Ford Steel on the Rouge - The Titanic Rouge Factory

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  • čas přidán 24. 05. 2016
  • he Ford River Rouge Complex (commonly known as the Rouge Complex or just The Rouge) is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory complex located in Dearborn, Michigan, along the Rouge River, upstream from its confluence with the Detroit River at Zug Island. Construction began in 1917, and when it was completed in 1928 it had become the largest integrated factory in the world.
    The Rouge measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide by 1 mile (1.6 km) long, including 93 buildings with nearly 16 million square feet (1.5 km²) of factory floor space. With its own docks in the dredged Rouge River, 100 miles (160 km) of interior railroad track, its own electricity plant, and integrated steel mill, the titanic Rouge was able to turn raw materials into running vehicles within this single complex, a prime example of vertical-integration production. Over 100,000 workers were employed there in the 1930s.
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Komentáře • 484

  • @tashacherry1480
    @tashacherry1480 Před 4 lety +47

    My poor ol dad Lyndon (Uglyman) milwrighted there for 35 yrs and got bent over when they sold Great Lakes steel and it turned into US steel. I gotta say ALL you men and women deserve soo much more. I remember going there to pick up his check and to feed the pigeons who sadly had so much coke dust on their feathers they couldn't leave. The stench could be smelled for miles before you even crossed the tiny security bridge.
    I remember when I was about 5 or 6 being scared of some of the guys there because their faces were literally covered in coke dust. Later in life after my husband killed himself. Those faces that once scared me would become the one thing that made me realize I was still alive and needed to act that way for our kids. You see I was delivered a once white card riddled with black finger prints, signatures of good hard working men and women. Some of which I knew but most I didn't. The man who did the collection wrote to me and told me that they gave ALL they had in their pockets. Some gave their whole paycheck others their lunch money. I gotta admit that my heart over flows with emotions still today as I share this with you all. Those men fed my children and me for awhile but FOREVER FEED MY SOUL. I LOVE MY ONCE WHITE CARD RIDDLED IN ZUG ISLAND LOVE. GOD BLESS YOU ALL ❤

    • @paulcaine2603
      @paulcaine2603 Před rokem +4

      A story truly in need of telling.

    • @TheEnigmaroad
      @TheEnigmaroad Před 18 dny

      I worked at Great Lakes for 8 years and then got out, or I would not be here. Many places were hell holes especially Zug Island where I spend 2 years. A deadly environment for human beings or any other species. People who never experienced it can't imagine the horror.

  • @timmyeades7908
    @timmyeades7908 Před 4 lety +60

    When I was a child, my Father worked for Ford, as a perk of the job, the company would host workers children, for field days at the the Rouge, to see the all aspects of production. It familiarized the children to their future job prospects. We should also pay our respects to all the men who have lost their lives at the Rouge. R.I.P.

    • @blauer2551
      @blauer2551 Před 2 lety +1

      You’ve probably been to Camp Dearborn as well

    • @timmyeades7908
      @timmyeades7908 Před 2 lety +1

      @@blauer2551 It was a summer ritual.
      Did you have family that worked for Ford?

    • @blauer2551
      @blauer2551 Před 2 lety +2

      @@timmyeades7908 I live close by Camp Dearborn and occasionally golf there, but growing up in Detroit you always knew someone that was going there on the weekends whose dad or uncle worked for Ford.

    • @LynxStarAuto
      @LynxStarAuto Před 8 měsíci +1

      My dad worked at Turnpike Ford. They assembled a lot of Ford chassis trucks for different purposes. He would take me with him to work during summer breaks.
      Saw plenty of ford F series converted to ambulances, tow trucks, flat beds, etc.

    • @jackthecat6225
      @jackthecat6225 Před 7 měsíci +3

      My great grand da was born around 1806 started working around 9-10 as an oiler on steam engines, then in his 20's made mechanic then late 20 or early 30's made engineer. He worked all kinds of places, not sure, but mostly steam engines in manufacturing, then much later fuel oil machines while they were running. The machines never stopped, they were maintained while running 24x7 and he worked every day 18 hours a day many times. You were measured by engine down time and maintenance cost and down time back then meant a high possibility of losing your job. Luckily, steam engines were well suited to never stopping. The other way you rose in your career was keeping all your fingers and toes and not dying because you were always working with moving parts. It was a new frontier and a lot of men died trying to figure out how to do things right.
      The industrial age was an amazing thing that brought great wealth, but that road was paved in blood and many lives. Luckily, he only lost three fingers in his career and lived to see 88. Men that work in manufacturing are the ones that really make the world turn on its axis and they really should be the ones we venerate. It not only took a lot of muscle and endurance, but these men had to be intelligent, and be able to solve complex mechanical problems on their feet while not losing their lives or their limbs. My grand da followed in his footsteps almost exactly but by then, rail roads were well established and that's where he landed and they were much safer. He only lost one finger and a couple of toes.
      My dad was an auto dealer through luck and working 24x7 which killed him in his 40's but he was "successful". The only one I got to know was my grand da who told me my dad worked with the NADA to rip up all the rail road passenger lines. The NADA was/is one of the most powerful lobby groups in the USA. It was a sticking point for him regardless of what when and why.
      He was amazed how fast things moved because in his mind, the move to diesel and fuel oil from steam meant that rail was superior because you could run it on anything so it's future was assured. It was more efficient, more cost effective and was safer than automobiles. He did tell me however that the sheer amount of horse dung, thousands of tons, that had to be dealt with every single day in major urban centers was a real problem. They never thought that using it as fuel on a very large scale was really possible but I'm not sure why or maybe they did, but it was a real issue that people were very happy to be rid of with the automobile. I remember as a kid trying to imagine what a hundred thousand tons of horse dung would even look like or smell... kids.

  • @TheNacropolice
    @TheNacropolice Před 5 lety +202

    Looking at this you see a lot of men working doing jobs that paid well and could be trained on the job. This is what we need again.

    • @rockets4kids
      @rockets4kids Před 5 lety +14

      As long as there is cheaper labour somewhere else in the world that's where the new factories are going to be built.

    • @davidjackson3592
      @davidjackson3592 Před 5 lety +22

      @@rockets4kids Then those companies need to be banned from our markets.

    • @steamgent4592
      @steamgent4592 Před 5 lety +22

      @@rockets4kids those products shouldn't be allowed in our markets. They should be banned like they were till Nixon sold Americans out and allowed overseas imports. He wasn't called Tricky Dick for nothing!

    • @jamesswenson6379
      @jamesswenson6379 Před 5 lety +1

      @@davidjackson3592 what

    • @jeffreymuu5451
      @jeffreymuu5451 Před 5 lety +4

      TheNacropolice
      You and all people must realize times change and we must change as well.

  • @farmerkevin
    @farmerkevin Před 4 lety +47

    11:44 Smoking a delicious Marlboro while on the clock. Ahhh the good old days.

    • @hawkinsgeneralstore7405
      @hawkinsgeneralstore7405 Před 3 lety +2

      I was thinking "Welcome to flavor country"

    • @chriswilkey9885
      @chriswilkey9885 Před 3 lety

      What do you mean old days? Its a steel mill not a feelings mill plenty of guys still smoke on the job

  • @steve1311
    @steve1311 Před 3 lety +19

    Worked there 35 years. Good company , good people.

  • @dickda1
    @dickda1 Před 6 lety +173

    I worked in the Basic Oxygen Furnace at Ford Rouge - took temperatures of the molten steel and worked on pouring platform where ingots were poured. Such a pleasant blast from the past!

    • @robertproctor1358
      @robertproctor1358 Před 5 lety +3

      Dick, about what time frame did you work at this plant and is it still in use today??? Thanks

    • @GKBigmack
      @GKBigmack Před 5 lety +35

      The Rouge still runs today, however ingot pouring has been replaced with continuous casting in the 70s.
      The old hot strip in this vid was replaced with the newer hot mill, in the 70s as well.
      I've worked in the Rouge plant (As a contract worker) over the past 15 years, from just after it was spun off by Ford, to be turned into Rouge Steel. RS went insolvent, and was bought by the Russians and operated by Severstal. Severstal sold the plant to AK steel about four years ago, and they operate it today.
      Of the three blast furnaces in the picture, (A, B, and C) from right to left as viewed from the slip/ore bridges, only C operates....and that isn't the original furnace. The C furnace in the picture was torn down about 10 years ago, and a state of the art furnace was installed. The new furnace produces more iron than the previous three combined.
      The coke ovens are gone, torn down about 20 years back.
      The old cold mill (Tandem and 4 pickling lines) has been demo'd and replaced with a new PLTCM (Pickle Line Tandem Cold Mill) and a hot dip galv line.
      Not sure if the skin mill is still running, but it bet it is, as there has to be someplace to temper the sheet.
      Annealing furnaces still run in the old cold mill.
      Three strand continuous caster...
      Not much more to say, i suppose.. The plant is still fully functional, however.

    • @arborist460
      @arborist460 Před 5 lety +6

      Yea man...I love info like this...I'd bet you earn yer money there...keep it up. Backbone of our country

    • @arborist460
      @arborist460 Před 5 lety +4

      We have an ak steel 50 mile down the road in Ashland ky....I'll get in there one day and check it out.

    • @mickjones8757
      @mickjones8757 Před 4 lety +3

      @@GKBigmack thanks man my son works for AK. crane tech at the plant nice to know. he sends me pics of 2to 3 hundred feet off the ground makes me dizzy to look at pics😨

  • @peterduncanson504
    @peterduncanson504 Před 5 lety +15

    At one time the Rouge Complex produced everything needed to make a car - tires, glass, engines, assembly. I started my career just down the Rouge River at Great Lakes Steel, working on blast furnaces on Zug Island. Miss it dearly.

  • @rob-robi
    @rob-robi Před 4 lety +46

    This is bloody amazing. I'm always fascinated by steel or iron factories . It's almost unbelievable that men create these monstrosities

    • @jeremiahd2417
      @jeremiahd2417 Před 3 lety +2

      That was Henry Ford himself. He liked to think big and made the car industry what it is today.

    • @JohnnyRebKy
      @JohnnyRebKy Před 2 lety +3

      Just imagine 10k years from now it will all be gone. Turned to dust without a trace. Cars rot into the ground in a single century. Makes you wonder what could have existed in vast ancient times that we have no clue about

    • @richardgray8593
      @richardgray8593 Před 8 měsíci

      @@JohnnyRebKy You need to take a black studies course and learn how in Central Africa 100,000 years ago the technology was far, far more advanced than today. Every modern Europeen technology was stolen from the Africans.

  • @steve1311
    @steve1311 Před 4 lety +21

    Worked there 30 years , retired in june 07 , worked in a lot of the buildings .

  • @whiteknightcat
    @whiteknightcat Před 5 lety +35

    There's something oddly hypnotic about all this.

  • @williamchristian8389
    @williamchristian8389 Před 3 lety +9

    I hauled steel out of The Rouge in the 70s and early 80s. Huge place!!

  • @NarlyLyfe
    @NarlyLyfe Před 6 měsíci +3

    I could watch these forever, this is my heaven on earth, thank you.

    • @carlmorgan8452
      @carlmorgan8452 Před 2 měsíci

      Only us who worked in furnace can truly appreciate ❤ 4th of July is never the same.

  • @Scarter63
    @Scarter63 Před 5 lety +46

    I work at Arcelor/Mittal in Cleveland. I'm amazed how little has changed in the process from when this video was made, to present day 2018.

    • @danielmota1095
      @danielmota1095 Před 5 lety +2

      Back in 1978 we had ingots. soaking pits , bloomer mill and a few other things but no computers on the job . things were a little different when I left. (ArcelorMittal)

    • @GKBigmack
      @GKBigmack Před 5 lety +5

      US Steel here. Everything is PLC driven nowadays... back then it was all relay logic and training... knowing when to crack the pistol grip one way or another, or to push the correct button....

    • @aname5938
      @aname5938 Před 4 lety

      @PikPobedy And a lot less man hours per ton

    • @aname5938
      @aname5938 Před 4 lety

      A lot has changed. No open hearths, teeming cars, soaking pits. Continuous casting replaced it all.

    • @aname5938
      @aname5938 Před 4 lety +1

      @@GKBigmack I know, right? No more slate boards, MG sets, mag amps, analog regulator panels, DC exciters, synchronous motors, arc chutes... sigh.

  • @jackkrauser2361
    @jackkrauser2361 Před 2 lety +4

    I also think we should show our kids these videos so they’ll have the understanding and mental strength to take on tough challenges.

  • @larrynault2683
    @larrynault2683 Před 3 lety +7

    what a beautiful old documentary, hats off to the maker/producer of this piece of AMERICANA, and also the person who posted this video---THANK YOU!

  • @MrTaylorTexas
    @MrTaylorTexas Před 2 lety +4

    This is amazing! Back when Made In America was taken for granted.

  • @Memphisdoug
    @Memphisdoug Před 4 lety +33

    The machinery used for this whole process is amazing

  • @SHOVEL67w
    @SHOVEL67w Před 5 lety +123

    I spent 32 yrs.in steel at the ROUGE

    • @arborist460
      @arborist460 Před 5 lety +8

      When someone told you go to hell did you reply. ...just got back and be headed back in the morning

    • @arborist460
      @arborist460 Před 5 lety +15

      Men like you sir are the role models we need.

    • @backrack01
      @backrack01 Před 5 lety +1

      What building?

    • @hawtpotato90210
      @hawtpotato90210 Před 3 lety

      are they hiring?

    • @justin456
      @justin456 Před 3 lety

      Severstal?

  • @nathanielwilliams
    @nathanielwilliams Před 2 měsíci +2

    Absolutely mind blowing what men can do and has done

  • @Rajnoma
    @Rajnoma Před 5 lety +27

    This is fascinating. What strong, vital people worked these mills! We owe them a real debt of gratitude for helping make America what it was at that time, the most powerful, influential nation on earth in the 1940s to the 1970s, a time of great prosperity and growth..

  • @EarthSurferUSA
    @EarthSurferUSA Před 5 lety +31

    Look at that marvelous place, and understand it did not grow from the ground. All the human engineering and mind power needed to make that place is astounding. A place that got the entire city of Detroit to grow, to produce great things that men now out of poverty can finally enjoy. What I do not understand is how these films do not explain how this greatness does not come from the ground like a weed; that it came from our minds enjoying liberty and a free market. Free people do amazing things. We would all still be eating bugs to survive with out our liberty we once enjoyed and the industrial revolution we created with our minds, and our liberty to use them.

    • @danielmota1095
      @danielmota1095 Před 5 lety +3

      At Inland Steel we had our own bigger toys . Marvelous, engineering and a marvelous pure HELL at times . A lot in this film is old way of making steel , the ingots, open heart and soaking pit are no more. the bof and continuous caster eliminated that. Many people died on the job with out any RESPECT

    • @danielmota1095
      @danielmota1095 Před 5 lety

      @Jim Allen SIR . I witnessed (steelworker )and the facts. the mills were GREAT gave me a living .Miss Rand , philosophy and journalism I don't know

    • @Reitz86
      @Reitz86 Před 5 lety +2

      Big business sold out to money over country, the men and women in this video built America, not overpaid executives who robbed it ( not specific to Ford)

    • @altond511
      @altond511 Před 5 lety

      Maybe it`s because they don`t think we`re all stupid like you seem to think we are.

  • @marthajackson8227
    @marthajackson8227 Před 6 lety +22

    Ford was such a visionary. That was an interesting and educational production.

    • @ronaldarchibald2506
      @ronaldarchibald2506 Před 5 lety +4

      Well documented Henry ford was supplier of armaments snd equipment for Adolf Hitler. USA had to force Henry Ford to stop producing weaponry for Nazi Germany. They forced him into converting his brand new facility in Willow run Michigan in to a bomber aircraft factory. The largest in the world. He would have been arrested as enemy of the state had he not conceded. That's the truth about your visionary. Henry Ford had many bad things associated with him. But his money has gotten them pushed to the back of the history lesson. He cheated on his wife. He hired felons directly put of prison to be his anti union enforcement group called ford services. They made visits to your family if you talked about union. They followed ford workers to the club, to public events,to bars and if they got any word of you talking with somebody about union you got threats to your family and you beaten up and hospitalized. Thugs these guys were. Ford thugs. Worse than the mob because they had big business money behind them. Even bought off the newspapers and the police. These are documented facts. Labor studies class by Wayne State University exposed me to this and many other attrocities of big business. Plus they provided the source material to back it up. I highly recommend anybody seeking the truth take some classes there.

    • @jmd1743
      @jmd1743 Před 5 lety +1

      @@ronaldarchibald2506 He was selling when America was neutral. America sold to both powers during ww1 for a time period. Gun manufactures did that as well. They were called "merchants of death". If politicians had kept the US neutral during ww1 all powers would have ran out of money and be forced to sue for peace.After all the gold standard was a thing back then.

  • @lindat4294
    @lindat4294 Před 3 lety +3

    Fascinating machinery! Transporting molten metal in specially designed rail cars. The genius it took to build these ceramic lined rail cars. I always wondered how the giant ladle and buckets were made. Astounding!

  • @jr5113
    @jr5113 Před 4 lety +5

    Worked two summers midnight shift in a steel plant in PA in the ‘70s stripping slag of the walls and floors of the soaking pits shown in the film with jackhammers so they could be relined with refractory brick. It was grueling, dangerous, and torturous but I’m glad I can say I did it.

  • @lefthandedhardright8839
    @lefthandedhardright8839 Před 3 lety +10

    Henry Ford. An absolute Legend.

  • @mitshumarner5870
    @mitshumarner5870 Před 5 lety +80

    Back when we made things, made things in a big way.

    • @godbluffvdgg
      @godbluffvdgg Před 5 lety +1

      We have never stopped making things and still have industrial manufacturing at the highest levels...Only we now make the hard stuff...Boeing, McDonald Douglas, GE, US steel, The big three car makers still have facilities here, Caterpillar...etc etc etc...Don't sell us short; we make high value high dollar items...Let the third worlds make the widgets...

    • @jacquesblaque7728
      @jacquesblaque7728 Před 5 lety +4

      Just FYI, Trump is irrelevant, a figment of his own imagination. Anyway, soon to be recycled as scrap. B-bye.

    • @jimsonbrown9768
      @jimsonbrown9768 Před 5 lety +4

      Brandon S : tariffs, are just a bargaining tool. Not permanent.

    • @jacquesblaque7728
      @jacquesblaque7728 Před 4 lety

      Wouldn't want to take your money because of that disgusting fraudulent combed-over gas-bag. POS

    • @onazram1
      @onazram1 Před 4 lety +2

      @@jacquesblaque7728 - sure we will bring back a democrat president to put America back into the downward spiral obama had us in.. no thanks!

  • @OnerousEthic
    @OnerousEthic Před 3 měsíci +1

    Before FMC had an IT department, my grandfather, Robert E. Houston, was the IT department. He was #1 at the steel mill and #4 at Willow Run.
    I remember touring this or some other steel mill in Detroit when I was 8 or 10 years old, and seeing the ingots get rolled it was amazing and so hot!!

  • @tricitiesair
    @tricitiesair Před 5 lety +234

    When this was filmed Detroit was one of the highest per capita income cities in America. You could leave high school go to work at a plant, buy a house, raise a family, and retire.
    Now the jobs are in Mexico and Detroit is a graveyard. Sad.

    • @Lanesplitter
      @Lanesplitter Před 5 lety +4

      The times, they are a changin - sad but true

    • @jacquesblaque7728
      @jacquesblaque7728 Před 5 lety +22

      Mgmt made out pretty well, fat retirement/golden parachutes. Too bad for the peons, though.

    • @tricitiesair
      @tricitiesair Před 5 lety +48

      @chris richard You can't blame the unions for the entire mess. They were greedy sure but it takes two sides to ruin a good thing. Corporations are just as greedy imo.

    • @Obladgolated
      @Obladgolated Před 5 lety +18

      _They_ _were_ _greedy_ _sure_ _but_ _it_ _takes_ _two_ _sides_ _to_ _ruin_ _a_ _good_ _thing._
      You can point fingers until the cows come home, whatever floats your boat.
      The production is elsewhere, where people are happy to have an income, and don't worry about how much the boss is making.
      Reality bites, and finger-pointing doesn't change it.

    • @aquilarossa5191
      @aquilarossa5191 Před 5 lety +64

      @chris richard Bullshit. Germany and France have even stronger unions and labour laws. They can still compete can't they? People say 'but they get government subsidies", but so does GM and Ford in their own way (bail outs, tax breaks etc).
      Increased profit is the main reason for offshoring. Enough profit is not enough for a modern CEO. Their job is to always increase returns for investors. Charged with the task of achieving endless growth they do whatever it takes, even if it means putting locals out of work. Plenty of profitable plants have been closed down and shipped offshore where they could make bigger profits. They only have allegiance to shareholders, not to the workers of the country where the company was originally formed.
      p.s. These companies are also masters of avoiding the tax man and hiding their money in the Caymans etc. Public debt in the USA is $22 trillion while the books are always in the red as infrastructure crumbles to an international rating of D minus. The country is spending over half of its discretionary budget on the military because all those offshore assets and US multinational corporation's interests need securing. I do not see how it can continue myself. If it was a business it would be declared insolvent and be forced to restructure.

  • @josephastier7421
    @josephastier7421 Před 5 lety +35

    These mills won us WW II.

    • @mickjones8757
      @mickjones8757 Před 4 lety

      Along with" willow run" plant built the bomers in Ypsilanti i can see from my apt window

    • @tetekofa
      @tetekofa Před 4 lety

      Ford sold truck engines and more to Germany, Poland, Russia, US and anybody else who wanted supplies.

    • @bradwyrick4738
      @bradwyrick4738 Před 4 lety

      Ford was as much on hitlers side lol

    • @jeremiahd2417
      @jeremiahd2417 Před 3 lety

      @@bradwyrick4738 so was GM, IBM, HUGO, BOSCH. Quite a Lot of companies, even non german, were involved. Even some major companies outside of germany who were european who had plants and facilities in germany were involved. It was pretty much the majority of Mega Corporations at the time.

  • @joeboscarino2380
    @joeboscarino2380 Před 5 lety +32

    And you people laughed at Ross Perot's ," great sucking sound " .Serves you right .

    • @KingRoseArchives
      @KingRoseArchives  Před 5 lety +9

      I was there when he said it. He was right. UAW head, Walter Reuther was always in favor of global trade but it had to include building strong unions in those countries and a wage rate that wouldn't take US jobs away. He lost that battle.

    • @danhillman4523
      @danhillman4523 Před 4 lety +4

      I didn't. I warned anyone that would listen.

    • @DataWaveTaGo
      @DataWaveTaGo Před 4 lety +3

      @J Smith It's bigger than Trump. He can't change anything. It's too late.

    • @siaripop7
      @siaripop7 Před 4 lety +4

      @J Smith What exactly has he reversed? Those 3,000 jobs he claimed to have saved in Indiana are in Mexico or have been eliminated. The tax breaks he gave businesses to expand were used to buy down their debt and raises of 3% haven't kept pace with inflation. Social Security was payable beginning at age 62 and full benefits at 65, today's employees won't see that until they are in their mid-70s, if they live that long without health insurance!

  • @edenhill9662
    @edenhill9662 Před 3 lety +1

    Great memories. Thanks for sharing. My dad was the chairman/ president of the BOF and Rolling Mill for 20 years.

  • @TimHollis3006
    @TimHollis3006 Před 6 lety +3

    Unfucking believable that our country once was this great

  • @nealfry2230
    @nealfry2230 Před 7 měsíci +1

    I'll Always Love you Hayden Panettiere

  • @GMCTIM
    @GMCTIM Před 11 dny

    Worked in a Steel Mill from 89 to 09 ! It is a Amazing process, very hot very dirty you earned your Money but a Great Job ! Go back in a second if I could ! ✊🇺🇸

  • @maptinkler
    @maptinkler Před 10 měsíci +2

    Since the late 1800's untill roughly 1990 or so Birmingham, Ala. herald itself as the "Pittsburg of the South". Growing up there in the 50's & 60's everyone knew someone whom either work at a Blast Furnace; Steel Mill; Fabricating Shop; Pipe Mill; or either a Coal or Iron Ore Mine. And it wasn't just B'ham, but the entire "Jones Valley" area (that B'ham is within), were all involved in the iron & steel making industry, along with the coal & iron ore mines, not to mention the limestone pits, that fed that industry. At one time it seemed every crossroad's in B'ham had a Church, a store, and two Fab Shops! The massive US Steel Plant alone at it's peak, employed more than 15,000 workers...even more during WW2! When you drive from the eastern side of B'ham to Downtown on the 1st Ave Viaduct, you'll pass right beside Sloss Furnace (now a Museum), the oldest blast furnace in B'ham. Back in the day if you drove at the right time you'd drive through an almost blinding red cloud of smoke, with its pungent smell of hot metal and sulfur. My dad said "you see and smell all that red smoke?....it represents jobs and money!". Today it seems unreal to even fathom that almost everyone of those furnaces, steel and pipe mills, and the literally hundreds of fabricating shops, are completely gone now... along with all those high paying skilled jobs!

  • @indianapatsfan
    @indianapatsfan Před 7 lety +54

    It's amazing how much of the manufacturing process Ford directly owned and controlled back then. That type of manufacturing is pretty much obsolete nowadays.

    • @fortune300
      @fortune300 Před 6 lety +4

      Look at Toyota.

    • @neumann9897
      @neumann9897 Před 6 lety +8

      river rouge is still there today ford owns the assembly side and AK owns the steel side

    • @andrewarmstrong7310
      @andrewarmstrong7310 Před 5 lety +5

      Ford was a control freak. He even owned The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad that serviced the plant, as well as the ships that brought the ore in.

    • @cplpetergriffin1583
      @cplpetergriffin1583 Před 5 lety +2

      @@andrewarmstrong7310 he also bought a rubber farm in south America for his tires

    • @andrewarmstrong7310
      @andrewarmstrong7310 Před 5 lety +3

      @@cplpetergriffin1583 Yes he did and that put him in conflict with both Firestone and Goodyear.

  • @iamgriff
    @iamgriff Před rokem +3

    I worked at a few different slitting companies around detroit in the late 90’s. It is pretty interesting to see where the hot roll “rouge steel” came from. I have scars on my hands from steel made by these machines in this video.

  • @MrShobar
    @MrShobar Před 5 lety +3

    The Rouge was the prototype for the fully integrated manufacturing plant. Iron ore and scrap went in one end, finished automobiles emerged at the opposite end.

  • @justinbustin677
    @justinbustin677 Před 5 lety +3

    More amazing of the steel mill process then the car itself

  • @johnaugsburger6192
    @johnaugsburger6192 Před 5 lety +4

    Amazing, thanks for putting this up.

  • @godbluffvdgg
    @godbluffvdgg Před 5 lety +6

    This is so awesome...Thanks for the upload...I was 3 when they filmed it...:)...Seeing those factories and plants in person is amazing!

  • @Kgthrow
    @Kgthrow Před 4 lety +2

    I work at Arcelormittal, Iron Producing Burns Harbor Indiana. This was a good watch!

  • @RejonMunchausen
    @RejonMunchausen Před 7 lety +5

    fantastic upload!

  • @lestergillis8171
    @lestergillis8171 Před 3 lety +1

    The "soaring pits" is where my mum's late brother Burley used to work at USS.
    He was an instrument repairman in the fuel dpt. R.I.P.

  • @nuclearbum9858
    @nuclearbum9858 Před 3 lety +2

    finally i well explained video of how this all works ...that place had to be miles big

  • @stewartjones566
    @stewartjones566 Před 4 lety +3

    God damn steel making is extremely energy intensive

  • @tyroniousyrownshoolacez2347

    Best voice ever.

  • @lifes40123
    @lifes40123 Před rokem +1

    Just look at this video and you can tell why and how the US is strongest economy in the world. American steel and engineering is the finest in the world. Making the steel is already amazing, but the science behind the factory that produces the steel makes it even more incredible.

  • @BMGBOX
    @BMGBOX Před 5 lety +2

    This is fabulous history and you Americans can be proud of your industrial and military might. You are keeping the world free and safe.
    Where I live, we had steel plants - one in Sydney Mines, NS, from 1899 to 1920 and another in Sydney, NS, from 1900 'till about 2004. We also had dozens of coal mines...
    We are a post-industrial economy now, like many areas. Multi-Billionaires invested in automation, and we now see the results = industrial jobs are gone.
    The only answer is technical and academic education for our young people. Keep the faith, brother Americans. - Bob McGrath, VA1BOB

    • @bonniejohnson1518
      @bonniejohnson1518 Před rokem

      the bible says 66 times that pride is not good and is the down fall of mankind,,,,,,,,,,,,Willie

  • @kirksinger2764
    @kirksinger2764 Před 2 lety

    I can still remember, as a new LM management trainee, watching a lake boat unload ore at 8 am, touring the Rouge steel mill later and watching Mustangs come off the line in late afternooon

    • @iamgriff
      @iamgriff Před rokem

      i remember passing Dearborn Assembly Plant, and seeing nothing but Mustangs parked in the lot. You could tell which days they sprayed what color. they would be parked in a hap hazard color coordination

  • @poke_cactushobby3780
    @poke_cactushobby3780 Před 4 lety +1

    This is so cool.

  • @glennman0922
    @glennman0922 Před 4 lety +5

    5:44 “Hey Frank! Wake up! They’re filming today!” .... “duh.....O.k.”

  • @jongerber3476
    @jongerber3476 Před 2 lety

    Great job on this vid . Well presented . Thank you

  • @mauriciogonzalezdiaz8929
    @mauriciogonzalezdiaz8929 Před 5 měsíci +1

    Impresionante. 😮

  • @geosutube
    @geosutube Před 5 lety +6

    Completely vertically integrated manufacturing.

  • @dancingwithczars
    @dancingwithczars Před 5 lety +6

    I toured the Rouge complex in the 1960's when I was in grade school--steel mill, stamping and assembly. It was pretty amazing. If you were unfortunate enough to live in the Delray area of Detroit, you had to smell the awful stench put off by the Rouge Plant. Absolutely nasty. No pollution controls back then. If the job didn't kill you, the toxic pollution would. The good old days!

    • @KingRoseArchives
      @KingRoseArchives  Před 5 lety +2

      There were drawbacks.

    • @lazyrrr2411
      @lazyrrr2411 Před 5 lety +3

      Don't blame Ford alone - - - the infamous "dirtiest spot on Earth" ZUG Island is at the mouth of the river - within eye sight ... Detroit Main Sewer Works • and a host of Heavy industries 🏭🏭🏭

    • @JamesThomas-pj2lx
      @JamesThomas-pj2lx Před 4 lety

      the city is ooooooo so much better now, w/o the industry.....ooooooh so much better, lol.

    • @JamesThomas-pj2lx
      @JamesThomas-pj2lx Před 4 lety

      @@KingRoseArchives whats the copyright on this, i swear that's my dad at 10:48, but he thinks it was shot before he started?

  • @lpattenaude1716
    @lpattenaude1716 Před 3 lety +1

    Amazing

  • @chadsimmons6347
    @chadsimmons6347 Před 4 lety +1

    That slag, is all over the place, it makes good fill for hillsides when packed down, it will not move

  • @jondoe3561
    @jondoe3561 Před 4 lety +2

    Home..... Miss it! Recognize a few faces.... Good memories!

  • @tomsteve3804
    @tomsteve3804 Před 3 lety

    sure seems i remember touring this place in elementary school back in the mid 70's

  • @Sageofthehills
    @Sageofthehills Před 5 měsíci

    Henry was a Chad 💪🏻

  • @karelltulod3079
    @karelltulod3079 Před 2 lety +1

    awesome Ford

  • @biga3749
    @biga3749 Před 5 lety +1

    My dad worked at the Hapeville Assembly plant in 70's. He thought Ford's steel 9nly came from Bethlehem Steel. Thanks for information.

  • @di734on
    @di734on Před 4 lety +3

    I currently work here 👍🏻

    • @JamesThomas-pj2lx
      @JamesThomas-pj2lx Před 4 lety

      give omari cooper a hard time.....he's too good of a dude.

    • @di734on
      @di734on Před 4 lety

      @@JamesThomas-pj2lx I would but I didn't know him. I just quit AK. Now at Marathon Refinery.

  • @spaceghost8995
    @spaceghost8995 Před 4 lety +5

    Lung cancer anyone? Those jobs look brutal. I've worked at at iron foundries , but not huge operations like those!

  • @dcdanger6151
    @dcdanger6151 Před 3 lety +3

    I swear I saw that guy's cigarette light by itself

  • @busarider29
    @busarider29 Před 5 lety +3

    Have a lot of respect for the men that had to go to work in that dungeon of a place every day. Having to breathe in all those fumes and and crap 8 hours a day, sheesh. Can't imagine someone that had to work in there for 30 years living very long after that.

    • @tompaul2591
      @tompaul2591 Před 5 lety +5

      @Brandon S did you not hear that it took 2 years to learn and 3 to become good? I call that a skill. Not everyone is cut out to be an engineer or fabricator, etc. Producing something yourself makes you self reliant. Paying others (China,Mexico, etc) to do your dirty work makes you a slave to them. When you find your servant is your master. Everything has its ups and downs. You cant deny our economy was better then with more job opportunities. Jobs that paid well too. Skilled, unskilled, white or blue collar.

    • @spaceghost8995
      @spaceghost8995 Před 4 lety

      They didn't live long afterward.

  • @wipatriot510
    @wipatriot510 Před 5 lety +4

    Once upon a time in America...

  • @marklindquist9504
    @marklindquist9504 Před 4 lety +1

    My dad hauled steel coils out of Rouge,,,bound mostly to Gary Indiana

  • @ecleveland1
    @ecleveland1 Před 3 měsíci +1

    The tremendous scale is hard to believe. How much did this cost to build and who built the huge pieces of equipment? How many cars and trucks does it take to pay for this? How did people know how to design it and size it to last so long? I have a lot of questions I wish I could ask these people.

  • @davegeisler7802
    @davegeisler7802 Před 2 lety +2

    And those workers were real men , supported there families on one income ( Thank you Mr. Ford ) and worked there asses off. We became so soft and lazy as a society.

    • @bonniejohnson1518
      @bonniejohnson1518 Před rokem

      The destruction all began with the communist introduction of feminism in America in 1970.....its been all down hill since then........Willie

  • @brosefmcman8264
    @brosefmcman8264 Před 4 lety

    In incredible time to be alive

  • @fairfaxcat1312
    @fairfaxcat1312 Před 5 lety +1

    Somebody’s liable to get burned because the temperature of all this gets so high. “Safety first,” is the mantra among engineers and other workers. No one gets hurt in the movie because everyone is extra careful for the cameras.

  • @jackkrauser2361
    @jackkrauser2361 Před 2 lety

    This video is incredible! This is what real work looks like not the fake service shit the government wants us to do today!

  • @jeromebychowski122
    @jeromebychowski122 Před 5 lety +11

    Henry Ford, was a third generation Irish American, whose family was farming land in the Free State of Michigan.
    -
    He was born in 1863, and raised as a farmer, operating equipment.
    -
    After high school,
    Henry Ford had about 8 years of work a machinist, and a steam engine mechanic.
    -
    Then he worked his way into the Edison Manufacturing Corporation.
    -
    At Edison Manufacturing Corporation, he got hired as an engineer, and became a chief engineer., for about 8 years.
    -
    He eventually worked directly with Thomas Edison.
    -
    During his career with Edison, be started to develope his own automotive vehicles, and was sponsored by Thomas Edison, and his investors.
    -
    Eventually, Henry Ford organized with several investors that were connected to Thomas Edison, and started Detroit Automobile Corporation, in 1898.
    -
    After about a year, he dissolved that company.
    -
    Henry Ford was involved and working with several other automobile manufacturers.
    -
    With his investors, he formed the Henry Ford Company in 1901.
    -
    Upon reorganizing, and gaining new investors, Henry Ford started Ford Motor Company, in 1903.
    -
    He grew Ford Motor Company, in 5 years, to be mass producing automobiles.
    -
    About every 4 years, he built an additional factory.
    -
    -
    -
    In 1917, Henry Ford had enough financing, to buy the land and start to build his own steel production facility, alongside some of his automotive manufactiring plants, at one complex.
    -
    He bought the land in Dearborn Michigan, and built that massive steel production facility in 10 years.
    He also built manufacturing plants there.
    -
    Ford River Rouge complex was finished in 1928. It included the steel production, and several auomotive manufacturing plants.
    -
    It covered over 900 acres, which is about 1.4 square miles of land.
    -
    The entire facility, with the steel manufacturing, and the automitive plants, employed almost 100,000 persons.
    -
    In 1928, it was the largest manufacturing complex in the World.

    • @jeromebychowski122
      @jeromebychowski122 Před 5 lety +5

      Actually, the Rouge had as much as 103,000 workers, at its highest level of production employment.
      -
      It had every type of production to fully complete finished automobiles.

    • @whiteknightcat
      @whiteknightcat Před 5 lety +1

      And today it's a national historic landmark.

    • @jeromebychowski122
      @jeromebychowski122 Před 5 lety +2

      +whiteknightcat
      -
      Hello Sir or Miss.
      Your title is not indicative of any type of gender.
      -
      -
      Actually, the Ford Rouge Steel plant was purchased in 2004, by the Severstal, the Russain steel company.
      -
      Severstal invested 1.6 billion dollars into the facility, to refurbish the mechanical systems of the entire facility, and implement all modern controls of the systems.
      -
      They also added additional systems for cold rolled steel and galvanized cold rolled steel.
      -
      They decommisioned 2 of the 3 original blast furnaces. The decomissioned blast funaces were utilized for parts, for the refurbishing, and rebuilding of the remainingn blast furnace.
      -
      The remaining blast furnace, has been completely restored, and is fully operational, with modern controls.
      -
      -
      In 2014, AK Steel, based in Ohio, purchased the Dearborn Steel Plant from Severstal.
      -
      Now, AK Steel is operating this modern steel production facility.

    • @whiteknightcat
      @whiteknightcat Před 5 lety +4

      @@jeromebychowski122 As there were no female knights in antiquity, the gender would be a given. And I fail to see your point regarding the history of the facility, or are you implying it is not a historic landmark?

    • @jeromebychowski122
      @jeromebychowski122 Před 5 lety

      +whiteknightcat
      -
      Hello Sir or Miss.
      It is 2018, your title is not indicative of any type of gender. Also you speak from an amomomous position.
      -
      -
      The topic at hand is a 20th Century Industrial development, that was completed between 1917 and 1928.
      -
      The first set of information that I provided was about the history of the original developer of the facility, Henry Ford.
      -
      That history of Henry Ford, led into the discription of the development of this facility.
      -
      This site was designated with National Historic Landmark District status in 1978.
      -
      -
      I continued with the modern, 21st century history, about the Russian Steel corporation Severstal, that invested 1.6 billion dollars, in the redevelopment of the facility, in order to refurbish, rebuild, and modernize the original functions of the facility. They also expanded the capabilities of the facility.
      -
      -
      Now, most currently, this modern facility was purchased by Ohio based AK Steel in 2014.
      -
      In 2018, this modernized facility is fully operational and highly competative in the United States of America.

  • @lazyrrr2411
    @lazyrrr2411 Před 5 lety +3

    A Great place to Visit - a horrible place to WORK ~ Dantes' Inferno ! ~ but Someone had to do it

  • @alainarchambault2331
    @alainarchambault2331 Před 4 lety +5

    Don't suppose Ford has that plant anymore. Likely contracted out to other steel rolling plants after this equipment became obsolete.

    • @JamesThomas-pj2lx
      @JamesThomas-pj2lx Před 4 lety +1

      they sold whole thing in..... 89ish, its still runs tonight.

    • @scottschmidt75
      @scottschmidt75 Před 3 lety

      The steel they make there is obsolete for automakers use. Even in the 90s a good deal of Rouge Steel production was exported.

  • @josephastier7421
    @josephastier7421 Před 5 lety +21

    If any of those workers ever went to Hell, they would have a good belly laugh and ask Satan: "Is that all you've got?"

  • @randymagnum143
    @randymagnum143 Před 5 lety +9

    They didnt show stripping the ingot from the mold!
    The intensified grip strippers are marvel of manufacturing, made obsolete by continuous casting.

  • @DataWaveTaGo
    @DataWaveTaGo Před 4 lety +1

    At 11:44 - the temperature is never too hot, the atmosphere never too foul, to prevent the die hard smoker from enjoying a cigarette.

    • @davegeisler7802
      @davegeisler7802 Před 2 lety +1

      That Marlboro taste better when the ambient temp is around 130 in the plant.

  • @sourceonenews8059
    @sourceonenews8059 Před rokem +1

    Ford #1

  • @MagnetOnlyMotors
    @MagnetOnlyMotors Před 3 lety +3

    9:55 the air must have been soooo filthy to breathe!

  • @nealfry2230
    @nealfry2230 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I agree.

  • @meredrums1
    @meredrums1 Před 5 lety +3

    Are there any mills in America now? Simple question not requiring any additional baggage.

    • @sixmile2360
      @sixmile2360 Před 5 lety +3

      Yes. This mill is still open. There is a huge steel works along the Detroit River. There are a total of 12 integrated steel mills operating in the US.

    • @pyroman6000
      @pyroman6000 Před 5 lety +3

      Yep. Edgar Thompson in Pittsburg; Arcellor, in East Chicago; Gary Works; Burns Harbor; etc. plenty of mini mills left, too.

    • @shaggydogg3786
      @shaggydogg3786 Před 5 lety +2

      Granite city steel division is U.S. steel Granite city Illinois. Iron making to finished coiled steel.

  • @TheMoni700
    @TheMoni700 Před 3 lety

    Looks like a popsicle created all those 70s cars.

  • @AlvaSudden
    @AlvaSudden Před 4 lety

    What is that crucible made of 9:25 and why doesn't it melt?

  • @wtf0101
    @wtf0101 Před 3 lety +1

    America at its best👍

    • @davegeisler7802
      @davegeisler7802 Před 2 lety

      You got that right ! Pre man buns , woke society and lazy workers.

  • @scottpool4777
    @scottpool4777 Před 3 lety

    Yes definitely and there was no young guys in there to only older experience men and that’s the key this is it. Republic steel and such like that all of memory.

  • @glenreynol0075
    @glenreynol0075 Před 6 lety +4

    Is this plant still in operation?

    • @gregmccurry5619
      @gregmccurry5619 Před 6 lety +1

      passed by it mon?

    • @neumann9897
      @neumann9897 Před 6 lety +6

      still running strong

    • @bonemiller8948
      @bonemiller8948 Před 6 lety +1

      Glen Reynol007

    • @bonemiller8948
      @bonemiller8948 Před 6 lety +8

      Glen Reynol007 ya i work there

    • @MrOicur1two
      @MrOicur1two Před 5 lety +2

      The steel mill was sold off and is an independent company now. Was Severstal (a Russian company) sold to AK Steel in 2014 due to the Ukrainian crisis and a fear that it would suffer from the relationship. Still operating today.

  • @garymckee8857
    @garymckee8857 Před 4 lety

    Is this factory still producing vehicles?

  • @almightydope8358
    @almightydope8358 Před 4 lety +1

    Wonder what the process looks like now in 2020

    • @davegeisler7802
      @davegeisler7802 Před 2 lety

      They still need to pour molten metal. Nothing really changes , except technology. Still a hot , filthy job performed by some badass workers who are far from soft.

  • @markjohnson4962
    @markjohnson4962 Před 3 lety +1

    How can they make the first steel mill given that steel mills are made of steel?

    • @scottschmidt75
      @scottschmidt75 Před 3 lety

      Abraham Darby (1668-1717) was the first man to successfully smelt iron ore with coke. His furnace was not made of iron, and neither are the furnaces used to me steel. The earliest vessels as well as today's are lined with clay firebrick. It's no coincidence that the cradle of British steelmaking sits on top of four seams of coal, one seam of iron ore and two seams of fire clay.

  • @nunyabizznizz7326
    @nunyabizznizz7326 Před 2 měsíci

    back when we made things that made things..........now all outsourced

  • @gintasindreika933
    @gintasindreika933 Před 4 lety

    Were the Rouge mill workers UAW members or Steelworkers union employees?

    • @frphxkaboom3008
      @frphxkaboom3008 Před 4 lety +1

      as of the 90's they were local 600 UAW. Separate unit, different contract but, UAW. Unions are in the business of representing employees. The was no way they would let the steelworkers union get them and get the dues. The workers really didn't want a new union to take over.

    • @JamesThomas-pj2lx
      @JamesThomas-pj2lx Před 4 lety

      uaw

  • @richardb775
    @richardb775 Před 5 lety +2

    Who was the narrator?

  • @clivewinters7479
    @clivewinters7479 Před 3 lety +1

    About the best video presentation I’ve seen on this subject!

  • @cars929
    @cars929 Před 5 lety +2

    I like Chevy but Ford has the quality and pricing ability

  • @Yesman34354
    @Yesman34354 Před 2 lety

    Just watched a vid from a modern day steel plant, it was shorter and way less informative.
    Love these old vids

  • @VitoVeccia
    @VitoVeccia Před 4 lety

    Is that ship in the beginning the Edmund Fitzgerald? Looks just like it, or the USS Anderson.

    • @MsLaurN
      @MsLaurN Před 4 lety

      Neither of them. It looks like the opening is older film. The boat's name is in script lettering and difficult to make out, whereas the Fitzgerald and the Anderson use the more typical block lettering. At 0:51 we see the William Clay Ford, with a much cleaner video. I'm going to try to figure out what the first boat is.

    • @JamesThomas-pj2lx
      @JamesThomas-pj2lx Před 4 lety

      @@MsLaurN .. i read a copyright of 1980 and i saw an ltd for a second there.

    • @kyboy5
      @kyboy5 Před 4 lety

      If it was the fitz you would know it. Biggest ship to ever sail the great lakes

  • @Neumah
    @Neumah Před 4 lety +1

    Is that the Edmund Fitzgerald?

    • @kyboy5
      @kyboy5 Před 4 lety

      I don't believe so doesn't look big enough to be the fitz