Pig iron
The Illinois Steel Company became the largest steel company in the state. The company also owned a controlling interest in the Chicago, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, coal mines in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, iron mines in Michigan and Wisconsin, and limestone mines in Indiana. Illinois Steel grew to become one of the largest steel and iron producers in the country by the late 1880s, producing over 1.1 million tons of pig iron and about one million tons of steel. The company specialized in rail track (including rail, fastenings, and steel plates), mineral wool, wire, pig iron, and hydraulic Portland cement. Railroads using Illinois Steel products included the Atchison, Topeka &amp; Santa Fe, Wabash, Chicago &amp; Alton, and Baltimore &amp; Ohio. Pig iron operations were handled in conjunction with Pickands, Brown &amp; Company.