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Report - - Electrical Development Co. / HEPCO (Niagara Falls, Canada - April 2014) | European and International Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Electrical Development Co. / HEPCO (Niagara Falls, Canada - April 2014)

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jerm IX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
For the full write up and more photos check the blog post....

jermalism: Abandonnment Issues: Electrical Development Co. / HEPCO

This history lesson was written by my friend terapr0, who along with his wife, explored the building with my wife and I on Easter weekened...


"Set well back from the garish hustle of the Niagara Falls tourist area lies an unassuming brick building. Looking tired from decades of neglect, the casual observer wouldn’t be blamed for thinking it was just another empty building, in an area rife with derelict structures. There are no signs or headstones to tell you what this building was, when it was built or how it played a pivotal role in the development of modern society as we know it today. Like so many other historically significant buildings in Niagara Falls, this monument to human achievement and innovation has been forgotten.

Constructed sometime between 1903-1904, the transformer house of the Electrical Development Company was the apparatus through which electricity produced at the main generating station could be stepped up in voltage and transmitted to markets as far away as Toronto. What seems commonplace now, was actually a marvel of technical ingenuity at the time – humans had only just discovered and begun to perfect the generation and transmission of AC power, and the plant of the Electrical Development Company was on the forefront of this technical revolution.

Connected to the main power station by 4 underground conduits, the building was designed to take the electricity from the plants massive generators, channel it through fifteen oil-immersed, water-cooled 2,670kw transformers, where it would be stepped up to 40,000, 50,000 or 60,000 volts for long distance transmission. Once stepped up to a suitable voltage, the power was routed through porcelain bushings at the rear of the building where it joined the long-distance transmission line constructed by the Toronto and Niagara Power Company. Until this point in history, it was only possible to transmit electricity short distances, and at relatively low voltages. Through the pioneering work of the famed inventor and physicist Nikola Tesla, companies like the Electrical Development Co. were some of the first to experiment with these exciting new technologies on a grand scale.

The next time you turn on your TV or flip a light switch, stop to think for a minute about that electricity, where it came from, and how it got there. It’s an incredible story with many chapters and many players, but if you trace it back to the beginning you’ll find yourself at buildings like this at Niagara Falls. Although I doubt anything meaningful will ever be done to preserve this building, or the actual generating stations themselves, I hope that through my photos and words you can come to understand at least a bit about them, and why they mean so much to me."

-terapr0

On to some photos...

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jerm IX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thanks ASOM, it sure was. Being right up above Niagara Falls exploring was hella rad.
 

jerm IX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thanks for the love. The tailrace has been explored by a friend but soon after a ton of new cameras were installed.
 
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