Standard Steel Casting Company

[1] Roach selected a highly respected metallurgist to manage the new plant, Pedro G. Salom, who had considerable experience in steel quality control methods.

[2] Salom became president of the company, while William E. Trainer, Richard Wetherill and John B. Booth became vice-president, treasurer and secretary respectively.

[1] In 1884, Roach, possibly due to his growing cash flow problems, relinquished majority control of the Standard Steel Casting Company to Robert Wetherill & Associates.

In 1888, for example, the company accepted an experiment to build one of the largest steel-cast guns ever produced in the United States to that time, a six-inch rifled breech-loader weighing approximately 11,000 pounds.

The Thurlow-produced gun fired all ten of its test rounds without incident, but was finally failed after the barrel was found to have become slightly enlarged.

The Thurlow Works management later had the gun mounted in its yard as testimony of "a courageous attempt to expand the uses of cast steel.