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The Canadian province of British Columbia is littered with the remains of dead and nearly-dead heavy industries. The mining, logging, and fishing booms of the early part of the 20th century are no more. Many very large towns have been completely abandoned, almost over night. For a long time now, I've had in mind a project where I'd travel around and explore these town sites. This summer I had a chance to kick off the project. By starting this thread I'm hoping that others will share their photos of ghost towns or abandoned buildings. I'll start with Ocean Falls... The town of Ocean Falls sits a few km off the Canadian central west coast. A milling town (at one time the largest mill in BC, I think), its population peaked in the 50s with a few thousand people. By the 70s it was dying and by the 90s it was all but abandoned. When I visited this summer, I believe the population was 23. It still has a functioning post office. Despite being on the mainland, the only way to Ocean Falls is by sea or by air. We chose air. This is our parking spot, sitting in front of the Martin Inn and the Co-Op.  IMG_4514.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr Ocean Falls, "Home of the Rain People", gets over 4 METERS (157 inches) of rain a year, so we really lucked out with the weather. I'm going to try and limit my photos to just a few per area that we explored. If anyone is interested there's more on my flickr photostream. Rot fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Nov 24, 2013 |
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Nov 24, 2013 14:12
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The most natural place to start was the Martin Inn: IMG_4338.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4350.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4382.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4421.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4426.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4405.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4343.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr Something I didn't know until afterwards, was that my grandfather used to work at the mill in Ocean Falls, and stayed at the Inn for months at a time. He had all sorts of great stories, such as the Welshman with a beautiful singing voice, and getting hustled by a cross-eyed pool shark. Mold and asbestos eventually drove us out into the open air...
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Nov 24, 2013 14:16
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Looking back down the street: IMG_4437.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr To the right, around the corner, is where the helicopter is parked. A gigantic office building. We couldn't find a way through the bushes to get inside.  IMG_4444.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr BC Hydro has a massive dam project here. It used to provide power for the mill, now the facilities sit mothballed, apparently ready to go into action if required. This is the old turbine house:  IMG_4439.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr Up the hill, looking back down into town. The Inn is the building poking up out of the trees.  IMG_4464.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Nov 24, 2013 14:22
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The dam. Some maintenance was being done on it. IMG_4458.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr The lake on top of the dam  IMG_4463.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr Looking back over the dam towards town  IMG_4470.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Nov 24, 2013 14:25
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Exhausted from doing battle with horse flies as big as your fist, we headed back into town, to check out the residential area. It was amazing to walk down the street and imagine how everything must have looked several decades ago.  IMG_4500.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4498.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4494.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4484.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_4479.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr And that's it! Unfortunately, we never did get to the mill. By the time we walked through town, clouds were gathering and the pilot was concerned about getting weathered in.
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Nov 24, 2013 14:32
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These are phenomenal and I'd love to hear any more stories you have. E: I was on vacation in the West Indies and came across an abandoned K Club resort. I'll post pictures from it when I'm not exhausted.
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Nov 26, 2013 06:17
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DJExile posted:These are phenomenal and I'd love to hear any more stories you have. Thanks for the feedback. While this isn't a new project for me, I don't have a tonne of material since often getting to these places is difficult. And...you know....it takes effort and stuff and sometimes I find it way easier to stay at home, drink beer, and watch movies. The goal of creating this thread is to get me off my rear end. And by all means, share your stuff! I don't want this thread to be a dumping ground for just my nonsense.
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Nov 26, 2013 06:29
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Here's an old one. Sometime during the beginning of World War 2, a gun battery was built near the coastal town of Prince Rupert, on Barrett Point. During it's operational days, it was considered a pretty major part of the defense of northern Canada and Alaska. Wikipedia tells me that it featured about half a dozen 6" guns for anti-ship and a few anti-aircraft weapons as well. A very short drive from town, the fort itself is still somewhat difficult to get to. Expect plenty of scrambling up steep hills in dense forest. Bring a machete and very sturdy boots. Keep an eye out for bears and accept your fate of being eaten alive by insects. Don't drop your fancy new L lens into the mud! (  )By the end of the war, everything was moved out. Here's what the fort looked like last summer. There was a network of tunnels that connected the guns to the various support bunkers. Unfortunately we didn't get to go through the tunnels, as pretty much everything was full of knee deep muck and it was all too dark and scary.  bunker entrance by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  gun placement by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  bunker by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  bunker by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  bunker by Brian.M.K, on Flickr  IMG_1885.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Nov 26, 2013 07:07
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Off the mountain, around the corner, and looking back over the water toward the fort, this is what you see: These little observation posts were scattered up and down the beach (yes, that's what passes for a beach in this part of the world).  IMG_2053.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr A larger bunker, set further up on the hill. Probably used for observation and fire control  IMG_2051.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Nov 26, 2013 07:09
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That bunker is awesome. Back in March I was on vacation in Barbuda. Absolutely beautiful island. I wandered up the beach and saw some abandoned buildings ahead. Ran back to my room and grabbed my camera. This is what i found:       These are various villas, part of a K Club resort that was abandoned about 10 years ago. The website is still running! It was gorgeous back in the day. Word was it was owned by a "crazy Italian lady" (so locals said) who may or may not have been using it to launder money. It's been the subject of a lot of arguing between Antiguan/Barbudan authorities and... whoever may or may not own it. From what it sounds like, the owner's dead and it's still tied up in the lady's trust.  Power box  Staff offices      This pool was the coolest find. It was an old saltwater-fed pool with a hot tub and plunge pool that fed into the larger pool. Very neat.     See that wall on the left? Same wall she's standing on.  Yeah, Princess Di was here. Wild. Main reception area, I think.    
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Nov 26, 2013 19:12
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I took a walk today.    Technically this place (it's the former Homestake gold mine) is still in use, but not as a gold mine anymore. I need to try and get in on some walks to some of the legit abandoned stuff. Also cap lamps are pretty terrible for lighting up pictures.
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Nov 26, 2013 22:54
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That's neat as hell. What do they use the mine for nowadays?
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Nov 26, 2013 23:55
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Please tell me that's just a stack of wood and not a structural component attempting to prevent a cave-in.
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Nov 27, 2013 00:02
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That's pretty awesome. My dad's girlfriend's parents grew up in Ocean Falls, they want to go over there one summer and leave her parents' ashes there, but it's like a 3 day trip on BC Ferries since the ferry only comes once every 3 days in each direction.
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Nov 27, 2013 04:56
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xzzy posted:Please tell me that's just a stack of wood and not a structural component attempting to prevent a cave-in. The 5000 foot shaft you go down to get there is made of wood, some of which is 80 years old. If you use the right kind of wood it'll last a long time.
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Nov 27, 2013 05:59
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DJExile posted:That's neat as hell. What do they use the mine for nowadays? I want to say that the deepest parts of the mine are repurposed for a neutrino detector. There's some old mines around here as well. Mined fluorite, which you mix in to steel while it's being smelted and all of a sudden all of the impurities drop out. Back in the 1870s, Andrew Carnegie was considering building a massive steel mill along the Mississippi in southern Illinois. Between coal and the fluorite mines, all in all, not a bad place to do so. Coal was already on the way out here by the 1930s as the mineable seams got further underground, while EPA sulfur regulations killed most of what was left during the 70s and 80s. Fluorite, on the other hand, continued being mined well into the late 90s, until China and Mexico started dumping their own fluorite onto the market. There are no active fluorite mines at the moment, although there are a couple of quarries that sell fluorite as a byproduct of limestone quarrying. There's a bit of hope that they'll start up again in the future, this time mining rare earths as a byproduct. Enough about history, let's look at the mine! Here's where the ore was hauled out of the Earth and raised into giant hoppers for dump trucks to cart away:  Ore Hopper by venusian-weasel, on Flickr  Mine Head by venusian-weasel, on Flickr  Ore Hopper by venusian-weasel, on Flickr And the controls where a person controlled the mine elevator:  Driver's Seat by venusian-weasel, on Flickr
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Nov 27, 2013 07:55
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I missed the question earlier, but right now the big things are dark matter (lux) and neutrinoless double beta decay. The next neutrino detector hasn't started construction yet. Ray Davis did do his noble prize winning neutrino experiment here too.
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Nov 27, 2013 08:00
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In 2004 I spent a week in Denver, opening up a new office for the company I worked for. I had a rental car and the weekend to myself, so I figured I'd go for a long drive and photograph some ghost towns. Keota and Buckingham - 013 by benruset, on Flickr The one room school house in Buckingham, CO.  Keota and Buckingham - 025 by benruset, on Flickr Keota, CO.  Keota and Buckingham - 031 by benruset, on Flickr The school at Keota.  St Elmo - 083 by benruset, on Flickr Saint Elmo.  St Elmo - 086 by benruset, on Flickr
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Nov 28, 2013 18:14
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DJExile posted:Back in March I was on vacation in Barbuda. Absolutely beautiful island. I wandered up the beach and saw some abandoned buildings ahead. Ran back to my room and grabbed my camera. This is what i found: Super cool. Please say you stayed a night or two in the abandoned resort. I haven't camped out in any of the ghost towns I've visited, although it's on my list of things to do. DJExile posted:
 ZippySLC posted:
These are great. Makes me wish I was less of a lazy wastoid rear end in a top hat when I lived in Saskatchewan and Alberta. I'm glad to see that this thread is stumbling along. HookShot posted:That's pretty awesome. My dad's girlfriend's parents grew up in Ocean Falls, they want to go over there one summer and leave her parents' ashes there, but it's like a 3 day trip on BC Ferries since the ferry only comes once every 3 days in each direction. It amazes me how often coincidences like this happen. Re: returning to Ocean Falls in the summer, PM me. Looks like I'm being sent back up north for the next few weeks. If I can find some time away from work I'm gonna shoot an old Coast Guard base and I definitely want to get inside one of the many abandoned canneries. There's also an island that hosts an old tuberculosis asylum...oh man, so much to do. Until then, I'll leave the thread with this old ghost of commercial fishing past:  IMG_8660.jpg by Brian.M.K, on Flickr
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Nov 29, 2013 15:06
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Amazing shots, love the vibe from these places.
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Dec 4, 2013 01:48
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Not too long ago I got permission to visit Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard, an old EPA superfund site in San Francisco, the same place that they decontaminated ships from Operation Crossroads and where they loaded the first nuclear bomb materials to be sent over to Tinian. The place is horribly contaminated, with a lot of hot spots still in existence, not to mention a few buildings that used to have open hot cells. Add in the toxic waste dump that was close to the barracks, and this place is just bad. I didn't get to go into many of the buildings simply because they were radiologically controlled areas, but I did get some pictures. This was the barracks. Not 20 feet away was the first fence line for the toxic waste dump. This is in an area known as parcel "E", where the most contamination still is. They still aren't totally sure what was dumped there since most of it has broken down into toxic subcomponents. Ironically, if I went about 100 feet to the right, Candlestick Park would be behind the barracks. It's that close.  The old Barracks by wanderingaperture, on Flickr This is what the bulk of the buildings looked like in the inside. These were warehouses for fabrication and repair, so they looked like big old shop floors, that's all.  Inside a factory or warehouse by wanderingaperture, on Flickr The Navy had scooped up random large portions of the ground to replace the tainted soil.  Reclamation pit by wanderingaperture, on Flickr This was the site of the old NRDL laboratory. All the buildings have been demolished, but they still have some pretty hot contamination in this area.  Radioactive wasteland in San Francisco by wanderingaperture, on Flickr These pump houses, and specifically this one, have some very hot pipes below it from pumping out all the radioactive water from the drydocks. From what I understand, they simply capped them off and don't have any real plans for them. Not sure though.  Gate and pump house by wanderingaperture, on Flickr I'd like to get into this main factory sometime. It can be seen from the 101 and the airport, just near the gun mole pier. It's a loving cancer haven inside, and I've seen pictures from when people were allowed in buildings just to photograph. I'm working with the cleanup company, tetratech, to get escorted access inside for current photos.  The Factory by wanderingaperture, on Flickr You can see more photos, quite a bit older (2002) here: Telstar logistics. I've also gotten access to Pt. Molate Naval Fuel depot and took a bunch of shots, and plan to go back to that. I have pretty much unlimited access to that site, which was nice of the City of Richmond. I'll post some of those later. Edit: vvvv I called the BRAC office in San Diego and worked with them. I already work for the government, so it helped grease the wheels a lot. Jiro Kage fucked around with this message at 13:05 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 02:48
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Jiro Kage posted:I got permission to visit Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard how edit: oh
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Dec 4, 2013 04:23
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Some images from a project I've been working on for about a year documenting abandoned resorts in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Sorry for any dust etc, some of these are still just rough scans.              
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Dec 8, 2013 21:36
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:Some images from a project I've been working on for about a year documenting abandoned resorts in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Sorry for any dust etc, some of these are still just rough scans. These loving own.
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Dec 8, 2013 22:34
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:Some images from a project I've been working on for about a year documenting abandoned resorts in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Sorry for any dust etc, some of these are still just rough scans. Holy poo poo! All of these rule.
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Dec 8, 2013 23:53
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Abandoned resort crew  
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Dec 9, 2013 01:59
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:Some images from a project I've been working on for about a year documenting abandoned resorts in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Sorry for any dust etc, some of these are still just rough scans. srsly if you have a flickr or tumblr or something post it so we can follow
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Dec 9, 2013 03:16
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Thanks guys! And thanks, Rot, for starting this thread. It's been a really fun project to work on. I'm not really into the whole EXXXTREEM URBEXXXXX scene but I've gotten really into exploring parts of rural Pennsylvania over the last few years. This particular area really stuck for me, it's a shame what's happened to it over the past couple decades. DJExile posted:Abandoned resort crew That place looks awesome... I'd love to check it out but I don't think I'll be getting there anytime soon haha. Love that Princess Di photo, so cool! I generally don't take any poo poo from places I explore but I do have a bunch of old postcards, brochures etc that I've found. I love seeing what they looked like in their heyday, some of them were pretty loving nice! One even had its own airplane landing strip. voodoorootbeer posted:srsly if you have a flickr or tumblr or something post it so we can follow I probably should but I really don't... I'll probably just keep posting stuff here though
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Dec 9, 2013 05:30
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:I probably should but I really don't... I'll probably just keep posting stuff here though Please do, that set was amazing. Have you thought about putting a book together?
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Dec 9, 2013 06:04
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Spedman posted:Please do, that set was amazing. Yup, I'm beginning to work on it now. It's going to be photos interspersed with the aforementioned brochures, found photos and some interesting documents/letters. Hoping to have it done by the spring, I'll post a link here when it's finished for sure.
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Dec 9, 2013 07:19
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:Thanks guys! And thanks, Rot, for starting this thread. It's been a really fun project to work on. I'm not really into the whole EXXXTREEM URBEXXXXX scene but I've gotten really into exploring parts of rural Pennsylvania over the last few years. Seriously, this is a tremendous contribution to the thread and the photos up the bar considerably. Kudos. Anyone living in any city can walk to a closed theatre or gas station or whatever and snap some photos. What I'm interested in is history of location and some effort and drive in the photos. EXXXTREEM URBEXXXXX is worthless without EXXXTREEM skills so thanks to at least one follower of this thread I'm looking into upping my climbing game and pushing out further to see what garbage is left out in the middle of no where. TACTICAL SANDALS posted:I probably should but I really don't... I'll probably just keep posting stuff here though No really, do it. I want to keep tabs on your project. And by all means, keep posting here. DJExile: All I ask is that you spent one night sleeping beside Princess Di's ghost. Please confirm and I'll finally get one night's rest.
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Dec 9, 2013 07:28
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:Yup, I'm beginning to work on it now. It's going to be photos interspersed with the aforementioned brochures, found photos and some interesting documents/letters. Hoping to have it done by the spring, I'll post a link here when it's finished for sure. Yes!
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Dec 9, 2013 07:29
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TACTICAL SANDALS posted:Some images from a project I've been working on for about a year documenting abandoned resorts in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Sorry for any dust etc, some of these are still just rough scans. If the beautiful Mount Airy Lodge (where all you have to bring is your love of everything) hadn't been demolished I would have sworn that the heart shaped tub was from there. This is inspiring me to get out to PA more.
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Dec 9, 2013 13:43
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These were shot at a nuclear launch silo complex in Colorado. It was pitch black inside so taking pictures was a pain in the rear end, and that combined with the creepiness of being there alone meant I didn't take all that many pictures. This is me standing inside the entrance, so you can see how easy it was to get in.  Inside the main chamber, some of the diffusion you see there is actually fog, was was pretty cool although it definitely made the whole thing a lot creepier. The metal grating I'm standing on was about 20 feet above the ground floor level, and it had lots of holes in it so I had to be really careful.  A shot looking back towards the entrance, note that the size of the hole with the daylight coming through is the same size as the one I'm standing in in the first picture, for reference. The room was huuuuge, probably around 200 feet across, and the domed ceiling went up about 70-80 feet from the top floor.  After I went down a flight of steps, this was a tunnel that led deeper into the complex.  I am vain enough that I can't turn down an opportunity to take pictures of myself in a place like this.  I ended up walking through about 80-90% of the complex, but crappy shooting conditions mixed with the creepiness meant that I didn't take pictures of the rest of the place. Not surprisingly, shooting pictures in complete darkness is hard. Unfortunately they had filled the actual silos themselves with sand so you could walk right through those rooms and there weren't any large holes to look down. I was sad.
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Dec 9, 2013 14:21
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Rot posted:DJExile: All I ask is that you spent one night sleeping beside Princess Di's ghost. Please confirm and I'll finally get one night's rest. hahaha I did not, but I did stand on the exact spot where she was in the picture. So there's that.
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Dec 9, 2013 14:39
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RangerScum posted:I ended up walking through about 80-90% of the complex, but crappy shooting conditions mixed with the creepiness meant that I didn't take pictures of the rest of the place. Not surprisingly, shooting pictures in complete darkness is hard. Unfortunately they had filled the actual silos themselves with sand so you could walk right through those rooms and there weren't any large holes to look down. I was sad. I'm always conflicted about going inside those kinds of places. When I was younger I'd have done it no problem. But now I think about getting arrested for trespassing or getting hurt/mugged/killed too much.
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Dec 9, 2013 15:43
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ZippySLC posted:I'm a big pussy.
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Dec 9, 2013 16:38
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Can't feed my daughter while I'm in jail.
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Dec 9, 2013 19:20
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The cost of age is being aware of the crappy stuff that can happen if you make a bad decision. 
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Dec 9, 2013 19:46
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Yaaaay, an Urbex thread. BC is a goldmine, literally, will put up my goldmine pictures later in the week. Abandoned mansion in the Lower Mainland:  Rough shape in the dining room:  The 70's were classy, note the carpet tracking for the (thankfully gone) deep shag:  From the rear:  Rot: I'm guessing you've already heard that BC Ferries has cancelled the summer route to Ocean Falls? And what's this about a TB Asylum on an island? I've spent years trolling for locations on the coast and never heard of that! Rime fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Dec 10, 2013 |
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Dec 10, 2013 21:01
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