Inside a Giant Locomotive Recycling Yard – The Incredible Way Trains Are Scrapped

#TrainScrapping #HeavyIndustry #recycling
Inside a Giant Locomotive Recycling Yard – The Incredible Way Trains Are Scrapped

Witness the spectacular final journey of a legendary American SD40-2 locomotive. For decades, this 400,000-pound beast hauled freight across the country, but today, it faces the "Iron Graveyard." This isn't just destruction; it is a high-precision harvesting operation essential to the global supply chain.

From the surgical removal of valuable copper components to the brute force of the hydraulic shears tearing through inch-thick steel, we take you inside the "Kill Line." But the story doesn't end with scrap. Follow the metal to the steel mill, where it is melted down in an Electric Arc Furnace and reborn as structural beams for new skyscrapers.

The Full Recycling Process:

The Iron Graveyard: Inspecting the retired fleet.

Detoxification: Draining hazardous fluids and removing batteries.

The Harvest: Stripping valuable copper wiring and electronics.

The Heavy Lift: Removing the massive 16-cylinder diesel engine block.

The Execution: Hydraulic shears tearing the steel frame apart.

Rebirth: Melting scrap in an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF).

New Life: Rolling new steel beams for construction.

Question for you: Do you prefer seeing these old machines preserved in museums, or is recycling them for new infrastructure the better choice? Let us know in the comments!

#locomotive #scrapping #heavyequipment #recycling #steelmill #engineering #howitsmade