Dump Two

While the last of the Studebaker production buildings were being demolished, I visited again. Here’s a shot taken shortly after the demolition crew left for the day.

On the scale of the big machine shop, the huge piles of clothing look insignificant.

A 180-degree panorama of the first floor of the refectory. I just loved the colors; there’s something about plaster walls that retain the character of a building; they crumble when they die, which is much more graceful than drywall, which drips down into a stinking puddle that looks and smells like a blob of Elmer’s glue.

Pillars painted red indicated firefighting supplies. Fire was a very common enemy of early rail facilities, and many roundhouses burned down because of a combination of dry wood, hot, fire-breathing machinery and countless oil-saturated surfaces.

It’s not a good sign when you can see the chimney through the roof.

An unintentional skylight makes the inside of the office glow, showing the inside of the front door and its strange lock.

Before each warhead was crated, it was inspected.

Above the offices is this little section of factory that still has strips of wood flooring. This may be where the upholstery was cut.

This volume gauge could be read from 30 feet away, which is useful when the control panels and valves are that far away.