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Iron Giants

J

jhefner

Charter Member
I wasn't going to share this originally with this group. But, the thread on technology and the internet making us more stupid struck a chord with me -- this is the kind of research I do on the web on a regular basis. So for those of you tired of text messaging and modern technology, wash your eyes out with this...

In the southern United States in 1800s-mid 1900s, cotton was king. It was everywhere, and in demand by the cotton mills in the northeast and and in England.

But coming from the field, a bale weighing 500 lbs was "fluffy" with a dimension of 4 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet. You could pile this up to the hurricane deck of a river steamboat, but you couldn't fill a steamship or boxcar to full capacity.

cotton%20steamboat.jpg


So, the steam cotton compress was invented. It would take these bales, and squeeze them down to 8-10 inches thick. You then load the hold of a steamship or boxcar up to it's maximum load.

I have found several of these compresses around the state. But, just last week, I purchased a book that showed the Cleburne Compress in the 1800s, and gave the street it was on. So, I decided to drive down that street, and see if I could spot it.

Sure enough, I found it trying to hide in a grove of trees.



Here is a better view of the 110+ year old giant. It is 35 feet tall, and weighs 135 tons. Its 8-foot-diameter piston has a 10-foot stroke. And, it's very size is the reason why it was not scrapped.



Here is what a compress building looks like when it is intact. This one is in McKinney, Texas; the compress is under the tall coupola, while the boiler with it's stack is in a seperate room next door. Cotton was stored in the rest of the warehouse:



Now, this spare part for the compress was sitting outside. The owner of the compress told me he had a scrap dealer come by to haul it off. But, he took one look at the piece, and told the owner that it would take more cutting torch gas and diesel fuel to cut it up and haul it off than the scrap metal was worth. And that is why many of them are still with us. They are "too big to scrap."



This is one of a pair of compresses that were left behind when a compress building was demolished on Galveston Island. I wondered what they were going to do with them; I now realize "nothing", because they are "too big to scrap". Both survived Hurricane Ike unscathed; the intact compress in the Moody Compress next door had it's smokestack cap knocked askew.



So these are the "iron giants" of the southeast United States. If you drive through a smaller town, you may see either a compress building, or even a derelict compress sitting in the weeds. It is unlikely you will see them anywhere else in the world; they were a product of their region. If you would like to read more about them, you can check out my webshots album at:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/578047488CEERkL

-James
 
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Now THAT is interesting! Never knew they existed, although their presence -- then and now -- is totally logical. Many thanks for the fascinating insight, James!
 
The (formerly) lost steam engines of Roanoke VA were not exactly in the "too big to scrap" category but lack of interest in scrapping them may have helped to save them for 60 years. They've come out of the underbrush and have a new lease on life as static displays. :)
http://lostengines.railfan.net/
Some of the concrete coaling towers still survive, probably due to the railroads not wanting to spend the bucks on demolition.
 
Thanks for the insight on all this. Where I grew up (North Augusta, SC) we were taught the history of the cotton industry in our area, and most importantly for our area was the invention of the cotton gin. Was a lot of history in that town, and still is today. Like your photos though much of it is sitting there rotting away. They did manage to build a new museum downtown though, and that now houses the once outdoor steam engine they had. The DC-3 that once was displayed outside the old Augusta, GA museum though is gone. I asked a curator one day what become it and they said it got sold off to some people that wanted to restore it. Doubt that ever happened though.Old steam locamotives are fascinating as well. I myself am a fan of the Union Pacific Challenger class, but unfortunately there are none preserved on the Eastern coast for me to visit. Thank god for the discovery and history channels.

EDIT: Something I remembered after the fact. For those of us that like steam locomotives and older railroad history there used to be a place that housed live steam engines called Steam Town USA. Always wanted to visit it in PA, but here is the link. http://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm
 
Roadburner440 said:
Thanks for the insight on all this. Where I grew up (North Augusta, SC) we were taught the history of the cotton industry in our area, and most importantly for our area was the invention of the cotton gin. Was a lot of history in that town, and still is today. Like your photos though much of it is sitting there rotting away. They did manage to build a new museum downtown though, and that now houses the once outdoor steam engine they had. The DC-3 that once was displayed outside the old Augusta, GA museum though is gone. I asked a curator one day what become it and they said it got sold off to some people that wanted to restore it. Doubt that ever happened though.Old steam locamotives are fascinating as well. I myself am a fan of the Union Pacific Challenger class, but unfortunately there are none preserved on the Eastern coast for me to visit. Thank god for the discovery and history channels.

EDIT: Something I remembered after the fact. For those of us that like steam locomotives and older railroad history there used to be a place that housed live steam engines called Steam Town USA. Always wanted to visit it in PA, but here is the link. http://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm
Click to expand...


Go to Cass,WV and you can ride the steam engines up the mountain.:jump:
 
That's some cool stuff James.

I too am sort of stuck in the era of those pieces of equipment. Fascinating.

:applause:
 
Thank you all for you kind words. :wiggle:

Now, Google Street view is not without controversy. But, it is a perfect tool for hunting down objects like these without burning a lot of gas. That is how I found this compress, at 1409 Lee Street in Greenville, Texas (coupola and smokestack in the left background.) You look along the railroad tracks for a long warehouse with a coupla on top, then go to street view for a closer look. According to a note I found on the web; "It is in a state of disrepair, but the old cotton compress in Greenville still stands, a daily reminder of the time when cotton flowed through the veins of the people of Hunt County like blood."



And here is a Google Street view of the compress in Hillsboro, Texas; I actually have a picture of it somewhere, but can't find it right now. I also went in and talked to current owner of the compress building about taking a picture of the compress itself. He said no, but explained that removing the compress itself would entail shutting down traffic on the nearby rail line, and hiring a big enough crane to lift the pieces over the tracks to the other side. The whole process would be too expensive, so once again, the compress is still there, the rest of building being used as a warehouse. Hence, it was "too big to scrap."



Here are some more; thanks to the magic of Google Earth. You can click on each of the locations, if you want to see for yourself:

US 82, Ralls, Texas



Schulenburg Cotton Compress, James and Main Sts., Schulenburg, Texas


Power Ave. Warehouse, 434 E. Power Ave, Victoria, Texas


National Compress Company Building, Matthews St, Waxahachie, TX


Here is my photograph of the Vernon compress. Notice that the boiler room (under the smokestack) was a seperate structure made out of cinder blocks or concrete, while the rest of the compress building is conventional warehouse construction. This was to prevent an accident involving the steam boilers from burning down the entire building and the thousands of bales of cotton it might contain.

Memphis Cotton Compress, 820 Lucille St, Memphis, Texas


Could you see a compress from arial photographs if the building is scrapped? Well I found a Flicker website with excellent pictures of the compress in La Grange, TX; as the compress building was being demolished:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stall/sets/72157594195517706/?page=3

Looking at it on Google Earth, you can see down into the "cup" of the compress' steam cylinder, and see it's shadow, as it sits exposed in the open now. Yep, too big to scrap.

compress site, 910 E La Fayette St, La Grange, TX

Finally, to round out our whirlwind tour of compresses across Texas for now, here is my picture of the one in Vernon; once again with it's substantial boiler room.

Vernon Compress Co., 100 US Highway 287 E, Vernon, Texas


Would you all like to go on a "virtual field trip" to a compress, and take a look around inside?
 
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