grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
I ran across this shot of the boiler building ash handling gantry while looking thru the Thomas works photos... Due to the lighting, it was a candidate for a little creative editing, but here goes. 
Birmingham History - Republic Steel Thomas Plant. Dial up Destruction, new pics P7/8
- Thread starter WCWBrassHat
- Start date
grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Today, my friend Lee and I went back to the Thomas Works site. We had the pleasure of being shown around by Robin Wade (of Wade and Gravel), the site's current owner. Robin, thanks so very much for you and your Dad's hospitality. We sure enjoyed the tour and the time talking about Birmingham history.
Robin's friend Clay and his son Lee were also on site for the tour. Ya'll are certainly Birmingham history fans that I look forward to adventuring with in the future. It was great to meet you.
Earlier in the thread we covered the operation of the plant. This time around, with Robin's help, we'll be seeing much more of this historic Birmingham industrial site. It's a facinating place. Ya'll come along for a closer look...
First off, here's a few plant shots from various vantage points.
Oven Detail Shots.
Pusher side oven doors.
The pusher ram.
Pusher ram control booth.
View of the ram from the ovens. Note the spare ram to the right.
Oven door wrench
Let's have a look at the top of the ovens. Robin told us that the asphalt was put down to seal the ovens with plans to reopen the plant. That never happened. While the rails are cut, the charging larry is still in place under the coal hopper.
Lee gazes at the coal hopper from atop the gas manifold over the ovens.
Bottom charging chutes of the coal hopper and the top of the larry car.
Larry car controls
Though it's been added on to, the power house is original to the 1888 construction of the furnaces that were once located here. It's interior is heavy industry on a scale that has to be seen in person to really grasp, but I'll try to do it justice with my trusty Canon. As an example, there is a line off a turbo blower (for the blast furnaces) that must be 6-8 feet in diameter! It's truely impressive engineering.
Misc details...
Robin's friend Clay and his son Lee were also on site for the tour. Ya'll are certainly Birmingham history fans that I look forward to adventuring with in the future. It was great to meet you.
Earlier in the thread we covered the operation of the plant. This time around, with Robin's help, we'll be seeing much more of this historic Birmingham industrial site. It's a facinating place. Ya'll come along for a closer look...
First off, here's a few plant shots from various vantage points.
Oven Detail Shots.
Pusher side oven doors.
The pusher ram.
Pusher ram control booth.
View of the ram from the ovens. Note the spare ram to the right.
Oven door wrench
Let's have a look at the top of the ovens. Robin told us that the asphalt was put down to seal the ovens with plans to reopen the plant. That never happened. While the rails are cut, the charging larry is still in place under the coal hopper.
Lee gazes at the coal hopper from atop the gas manifold over the ovens.
Bottom charging chutes of the coal hopper and the top of the larry car.
Larry car controls
Though it's been added on to, the power house is original to the 1888 construction of the furnaces that were once located here. It's interior is heavy industry on a scale that has to be seen in person to really grasp, but I'll try to do it justice with my trusty Canon. As an example, there is a line off a turbo blower (for the blast furnaces) that must be 6-8 feet in diameter! It's truely impressive engineering.
Misc details...
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grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Thanks Josh. This plant is an amazing piece of local history. It was a wonderful opportunity to take the photos and see the site again. I'm glad to hear you checked back in on the thread.
OldGettysk
Running the MC & Buffalo
Thanks again Eric for the photo tour ! Isn't it amazing how we where a once proud industrial nation ?
IronBeltKen
Lazy Daydreamer
Great detail shots Eric! I did a TinyURL compression of your link on the Yahoo STEEL list so it would jump directly to Pg.5
grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Hi Paul.
Every time I visit an abandoned industrial site such as this, I always reflect on the men it made rich, the workers it employed (and sometimes killed) and the families it fed. One of the most important aspects though, was the advances our industrial base made possible. World wars were supported and the nation's infrastructure built. It's a rich history indeed!
Thanks Ken, for your comments and fixing my Yahoo Steel link.
WCWBrassHat
Member
Eric,
Great Pictures! Man do I wish I could have gone with you. Did you get any pictures of the larry car on the top of the ovens?
Glenn
Great Pictures! Man do I wish I could have gone with you. Did you get any pictures of the larry car on the top of the ovens?
Glenn
grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Hi Glenn. I wish you could have made the trip!
As for the larry car, it was seriously backlit, so I put this HDR of it together. I hope to go back soon and shoot several areas in the morning light. This will be one of them. Yesterday I took 181 exposures, though several were brackets for HDR due to the lighting.
There was a car in front of the larry that apparently must have been used to open the charge doors on the ovens. Also, the larry car charge chutes at the bottom of the coal hopper can be clearly seen here.
As for the larry car, it was seriously backlit, so I put this HDR of it together. I hope to go back soon and shoot several areas in the morning light. This will be one of them. Yesterday I took 181 exposures, though several were brackets for HDR due to the lighting.
There was a car in front of the larry that apparently must have been used to open the charge doors on the ovens. Also, the larry car charge chutes at the bottom of the coal hopper can be clearly seen here.
Eric,
Great pictures. I wish I could have been there too. I love old industrial sites like that. I'll bet your pictures will be an important part of Birmingham history once the Thomas Works finally comes down.
We went up the Sloss Furnaces last weekend for the Fright Factory thing. It was kind of hokey and I didn't get a chance to stop and look at what I really wanted to - what looked like a VO-1000 on a spur. Do you know anything about that plant and that locomotive?
Great pictures. I wish I could have been there too. I love old industrial sites like that. I'll bet your pictures will be an important part of Birmingham history once the Thomas Works finally comes down.
We went up the Sloss Furnaces last weekend for the Fright Factory thing. It was kind of hokey and I didn't get a chance to stop and look at what I really wanted to - what looked like a VO-1000 on a spur. Do you know anything about that plant and that locomotive?
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grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Ray, Thanks for keeping up with the tread. I know that last page was quite a download. I'm glad to hear you enjoy the history posts.
Steve, According to Robin, the plant was shut down with the intent to possible restart production at some point. That was a long time ago (1982) and would be very tough at this point...
Jim, I'm hoping that someday my photos will have some historical value. The Thomas Works photos seen here are the result of the Wade family's commitment to preserving our history and allowing access to the site. They deseve the credit. I'm trying to shoot photos of what is left around the once the bustling industry of the Birmingham District. It's history is quite a story! Look for more in the coming months...
As for Sloss, check this out... http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4232 It was done before my interest in photography, so please forgive the quality I obtained with my $150 Sony point and shoot.
BTW, if you're interested in Birmingham history, I might be able to hook you up... There is still a lot out there.
Steve, According to Robin, the plant was shut down with the intent to possible restart production at some point. That was a long time ago (1982) and would be very tough at this point...
Jim, I'm hoping that someday my photos will have some historical value. The Thomas Works photos seen here are the result of the Wade family's commitment to preserving our history and allowing access to the site. They deseve the credit. I'm trying to shoot photos of what is left around the once the bustling industry of the Birmingham District. It's history is quite a story! Look for more in the coming months...
As for Sloss, check this out... http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4232 It was done before my interest in photography, so please forgive the quality I obtained with my $150 Sony point and shoot.
BTW, if you're interested in Birmingham history, I might be able to hook you up...
There is still a lot out there.
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grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Since we survived pg 5, how about a few more detail shots? For descriptions of the plant operation and what this stuff was for, please refer to the first two pages. If that doesn't do it, we'll ask Glenn...
Upper floor shot in the benzol plant.
Oven gas feed. This was a dark area and required a 15 second exposure.
Wall detail in the power house. Either think and act safely or you'll wind up on the stretcher.
Detail shot of the coke pushing ram. We're looking down the ram toward the ovens.
A serious grinder. Those are my sunglasses at the base for size reference!
Upper floor shot in the benzol plant.
Oven gas feed. This was a dark area and required a 15 second exposure.
Wall detail in the power house. Either think and act safely or you'll wind up on the stretcher.
Detail shot of the coke pushing ram. We're looking down the ram toward the ovens.
A serious grinder. Those are my sunglasses at the base for size reference!
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WCWBrassHat
Member
Eric,
Thanks for posting the shot of the larry car. The machine on the other side of the larry car picked up the charging covers on the top of the oven. Did you get any pictures?
I guess we need to make swap CD's with the pictures.
Glenn
Thanks for posting the shot of the larry car. The machine on the other side of the larry car picked up the charging covers on the top of the oven. Did you get any pictures?
I guess we need to make swap CD's with the pictures.
Glenn
jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Sheesh did the operator sit there in the middle of that bugger!?
grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Power detail by request from Rick at the Yahoo Steel Group. The plumbing under this monster was amazing.
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grande man
Bonafied Grande Nut
Josh, The larry car had a central operators area. The control stand shot is on pg5. The coal chutes that loaded the larry from the coal hopper were manually operated (see the right side walkway and levers in the photo you quoted)! I'm sure there were baffles to relieve the weight of the coal stack, but wow, that must have been a job.
This shot shows transfer cars that ran along the unload side of the ovens on a shelf. When the coke was pushed, it went thru these cars before being dumped in the quench car. To give some perspective, I shot this while standing on top of the ovens near at the end of the plant by the smokestack. That's Robin down below showing the enormous scale of the scene.
This shot shows transfer cars that ran along the unload side of the ovens on a shelf. When the coke was pushed, it went thru these cars before being dumped in the quench car. To give some perspective, I shot this while standing on top of the ovens near at the end of the plant by the smokestack. That's Robin down below showing the enormous scale of the scene.
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jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Again, question... Is that a Radioactive symbol I see on that sign down there!?
Good to know the operator was not down in the middle of that thing. Just saw that cab in there...
Eric,
Thanks for pointing me to the Sloss furnaces thread. I've got to get up there after Halloween when they are back to giving real tours. It looks like the same locomotive that I saw but this one was painted bright yellow with green trim. There was no logo or name that I could see but theu had the area roped off and I caught when I tried to sneek over and have a look.
It's suprising how much all the mills, railroads, and abandoned trackage reminds me of the Flats, the steel mill are in Cleveland. Except for the Kudzu, you'd think you're up in the rust belt somewhere.
Thanks for pointing me to the Sloss furnaces thread. I've got to get up there after Halloween when they are back to giving real tours. It looks like the same locomotive that I saw but this one was painted bright yellow with green trim. There was no logo or name that I could see but theu had the area roped off and I caught when I tried to sneek over and have a look.
It's suprising how much all the mills, railroads, and abandoned trackage reminds me of the Flats, the steel mill are in Cleveland. Except for the Kudzu, you'd think you're up in the rust belt somewhere.
