Georgetown Steam Plant
Saturday I finally got around to visiting the Georgetown Steam Plant, active from 1906 to 1964 and now a underfunded and underpublicized museum in the industrial area south of Seattle. I had never heard of it until about a month ago, after 9 years of rather geeky living in the area. It seems to be a carefully guarded secret of the local steam engine crowd, and they don't make it particularly user friendly.
'Museum' is a slightly misleading term. There aren't any displays, and the only pamphlets available are the 1980 dedication program designating it as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, and a 4 year old copy of 'Turbine Times', a local steam enthusiast newletter. The entire facility is open, with only some of the most precarious catwalks labeled as authorized personnel only. And the only guide, at least when we were there, was a rather quirky caretaker. He was extremely knowledgeable, however, and for once I forced myself to be social in spite of myself. I was rewarded with a very thorough personal tour.
( Description and pics here )
'Museum' is a slightly misleading term. There aren't any displays, and the only pamphlets available are the 1980 dedication program designating it as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark, and a 4 year old copy of 'Turbine Times', a local steam enthusiast newletter. The entire facility is open, with only some of the most precarious catwalks labeled as authorized personnel only. And the only guide, at least when we were there, was a rather quirky caretaker. He was extremely knowledgeable, however, and for once I forced myself to be social in spite of myself. I was rewarded with a very thorough personal tour.
( Description and pics here )