  Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 38 Registered: 01-2007 |
 Appears to be some type of factory? For a larger version of the photo, please click here Ookpik | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 592 Registered: 08-2006 |
The building construction looks like west Jefferson near Fort Wayne. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 2448 Registered: 10-2004 |
There are no tall buildings near Fort Wayne, are there?. More probably something near the Michigan Central depot. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 60 Registered: 10-2003 |
That's a fantastic picture. Train, snow, factory, old cars. What more can you ask for. Look at the size of that engine compared to the cars nearby. It almost looks like that behemoth in Henry Ford Museum. (my favorite thing in the whole museum!) | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 969 Registered: 12-2005 |
The style of building reminds me of Cadillac/Clark st.  the Fleetwood plant on Fort had a simular appearance Photo from WSU virtual motor city collection | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 593 Registered: 08-2006 |
There is a building similar to that near the FIA office, just north of Ft wayne, on the same side of Jefferson as the Fort. Possibly a public utility? The pic would be taken from the rear of the building? Some other questions to Rail fans to help us solve the mystery. I see the coal hopper, does this mean the building is owned by the RR? Would the railroad's customer's have coal / or water facilities for the locomotives? Is this loco a switcher owned by the company who owns the spur, or a large trunk line locomotive? Is the parking to the left employee parking or passenger / commuter parking? | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3037 Registered: 10-2003 |
The detail I noticed is along the top of the power house (that's what I believe it is - a factory's power plant) on the right. Looking through some old photos, I see the Continental plant had the same or similar detail:    Although the power plant is similar, (and still standing) it doesn't look long enough (at least 10 window bays) to be the same one:   | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 2450 Registered: 10-2004 |
The building in the center also has a number of smoke stacks. It appears that the truck with the built-up box by the coal hopper was used for hauling. Perhaps, some other nearby users of its coal had it delivered by truck. Coal was still even used by residential and commercial consumers until sometime during the 1960s. Coal was generally stored in below-grade coal bins and internally moved nearby by conveyors. The pictured coal hopper was filled that way as evidenced by the conveyor feeding it above. It's possible that the building in the center also had such a system. (Message edited by LivernoisYard on February 08, 2007) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3038 Registered: 10-2003 |
Since some of the earlier photos were in the vicinity of the Packard plant, I'm convinced this one is too. Here's an aerial shot of Packard's power house from 1952:    The object in the red circle is the cement coal hopper, and the buildings highlighted in green are the two buildings in the background. The view is from Palmer in the direction of the arrow, and the locomotive is stopped just north of Palmer. These two are about the best photos showing the west side of the building. Looks as if the coal hopper is between the 6th & 7th window bay counting from north to south, just like the original:    | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 638 Registered: 01-2006 |
You folks amaze me with your ability to analyze these photos. I mean it. My hat, it is off. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1753 Registered: 04-2005 |
A large coal burning power plant would need a way to get rid of and load hoppers with cinders from the boiler fireboxes, that's what I suspect that "coaling" thing is. | ||
Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 39 Registered: 01-2007 |
Amazing detective work Mike! In reading the Old Car Factories Mega-Thread it appeared that you were searching for an address to Gar Wood Industries. I didn't make it through the whole thread so I don't know if you got an answer but I have Gar Wood Industries as being located at: 7924-60 Riopelle I have no idea if the address was a factory or an office. No clue as to the date of the address but a guess is roughly from the 1938-1948 period. Ookpik | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 1675 Registered: 06-2004 |
don't know if Packard did it, but Ford used to sell coal coke to their employees at a discounted rate and delivered it to their homes for them | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 2479 Registered: 10-2004 |
It doesn't seem that Packard made coke unless some storage tanks were visible. They probably bought some though, but coal would be cheaper if Packard didn't have blast furnaces, as did Ford at its Rouge facilities. An older coke producer would have those large distinctive coal-gas tanks which are rarely seen today. Only about 40% of the coal gas is needed for the coking process, so that without such storage for the gas, the other 60% would be flared off into the atmosphere and its economic value would go wasted. Today, the excess coal-gas from the coke process may be converted in several useful by-products and, due to the high price of crude petroleum, these by-products may have much value. Even the cracking of petroleum has some coke as a by-product, so that isn't usually wasted either. Converting Coal to Coke Coke finally became available in the late 1950s in Milwaukee when the coal companies were trying to save their businesses from going extinct. A ton of burning coke produces less than a cup of ash, and the last of the residential coal companies made that appeal in their radio and TV commercials, to no avail, apparently. (Message edited by LivernoisYard on February 09, 2007) | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 977 Registered: 12-2005 |
Amazing job, guys. As much time as I spent in and around the Packard plant, these minute details just didn't jump out at me. The powerhouse was demolished in the late 50's, there is an A&P supermarket building there now, it's vacant. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1559 Registered: 11-2003 |
johnlodge--That big locomotive in the Henry Ford museum is the showpiece C and O Allegheny. Built in 1941, it would not have been around when the subject photo was taken. I wish we had a better view of the locomotive for identification purposes, but we know it is not that lovely monster now reposing in HF. Maybe Bob Cosgrove can chime in on this one. He is an excellent source. | ||
Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu Post Number: 358 Registered: 09-2004 |
Based on the position of the headlight and lack of anything on the very front of the boiler, I'd guess this is an older steam locomotive from the Pennsylvania Railroad, but I'm not 100% sure on that. The PRR always had their headlights up high mounted on the top of the boiler just in front of the smokestack. What a Great old photo! | ||
Bate Member Username: Bate Post Number: 83 Registered: 02-2005 |
Mikem has a future with the CIA as a satellite photo analyst. He could find Osamas' campfire in West Timbuktu at 30,000 feet. | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 637 Registered: 08-2006 |
Pennsylvania RR had locomotive shops in Altoona and they manufactured locomotives for themselves. There is a lovely museum there with an open house to the shops in October. Amtrak is on hand to give patrons a ride on the famous and picturesque horseshoe curve. I was there in '96. As far as rather this is a Pennsylvania locomotive, we need to ask if that is Pennsylvania trackage. An earlier photo posted a little further along the same track showed NYC box cars. The big producers of steam locomotives in the 30s were Alco in Schenictidy NY I believe and another one Baldwin? in Lima OH. I wonder if PRR was even still producing main line locomotives by the 30s, it would have been cheaper to buy one. |
