St. Louis, MO: 1904 Ashley Energy/Ameren Missouri Electric Power Plant

(3D Satellite)

Street View

Ashley Energy bought the plant in 2017 and entered a 20-year agreement to "supply reliable green energy to nearly 70 buildings, hotels, sports venues and businesses in the downtown business district." The power plant started in 1904 as a coal-fired power plant. It is now a natural gas-fired cogeneration plant that feeds 17+ miles of stream distribution pipes in downtown St. Louis. [PowerEngineering]

 

Michael Hertter posted
STL. Don't know anything about. But it's a cool building.
Steven Garner: Originally Ashley Plant of Union Electric Co.
Robert Bjordal: I was told that it was built for the 1904 world's fair. I got to tour the plant in the late 1980s. It was supplying district heating steam at about 100 psi in the street. An amazing museum piece. There was a steam powered air compressor with brass and glass drip lubricaters all over it, wide open crosshead mechanism. flyball governor and painted like a circus calliope. The condenser cooling water pipes were riveted steel. It is now Ashley Energy, located on the Mississippi between the Stan Musial and MLK bridges.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Michael's  post
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

It used to have more and bigger smokestacks.

AshleyEnergy-about

stlouis-mo
The building became a City Landmark in 1971.

In 1998, the plant was providing steam to 135 customers and generating 15mw. This site was to be a new NFL riverfront stadium, but that plan was scrapped when the Rams moved to Los Angeles. [bizjournals]

AshleyEnergy-benefits
"Using the St. Louis district energy system means you have none of the capital costs normally associated with in-building heating systems, including boilers and other associated equipment as well as related insurance, maintenance, upgrade, and replacement costs....The system’s greater efficiency produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than what is produced by stand-alone systems."

This is the post that motivated researching this power plant. Note that this 2008 image caught some large smokestacks. I presume they were for coal fired boilers that have obviously been retired.

safe_image for Matthew Chapman Flickr

Almost 14 years ago, a coal train from the Hannibal Sub in north St. Louis City traverses the Terminal Railroad Association's High Line along the Mississippi River.

In the background is the beautiful Ashley St. Power Plant. Constructed in 1902 by engineer/architect Charles Ledlic, it was the first large electrical power plant to be erected by the Union Electric Company.

The building became a City Landmark in 1971.

St. Louis, Missouri

August 2008

Dennis DeBruler: You caught the power plant back when it still had some of its large smokestacks.

I'm guessing Tom is referring to this "Ashley."

Tom Heintz posted two photos with the comment: "My dad  began his Union Electric career at Ashley Plant when I was just a little over 4 months old.  A few years ago he have me  these mementos. He retired in 1993 and just celebrated 30 years of retirement 3 days ago.  My sister retired in October of 2021 with almost 41 years from Osage Plant, and I'm going to leave Callaway April 1st with a little over 38 years."

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Bethlehem, PA: Reading Saucon Creek Roundhouse and Coaling Tower

(3D Satellite)

Robert Wanner shared his post of two photos and the comment: "Older and somewhat newer times at Saucon Creek Reading Company facility (on the Bethlehem Branch) with lineup of idle RDC cars, concrete coal dock, roundhouse and turntable showing. Newer photo shows facility in abandonment. The turntable now sits at the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society facility in Hamburg, Pa. Photos by Forrest W. Trittenbach."

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Robert's share

The concrete company uses the roundhouse, but the coaling tower has been torn down.

https://www.google.com/.../@40.5977358,-75.../data=!3m1!1e3

Dennis DeBruler commented on Robert's share
1964 Nazareth and 1965 Hellerton Quadrangles @ 1:24,000

Street View

Google Earth, Apr 1999

Chicago, IL: 1958 Inland Steel Headquarters, Chicago's First Fully Air Conditioned Building

(3D Satellite)

Unlike the Sears, Hancock and IBM buildings, this building has retained the name of the corporation that built it.

Screenshot @ 0:04

3D Satellite

This was the first office building to be fully air conditioned. Because the air conditioning allowed them to use office space in the middle of the building, they showcased the strength of steel by putting the columns only along the sides and using 60' girders to provide clear span office space. "Each level boasts 177 feet by 58 feet of unobstructed, usable space....When completed in 1958, Inland Steel was the first building constructed in Chicago's Loop in more than 20 years. Its sleek sophisticated design ushered in a new era of modernity in the city. The primarily glass façade is completely devoid of ornamentation. This must have been a surprising change for Chicagoans accustomed to the richly ornamented terra cotta, brick and stone facades of the past." [ArchJourney]

Screenshot @ 1:07

Elevators, restrooms, utilities, etc. were put in an adjacent windowless tower. The service tower is sheathed in stainless steel. [InlandSteelBuilding] "The exterior columns of the building were clad with brushed stainless steel cladding. The irony was that Inland Steel were only producing carbon steel at the time of construction so the stainless steel for the building had to be purchased from another steel company." [DoubleStoneSteel]

Sceeenshot @ 1:22

sah-archipedia, higher resolution is available on the web page
"By the 1950s, Chicagoland had overtaken Pittsburgh as the nation’s steel manufacturing center, but Inland was the only company actually located in the city....As many historians have noted, this was the earliest example of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s theory of universal space employed for a multistory office building, making Inland Steel the first in a long line of glass-and-steel, unobstructed-open-plan towers. In its form, structure, and style, this typology would dominate American commercial architecture for the next two decades."

 

Mike Joyce comment on a post
I'll never forget going as a teenager downtown in 1960, I was stunned when looking up as I emerged from the subway on the Inland Steel bldg.'s Dearborn St. side A gleaming stainless steel skyscraper soared, and loomed, above me. So amazing I will never forget it. This photo doesn't do it justice.

"At its peak of production in 1978, the company produced 8.6 million tons." [DoubleStoneSteel has a history of Inland Steel]

The sculpture that is in the lobby.

SOM
Richard Lippold’s Radiant One sculpture

THE INLAND STEEL BUILDING: A COLLECTION OF CHICAGO FIRSTS

• First fully air-conditioned building
• First indoor, underground parking facility
• First to use two-inch thick, dual-glazed glass to help with climate control
• First building constructed on steel pilings
• First building with automated window washing and mail distribution systems

[architecture]

Johnstown, PA: 1911 Liberty Wire/Johnstown Wire Technologies/Bethlehem Wire Division

(Satellite)

Johnstown had several mills. As I come across details of what was where, I'm writing notes for each mill.

This plant was built in 1911 after the 1889 Johnstown Flood destroyed the Gautier Works. [wikimapia]

Bradly C Jacob posted
Liberty Wire in Johnstown, PA. Previously Johnstown Wire Technologies and previously before that Bethlehem Steel Wire Division.
James Baker: They running yet?
Matthew Karnes: James Baker never stopped. Still running strong as ever.
Andrew Stewart: Use to haul coiled rod from Charter Steel in Saukville, WI in their. Also from Packer Marine Terminal in Philly. That rod came from Kobe Steel in Japan.

The purchase of Johnstown Wire Technologies by Liberty Steel is recent because Google shows this mill as Johnstown Wire Technologies and offers a mill in Pekin, IL, when you search for Liberty Wire.

Satellite

This is another mill in Pennsylvania squeezed between a river and a hill. The mill was served by the Pennsy RR.

1964 Johnstown Quad @ 1:24,000

“LWJ is the largest producer of value added carbon and alloy wire in North America.” [JohnstownWire]

JohnstownWire-history
"The Johnstown Wire Mill started operations in 1911 as part of Cambria Steel’s integrated plant and was acquired in 1923 by Bethlehem Steel Corporation. From 1911 through 1992, the plant operated continuously and grew to become one of the largest value added wire mills in North America. The company was purchased from Bethlehem and taken private in late 1992, creating JWT.  The company was acquired by GFG Alliance in 2019 and became  Liberty Wire Johnstown, a proud part of the Liberty Steel Group."

Don Cassata posted
A view of the "Drawing Room" at Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel. Wire Mill Div. 1951. Coil stock is drawn thru machines to produce Wire of various diameters. The only part of the plant that's still really working.
Matthew Karnes: True the drawing room is still running and being added to. Also the cleaning lines, plating lines, and annealing furnaces are still running and have been for the last 28 years that I have worked there.
Richard Sabo: The patent furnace is shown in the picture also. We used to patent rod to make wool wire.
Michael Stilwell: Bethlehem's Sparrows Point plant had them, too. Bethlehem made wire for Michelin's steel belted radial tires, and for the Slinky toys.
Mark Wadsworth: Looks like the Farm Side.

Don Cassata posted
Today's tour of 1951 Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel, we find ourselves back at the Wire Mill. These machines make nails, staples & barbed wire.
Richard Sabo: They also had a fence room where they made chain link fence. There was a large supply still around when I started around the mid 60s.
Rick Yerly: What’s your showing are gladder nail machines I ran them for years.
5:10 video of a nail making machine, it starts operating at 2:33

Don Cassata posted
As we continue our tour of 1950 Johnstown Plant Bethlehem Steel, we are back at the Wire Mill where this worker is making galvanized fence. Johnstown did it all.
James Torgeson: Fencemaking is a neat process. I was on a group tour of Anchor/Master Halco near Baltimore in 2000.

"The company’s manufacturing processes include hydrochloric acid cleaning and coating, wire drawing, electro-galvanizing, aluminizing, and continuous coil annealing." [JohnstownWire-profile]

I poked around their web site for a bit, but I could not find any photos of the equipment, only photos of coils of wire.

New York, NY: CSX/NYNH&H Oak Point Yard and Ferry Docks

(Satellite)

NYNH&H = New York, New Haven & Hartford    These ferries interchanged with Pennsy at their Greenville Yard.

Niel Fenn Davis posted four photos with the comment: "The NYNH&H Railroads car floats, the transfer of freight between Oak Point Ny and the Pennsylvania Railroads Greenville Yards across New York Harbor."

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Niel's post

It appears the remnants of the east ferry dock still exists.

https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

Dennis DeBruler commented on Niel's post
1947 Central Park Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Dennis DeBruler posted five images with the comment:

Three photos posted by Niel Fenn Davis in the group "Railroad Images of Bygone Days" with the comment: "The NYNH&H Railroads car floats, the transfer of freight between Oak Point Ny and the Pennsylvania Railroads Greenville Yards across New York Harbor"

The tugboat wedging itself between the two ferry barges caught my eye. Since I'm from the Midwest, I'm used to towboats pushing a tow from the rear. But tugboats don't have the flat front that towboats have, so this makes sense.

1947 Central Park Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

It appears the remnants of the east ferry dock still exists:

https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

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2 of 3 photos posted by river Rail Photo with the comment: "CSX In The Bronx. New York City's only Class I freight railroad, CSX, operates several daily trains. In recent years, the power for the longer runs has been changed to mostly using a specific set of GE built AC44CWs, identifiable by the yellow stripe on the plow that they have sufficient clearance to pass third rail. The manifest train that originates in Selkirk, New York comes down the Hudson Line, sharing space with Amtrak and MTA Metro-North Railroad before switching to the freight only Oak Point Link to access Oak Point Yard. Occasional daylight runs of the manifest train are unpredictable and usually not planned, but that makes catching them even more rewarding.

Full resolution pics and prints: https://www.riverrailphoto.com/freighttrains"

a
As CSX Y101-04 (CSXT 473 leading) prepares to depart Oak Point Yard on Saturday, November 4, 2023, the transitional scene is very much in evidence. In preparation for adding MTA Metro-North Railroad trains to the Amtrak Hell Gate Line, the vintage New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad catenary gantries are being replaced with modern fixtures. The train is passing the future "Leggett Interlocking" with about half of the switch installation completed.
[NYC has done (a lot of) work so that Long Island commuters can access the former-NYC station in addition to the former-Pennsy station. Likewise, they are doing this work so that NYNH&H commuters can access the former-Pennsy station in addition to the former-NYC station.]

b
Just north of the current MTA Metro-North Railroad Riverdale Station, CSX M701-02/Y102-03 passes by MP 13.2 on Friday, November 3, 2023. From this angle, it is easy to understand issue of the clearance of the striped yellow plow next to the third rail. In the background, the overpass for the former Mount Saint Vincent's Station remains, thought the station itself has been closed for many years.

Philip Donnelly posted two images with the comment:

Back in the early 70's while qualifying the Hellgate I went to the former NH Oak Point yard in the Bronx. At the west end of the yard was the remains of an abandoned former NH tower, SS-3. It had been built in the classic NH style. It lay between the yard and the HG bridge. the upper two track were the passenger tracks to Harold and PSNY, the bottom two were the freight track to the Oak Point float yards. An employee told me the nick name of it was "Bungay Street"

Stephen McEvoy: One of the few New Haven Division towers that I didn’t work. I never knew that it once controlled signals and switches on the tracks to Harold and Penn Station. By 1965 when I started, it had no control over those tracks. Yes, SS3 was known as Bungay and Bungay Street.

When I hired on in 1965, the SS3 message wire was still telegraph Morse code for a few more months. That is why I wasn’t sent there to post aka train.

Peter James Paras: Okay I wondered about this tower. I think it is still there. Question was it in service to early Amtrak days? All tracks? Or just Yard tracks? Or did Penn Central take it out of service Before Amtrak did? If Amtrak took it out of service I am curious if they offered it to Conrail?

[If you know where this tower is(was), please leave a map URL or GPS coordinates in the comments.]

Cory Behrendt: Peter James Paras It closed in 1985. By that pount I'm not sure what it controlled.

Joe Salzillo: 42H

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Port of Johnstown, ON: Masterfeeds Grain Elevator on St. Lawrence River and OCEAN EXPLORER

(Satellite)

Greg Morrison, Jan 2019

2 of 14 photos posted by Kevin Fetter with the comment: "Back in June 2017, when the port of Johnstown had a open house." [The bridge in the background of some of the photos is the Seaway Skyway Bridge.]

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Note the Seaway Skyway in the right background.

Nick Fletcher, Dec 2018

PortOfJohnstown-grain

Port of Johnstown posted
Welcome to the Evans Spirit arriving last night to take out a load of soybeans today.
McKeil Marine Limited
Janey Adnerson shared

This McKeil Marine beauty - Evans Spirit stopped by for a visit at the Port of Johnstown to pick up a load of soybeans.

A lot of people comment on this ship when she is fully loaded that she appears very low to the water - the reason is because the Evans Spirit is a modern, shallow-draft vessel with two cargo holds, which combine for 15,000 mt deadweight capacity.

The ship is fitted with efficient pass-pass loading and discharge gear for breakbulk cargo. It is fully capable of carrying a wide variety of bulk cargoes into shallow draft ports. 

The Port of Johnstown was built in approximately 1930, the Port has gone through many changes and growths throughout the years to now become one of Eastern Ontario's Premier Ports for Truck, Vessel and Rail shipping and receiving of grains, salt, aggregate, and other project cargo. In October 2000 the Township of Edwardsburgh Cardinal purchased the Port from Ports Canada. In 2014, the name was changed from the Port of Prescott to the Port of Johnstown.

Venna Thomason-Kelliker: Fill that thing up before it tips over...the Bulbous Bow is almost completely out of the water...

 

Port of Johnstown posted
Welcome to the Baie Comeau arriving last night to load out soybeans this weekend. CSL Group
Evelyn Hazzard shared
Dennis DeBruler shared

I'm sharing a share so that you can access the answer by Paul Ingram to the question by Don Smith concerning how the ship is cleaned out between loads.

Edit: it didn't work as expected. Paul Ingram's comment:

When unloading, the last of the cargo is cleaned up with scoop shovels by the longshoremen followed by sweeping with brooms by the deckhands. Once underway the deckhands use fire hoses to clean the I-beams, etc. around the hatch coamings. Then the deckhands use fire hoses in the holds to clean the tank tops working from the fwd end to the back of the last hold (pumps). The bulk of the debris is lifted out by a bucket and hoist ( usually attached to the deck crane [gantry crane]) as they work their way aft. If loading grain the cargo holds must be dry for inspection so the deckhands, again working from fwd to aft, sweep back the water puddles followed by sweeping with an absorbent material (e.g. grain dust ) to soak up the remaining water.

Janey Anderson posted three photos with the comment:

Here's McKeil Marine's - Evans Spirit all loaded with soybeans&, just before she departed for Quebec City.

Thanks for these great shots from your view at Port of Johnstown Dave Yager !

20.04.22

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3, cropped

Carl Brukett commented on Janey's post
What a difference a day makes. Those new spouts really do the job.

STORAGE CAPACITY	170,000 tonnes / 6,500,000 bushels
LAND AND SIDE ACCESS	Track shed capacity of two rail cars, two trucks or one of each. Parking capacity for 42 rail cars. Working capacity for 30 rail cars. Shipping rate of 1,000 tonnes per hour. Trucks Loading/Unloading, 120/day.
MARINE GRAIN RECEIVING	Dock 398m +- / 1,309ft +-, Capacity to handle self-unloading ships at a rate of 1,200 tonnes per hour
MARINE GRAIN SHIPPING	Dock 282m +- / 925ft +-, 11 loading spouts, loading rate of 1,800 tonnes per hour
GRAIN CLEANER	Carter Day, screenerator with asperator, rate of 100 mt tonnes/hr.
GRAIN DRYER	2 burner natural gas fired generating 11,000,000 BTU's per hour, drying capacity of 100 tonnes per hour
BAGGER	Model 800 Fischbein automatic bagging machine

 (1 tonne = 38.235294 bushels, 1 ton = 34.6865 bushels)

Janey Anderson posted
Port of Johnstown (and no ships at the grain elevator) 

Cathrine Maskell posted
What’s up Doc? This blue beauty - Algoma Niagara - at the Port of Johnstown.

Linda Noseworthy Bell posted

Sailing with the Green

Tufty at the Port of Johnstown

Oct 17 2021

1 of 4 posted by Helen Mott
More action at Port of Johnstown! That graceful old lady, Cuyahoga, is loading soybean and CCGS Martha L. Black is just across the way from her, presumably to fuel up and/or take on more summer buoys for placement. It was drizzling rain on my way there and on my return home, oddly enough not where I got out to take these pictures. For once my timing was good.

Helen Mott also posted
Going back to my post yesterday about the beauty classic wheel-house upfront laker, the Lower Lakes Towing ship Cuyahoga, I did some research to confirm she was indeed of 1943 vintage and therefore 79 years old. Cuyahoga is now the oldest Canadian registered laker still in active service. In terms of her life-span, she was preceeded only by her fleet mate Mississagi by about a month. Sadly, Mississagi has recently met the fate of so many of these grand old ships. Cuyahoga was built in the U.S. during WWII to carry ore to the steel mills who were mass producing tanks, artillery, aircraft and other supplies for the war effort. Her name was originally J. Burton Ayers. After many ups and downs over the years she was sold to Lower Lakes Towing in 1995, registered Canadian and renamed Cuyahoga, her first name change in 52 years. Let's just hope we get to celebrate this grand old lady's 80th birthday, still in service.

Passenger ships on the Great Lakes are rare enough that they bring out the ship fans when they arrive at a port. I noticed that the Viking Octantis had a bow that slants away from the ship as it descends to the water line. This post explains that the comfort of the passengers is more important than efficiently cutting through the water.

1 of 4 photos and a video posted by Carl Burkett
With her patented Ulstein inverted X-BOW, OCEAN EXPLORER will cleave the waves in such a way that internal noise and vibration is reduced and the hull's shape reduces slamming against the vessel with little spray on its deck.
[The bridge in the background is the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge.]

This screenshot catches the reverse slant of the bow and three of the marine unloading towers.

Carl Burkett's 1:18 video @ 1:13

1 of 4 photos and a video posted by Carl Burkett

Since the grain elevator is across the river from the ship's dock, photos of the ship also provide views of the elevator.

Helen Mott posted
Vantage cruise ship Ocean Explorer docked at the Port of Johnstown while passengers went on a short day trip to the Aquatarium in Brockville. Quite appropriate that the ship is docked at Johnstown - the Aquatarium tells the story of the Seaway and the Locks and dams and other scenic and vital infrastructure along the waterway. What better way to showcase the St. Lawrence Seaway to visitors! This picture taken looking across the revamped fish habitat created after the expansion of the Port.

1 of 4 photos posted by Port of Johnstown
The Ocean Explorer has arrived, welcome to all the passengers onboard. Busses are ready to take them for a short day trip Brockville. Scheduled to return for 3 more visits, June 18, Sept 6 & 20th.
Janey Anderson shared

1 of 2 photos posted by Mike Downey
The Ocean Explorer at the Port of Johnstown waits for the passengers to finish their bus trip to town.

Port of Johnstown posted
Welcome to the Bogdan which arrived yesterday evening. Once the rain stops we will start to load soybeans for export. First load of 2022 soybean harvest to go out. Watch for more vessels loading out over the next 2 months.
Brian R. Wroblewski: Odd that this ship doesn't have the typical salty's "clipper" bow.
Janey Anderson shared
Brian R. Wroblewski: Odd that this ship doesn't have the typical salty's "clipper" bow.
[He got eight replies in this group.]
Barbara Kepler: Thank you for sharing!!! What happens if it was unloaded before the rain stopped? What about snow falling does that affect it too??
Janey Anderson: Barbara Kepler they are loading soybeans and yes, they do not want the load to get wet. Soybeans can be challenging. Holds need to be cleaned. Hatches need to be inspected so as to ensure no water ingress. Any cargo moisture could destroy the entire load - cause mould/mildew growth.

This port can also do general cargo.

1 of 3 photos posted by Carl Burkett
While Toronto bound 🚙 this afternoon we made a quick stop at Johnstown see what salties SUNDA, FEDERAL MONTREAL and BBC SONG were up to at the port.
[Carl's post includes a 20-sec video of the Federal Montreal unloading steel pipes.]
Carl Burkett shared

Update

In addition to the big port elevator, this complex also has a big feed mill. I wonder if they also export animal feed. It makes sense to me that a third-world company would rather buy feed instead of all of the different ingredients plus the grain necessary to make animal feed. Or does this feed mill serve local farmers and it is located here to take advantage of the grain transport infrastructure?

Street View, May 2023

Street View, May 2023

With four marine legs, I wonder if they receive grain from western Canada via freighters as well as rail.

Dock View, Apr 2016