Posted September 30, 200717 yr Ammunitions Depot: The self-sustaining factory, containing residential communities, power plants, offices, and much more, made artillery charges but was closed in 1992. Nitrating House (Building 105-3) 1. 2. Knife Grinding & Die Shop (Building 217-2): What was a relatively unassuming building provided to bear its fruit, with intact machinery, tools, spare parts and more lying about in a slowly decaying structure. 3. You only see these places in the old World War II movies. 4. 5. There were relatively few incidents at the facility over the years. More coming!
October 1, 200717 yr I remember that place! In 1973 I took a bike ride from Fort Wayne to Louisville and passed through that area. The plant stood along the highway for miles. I haven't been back to Charlestown since then, because it was such a bad experience. I stopped for lunch at a mom-and-pop restaurant and should have left without ordering. The place looked unsanitary when I walked in, I don't think the waitress could read or write, and I could tell by the smell of the hamburger that it was cut with pork, and not too fresh pork at that - smelled like pigs. The little bit that I ate before I wised up was enough to make me sick later. Mean-crazy redneck drivers around there, too. I had stuff thrown at me and had people deliberately try to run me off the road. I barely dodged getting hit by a long mirror on a pickup. Might have been nice if that plant had blown up and taken the whole town with it.
October 1, 200717 yr I wouldn't touch much of it with a ten foot pole. Some of the buildings are so highly contaminated that burning them, on certain weekends when the wind is blowing in a certain direction, is the only remedy. Most are in excellent structural condition, with most being put into standby status in 1973. The power plants, for example, were mothballed around that time and have nay a scratch or structural deficiency within them; they were maintained until 1992 and could be reactivated in a few hours notice!
October 1, 200717 yr Now THAT is cool! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 1, 200717 yr Power Pack House (Building 221-3): These linear structures were served by a rail siding, and were connected to multi-story cylinder-shaped "rotation" houses via a conveyor. 6. These smaller carts collected whatever product came off of the conveyor, and were dumped into giant hoppers that were loaded onto the rail cars. 7. Box Store House (Building 223-8): Nothing more than warehouses with conveyor belts, the contents inside ranged from items labelled "Explosives" to "Radioactive." Sounds nifty! 8. Don't smoke! 9. Note the power lines. In some areas, the wires are dead -- cut, down, etc. In others, they are live. But looks can be deceiving. A maintenance man, who presumed several lines to be dead, was quite literally shocked when the lines were live... he survived thankfully, but you can't trust anything inside! More to come!
October 1, 200717 yr Vertical Dress House (Building 234-2): This was once used in the manufacture of black powder. 10. Vintage. There were some very nice handpainted signs elsewhere. Sulfuric Acid Concentration House (Building 303-2): 11. 12. Prepared for winter: thick coat and a radiator. Main Laboratory (Building 706-1) 13. 14. 15. Laboratory (Building 706-3) 16. It's no wonder why the grounds at the plant are so contaminated... More to come!
October 1, 200717 yr Air Test House: I'm not for sure why some buildings are given crazy, off-the-wall names like "Air Test House," but this small wooden structure held many vintage Plymouth locomotives! 17. Plymouth locomotives rest in excellent condition. These were constructed in Plymouth, Ohio by the Plymouth Locomotive Works. 18. ????? Firehouse: This was used until recently as a Charlestown fire station. 19. 20. Power Plant (Building 401-) 21. Propellent and Explosives area (new photos at bottom of gallery) 22. Power Plant (Building 401-1) 23. Cotton Dry House (Building 104-3): Used in the manufacture of black powder. 24. Nitrate houses on the left. Enjoy these photo sets! Main page of the ammunitions plant.
October 2, 200717 yr Excellent photography and a fascinating place! They must keep it pretty tightly secured, considering the absence of tagging and vandalism I'd expect in an industrial facility that's been inactive for so long. That set of Plymouth locomotives is remarkable. Those are a highly marketable commodity, as they're like fleas - you find them everywhere, and they're nearly indestructible. They're popular with tourist railroads because they're economical to operate and easy to maintain, and quite a few still work as industrial switchers in mining, quarrying, and heavy manufacturing. There's a side story that may be interesting to some. Plymouth was a successor corporation to Fate-Root-Heath Company. That company's predecessor, Fate Co., made a brief foray into heavy motor trucks and built one prototype automobile in the 1910s, but gave it up as the market for industrial locomotives grew. During the great depression, Fate-Root-Heath saw the locomotive business drop off sharply. Seeking a product to carry them through, they eventually came up with farm tractors. The Plymouth tractor line quickly evolved into a very solid, well-engineered product that offered quality and value and found a ready market. In the 1930s, I think, Chrysler Corporation took Fate-Root-Heath to court over the use of the name, Plymouth, on farm tractors. The one automobile built in 1910 with the Plymouth nameplate, before Chrysler Corporation even existed, gave legitimacy to Fate-Root-Heath's claim to the name, and Chrysler's lawyers were sent packing. Chrysler had to buy the rights to use the name, and Fate-Root-Heath renamed the tractor. From the beginning the company's engineers had used a silver paint that was eye-catching and rust-resistant and weathered well, and they regarded their tractor as king of its market niche, so they chose Silver King for the new name. Production of Silver King tractors continued until 1954. I had a little experience with one that my uncle owned, and it was everything the maker claimed; rugged, reliable, economical and operator-friendly. The first time I used it, I was suprised by how gutsy it was for its size. Larger, late-model Silver King. I've seen some of these in gray and some in silver, so I don't know whether there was a change or whether some restorers just got it wrong:
October 2, 200717 yr I thought that the Plymouth locomotive was created originally by Plymouth (Chrysler) as part of the war effort -- as many automobile factories were converted to create aircraft parts, and etc. right? I looked it up later and was proven wrong, but it is still a very interesting part of history. As for it being untouched, yes, it is graffiti free. Most of the buildings were put into standby in the 1970s (1971-73 seems to be the most prevailing date), and maintained so that they could be reused in a hours or days notice until 1992. There is very little rot inside these buildings and no major decay. There were some copper thieves only a few days before we came there, in one of the power plants, so it was still a crime scene investigation :( They were busted thankfully. The facility is still guarded with armed guards because they manufacture black powder on-site way back in the boondocks.
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