Yes, robbed of its riches, like the tombs of pharaoh. Shades of Ozymandias!
RogerV
23-Apr-2010 01:35
I spent some time gazing at these pictures, amazed at how much had been left behind. Suddenly it struck me... some of the most valuable parts are in fact gone. All the copper and brass seem to have been stripped off of the alternator and exciter, though it is entirely possible this was done by the legal owners. Still, I feel that this machinery belongs in an industrial museum, and not in a crumbline building where it will slowly corrode away to nothing. I agree with all that you say about how unusual it was for a powerplant of this type to remain in use so late in the USA... I can only hazard a guess that perhaps that perhaps some industrial process that required steam or heat was being carried out, and "free" electricity was a side effect. My only other observation is that the steam engine is an extremely durable machine, and there are examples that remained in daily use for 100 years or more.
