Late-Mid 20th century chemical plants

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm working on a project with my dad and am looking for some good references for late-mid 20th century Chemical plants.

My goal is to find something mid-sized that receives inbound chemicals (in tank cars or box cars) and coal loads (for a power house) and ships out product in boxcars.

I'm not trying to be 100% prototypically accurate, but want to capture the flavor of a real facility. It'd be nice to know what a place actually made, and see how it all looked (and to see what details were hanging around).

I'm pulling my general inspiration from the Rhom & Haas plant my grandfather worked at in Philly, but am hoping to do something on a smaller scale.









Anyone have any good recommendations for other places to look for inspiration?

[C855B]

Though this is a current (Google) satellite shot, the basic plant has been around since the mid-50's: https://goo.gl/maps/wN2nr9GPqhx

This is (or was) a Monsanto chemicals plant, so you name the poison, it was and is probably made there. Location is "Alorton", near East St. Louis, but the village was originally named "Alcoa", after the aluminum processing plant that used to be there.

Your R&H plant seems to be mostly pre-WW II in origin. The elevated pipelines everywhere are a hoot.

[sirenwerks]

Is the siding on the side of that building in the last pic corrugated steel? Curious....

[muktown128]

The PPG plant I work at in Oak Creek, WI was built in 1974 and had 3 tracks off the Milwaukee Road / SOO / CP mainline.  Two of the tracks entered the receiving warehouse where boxcars of raw materials could be unloaded.  These same two tracks, along with a third track also had a platform for loading tank cars of finished product.  I don't remember if the tracks in the warehouse were still being used for incoming shipments when I started back in '89.  I believe the loading platforms for tank cars were still being used into the early 2000's, since I remember seeing tank cars spotted under the platforms.  Unfortunately, none of the tracks are being used anymore.  The warehouse tracks were filled in to create more storage / dock floor space over the years and the tank car loading platforms were taken down a few years ago during an expansion project.

Prior to opening this plant, PPG had a plant just south of downtown Milwaukee that dated back to the late 1800's.

[Ntrainz1]

small map of plant

https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/1g05fc46t/viewer/9z903080m

[Philip H]

Baton Rouge has tons of plants, and most date to just after WW2.

Exxon Mobil Plastics:  https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5526811,-91.1827515,930m/data=!3m1!1e3

Deltech:  https://www.google.com/maps/@30.5532869,-91.2026317,465m/data=!3m1!1e3

St Gabriel Chemical complex:  https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2488552,-91.0898747,1317m/data=!3m1!1e3

[C855B]

Thinking about it especially given our mid-century examples, Ed's parameter for wanting inbound coal loads to stoke a power or heating plant would put it pretty firmly pre-WW II. Natural gas was the near-universal industrial heat source after the war.

Ed?

[Philip H]

Thinking about it especially given our mid-century examples, Ed's parameter for wanting inbound coal loads to stoke a power or heating plant would put it pretty firmly pre-WW II. Natural gas was the near-universal industrial heat source after the war.

Ed?

In my part of the world Calcined Petroleum Coke is definitely an outbound load . . . .

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Thinking about it especially given our mid-century examples, Ed's parameter for wanting inbound coal loads to stoke a power or heating plant would put it pretty firmly pre-WW II. Natural gas was the near-universal industrial heat source after the war.

Ed?

I guess that's a good point. So yeah, I'm definitely looking for a pre-war plant still around in the 60s or 70s.

[learmoia]

Was that a pair of Plymouth MTD Switchers in the last photo?

I had never seen one in use let alone a pair of them..

~Ian

[basementcalling]

Look no further than Hopewell, VA. Several old plant sites that probably fit your bill.


https://www.google.com/maps/@37.2948682,-77.2726081,2186m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en


You could also look to the DuPont plant in Waynesboro, VA.

[LN2800]

How about Ciba-Geigy in NJ

[DKS]

I'd have a look at Paulsboro, NJ:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/paulsboro+nj+chemical+plant/@39.829423,-75.2260311,11z/data=!3m1!4b1

Lots of pre-war history there, and still a lot of rail action today (not to mention some of the most polluted areas in the country).

[Mark5]

You could smell this place for miles, only recently converted from coal:

https://www.roanoke.com/business/news/giles_county/celanese-plant-in-giles-county-completes-conversion-to-boilers-fueled/article_94b6215e-f50b-54d9-88dc-28d8a442f3d3.html

Alas, this place is kinda large.

Mark

[muktown128]

How about Ciba-Geigy in NJ

Do you mean the plant in Toms River that used to be called Toms River Chemical or a different plant?