I’d driven by this complex on Niedringhaus Avenue on the way into downtown Granite City dozens of times and I finally looked up what it is.

Now part of Amsted Company, which has many different branches, it apparently has had an electric-arc furnace for melting down scrap iron and forging into what eventually becomes railroad car undercarriages.

From what I could garner, this plant began as the Commonwealth Steel Company in 1901, focusing on railroad equipment.

It went through a bunch of acquisitions and mergers before I believe it ended up being owned by Amsted Companies.

Rather appropriately, it sits to the side of the massive rail lines that pass through Granite City.

On the east side of the tracks is an abandoned building that is clearly an old train station, though I don’t know when it opened or closed.

This building further southwest along the tracks is part of Kaplan Trucking.