Comments

It's... erm... different!

And out runs Leatherface with his chainsaw...

Oh wow that's disgusting!
Like Texas Chainsaw Massacre that shit...

I like how the door is so rusted and looks so old and solid...

And then there's the little plaque in the middle that still looks fairly new...

Kinky, eh 'Person'?!

Thanks for another fine gallery, Mr. Motts!

Awsome shot! :)

I may be wrong (my German is quite rusty) but I believe the -chen suffix means "small" in a somewhat cute way. Perhaps to take a little of the bite out of the situation?

Craig, thank you for all the great information about the machinery and the coking process!

Thanks Mr. Motts, I worked for Wilputte Corp., the company that built coke ovens like these from 1975-1983, and saw some of them under construction and helped commision them. Now few are left around the country. Your photos are a beautiful record of what once was.

OSHA regulations still require some tyoe of hard-wired emergency stop button like these for machinery, even if it is PLC (computer) controlled.

In the foreground is a coal conveyor to bring the coal to the coal tower seen in the left background. The stack is behind the conveyor in the right background. The phot's perspective makes it look as if the conveyor and stack are connected, but they are not.

Generations of men and even some women worked in these plants all over the US. They paid very well after the depression ended when unions came to be ane production worked up for WW2, thru the mid 1990's. It was hard work under hazardous conditions, but they took pride in it and were glad to have jobs that created gave them a middle class lifestyle that let them pay for a college education for their kids. Now most of these kinds of well-paying jobs are gone to foreign countries, as 50% of steel sold in the US is made overseas.

The stack on the end of the main shown in the picture was to light off the gas and burn it like a huge torch in the event of an upset condition in the gas processing plant. Since the coal in the ovens was still being baked (couldn't stop that once it started), gas was still being produced, and the only safe thing to do was to burn it off in this flare stack.