Acme Steel, Chicago Coke Plant
A lot has gone on at 11236 S. Torrence between today and the time the plant closed, just shy of 20 years ago. Things went dark for a few years after everyone went home and the gates were locked up. The place hung in limbo for a time while some idealistic historians tried to hatch […]
Keeping the streak alive! So many consecutive Saturday’s this is a serious part time job!. Turns out the pay and benefits are pretty bad but there are a hell of a lot of perks. I’m allowed to come hang out whenever I want, I basically have the keys to the place. There are more documents […]
After locating a training tape in the main office last weekend, a brief bit of internet research led me to the owner of the voice I intently listened to through my speakers. Jerry was glad to have a discussion about his memories of the coke plant via Zoom. I used the transcript of the audio […]
The first in a continuing series (Click the ‘Tales From Topside’ category heading above to see the rest). Doug Podgorny was area manager ovens up until the very end. With 25 years between the coke plant and mill, he watched things start to unravel but had to stick around to see it through. Never before […]
The second in a continuing series (Click the ‘Tales From Topside’ category heading above to see the rest). Doug Podgorny was area manager ovens up until the very end. With 25 years between the coke plant and mill, he watched things start to unravel but had to stick around to see it through. Never before […]
I found this cassette tape in the asst. division manager’s office on my last visit. The introduction at the beginning of the tape identifies the company as Interlake Inc., which should put it as pre-1986. It was buried under mountains of documents and was not in a case. Despite twenty hard Chicago winters, and twenty […]
The third in a continuing series (Click the ‘Tales From Topside’ category heading above to see the rest). Doug Podgorny was area manager ovens up until the very end. With 25 years between the coke plant and mill, he watched things start to unravel but had to stick around to see it through. Never before […]
I don’t mean this in a negative way, but things are really becoming like a solid job for me. This is eight consecutive weeks and my 15th total. For a couple weeks, things get increasingly cold, Saturday by Saturday. So I knew I’d not stay long. I had to work down in Chicago Heights so […]
The fourth in a continuing series (Click the ‘Tales From Topside’ category heading above to see the rest). Doug Podgorny was area manager ovens up until the very end. With 25 years between the coke plant and mill, he watched things start to unravel but had to stick around to see it through. Never before […]
Little kids dream about being a shortstop for their favorite baseball team. They hang a pennant on their wall and get a cap and they cheer on their favorite players. As life goes on, those childhood dreams are forgotten or pushed aside for more critical needs. Then as those critical needs are satisfied, even adults […]