Abstract: A steel rolling mill including a Steckel mill is provided with an in-line upstream quench station located downstream of the caster and upstream of the reheat furnace, a shear located downstream of the Steckel mill, and a temperature reduction station downstream of the shear. The upstream quench station has spray nozzles that quench a surface layer of the steel to transform same from an austentitic to a non-austentitic microstructure. The shear provides a precise transverse vertical face on the leading end of the steel. The temperature reduction station applies cooling fluid to the rolled steel so as to obtain a preferred microstructure that may be either bainite or martensite. If bainite, the temperature reduction station includes laminar-flow cooling apparatus; if martensite, the station also includes an initial rapid quench, in which latter case the station is followed by a tempering furnace.