(These photos are from 2016/06/25)

This was a mill that my friend found... somehow. he doesn't remember. But a couple days and zero research later, we found ourselves inside what we now call Hydro Mill. Just like Sportscar Mills, we were expecting a bunch of big empty rooms. Instead the place blew our minds just as hard as Sportscar.

01: Sawtooth


02: Clogged


03: Bad Neighborhood


04: Electrical Controls


05: By a Thread


06: Another Exit


07: Dynamo


08: Turbine


09: A Small leak


10: Overpass


11: The Roar


It looks like godrays, or a thin curtain in the wind, but it's actually water screaming through a hole in the pipe before continuing on its way into the river. The entire river has to pass through either the bypass pipe or through one of the several breaches to actually continue on.


12: A Third Exit


13: Turbine 2


14: Rotten Blades


15: Plummet


16: Lombard Governor Company


This is a speed governor for the (long gone) original hydroelectric equipment. In a flawless demonstration of the legendary quality and reliability of ancient machines, every single part of this governor still moved and spun like it was brand new. From some Google research, we were able to find only one other identical governor in existence, which is in a collector's hoard somewhere.


17: Lighter Area


18: Fire Damage


19: Cavernous


20: Rusting Voltage


21: Living on the Edge


22: Packard Bell


My friend and I came back later with a laptop, PATA-USB adapter, and a homemade power supply to see if the hard drive still worked. We were able to extract it and it spun up, but all we got were disheartening clicks and no data.


23: Second Floor (Left)


24: Panes


25: Shadowy Stairs


26: Newbury 75 Ton


27: Inject and Extrude


28: Floor 3 (Middle)


29: Vintage Computing


I still can't believe there's a C64 sitting in this place.


30: Machine Shop


31: Dell Optiplex


After finding the Packard's hard drive to be dead, we then tried the Dell's. To our delight, the hard drive still worked, and we were able to make a 1:1 image of the disk. Unfortunately there was almost jack on it.


32: Bridgeport


THIS IS A VERY PRECISE, VERY EXPENSIVE MACHINE.


33: Older Molder


34: Pipes and Valves


35: Buttons and Meters


36: RPM


37: Exercise Bike


38: Dunk Steps


39: Chalkboard Notice


40: Rear Overview


41: Sawtooth, From Above


42: Finality


Overall just as amazing a place as Sportscar. I read an article from some months back about how the place would be turned into apartments andthat they were going to get the hydroelectric equipment running again. Like hell they will, those machines are ruined.

Pretty cool, always nice when there is some machinery left behind.

Newbury Presses were for really precise molding jobs, small job lots. We had a couple where I used to work to test smaller molds in sections. When you wanted production, you went with a Cincinnati Milacron press. We even had a dual injection unit made by Nissei P.

went here a few years ago, that machine shop felt like they left a day or two before we got there despite the rest of the place being a goddamn mess.

Beautiful coverage, bro!

Awesome man, I love these old mills. This place looks awesome.

For me, this was a great explore because the whole place is empty until you get to the top Fun surprise when you think the explore is going to be a bust! My friend and I went a long time ago, last time I went by I got stopped by a guy who was keeping an eye on the place and warned not to go in. Nice to see that it's still doable

Great shots!

Posted by robdobi went here a few years ago, that machine shop felt like they left a day or two before we got there despite the rest of the place being a goddamn mess.

Posted by Little Sister For me, this was a great explore because the whole place is empty until you get to the top Fun surprise when you think the explore is going to be a bust! My friend and I went a long time ago, last time I went by I got stopped by a guy who was keeping an eye on the place and warned not to go in. Nice to see that it's still doable Great shots!

Thanks!

I was two floors down photographing the C64 when my friend came jogging back to tell me I "had to see this". That machine room really does look like it was just abandoned yesterday. Like the employees went home and weren't allowed back in. It was cool but weird at the same time. Most of the equipment was still in good condition - we tested the Bridgeport and it still seemed to move properly. Hell, even the Dell computer booted up when connected to our battery, though the monitor was destroyed.

Our first time there we walked straight past a big camera that we didn't notice until the second trip. Nobody bothered us both times we were there, but you never know what'll happen.