Power Plant Pinion Gears. Hagley Museum.
by Chris Kusik
Title
Power Plant Pinion Gears. Hagley Museum.
Artist
Chris Kusik
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
In 1802 a young French immigrant, E.I. du Pont, chose a forested site on the Brandywine River near Wilmington, Delaware, as the ideal location on which to build a high-technology manufactory
to produce explosive black powder. The power to drive these operations came from the waters of the Brandywine. Eventually the firm turned to steam engines toaugment the river's power in the dry summer months and hard winter freezes of the river. Later factory support expansions were entirely powered by steam engines. Here, too, the company took exceptional care to locate its engine and boiler houses far from the production facilities, long line shafts transmitted the power to where it was needed. Raw materials were transported on a narrow gauge railway network that laced back and forth up in the bluffs. Horses and men pulled the small freight cars on rails that were made of wood near the buildings, to prevent sparks. In later expansions, steam engines drove cable drums that pulled cars to the processing buildings higher on the bluffs.
Uploaded
July 29th, 2013
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