This expedition was made possible with the generous support of Paul V. of Studios of America Corporation.

1st Expedition

After meeting Paul in the evening several photos were taken inside the perimeter. Huge vents on the south side of the plant were partially demolished. A short tour of the plants vintage machines and fixtures was a point of interest.

2nd Expedition

A nice sunny day, proper safety equipment and several rolls of film made for a great start. Arrived at 11 am along with several architects visiting the site. After donning safety equipment a short tour was given. Fearsome banging and crashing in a far section of the plant announced that serious construction work was in progress. As we approached the south side a large funnel like object about 2-3 stories high lay on it’s side while gleaming in the sun. Its past use was later explained as a storage, funnel and transport system for waste coal. Waste coal would likely be shipped to the Leslie Spit, an artificially created from landfill.

The outside buildings housed some interesting apparatus, however the interior was just as impressive. Main attractions of the Hearn Plant were the coal chutes, turbine fans on the third floor, and the second floor electrical control room. The great hall where the turbines were kept was also impressive because of its scale. Attractions on the roof were vintage boilers, valve controllers, coal conveyers and the Buffalo Vanexial Fan systems. I noticed that Buffalo Vanexial fan systems on the site were identical to those found at the Fisher 21 Body Plant in Detroit. R. L Hearn’s heating and cooling system was made by the Canadian division of Buffalo Forge Co. (*1) The Buffalo Forge Co had a famous employee, in it’s drafting department, Willis Carrier who started the Carrier Engineering Corp. in 1915. His most notable invention was the air conditioner. It only came to my attention after seeing the name at two unrelated industrial sites.

After exploring the upper floors I returned to the second floor take pictures of the control room. Vintage bright green electric control panels made by General Electric filled the entire room. Each panel was filled with various dials and gauges. To the uninitiated such as myself, the controls seemed like a random jumble of signal paths. Vintage electric panel controls from the 1950’s made the control room seem like a set for an old sci-fi film. Valves, dials and gauges were covered in dust along with old manuals, binders and loose papers with printed schematic diagrams. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to bring my flash. With long exposures, no flash or tripod, it’s a miracle that any of the control room pictures turned out. Exploration concluded in the early afternoon and I left satisfied with two full rolls of film.

References

A45-3, A45-4, A45-5 Archives