General Steel Industries, Inc. (GSI) was an American steel company that operated independently from 1928 to 1981. It was founded by two locomotive manufacturers and a foundry as General Steel Castings Corporation in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. The following year, it acquired the Commonwealth Steel Company, a critical supplier to the rail industry, and the year after that, completed its own modern steel foundry.The Commonwealther, August 1929 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1929), p. 3
In the late 1950s, the company began acquiring other companies in an effort to diversify from its core business of manufacturing large steel castings. By 1971, it had six divisions and one subsidiary.General Steel Industries, Inc., 1971 Annual Report, p. 4 Two years later, it closed its original Castings Division.
In 1974, GSI was operating 19 plants across the United States and internationallyGeneral Steel Industries, Inc., 1974 Annual Report, p. 2 and continued operating as an independent company until it was acquired by Lukens Steel in 1981.
General Steel Castings
The General Steel Castings Corporation was a steel casting corporation in the United States established in 1928 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Company, and American Steel Foundries.The Commonwealther, April 1929 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1929), p. 8
The company began construction on its new foundry and headquarters on ,The Commonwealther, September 1930 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1930), p. 6 in Eddystone, Pennsylvania, near Baldwin Locomotive's facilities. The new plant opened two years later, circa July 1930, and produced castings weighing from .The Commonwealther, September 1930 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1930), p. 5
On July 30, 1929, the company completed its acquisition of the Commonwealth Steel Company and its plant in Granite City, Illinois. Commonwealth Steel was a major supplier of large steel castings, used in products produced by General Steel's owners, such as one-piece locomotive beds long weighing about The Commonwealther, July–August 1926 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1926), p. 14 and large cast steel underframes for railroad cars. By 1930 the company was making one-piece locomotive beds with integral cylinders and cradle, pilot beams, Delta trailer trucks, and water-bottom tenderframes that were over long.The Commonwealther, April 1930 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1930), p. 7
As reported in The Commonwealther, "[t]he new Company, with larger resources and with two plants equipped to produce Commonwealth devices, will undoubtedly mean a better serving of the country with devices for the railroads and other customers. As stated by Mr. Howard [Commonwealth Steel's president, ]… the cooperation of the locomotive companies with us should mean a wider field of opportunities for our organization, our men, and our product."
The company's first Board of Directors meeting, after the acquisition of Commonwealth Steel, was held on August 7, 1929 and included among the attendees the president of the Pullman Company, David A. Crawford, President William C. Dickerman of the American Locomotive Company, and President George H. Houston of the Baldwin Locomotive Company. Clarence Howard, the president of the Commonwealth Steel Company became Chairman of the Board of Directors and continued his duties at the Commonwealth Division of the now larger company.
General Steel operated two plants, one in Eddystone, Pennsylvania and one in Granite City, Illinois.
The company, initially using the products developed by Commonwealth Steel, specialized in large castings including tank armor and gun turrets,Listing of certificates granted. Revenue Revision of 1951, hearings, 82nd Congress, p. 2704. locomotive frames and trucks.
Over the years, the company expanded into other industrial areas. On May 1, 1961, the company changed its name to reflect its diversified business portfolio and became General Steel Industries.
Early history as General Steel Industries
In 1929, General Steel Castings Corp. acquired the Commonwealth Steel Company, a Granite City, Illinois based maker of steel, steel castings, and railroad supplies that had been founded in 1901,Granite City – A Pictorial History (G. Bradley Publishing, Inc., 1995), p. 49 and had become a supplier to railroad companies. Commonwealth Steel had manufactured large cast steel bolsters for passenger cars for exhibit at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and designed and produced a one-piece locomotive bed in 1926. By 1928, "practically all locomotives and passenger cars built in the United States" were using Commonwealth products.
General Steel's purchase of Commonwealth included Commonwealth's foundry and its new General Office Building, completed in 1926,The Commonwealther, February 1926 (Commonwealth Steel Company, 1926), p. 11 both located at 1417 State Street, Granite City, Illinois. After the Commonwealth Steel acquisition, General Steel had two divisions, the Eddystone Division in Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Division in Illinois. Only the Commonwealth Division was operational; the Eddystone Division's plant would not be completed until 1930. The Illinois operation was commonly referred to as the "Commonwealth," and was located at 1417 State Street in Granite City. During World War II, the Commonwealth plant manufactured steel for armor and cast steel tank hulls and turrets, and employed about 5,200 people. After the war, the company returned to manufacturing locomotive castings in Granite City and earth-moving equipment in Eddystone.
Fortune magazine ranked the company 464, 481, and 441 in the magazine's Fortune 500 listing in 1962, 1963, and 1964, respectively. Employees numbered 3,650 in 1962, 4,200 in 1963, and 4,400 in 1964.
Expansion In 1948, the company's headquarters was moved from Eddystone to Granite City. In the mid-1950s, the company expanded its focus from steel castings products to a more diversified company through an acquisition program that included purchasing National Roll & Foundry Company in 1955, St. Louis Car Company in June 1960,General Steel Industries, Inc., 1961 Annual Report, p. 3 Ludlow-Saylor Wire Cloth, Flex-O-Lite, Standard Pipeprotection, and Simplicity Engineering Corporation. Standard Pipeprotection Division was created from a series of acquisitions.General Steel Industries, Inc., 1972 Annual Report, p. 3
Recognizing the company had grown beyond its original business of manufacturing steel castings, the company changed its name to General Steel Industries, Incorporated on May 1, 1961. The company's first two plants, the Eddystone plant and the Granite City plant, the acquired Commonwealth Steel facility, became the Castings Division, and both plants continued to produce large steel castings. For example, in 1961, the Eddystone plant provided 85% of the steel castings used in the Union Electric Company's new Taum Sauk hydroelectric power station near St. Louis, and produced railroad specialty products such as "the world's highest capacity flat car", weighing almost 75 tons, with a load limit of 300 tons.General Steel Industries, Inc., 1961 Annual Report, p. 11 The Granite City plant produced "engineered cast steel specialty products" for the railroad industry including one-piece locomotive beds, one-piece cast steel flat car underframes, and wear-resistant manganese steel casting, used in mining and crushing equipment and heavy-duty power shovels.General Steel Industries, Inc., 1961 Annual Report, p. 10
In the 1950s, the company, then as General Steel Castings, introduced the Commonwealth 53' 6" flatcar that became one of the railroad industry's most commonly used flatcars during the 1950s and 1960s. This flatcar remained in production, with only minor changes, into the early 1970s.
At the Granite City plant, General Steel x-rayed uranium ingots for the Atomic Energy Commission from 1958The date is 1953 according to the November 7, 2007 U.S. Department of Labor - Employment Standards Administration (ESA) - Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) - Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) circular EEOICPA Circular No. 08-02 but the date is 1958 according to the Sept. 1991 Dept. of Energy Memorandum "Results of the Radiological Survey at the Granite City Steel Facility, Granite City, Illinois", p. 1 through 1966 using two U.S. Government-owned Allis-Chalmers betatrons (Magnetic Induction Electron Accelerators) apparatuses on loan to the company."Results of the Radiological Survey at the Granite City Steel Facility, Granite City, Illinois", Department of Energy Memorandum (September 1991), , p. 1 The betatrons were still at the plant in late 1992 "in a building on the southern section of the plant property" and the contamination from the use of the betatrons was determined to be "highly localized, confined to a few areas, and contained inside an unused building.""Results of the Radiological Survey at the Granite City Steel Facility, Granite City, Illinois", Department of Energy Memorandum (September 1991), , p. 3 The building "had residual radioactive contamination until remediation in 1993."
As a defense contractor, the company manufactured cast armor hulls and turrets for the U.S. Army M-60 medium tanks, produced at Granite City and Eddystone, as part of an $8 million contract awarded by Chrysler Corporation in 1961.
By 1971, the Granite City plant had grown to be with under roof and was bordered by the Madison city boundaries on the south, 16th Street on the north, State Street on the east, and the railroad tracks that run along Route 3 on the west.
Operating units and highlights Castings Division Plants:Granite City, Illinois;Eddystone, Pennsylvania (until 1964)
Main Office: Granite City, Illinois(from 1948) Eddystone, Pennsylvania - the company's original headquarters, the plant produced castings for major industry including electric power, earthmoving equipment, shipbuilding, and some railroad products;
Housed the company's Manufacturing Research Laboratory (completed in 1960);General Steel Industries, Inc., 1961 Annual Report, p. 4
Operations consolidated at the Granite City plant in 1964
Granite City, Illinois (former Commonwealth plant) - In 1960, produced engineered cast steel specialty products for rail industry including one-piece cast steel flat car underframes, cast armor, and manganese wear-resistant steel castings used in mining and crushing equipment and powers shovels;
In 1970, produced "massive, high-strength pressure castings for steam turbine electric power generating plants, both conventional and nuclear fueled," produced cast steel products for railroads, including trucks for diesel locomotives and rapid transit and commuter cars, and wear-resistant castings for earth-moving equipment;
Plant grew to with under roof;
Division discontinuance announced December 14, 1972General Steel Industries, Inc., 1972 Annual Report, p. 8 St. Louis Car Division Plant and Main Office:St. Louis, Missouri(acquired June 1960) Had been leading manufacturer of rail rapid transit equipment and produced specialized railroad cars such as commuter cars, chair and lounge cars, postal storage mail cars, baggage cars, and caboosesGeneral Steel Industries, Inc., 1961 Annual Report, p. 9 and other products like aircraft loading bridges and passenger vehicles for airport transportation systems;
Orders from the New York Transit Authority total over 1,800 subway cars;General Steel Industries, Inc., 1961 Annual Report, p. 8
Company acquired on June 30, 1960 and merged into the parent company to become a division on January 1, 1962;
Supplied the superstructures for the first group of 183 Vert-A-Pac automobile carriers in 1970Railway Locomotives and Cars, November, 1970, p. 16