Hamilton was and is
known as the ‘Steel Capitol of Canada’; both the Steel Company of Canada
(Stelco) and Dominion Foundries and Steel (Dofasco) once operated major
facilities on the lakefront. Today, only AcelorMittal, owner through
acquisition of Dofasco, continues to produce steel. Operations at the recently
renamed back to Stelco instalation are currently limited to finishing
(galvanizing) and coking.
In its prime, Stelco had
several affiliated area operations including Stelpipe located in nearby
Welland. While the facility manufactured a variety of pipe geometries, their
staple was oil & gas pipe intended for major pipeline construction
projects. Underground pipe requires a protective coating, a process performed
by Shaw Pipe Protection. Formed in 1958, Shaw Pipe Protection Limited would initially
establish coating facilities in Hamilton and Toronto. Proximity to pipe supply
together with rail access combined to make the local hamlet of Hannon an ideal
location for the Shaw facility. A thriving enterprise for some thirty years,
the level of activity would ebb, and flow as major pipeline construction
projects were launched and completed. In 1984 Shaw secured a major supply contract
related to a large-scale pipeline construction project in western Canada. Due
to limited siding capacity it became necessary to switch the Shaw siding twice
a day; in the morning by the daily way freight, in the afternoon by an ‘Extra’
job dispatched from the south. ‘Extra’ weekend switching was also required. Following
the lifting of rails in 1993 activity at the Shaw plant began to decline significantly.
A further blow was dealt in 2005 when Stelpipe was sold off as part of Stelco’s
insolvency. Lack of rail access together with potentially unstable pipe supply resulted
in Shaw having virtually no opportunity to participate in major pipeline
construction contracts. As a result the facility was essentially doomed;
overall operations would cease around 2007. Several years ago the entire infrastructure
was razed and the vacant land remains a brownfield site. While no development
has subsequently taken place on the former Shaw property it appears that the
process of soil remediation is nearing completion. Still a global enterprise, information
on what Shaw became part of, go to https://www.shawcor.com.
Additional information on the history and development of the Shaw corporation can
be found within the obituary of founder Leslie Earl Shaw; http://nationalpost.remembering.ca/obituary/leslie-shaw-1927-2007-1065386407?fbclid=IwAR2eaQy2S0Hct4seJ_TiTlv3-OMFBBdJd0G4T4w1kVdaYwgXSUbjjkUaQnw.
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Above:
CN 667407 is a 62 ft. flatcar built by National Steel Car
(NSC) in 1974 as part of series CN 667275 – 667410. The payload consists of
24-inch pipe protected by a 2-Layer Polyethylene
Coating known as ‘Yellow Jacket®’. Yellow Jacket® consists
of a continuous sheath of high-density polyethylene cross-head extruded over a
rubberized asphalt adhesive. Introduced
over half a century ago the protective layer can withstand routine handling and
allows for field bending in temperatures as low as -30°C. Note the adjacent CN
gondola loaded with pipe to be coated.
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Above: CN 668238 is an 89 ft.
flatcar built by Hawker Siddeley Transportation (HST) as part of a three
hundred car lot (CN 668000 – 668299) in December of 1975. Compared to the
payload above, the pipe appears to have received some type of asphalt or
perhaps rubber-based coating. For pipe protective coating alternatives, go to; https://www.shawcor.com/pipe-coating-solutions/integrated-solutions/pipe-coating/anti-corrosion-protection
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Above: CN 557353 is
a 52’ – 8” combination door boxcar built by National Steel Car (NSC) in January
of 1973 as part of series CN 557300 – 557439. Most likely this car is being
used to bring in raw materials related to the coating process; blast grit
media, plastic pellets (bagged), etc. Despite only being eleven years old, the
car appears to have been recently repainted.
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Above: CP 341485 is a 52 ft. low side
gondola built by Eastern Car Company in 1954 as part of five hundred car build
lot (CP 341000 – 341499). Note the converted friction bearing trucks on both
this car and the coupled CP gondola. Given the mandated AAR maximum service
life of forty years (cars built prior to 7/1/1974), CP 341485 would only be
eligible to continue in service for another decade. Due to the proximity of Stelpipe
in nearby Welland, a greater amount of pipe was delivered to Shaw by transport
truck rather than flatcar or gondola. Local trucking company ‘Tallman
Transport’ maintained a service contract with Stelpipe for several decades.
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