77 Comments Posted by jane

Interesting! In this photo the wooden blocks look like they were laid on top of concrete. I wonder if they were just there to cushion the floor or deaden the noise?

okay ya'll, you're just fanning the flames! :)

I looked it up. This plant made amphibious track vehicles for the navy during WWII. I tried to post the link here last night, but I guess it didn't work.

isn't there a scene in Star Wars that looks something like this?

Motts, didn't you say IH leased this plant after Stude closed down? Could these be old tractor or semi engines? I know a lot of folks here in KY who could make good use of these to pull a lumbermill or other stationary application. They even have the transmissions attached.

Yeah, and referring back to your comments on the first page, that totally explains how an ill designed plant could bankrupt a company. What a klunky system! Its interesting that the two companies that leased the plant after Stude shut down also went bankrupt. Of course Lee Iaccoca pulled Chrysler out of its slump, but IH shut down most of its operations for good. I wonder if this plant was the cause?

You are right! I found this quote "A section of the museum is devoted to military vehicles, including Studebaker's WWII Weasel, a small, tracked amphibious troop and cargo carrier." referring to a new museum in South Bend. It looks like they were manufacturing these for the navy in this plant.

Let me see if this works.
http://www.thecarconne...aker.S215.A9917.html

That would be my guess too, csw. Was this place an air raid shelter? Every grade school I attended in PA in the '60s had bunches of these. They must have been cheap and someone thought it was a good idea for the schools to have them, probably because they doubled as air raid shelters.

according to the buffalocentralterminal site, it was built the same year as the Empire State Building. I imagine that could account for some of the similarities. They are both heavily Art Deco. I wonder who the architect was on this project?

I wonder if these are the answer to that strange passageway you showed a few frames back. They look to be about the same width.

I would guess it has more to do with the demise of the rust belt industries than with the weather. When the economy of an area goes down, there isn't any money for niceties like putting on a new roof. I am amazed by how much the entire city of Williamsport, PA has gone downhill since that branch of Bethlehem Steel closed.

I can't tell how old this building is, but it might be that it didn't have electricity when it was built and the conduit is a retrofit. It is rather difficult if not impossible to run power inside of a brick wall, you'd have to put up a frame wall inside of it to hide the wiring. Conduit is easier and cheaper. It is probably safer too. It would take some serious strenght to rip that galvanized steel conduit off the wall and get inside of it.

So did this place start life as a TB sanitarium as well?

comparing this tub to the other one, I wonder if they started out as identical tubs and the other one was retrofitted as a whirlpool tub? Except for the pipe on the outside and the fittings on the inside, they look identical, right down to the whatsits on the front.

that looks like a tortue device

It would be worse torture without it. A person with severe CP would just fall sideways without it.