As Joe says- there are no politicians, no sweetheart jobs, and no NY State money involved.
I have actually visited this shop, which has been in mothballs since the late 80s.
And Joe is right- this is a huge industrial scaled shop, but, curiously enough, one designed to make relatively small parts- which is one reason why it was never used after Bethelem shut it down. It is perfect for making 400 pound crane hooks that are 3' long. But completely unsuited for large scale industrial forging needs today, or large scale ornamental work, either. There are no overhead cranes beyond a few swinging jib cranes. The shop was built so long ago, well over 100 years , that there is no forklift access to speak of either.
Its a weird white elephant of a shop. Everybody who visits it is in awe of the hammers- the smallest one is something like a 600lb ram- but its just not practical for much of anything but the support job it was designed for in the late 1800s.
So, to a degree, Joe is right- there is no chance it will be a serious industrial shop again- its just not usable for that.
and, there never were much in the way of small tools there- there was, in an adjoining room, a 200 or 300 lb hammer, but that was sold off long ago, as it was relatively usable and saleable.
What it does have, beyond the big hammers, is a very rare collection of original tooling made for these hammers. Anyone who has read the JW Lillico books, will recognize the kinds of tools that are preserved in this shop. These will make for great teaching and study pieces.
The school guys are not "starry eyed dreamers" they are seasoned pros who have been making a metalworking school exist on a shoestring for a while now, and they will be just fine. The shop will never be utilized the way it was in 1910- but it will be an appropriate and inspiring location for the smaller tools they will bring in and teach with.
Hopefully, someday, some of the bigger hammers will run again.
Joe is also correct that Cambria had a boiler shop that supplied steam to the entire mile long mill, including this building, which had at least 6" steam lines coming. But many blacksmiths in the USA have been running 500lb and bigger hammers with modern rotary compressors, some fixed, some diesel powered trailer mounted, which are not that expensive used. It does take some valve modification from steam to air, but that is a known process. Some, but not all, of these hammers were already converted to compressed air in 85 by bethelehem. Those just need plumbing in to a compressor. I believe one of the hammers is a self contained electric motor driven hammer, either a chambersburg or a nazel, cant recall. That one, also, is a relatively straightforward job to get running again.
And the power is not an issue- much of the old mill buildings that remain have industry in them, and there is electricity, including to this building.
The forges for this shop were big, but not enormous- I believe they were liquid fuel run, but modern propane and induction forge technology will easily take care of any needs this shop has, cheaper, cleaner, and easier than those old fuel oil forges were.
There actually are commercial ornamental shops that are bigger than this- more square footage, more and a wider variety of equipment, just not as many truly huge hammers. Paley's shop in NY can actually produce larger, more complex work than Johnstown can, and is more versatile. I know a couple others as well- Mike Bondi, in the Bay Area, has a range of big hammers and, again, a more versatile, modern shop that can outproduce this one for things that will actually sell.
The process to save this shop, and the looking at alternatives for getting it used again, has gone on for probably 20 years now, a lot of very smart and dedicated people have been involved. Its not "overplayed"- its been a cautious slow process of stabilizing the structure, and keeping the tools together, while looking for the right group to manage this odd but special shop. I think these guys have a pretty fair chance at success, but, no, they wont be running the bridge hammer 2 shifts making 2 ton industrial forgings.
That kind of work is done in places like Scot Forge these days, using enormous hydraulic presses, rolls, upsetters, and only the occasional hammer, using forklifts with manipulators, forges so big you can drive a forklift in, and gigantic overhead cranes- none of which does this shop have, nor does it have the room for- you would have to tear down the building to fit a 2000 ton press in there.
there are great pictures of this shop on the HAER site- the industrial photographer Jet Lowe was in the shop in its last days, and documented it for the Library of Congress. And if you look at them, you see the unique and quaint way the building is built, making it all but impossible to do industrial work in it today.
GENERAL INTERIOR VIEW OF OCTAGON SHOWING TWO 3,- POUND STEAM HAMMERS ON EITHER SIDE OF CAST-IRON SUPPORT COLUMN. SEE A-12 AND A-13 FOR DETAIL. - Cambria Iron Company, Blacksmith Shop, Lower Works, Johnstown, Cambria County, PA
Search Results: "cambria iron works blacksmith" -
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)