At first we didn’t notice this third compressor foundation, since we had actually climbed up out of the steam tunnel through its fly-wheel opening. But a closer look revealed the truth…

Lining both sids of the opening were several pairs of machine mounts, for what we concluded must of been a compressor. These, however, are of a different style then the previous two we encountered. This together with the odd orientation of the machine led us to believe it must have been a later addition, squeezed into a spot not originally designed for such a machine. But there happened to be more clues that furthered our case substantially.

These clues sat within that fly-wheel opening, in the form of metal stripping that outlined the opening. The previous two openings for those other compressors didn’t have this banding, which made us wonder why.

Dropping back down into the opening we found the answer. This beam – and several more like it – make their way through the concrete foundation. But they had all been cut off at the opening just like this one. This prompted me to form a theory.

When it became clear that a third compressor was necessary, the mine’s engineers had to find a space for it to sit inside the currently existing compressor building. Though they had the floor space for such a machine they still needed a fly-wheel opening and steam inlet. But cutting a large slot into the concrete foundation would have been expensive and time consuming. Lucky for them there already was a slot cut into the foundation – the steam inlet tunnel itself. So those crafty engineers simply cut a hole in the floor into the steam tunnel, one large enough to accommodate a compressor’s fly-wheel. And because that opening was within the already existing steam tunnel they had their inlet as well. Problem solved.

With all our attention being paid to those compressor foundations we had almost forgot perhaps the more impressive sight up on top of that foundation – the building itself. While the hoist end was missing its gabled wall, this side was completely intact in all its white washed glory. What was most amazing to me was how tall it was, standing a good dozen feet above our heads. The compressors in here would have hardly stood anywhere that high, so I have no clue why so much space was offered them. Perhaps it has something to do with heat dissipation, but I’m not sure these machines put off a huge amount of heat.

Unfortunately this gabled wall’s impressiveness might be short lived, if these large cracks forming along the building’s corner are any indication. While these cracks were present last time I visited the site (See here), they appear to have gotten slightly larger. I wonder how many more years this wall will stand before it too suffers the fate of its companion to the west and falls down?

Turning around we take one last look out across the rest of the massive complex. Just to our right was the remains of a doorway, which when the building was in operation would have led directly onto the main floor. Now with the floor gone it would lead to a quick drop down into a hole.

And finally we look out towards the hoist foundation ruins across the way, the one we had just bee crawling around. The large gap between it and the compressor foundation is a tad bit odd, and I’m not sure what originally called that space home. I suppose some type of equipment might have sat here, or hung down from the ceiling. I’m not sure, but once again it seems like a waste of space.

With that it was time to call it a day and make our way back out of the massive structure. As we made our way through the thick forest that surrounded it we wondered if the building would still be here years from now, or it too will succumb to the ravages of time and fall like so many others have. I guess we’ll have to wait and see….

The Mohawk No.6 surface plant lies on private property and is not open to the public