I took our family on a tour one weekend when the VMV locomotive rebuilding plant was going gangbusters. It was so awesome that I will never forget the way they had cranes that lifted entire locomotives. The diesel motors were being rebuilt and had huge pistons and valves. The traction motors were all being rebuilt and the generators and the entire locomotive had a new wiring harness installed. They used to rebuild all the Illinois Central Gulf locomotives. The place has only a small workforce there now. Very sad.
Any BITOG members ever work in a factory or manufacturing plant that’s now abandoned or defunct ?
- Thread starter Dave Hess
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Yes, ChiTDI, that industrial corridor from Gary, IN up to Chicago was magnificent. I worked at U.S. Steel Gary Works prior to college, but it is still there.
My dad worked for the Anderson Company in Gary, maker of ANCO wipers. ANCO, headed up by Mr. John Anderson, was one of those typical great companies with a rich history that went downhill after the original owner/president died. I have pics of my dad with Mr. Anderson.
https://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/john-w-anderson/
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/john-w-anderson
My dad worked for the Anderson Company in Gary, maker of ANCO wipers. ANCO, headed up by Mr. John Anderson, was one of those typical great companies with a rich history that went downhill after the original owner/president died. I have pics of my dad with Mr. Anderson.
https://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/john-w-anderson/
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/john-w-anderson
My first real job out of high school was at the Tappan factory in Dalton, Georgia in 1983. They had 4 or 5 assembly lines building Tappan microwave ovens. We also built the overhead microwaves for Roper ranges. It was a huge operation with a metal press shop, paint line, the assembly lines, a loading dock with trucks picking up finished ovens, a whole QA department and all the materials and parts that went along with the production. I started out there on third shift from 11:00 pm till 7:30 in the morning. I ran a huge hydraulic press that steam formed thousands of little polystyrene beads into the styrofoam packing materials for the microwave boxes.
At one time or another I worked every shift they had and on a bunch of different jobs on the lines and also worked one summer on third shift in the metal fab shop. That was interesting, it had all these different presses turning rolled steel into microwave chassis parts. We had a guy get his arm caught in one of the presses one night but that was the only bad accident I knew of there. I went back by there some time in the early 2000s, the factory was still there but had been closed, looked like for a very long time. The property and parking lot had been fenced off and there was no sign of life at all. I have no idea if anything is going on there now. I moved to Florida in 1991 and have not been back to Dalton in ages.
At one time or another I worked every shift they had and on a bunch of different jobs on the lines and also worked one summer on third shift in the metal fab shop. That was interesting, it had all these different presses turning rolled steel into microwave chassis parts. We had a guy get his arm caught in one of the presses one night but that was the only bad accident I knew of there. I went back by there some time in the early 2000s, the factory was still there but had been closed, looked like for a very long time. The property and parking lot had been fenced off and there was no sign of life at all. I have no idea if anything is going on there now. I moved to Florida in 1991 and have not been back to Dalton in ages.
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I worked for Whirlpool from 2014-2018 in quality control of their refrigerators.
I've never worked in a big factory or anything like that, but a lot of my ex work places have been repurposed, particularly service stations. The place where I served my apprenticeship over 50 years ago was a service station and workshop, a panel shop next door, and a large woodworking factory behind. In the '80's or early '90's it must've been bowled over, but rebuild with new buildings in almost the same location, doing the same things. Now all the buildings are joined...you park under the old service station canopy, and inside is a large used machinery company. Somewhere I still sometimes visit...to look at machinery...and remember what I did here so many years ago.
Shortly after high school, as a 17 yr. old, I worked for at a very large machining co. Near Reading, Pa. Known locally as Textile Machine Works but actually owned by North American Rockwell, They did foundry casting as well at a separate location. That was in 1969. Some of the contracts were for NASA. I was only there for the Summer. Not sure when they closed down completely, perhaps late 70's. I believe that most of there buildings are still there, repurposed into gyms and offices.
Next to them was the very large Berkshire knitting mills. They went down in the early to mid '70's. A large corp. bought them and sold off all the massive machinery for scrap and reuse in China. Then turned 3 large and several small buildings in to the Outlet capital of the world. That lasted about 30+ years, until they closed. Many of the buildings were torn down recently. What was left was rented as office space or restaurants.
Other large local plants that went down were the Dana Parrish Press which made HD pickup chassis for GM for many years. They went down about mid-late 90's. GM went to another frame builder that used hydra forming. Not sure on their buildings. Also the Western Electric/ATT,Bell labs, etc. plant went down approximately the same time or a bit earlier. Some years later their works were converted into an expo center, That wasn't too successful.
Next to them was the very large Berkshire knitting mills. They went down in the early to mid '70's. A large corp. bought them and sold off all the massive machinery for scrap and reuse in China. Then turned 3 large and several small buildings in to the Outlet capital of the world. That lasted about 30+ years, until they closed. Many of the buildings were torn down recently. What was left was rented as office space or restaurants.
Other large local plants that went down were the Dana Parrish Press which made HD pickup chassis for GM for many years. They went down about mid-late 90's. GM went to another frame builder that used hydra forming. Not sure on their buildings. Also the Western Electric/ATT,Bell labs, etc. plant went down approximately the same time or a bit earlier. Some years later their works were converted into an expo center, That wasn't too successful.
The die cast mold shop I served my apprenticeship in, and worked 16 years for, is now an electrical supply warehouse. McCulloch Corp. is / was a large 7 acre site that included a die cast facility. A large part of it is now being used by Sterilite Corporation as a warehouse. They produce a lot of those plastic storage bins you see in the housewares department at Wal-Mart and Dollar General.
I didn't work at this place, but it was one of my accounts when I worked for an electrical-supplies wholesaler: the Volvo bus plant in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Originally Volvo chose the site in the mid–1970s to build cars, but decided buses were a safer bet. In 1986 production ended. Only a few of the buildings planned for the site were ever built. A test track and other amenities were also never built. I visited the account as it was in the process of closing.
Volvo had a lot of empty land there. Eventually everything was sold.
The old main assembly building was renovated and another company uses it today. I think the other buildings were torn down. All that empty land was completely developed by around 2000, mainly with shopping centers and office buildings. There is no trace of the former Volvo presence today on that land, except that Volvo Penta's US headquarters is still on what had been the southwest corner. A main road nearby is still named Volvo Parkway.
Another account I had also closed in 1986: the GE TV plant in Suffolk, Virginia, which had been in operation for 20 years. GE briefly used the property around 1990 for other purposes. The main building still stands and another company uses it. Much of the nearby area has been developed as well.
A rail spur had serviced the TV plant. In late 1986 I saw what must have been the final locomotive maneuvering on that track, probably making sure no rail cars had been left on the property. The spur tracks were removed soon after, as a freeway was being built that cut off the right of way, and the main line in Chesapeake for the spur (Atlantic Coast Line) was also being abandoned.
Originally Volvo chose the site in the mid–1970s to build cars, but decided buses were a safer bet. In 1986 production ended. Only a few of the buildings planned for the site were ever built. A test track and other amenities were also never built. I visited the account as it was in the process of closing.
Volvo had a lot of empty land there. Eventually everything was sold.
The old main assembly building was renovated and another company uses it today. I think the other buildings were torn down. All that empty land was completely developed by around 2000, mainly with shopping centers and office buildings. There is no trace of the former Volvo presence today on that land, except that Volvo Penta's US headquarters is still on what had been the southwest corner. A main road nearby is still named Volvo Parkway.
Another account I had also closed in 1986: the GE TV plant in Suffolk, Virginia, which had been in operation for 20 years. GE briefly used the property around 1990 for other purposes. The main building still stands and another company uses it. Much of the nearby area has been developed as well.
A rail spur had serviced the TV plant. In late 1986 I saw what must have been the final locomotive maneuvering on that track, probably making sure no rail cars had been left on the property. The spur tracks were removed soon after, as a freeway was being built that cut off the right of way, and the main line in Chesapeake for the spur (Atlantic Coast Line) was also being abandoned.
The base (Kaserne) where I was stationed in Germany in the late 80's early 90's is now a school for the gifted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landesgymnasium_für_Hochbegabte_Schwäbisch_Gmünd
That seems to take up 1/3rd of the former Kaserne. The other 2/3rds is something called Kolping-Bildungszentrum Ostwürttemberg which seems to house an Adult Education Center and Universitat Park, an urban park.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landesgymnasium_für_Hochbegabte_Schwäbisch_Gmünd
That seems to take up 1/3rd of the former Kaserne. The other 2/3rds is something called Kolping-Bildungszentrum Ostwürttemberg which seems to house an Adult Education Center and Universitat Park, an urban park.
For a summer job I worked at a plant which built differentials for semi-trucks. Other than painting I wasn't very good at it.
One night I broke about $2,000 worth of cutting teeth. We had 4 machines which cut the teeth for ring gears. The ring gears were all different sizes and each machine was programmed to cut one particular size. Sometimes the wrong blanks would get delivered and I was supposed to check serial numbers. Well I missed one (Looking back I think I suffered from mild dyslexia) and snapped off a bunch of teeth. Lucky for me I stopped the machine before it had a chance to damage the $20k cutting head.
My other screw up were the washers in pinion gears. This station was at the very beginning of the line where you would assemble trays of pinion gears. Each tray had a unique size and was about 5 ft square and each gear had to have a washer slide on the back side of the gear. The washer came in a bag and would routinely stick together from whatever lubricant they were packed in. If you double stacked a washer it would seize the gears when the guy down the line assembled the cage and he'd get pissed off because he'd have to re-open it and fix it. I felt horrible when that happened but they were hard to see.
At that point in time I was happy to be going to college and knew I never wanted to do shift work especially the second shift (1530 - 2330 hrs).
One night I broke about $2,000 worth of cutting teeth. We had 4 machines which cut the teeth for ring gears. The ring gears were all different sizes and each machine was programmed to cut one particular size. Sometimes the wrong blanks would get delivered and I was supposed to check serial numbers. Well I missed one (Looking back I think I suffered from mild dyslexia) and snapped off a bunch of teeth. Lucky for me I stopped the machine before it had a chance to damage the $20k cutting head.
My other screw up were the washers in pinion gears. This station was at the very beginning of the line where you would assemble trays of pinion gears. Each tray had a unique size and was about 5 ft square and each gear had to have a washer slide on the back side of the gear. The washer came in a bag and would routinely stick together from whatever lubricant they were packed in. If you double stacked a washer it would seize the gears when the guy down the line assembled the cage and he'd get pissed off because he'd have to re-open it and fix it. I felt horrible when that happened but they were hard to see.
At that point in time I was happy to be going to college and knew I never wanted to do shift work especially the second shift (1530 - 2330 hrs).
I was a contractor for GM in the late 80's, working in several different plants. Most of those buildings were demolished many years ago.
I also worked in an 1200+ employee factory before that. The company still had the previous, de-commissioned factory in town. Occasionally I'd have to go there to inspect returned components that were kept there. Being in an old, dark, barren factory by yourself is a bit spooky.
I also worked in an 1200+ employee factory before that. The company still had the previous, de-commissioned factory in town. Occasionally I'd have to go there to inspect returned components that were kept there. Being in an old, dark, barren factory by yourself is a bit spooky.
Yes. Old curtain mill, building was built in 1911 and is on the NRHP, but now vacant I believe. Rolls of fabric, trim and thread came in and fabric went to the top floor where it was cut. Cut panels went down and down to the edging, trimming, etc. floors then packaged and sent to the docks for labeling and shipping.
The college help did almost every job (except the piece work, unions prevented us from that IIRC) covering the full timers' Summer vacations. Being somewhat mechanically inclined, I learned to drive a forklift and the yard dog ancient Mack. Got to clean out a part of the seldom visited basement for a Graveyard Shift experience.
Learned a lot, in every respect. Great experience, met some good and not so good folks, vast majority were great but some resented us and were a bit hostile to the college kids. Irritating then, looking back I can understand. Certainly learned why I wanted to stay in school, and also the value of hard work whatever one is doing.
The college help did almost every job (except the piece work, unions prevented us from that IIRC) covering the full timers' Summer vacations. Being somewhat mechanically inclined, I learned to drive a forklift and the yard dog ancient Mack. Got to clean out a part of the seldom visited basement for a Graveyard Shift experience.
Learned a lot, in every respect. Great experience, met some good and not so good folks, vast majority were great but some resented us and were a bit hostile to the college kids. Irritating then, looking back I can understand. Certainly learned why I wanted to stay in school, and also the value of hard work whatever one is doing.
DeWalt factory in Easton, MD.
In college I worked for overnight security and then would space my morning classes out so I’d be done by noon. Didn’t hurt me much in the sleep department.
One of the places I covered was the Sealtest/Good Humor/Breyers ice cream plant, located in Framingham, MA, overlooking the Mass Pike.
It was neat to see how ice cream was mass-produced behind the scenes. Giant stainless steel vats mixed by rotating arms, and generally extremely cold production rooms.
The most interesting part was the cafeteria.
Employees and contractors were allowed to partake from literally an entire wall of giant freezers of ice cream. The real treats were the ones not legal to sell in the US due to various additives or coloring. Some were fantastic, and bound for Canada if memory serves.
I believe that plant was bulldozed at least ten years ago after being shut down for quite a while. Very good memories.
One of the places I covered was the Sealtest/Good Humor/Breyers ice cream plant, located in Framingham, MA, overlooking the Mass Pike.
It was neat to see how ice cream was mass-produced behind the scenes. Giant stainless steel vats mixed by rotating arms, and generally extremely cold production rooms.
The most interesting part was the cafeteria.
Employees and contractors were allowed to partake from literally an entire wall of giant freezers of ice cream. The real treats were the ones not legal to sell in the US due to various additives or coloring. Some were fantastic, and bound for Canada if memory serves.
I believe that plant was bulldozed at least ten years ago after being shut down for quite a while. Very good memories.
27 Years at the Champion Paper Mill in Sheldon, TX. Built in the late 60's, shut down in 2003. I was one of the last to leave. Spent many millions on recycling, only for that to fail as well. An interesting note was all the cash that came in with the recycled paper, some times we would find hundreds, even thousands of dollars. They would come out in the screening process along with tv remotes (if you ever lost one now you know where it went) and all kinds of junk. Also I found some bags of staples, and the instructions with them said they were a sample pack. Said bags would be added to a cement truck upon arrival, mixed, then poured into forms instead of rebar. Showed pics of a Chrysler Plant foundation made that way.
Thanks to all of you like me who replied to this thread and whom also toiled at the various manufacturing jobs.
Manufacturing is what made our country strong and what also provided many Americans to step to the middle class. With the COVID pandemic, and the reality of component and materials shortages caused by foreign located just in time supply chains, it would be great if we could see many manufacturing jobs return to USA....but I think that is only wishful thinking on my part.
I hope that our country can continue to adjust to the world economic climate so that my children's children will still have access to high paying jobs, and as rich as a lifestyle that most of us enjoy as in comparison to the rest of the world.
Thanks for listening to my editorial remarks, as I am not politician and I have never even played one on TV....LOL.
Manufacturing is what made our country strong and what also provided many Americans to step to the middle class. With the COVID pandemic, and the reality of component and materials shortages caused by foreign located just in time supply chains, it would be great if we could see many manufacturing jobs return to USA....but I think that is only wishful thinking on my part.
I hope that our country can continue to adjust to the world economic climate so that my children's children will still have access to high paying jobs, and as rich as a lifestyle that most of us enjoy as in comparison to the rest of the world.
Thanks for listening to my editorial remarks, as I am not politician and I have never even played one on TV....LOL.
I remembered another good one today. There was a massive Philip Morris cigarette plant in Concord, NC. It was already closed permanently when I moved to the area in 2006, but when it was built in 1983 it was a huge investment. I'm kind of surprised they went all out on it because surely they saw some writing on the wall by the 80s, but maybe not. Maybe it was early 80s arrogance or something, but they only got about 20 years out of this huge production and office complex that was still in excellent condition when it was shuttered for good. It was used for some movie sets and stuff, but was ultimately demolished completely. I guess nobody could use the hard to subdivide structure as is. It was a company showcase in its heyday for sure..
escalators in the office areas for that 80s shopping mall feel, and massive production areas.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZjxCbzsV17RLdWF36
https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/latest-news/article224633860.html
https://www.wfae.org/business/2021-...llip-morris-site-in-concord-creating-413-jobs
escalators in the office areas for that 80s shopping mall feel, and massive production areas.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZjxCbzsV17RLdWF36
https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/latest-news/article224633860.html
https://www.wfae.org/business/2021-...llip-morris-site-in-concord-creating-413-jobs
