I’m still here…
I have not really had the time to update the site since I’ve actually been working. My temporary (“summer”) job is full-time, so I’ve been spending a large percentage of my time at work. I’ve also been trying to save up to purchase a new (brand new) ThinkPad.
But there hasn’t been much to write about, anyways…
Kewanee Boiler Factory
I found out today that the Kewanee Boiler factory is finally coming down. I wrote a short entry about it here.
I’ve actually been planning a trip to Kewanee for several years now – at least two or three years. But because of money and other, more pressing issues, the trip hasn’t came to fruition and probably won’t until next summer. One of the things I wanted to see while there is the boiler plant. But I guess it’s too late.
Speaking of Kewanee Boiler, I got to photograph the “???? Scotch Marine Boiler” about a week ago. It is still in the junkyard. It now has a friend. Another Scotch Marine boiler – from another manufacturer – is now a piece of yard art in the small town of Bunceton, Missouri.
Long Lines – Another Site Photographed
I visited the AT&T/Bell Long Lines tower located in Prairie Home, Missouri about a week ago (while on the way to see the boiler) and I had to stop and get some pictures. The weather was great, and the skies were mostly blue.
The unfortunate thing about getting these pictures was trying to find a safe location to get the pictures. I could only get two vantage points – one from the drive way next to the base of the tower, and another from a gravel road southwest of the tower about quarter of a mile.
The base station on this tower is very similar to the base station for it’s neighboring tower – and the one that I can remember from growing up – in Slater, MO. This tower had a microwave connection to the Slater tower, which would be to the northwest.
The Prairie Home tower appears to be in more “complete” condition than the Slater tower. The Slater tower has had its horns removed since I was a kid, while the Prairie Home tower still has some of its horns present. Although the top-most KS-1576 horns are damaged. The waveguides are even still in place, and the base station even had a AT&T sign by the door that someone painted over. Unlike the Slater tower, the Prairie Home tower was large enough that it has a beacon light on top.
The tower at Prairie Home, however, is massive. I had difficulty trying to fit most of the tower into frame thanks to my positioning.
And then, from the other position, I had to zoom in 4x digitally to get a very crappy, pixelated image of the tower.
I did create a page discussing the tower, which can be viewed here.