Back in August I went to follow up on an old lead I'd found via trawling Google Maps a couple years ago. I wasn't expecting much, but my expectations were far exceeded. Not only was this abandoned metalworking factory wide open, all the original machinery was present and intact. Despite a heavy amount of natural decay there was almost no signs of vandalism either.
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IMG_7511 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
This is a section of hallway with a collapsed roof. Curiously, somebody swept the rubble to the side to clear a path.
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IMG_7524 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
It's not clear exactly what they made here, but I think it was a metalworking shop that did a lot of different things. The room above had scrap electronics, old appliances, a partially disassembled car, and several other signs that "metalworks" encompassed a wide variety of work for this shop.
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IMG_7548 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
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IMG_7586 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
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IMG_7564 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
This room was one I almost didn't dare enter. The only way in was by crawling through a hole in the rubble that's hidden in the shadows on the left side of the photo above. Despite my fears that one wrong move would bring the whole thing down on top of me, it was worth it just to see the amount of artifacts I found left behind. Perhaps the coolest one was this crate of bottles.
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IMG_7567 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
Despite the ease of access this to this factory, I was on edge for quite a bit of it. There was a constant sense that things were... off. The sound of muffled voices outside just beyond the edge of my hearing, bumping noises from an empty second floor. A staircase that led to nowhere and a taxidermized deer head staring straight up to where where I was hearing thumping noises above me. And as I tried to leave by crossing a railroad trestles an oncoming freight train rounded the corner forcing me to sprint to try and clear the bridge before the train reached it, only for the freight train to have disappeared when I looked up upon reaching safety. All things with rational explanations such as the wind and the train backing up, but combined with how untouched it was compared to it's age and ease of access and I had the distinct feeling that something wasn't adding up about it that I couldn't shake.
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IMG_7628 by
Forgotten Interstices, on Flickr
All in all this was a highly successful exploration, though I wish I had remembered my tripod for the pitch dark manufacturing hall. Despite various feelings of unease that followed me as I explored this large workshop it still was an incredible find, one I really ought to revisit with a better gear loadout for low light photography. After all, everything's got a rational explanation.
