antique hydro story

[surplusjohn]

OK , I sense there is alot of interest in this and eventually I will find the disks.
In Doldgville NY a company was started after the civil war to make felt on the Canada creek with a damn to run the machinery. Eventually they strated making felt shoes and became the Daniel Green shoe company, somewhere along the way Mr Doldge bought the place and expanded it into a ideal rual industial complex including beautiful stone buildings, a larger damn, housing and a mansion. They employed maybe 1000 people in the old days and was a major shoe brand.
In the 1880's Henry Dolge had his friend Tom Edison install a hydro electric set, the story goes that it was the twin of the Pearl St Station which was the first public station. This of course made DC power and was apparently for lighting but maybe for drive motors although I doubt that since the early motor were pretty expensive and ineffecient and they had alot of boiler and water power. The locals say this is the set that is still there but it isn't.
Still in use until the plant shut down 2 years ago and still in place and ready to run is a set built in 1907 or so. It has a Westinghouse DC dynamo and a 2 phase 440 Ac generator on the same shaft, with a new penstock and turbine built at that time by Dexter Electric in Watertown NY. THe original board is still there made from 1 inch thick black panels [ hard rubber ?] with great big knife switches etc. ALl beautifully maintained. There is a recently installed panel and step down transformer , [270 volt I think ] for lighting. I don't know where the DC was going, maybe to the elevators.
ANyways this place swithed all there production to China and move to a modern distribution set up in Maine and the buildings were empty the last I heard. I liquidated alot of what was left and coincidently looked at liquidating Dexter Electric in Watertown which was still running the last I knew. talk about antique machinery!
Boring mills, lathes, drills etc all keeping the leather belt guys in business.

If you are ever in Doldgeville NY [ north of Little Falls ] it is worth a look around to see how things used to be done and done well.

 

[halfnut]

Here's a story about hydro electric from this corner of the world.

Down here in SW Missouri we used to be the biggest producer of lead and zinc in the world.

Around the turn of the last century they had a dam across Center Creek and had a generator. This powered the Electric railway, which connected the various small towns to each other and transported workers to the mines for work. These tracks stretched for miles, went into Olklahoma and also Kansas.

Puplic transportation many years ago, powered by something as simple as water. Are we progressing today?

 

[surplusjohn]

we had the interurban rail around here. Built around the 1 st ww and went under in the 30's. Basically was a trolley that ran from east of Utica NY to Cleveland Ohio with many branches that you can still spot if you know what to look for. Because it was DC, it needed a power house every 20 miles or so, many of which are still around. I looked at buying one about 20 years ago , great location and beautiful brick building with huge arched windows, unfortuanly about half the inteior was taken up by the boiler.
Anyways these were frequently run, single cars that ran fast on there own tracks so there were no delays from the freights.
Sounds nice, but they of course could not compete.
How about a higher grade bus service to compete with smelly-hound and aimlesstrack? Would deliver you to a rental car, would have big seats and not allow smelly pasengers or anyone with a baloney sandwich. I would consider taking that somewhere to advoid endless driving.