28 Comments Posted by big_d

It is a big deal if you have ever seen someone die from mesothelioma.

It's just the way of history, plus the building matl's can be recycled etc. Better that Motts , et.al, preserve the memories thru the wonderful pictures so that all can see!

makes me think scrappers have been through there.

eldokid, I could make out the words "before" and "belt", so my guess would be "always start (Equipment) before starting belt"

The story, unfortunately , of the Rust Belt. I live there. So, so many places like this, You will have material for decades to come, if you wish... Thank you for leaving a record. The interesting part of all this is that many of these industries were very dependent on the water for shipping and processing, etc., I believe that if this world continues to heat up and water becomes scarcer, many industries may find their way back, as the great lakes area holds 20% of the worlds freshwater.

The rubber plant I worked at ended the same way, in the end...seeing the pictures, i could almost smell the rubber.

Did this kind of work for 10 years. Hard, hot work.

Ah, the pressroom. Image all those presses heated by steam to about 450 degrees F. On an August day. Brutal.

Could have been the transmission for the raw rubber mixer. Reduce a motor of about 800 hp@1750 rpm down to about 40 rpm. Incredible torque.

those were various waxes and oils added to the rubber to give it certain characteristics.

BTW, they are very dangerous, I knew people missing parts of hands, etc.

that would be a breakdown mill, where the rubber is heated up and made malleable before either being rolled off, or sent as astrip down a conveyor.