It's been a while.
When construction of this industrial city started in the 1840s, some of the first things to be built were a dam and canal to power the mills along the river.
There's a lot worth seeing along this canal, but this one building caught my eye on the map. I couldn't find out anything about it, but it looked like it could be a hydroelectric plant, so Saladking and I went off down the railroad in search of that building and other delights.
01: Dams, tracks, and bridges Our trip began on the railroad tracks near the dam. Across the river, a 2.3 megawatt hydro plant is still operating.
02: Canal HeadThe small building marks the start of the canal. There used to be sluice gates inside.
03: TracksRail service on this line was suspended. This picture makes the rails look shiny, but they hadn't seen trains in a while.
On one side of the tracks is the canal, on the other side is the river.
04: Beth Steel, 1992The famous and infamous.
05: That looks like a power plant 06: It is a power plant! 07: Down CanalUphill from the building, the canal continues on.
08: Wasted powerWater overflows down this little spillway.
09: Yes, there's a turbine!a big one.
10: Turbine HallThe big oval penstock, and the turbine under the catwalk, take up most of the building.
Saladking examines the electrical panel in the background.
11: GennyThe rest of it was occupied by the generator, which still had all its copper.
12: Belly of the BeastThe access hatch on the turbine was open, so of course we had to go inside to see all the works.
The bottom of the pressure casing was not in great shape, in places you could see the river below. The penstock was sketchy too.
This turbine was made by the Rodney Hunt co, and available evidence shows that the plant was built between 1911 and 1921.
Sadly I don't think it will ever be refurbished.
13: PenstockDo not adjust your monitor, this penstock actually is oval.
14: Green ForebayOn the other side of the closed sluice gates, the canal is still full of water.
15: Unfinished WorkThat cracked bearing block is supposed to connect to the lever tied up on the right. Normally it rotates the wicket gates to control the flow of water, but when it's cracked, not so much. This might be one reason why it was abandoned, maybe it was just too expensive to fix this and other problems.
It probably stopped operating in 2015.
16: Wickets and RunnersThis was a cool chance to see a turbine up close. The wicket gates around the outside rotate to control the flow of water. Under those is the turbine runner, the part that spins.
17: Metersone of them was drawn by hand.
18: Parts and Circuitsexcept the main breakers and busbars, most of the plant hadn't been scrapped out.
19: Spillway Under the RailbridgeA nice spot for a sit and a snack. In the background, under the hydro plant, is the outflow pipe from the turbine.
20: Up RiverBack the way we came.
21: NamesakeThe south end of the canal was very green. The canal used to keep going for nearly a mile, but almost all the rest has been filled in and built over.
That's all, for now.