Apr
12
2010
Nicholas O'Donoughue
Control board for the hoist house.
I have a special affinity for Carrie Furnace. She was my first abandoned factory, and she’s very close to home, so it’s always nice to plan a return trip. Not to mention the fact that I always find something new! Last weekend, I had a leisurely excursion and got a bunch of shots from new angles and places I hadn’t yet seen.
I’m never happy with my blast furnace shots, so I tried another one…the sunlight was pretty harsh, so I’ll be trying that again the next time I’m there. The majority of the shots I’m posting come from either (a) the hoist house (which was used to power the cables that lifted ore into the furnaces) or (b) the high line, where incoming supply cars emptied their contents. Take a peek into a National Historic Landmark.
-aigulf Continue reading
no comments | tags: Abandoned, Carrie Furnace, Pittsburgh, Steel | posted in Steel
Mar
28
2010
Nicholas O'Donoughue
Bell heaters for the annealing mill. Each one fits over a single stack of ribbon coils.
The latest adventure is to a
cold-press facility. This site had four different cold press machines: a
pickling line, a
tandem mill, a
temper mill, and an
annealing mill, as well as one big-azz mystery oven.
Continue reading
no comments | tags: annealing mill, pickling line, Steel, tandem mill, temper mill | posted in Steel
Feb
24
2010
Nicholas O'Donoughue
Blast House
I had another adventure with friends last weekend, to probably the best site I’ve seen so far. We were there for 6 hours, I took ~400 photos and was excited to go home and sort through them for goodies. Unfortunately, I had to turn around and go out to a semi-formal party, and I wanted to bring my camera. So I dumped the photos onto my computer, and pulled the card to use again. When I went back the next day to process the photos, only 50 of the 400 were there. Son of a bitch. Continue reading
no comments | tags: Abandoned, crane, Steel | posted in Steel
Jan
14
2010
admin
Emergency Alarm
Another little gem. This former casting plant looks like the factory that builds other factories…or at least, the machinery that goes into them. We would have spent a long time exploring, but the weather was unbelievably bitter cold. We were expecting 25° F, and got 5° F…45 minutes was all we could handle.
Be sure to check out these photos on flickr if you want to comment on them.
-aigulf Continue reading
no comments | tags: Abandoned, Steel | posted in Steel
Jan
11
2010
admin
Commutators
This weekend held another expedition, but I’m going to be a little vague on where. Wouldn’t want too many people to find it and spoil the fun.
Our destination this time was an abandoned blast furnace, and boy were we surprised. The facility is significantly larger than we originally thought. Every time we turned a corner, it seemed like we were greeted with an expanse of new buildings and half-gutted machinery. Needless to say, this place will necessitate a return trip or two. Continue reading
no comments | tags: Abandoned, blast furnace, Steel | posted in Steel
I'm an engineer by trade, and a photographer by hobby. In the fall of 2007, I bought my first digital SLR, a Nikon D40x, and haven't looked back yet. The majority of my photographic expeditions involve abandoned structures in Western Pennsylvania, but I'm never without my camera while on the road or at a Pirates game, and I have been known to take the occasional photo of a plant.