This page originally appeared on Thomas Ehrenreich's Railroad Extra Website
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TAPPING AN OPEN-HEARTH FURNACE IN A STEEL MILL
When an open-hearth furnace is tapped a big ladle is brought
into position, a workman runs a crowbar through the clay stopper
holding back the molten metal, and it runs out like buttermilk
from a churn. What slag accompanies it rises to the top as oil
on water and overflows the sides when the ladle becomes full of
the melted steel. Once filled, the ladle is picked up by a crane
and its contents dumped into molds to harden into ingots. This
is the first process in making the major portion of the country's
steel and is now almost exclusively used in making steel rails.
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