Jones & Laughlin Steel No. 57

The Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. No. 57 is a 23" gauge 0-4-0T steam locomotive built in July 1937 by the HK Porter Co. in Pittsburgh, PA under works number 7244 for use at the J&L South Side Works. It is currently undergoing restoration to operating condition at the Youngstown Steel Heritage Museum in Youngstown, OH.
Interplant rail operations at the J&L South Side Works up until the late 1950's included standard and 23" gauge. The narrow gauge primarily served the No. 1 and No. 2 open hearth plants and the Polishing mill facilities. Due to the immense weight of ingot mold trains handled by the narrow gauge, locomotives of increasing size, weight and power were procured from HK Porter.
J&L 57 is one of seven such locomotives (numbered 57-63) built between 1937 and 1945 and are the heaviest (by axle loading) two-foot gauge locomotives built for American railroads. With over 16,000 lbs. of tractive effort and a weight in working order of 93,000 lbs., the J&L Porters had the ability to move thousand ton and heavier ingot mold trains on a daily basis.
Of the seven of this type of locomotive originally built for Jones & Laughlin Steel for their 23" gauge railroad at the Pittsburgh Works, only four of them still exist. Six were purchased by Crown Metal Products in the 1970s and moved to Wyano, PA and offered for sale. One was scrapped on site. Two were sold to Canada, one went to Colorado and two more went to Benkart Rigging in Cranberry, PA. 
In the early 1990s, J&L 58 was in a Construction Dealers yard with it and its sister engine J&L 59 for sale. 58 was purchased in 2014 by Youngstown Steel Heritage and moved to Youngstown on Dec. 30, 2014. The locomotive returned to operation in 2019. 59 was disassembled and partially scrapped due to ice freezing in part of the cylinder creating a sizable crack. J&L 59's boiler is now owned by the Youngstown Heritage as well as some of its other parts. J&L 62 was privately owned in Colorado for several years but was moved back to Youngstown in August 2023.
J&L 57 and 60, were in Ontario, Canada until being acquired by the Youngstown Steel Heritage Corp in 2021 and are currently undergoing restoration.
== Gallery ==
File:243592994 10216090507095050 3658678653563459362 n.jpg
File:5fe05fcf054d478481729e7c5e7117c6 xlarge.jpg|57 when it was still in Canada
File:276127691 10216767674103802 6976714225741589330 n.jpg|J&L 57 and 60 on display in the yard
File:FB IMG 1447525969206.jpg|This ad, found in a steel industry trade publication in the early 1940s show the J&L 57, 58 and 59 at work.
File:199387210 10215672477644575 5423921972236378737 n.jpg
Category:Porter locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:American steam locomotives
Category:Tank locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:0-4-0 steam locomotives
Category:Four-coupled locomotives
Category:Narrow-gauge locomotives
Category:Built in 1937
Category:American locomotives
Category:0-4-0T steam locomotives
Category:J&L Narrow Gauge Railroad
Category:United States
Category:Narrow-gauge steam locomotives
Category:Narrow gauge
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives