TIL the old power plant museum in St. Louis still has a working Babcock & Wilcox boiler from 1923 on display.

I was there with my family last weekend and got to talking with the docent, who was a retired fitter. He showed me the original rivet patterns and pointed out where they had to do a major tube replacement back in the '70s. It's one thing to read about this stuff, but seeing the scale and craftsmanship up close, still holding pressure for demonstrations, is something else. Has anyone else been to a site like that where the old iron just makes you stop and stare?

2 comments

2 Comments

gray_walker498d ago

Wow, that's amazing it still holds pressure. I read an article once about the last crew that operated a similar boiler in a Philadelphia plant before it shut down. They talked about the sound it made, a deep hum you felt in your chest, and how you had to listen to it all shift to know it was happy. It's a totally lost kind of knowledge. Your story about the rivet patterns and the tube work really brings that home. It's a real piece of living history, not just a static display.

the_robert8d ago

You know, I always thought these old machines were just big dumb hunks of metal. But hearing how that fitter pointed out the specific repairs and the rivet work? That got me. It's not just a thing, it's a record of all the hands that kept it going. Makes you see the skill in it, not just the rust.