Golden Foundry

[richard]

Post Golden Foundry items here.

[nancs]

Photo from the Indianapolis STAR Magazine, Jan. 14, 1951



Nanc

[mrmoosey]

That picture of the foundry from 1951 is just what it looked like in 1969 when I went to work there. I worked there for 3 years. It was interesting to get to know some of the "old" guys in the place. Some of them were working there in the 1930's when my Dad worked there as well as Gene Eddy. One old guy saw me my first day at work and said " is your name E*******?" I said "yes it is" he then tells me he knew it as soon as he saw me. Said I was the spitting image of my Dad when he worked there in the 30's. It was fun to talk with him. We became good friends.
That place was nasty, with all the smoke and dust all the time. The work was hard and hot.
You found out really quickly whethor you were man enough to handle it or not.
I have to say I was sad to hear it was closing a couple of years ago.

[David Sechrest]

Hello mrmoosey, and welcome to the Historic Columbus Indiana Message Boards!

I, myself, worked at the Foundry in the early 1970's. I started off on one of the lines where blocks were hand grinded, but was quickly taken off that job because it was just too dern hard. Heck, I only weighed about 120 pounds. The grinder was about as heavy as I was, and I wasn't strong enough to do the job. The higher-ups put me in the pattern shop. The pattern shop was located outside of the main building. That job didn't last long either. I got caught in a layoff, and was one of the first to go.

I got called back about 9 months later. This time, they put me on 2nd shift (2pm to 10pm) pushing a ladle. Basically, it was my job to push the ladle to the cupola and have it filled with molten iron, then push it back to the pouring room, where it was transferred to a chain and hoist. A pourer was at one end and I was at the other. The ladle had a "steering wheel" on one end of it, and the pourer filled the molds. It was my job to steady the other end, and raise the ladle as needed while the other guy poured.

I wore some sort of asbestos covering over my pants to protect my legs. Add to that protective gloves, eye-wear, and a hardhat, plus steel-toed boots.

Every now and then, we'd have a "blow-out." Moisture would collect in the molds, and when that hot iron hit the moisture, the mold would explode, shooting out molten iron all over the place.

Talk about a hot job! There were salt tablet dispensers set up all around the inside, and I made sure to eat a few of them every night.

This was before the Foundry installed all the air-cleaning equipment, and the place was very smoky. Fine particulates, like that black foundry dirt, iron, and lord knows what else, filled the air.

We got 2, 15 minute breaks per our 8 hour shift, plus a 1/2 hour for lunch. By the time my shift was finished, I was B L A C K! I took a shower upstairs before I went home, and when I got home, I proceeded directly to the shower to wash again!

Besides being dirty and hot work, pushing a ladle was also dangerous. The ladle was attached to a chain, and rolled on a beam above our heads. Every now and then, that chain would get so hot that it would snap and the ladle would crash to the floor, spitting out molten iron all over the place.

When I got out of the service, I went back to work at the Foundry until I could start school at IU. This time, they put me on 3rd shift (10pm to 6 am). It was my job to clean out the holes/basements scattered throughout the foundry. That was the dirtiest job I've ever had. The first night I reported for work, they handed me a shovel and took me to a spot to the north of the cupola. My boss told me there was a basement underneath where I stood and showed me where the entrance was. The room was filled up entirely with that black foundry dirt and fine metal scrapings. Heck, the place he told me to dig looked like it was part of the floor! It took me a few nights before I reached the bottom of the stairway underneath the foundry floor. When I got down inside that "basement area," I had to wear an air mask. That stuff was so fine that, after throwing a few shovelfuls, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

I only lost my air-hose once. It came off when I raised up and scraped it against a huge pipe. I tried not to breath while I desperately searched for the plug-in, but finally had to take a breath. I could feel all those fine iron scrapings inside my mouth and lungs. Finally, I had to climb out of the hole and let things settle down before I could see where to plug in my air-mask.

One of my best friends worked at the Foundry. He spent 33 years of his life in the place. His dad worked there and got him a job right after he graduated from high school. Today, he suffers from emphysema, as does his father.

Although I've never worked in a coal mine, I envision the foundry being just as bad. I know it provided a living for many Columbus Indiana men, but it was a terribly dirty place to work...

[Steve]

Hi all who worked the foundry. I am a Ghost Hunter here in columbus. I would like to hear any ghost stories you may have about the foundry before they tear it down. You can e-mail me at [e-mail] Thank you

[BobLane]

Hi again. I don't want to get carried away with this but when I saw the Golden Foundry thread, I just had to drop in. I could spend the day writting about it, but will limit my effort for your sake. Mr. Walter Golden was a true gentleman and Christian businessman. The foundry made many of the engine castings for Cummins Engine Co. In fact, Cummins made up probably 90% of their work during WW2. One of his delivery people was an old man, looked Greek to me. He delivered one casting every morning and one in the afternoon. Whatever he made on that was his sole income. He delivered them by a horse drawn wagon. It took him longer to back that wagon up to the dock for Cummins to unload than it did a truck hauling several engines so one of the dock foremen told him not to come back. They didn't have time to fool with him. This gentleman went back and told Mr. Golden he wouldn't be able to haul any more engines and related what he had been told. Mr. Golden just picked up the phone and called the president of Cummins and asked him to let him know how he was going to get his castings delivered. Upon questioning, he related the story and was told to just keep sending the castings, that he was on the way to the dock to take care of that little problem. And he did.


One of Mr. Golden=s men who helped him when he started the business was getting too old to work every day. Mr. Golden explained to him how he was getting too feeble to safely work around the heavy machinery and hot iron. He told him to just not come in to work anymore, to stay home and tend his garden. He told Mr. Golden he had no retirement and could not do without his weekly check. Mr. Golden told him that he had not mentioned his check, to go home and his check would be mailed every week. He had a heart of gold.

[pkw052]

my father work for the foundary he would come so black but he worked hard i can remember when the foundary had a circus at christmas ..daddy hard a bad heart attack so bernard goins took my sister and i to the party. later daddy died in 1961. everyone knew him a banjo.

[BobLane]

]This to pkw052, My father was Robert Lane and I often remember him mentioning Banjo in his comments on foundry life. Dad considered him a friend, and good worker. Dad died in 1966, long time ago. Thanks for your post Bob Lane

[richard]

The following information is from 2003, and is from the Looking Back feature in today’s edition of The Republic.

Officials of the Golden Casting Corp. Announced the plant had been premanently closed after members of the union rejected by a vote of 98-88 a survival plan offered be management.