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N2CHX
08-23-2010, 04:38 PM
I went out on the mountain bike today, to a site I found on Google Earth that I thought was interesting. I took some pictures. I have NO IDEA what this place was. Maybe you guys can help me out.

This place is about the size of a football field. There's three sections to it, with concrete walls creating each section and a trench between them about 6 feet wide and 15 feet deep. There are metal rods in the ground everywhere, bent over at an angle. There are several strips of thin concrete about five feet wide and hundreds of feet long. There are steel cables coming vertically out of the concrete retaining wall/foundations about every three feet, which are now sheared off and frayed. There are three pits with concrete retaining walls at the south end of this, about 40 feet across and sort shaped like Oklahoma turned 90 degrees. They are mostly filled in with trees and reeds now.

I got some pics, plus a topo map showing this from 1948. There is a lot of iron at this site (I brought a metal detector). Lots of HUGE bolts and washers and other iron pieces everywhere.

There is no record of this place anywhere I can find, which may indicate what it was. Anthracite coal is all over the site as well, so I thought maybe it was a locomotive works, but I can't find any history of anything like that there. It is sandwiched between the still operational NYC main line and the abandoned Lehigh Valley line.

Here's the topo map from 1948. Arrow points to three red lines which are where this site lies. I see nothing else marked in red like that on any topo map.

http://storage.kellimcmillan.com/kmcmillan/kel/42.55.17.58_-78.36.5.43/depw48nea-marked.jpg

The site on Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=42.921550,+-78.601508&num=1&t=h&vps=1&jsv=268b&sll=42.900614,-78.670306&sspn=0.016348,0.032015&hl=en&ie=UTF8&geocode=FU7ujgId3KJQ-w&split=0


And finally, the pics I took: http://storage.kellimcmillan.com/kmcmillan/kel/42.55.17.58_-78.36.5.43/

What do you think this is???

NQ6U
08-23-2010, 04:48 PM
Kelli, it's kind of hard to tell for sure and your photo site crashed my browser but my best guess is that it's the remains of an old coal tipple that was used for refueling steam locomotives.

n2ize
08-23-2010, 05:12 PM
Well, I'm pretty sure there was at one time an underground missile silo somewhere near that area. But I doubt the thing you saw is it. Since it has coal all over and since it's between the two railroads I would guess it probably had something to do with the railroad. A coal yard perhaps. What is the exact name of the town its in ?

kf0rt
08-23-2010, 05:21 PM
No idea here, but Carl's coal idea makes sense. It's also pretty near an airport, but it doesn't look like that's related.

NQ6U
08-23-2010, 05:32 PM
Found it! It is the remains of an old Lehigh Valley Coal storage facility (http://books.google.com/books?id=XPoNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=lehigh+coal+tower+%2Bwende&source=bl&ots=tsNFkqDww1&sig=vyo2DaK8f2GTILc8aEy9c1mMuG0&hl=en&ei=tvVyTMH-LI--sAOgrqDIDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=lehigh%20coal%20tower%20%2Bwende&f=false) but it's not directly related to the railroads. Check it out, Kelli--it's pretty cool. If you scroll up a bit, you'll see something that fits your description pretty well.

KG4CGC
08-23-2010, 05:59 PM
Found it! It is the remains of an old Lehigh Valley Coal storage facility (http://books.google.com/books?id=XPoNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=lehigh+coal+tower+%2Bwende&source=bl&ots=tsNFkqDww1&sig=vyo2DaK8f2GTILc8aEy9c1mMuG0&hl=en&ei=tvVyTMH-LI--sAOgrqDIDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=lehigh%20coal%20tower%20%2Bwende&f=false) but it's not directly related to the railroads. Check it out, Kelli--it's pretty cool. If you scroll up a bit, you'll see something that fits your description pretty well.
You Da Man kudos street creds! Brilliant!

kf0rt
08-23-2010, 06:01 PM
You Da Man kudos street creds! Brilliant!

:agree:

That's some damfine research, Carl.

N2CHX
08-23-2010, 06:02 PM
Cool! I can't view the site right now- posting from my Blackberry while waiting to get my hair colored and cut, lol! When I get home I will check it out.

NQ6U
08-23-2010, 07:09 PM
Funny coincidence--I just noticed that the book is actually located right here, at UC San Diego.

W7XF
08-23-2010, 09:41 PM
Cool! I can't view the site right now- posting from my Blackberry while waiting to get my hair colored and cut, lol! When I get home I will check it out.

OK Kelli.... what colour??? Pink with purple polkadots???? Green with yellow highlights???? Electric blue???

N2CHX
08-23-2010, 10:28 PM
Found it! It is the remains of an old Lehigh Valley Coal storage facility (http://books.google.com/books?id=XPoNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=lehigh+coal+tower+%2Bwende&source=bl&ots=tsNFkqDww1&sig=vyo2DaK8f2GTILc8aEy9c1mMuG0&hl=en&ei=tvVyTMH-LI--sAOgrqDIDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=lehigh%20coal%20tower%20%2Bwende&f=false) but it's not directly related to the railroads. Check it out, Kelli--it's pretty cool. If you scroll up a bit, you'll see something that fits your description pretty well.

O.M.G. !!! That's it! Complete with drawings! You are a genius! That is awesome. So cool to have been sitting here trying to figure out what this thing was used for and now to see the drawings and everything. Wow. Thank you so much!

NQ6U
08-23-2010, 10:55 PM
O.M.G. !!! That's it! Complete with drawings! You are a genius! That is awesome. So cool to have been sitting here trying to figure out what this thing was used for and now to see the drawings and everything. Wow. Thank you so much!

You're welcome, it was fun working on my Google-Fu.

KG4CGC
08-23-2010, 11:29 PM
You're welcome, it was fun working on my Google-Fu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh4Kx9IqIZw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh4Kx9IqIZw

NA4BH
08-23-2010, 11:40 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh4Kx9IqIZw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh4Kx9IqIZw

That is one bad/stupid dude.

w3bny
08-24-2010, 10:18 AM
Master Shinanju ninja