle Car, and a Plymouth Switcher Engine, by the same method.
The USS Ohio Works helped win WWI and WWII with the work of the 10,000 employees and the 5,000 employees that worked at the USS McDonald Works. The USS #73 will be the last remaining piece of the Ohio Works and will be one of the few things preserved from the McDonald Works, and the best part is that it is still a running, useful locomotive! Our preservation plan is to have the #73 pull school children and visitors around in our 3 1/2-acre museum.
Please join us in our efforts to preserve the sturdy USS #73 and help us teach Industrial Heritage to future generations!
