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SaladKing and C. Enzo definitely got the scoop on 19th century turbines, so I was pretty thrilled when they offered to show me some nearby. Now I had a hunch the two of them were going to kill me and throw my dead body in the tail-race for a joke, but as it turns out, they're real good guys and they know their stuff. I owe a big thanks to both of them for showing me around.
1. Our first stop was an old office area.
2. Cubicle by the fire
3. We moved on to the basement and immediately there's this sound of rushing water, like you can feel it pounding the air and there's this mist that just feels so cool and damp. We go down a little further and then we see it, the broken turbine housing spraying hundreds, maybe thousands of gallons of water into the room.
4. Pretty tempting to just cool off for a minute in the spray.
5. A giant dynamo was connected to the drive shaft.
6. I'm still not entirely sure what this is. I'm hoping either SaladKing or C. Enzo can fill in the details when they post their pictures. Really cool piece of equipment though and I've been told, perhaps one of only two still in existence.
7. Its dark down here.
8. A lonely flight of stairs lead down to the tail race tunnel. A perfect opportunity for a gruesome prank.
9. But luckily there was light at the end of the tunnel for me.
10. Back upstairs we explored the rest of this amazing factory.
11. A very old staircase
12. And one last look. What a beast!
Thanks for looking!
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It was a good time! I'm glad we decided not to throw you down the tailrace.
We've been here several times over the past four years and it's still worth it every time.
A bit sad to see how much the building has deteriorated since our first visit. I hope someday it gets the same tasteful restoration treatment that Pontiac did.
For reference, here's our first visit.
At some point in the near future I'll do a thread with my pics and some historical info I dug up. Might space it out a little so we don't have the board dominated by one location.
I come and go like a comet; we are wanderers.
Reports of our eradication have been somewhat exaggerated. |
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#4 is amazing!
Everyone has a dark side, mines just a little more illuminated. |
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Unreal photos of the leak of water in the basement. Stunning to see running water still coming through.
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Posted by Elder Toad
Unreal photos of the leak of water in the basement. Stunning to see running water still coming through.
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Thanks! I'm just grateful it didn't burst open and drown us. That leaking turbine cylinder was holding back a reservoir.
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Love the dark and moody atmosphere in some of these photos! Perfect for these industrial types of locations. That ancient-looking brick tunnel is quite cool as well.
What was the exposure time on #4? Looks great with that smooth water.
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OH I've been here, this place is great. Did you find the fully stocked machine room on the upper floor?
Not sure what's going on with that water leak, seems like a pretty sub optimal way of letting water through
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I had great fun swapping stories! #4 is a fantastic shot, and the water swirls in #9 are cool too. Everyone got to put a "fell into or through something" stamp on our cards by the time we got back to the cars. I won't be making a whole thread, my lens was dirty for most of the trip and most of my shots came out blurry or splotchy.
The machine in #6 is a Lombard Type D waterwheel governor, quite possibly the original to the mill. It can still be hand-cycled through all of its functions. We're aware of one lesser model with a museum somewhere, and the Suffolk Mill has a seemingly identical copy to this one in working order in conjunction with their working turbines.
A few of my tolerable shots:
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