Furnace Progress. Under a cloudless sky, Norfolk Southern Train AB10 heads from Finley Yard in Birmingham, Alabama to Irondale Yard in Irondale, Alabama on August 13, 2021 with NS SD60Es 6919 and 6901 leading. In the background, Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham stands today as a museum, but operated as a pig iron producing blast furnace from 1882 until 1971. The furnace was named for one of the city's founders, Colonel James Withers Sloss. With its recently repainted white, blue and yellow, Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron #30 (DS4-4-660, Baldwin, 9/1948) looks better than it has in many years. The unit started with Sloss, and would later operate at U.S. Pipe & Foundry and Allied Chemical #921 before returning years later as a static display.
