GES178 Yonkers Power Station, Glenwood, NY

Opened in 1906 to power the trains using the new electrified tracks by the New York Central Railroad. It was built during a period of massive capital investment in the NYC area. This same programme produced Grand Central Station and the Port Morris Power Station. The Port Morris Power Station had the same purpose as the Yonkers Power Station, in creating energy for the electrified rail lines. Both plants generated 30,000kw for the NYCR. The Port Morris Power Station was demolished in the late 1930s when it was no longer needed. The Yonkers Power Station changed hands at this time and lasted until 1963. It was no longer needed when more efficient power stations opened further up the Hudson River. Like at Indian Point, which generates 10 times as much power. In far worse state than Battersea Power Station in London, one assumes it will eventually tumble into the Hudson from neglect
The view from Glenwood train station, as Max Fishbrain and I alighted from the train

Access was a literal walk-in, but it quickly became apparent that the station's 50 years of abandonment had taken its toll. Walls were falling apart all over the place, holes in the floor, debris falling down from above, rusted walkways and support structures falling apart. Deathtrap would be a kind description

This is where coal would have been kept, prior to being pushed into a furnace no longer here. A lot of items from here were sold or sent to the scrap dealer. The steam would have been sent across to the parallel building to drive the turbines

A view from the roof of the furnace building looking down the mighty Hudson River. The chimney stack sits tight on the left-hand side. The rail line runs along the shoreline down to Grand Central Terminal

The photograph below is taken from the furnace building, the other building is for the turbines. Hence the two chimneys are only in the furnace building, where the coal was burnt

The gantries at the top of the building were surprisingly sound, apart from the odd section where a floor grate was missing. Keeping one's eyes open was paramount while walking around. The roof being mostly intact must have helped with the preservation

For those with suicidal tendencies, this place is truly a dream. The Hudson's waters wrap around the building below

Up on the gantry next to a conveyor belt, used to transport the coal

You can't beat a spiral staircase, next to one of the chimneys. It was also one of the few sets of stairs that wasn't falling apart

After a good while trying to find a way down to the ground level of the furnace hall, involving disintegrating walkways and precarious drops. We crossed over into the spacious empty turbine hall

The back end of the turbine hall, the other side of which was the river, lapping at the walls

I loved this observation room sticking out from the far wall, it must have been amazing in its prime. I didn't have time to venture onto the lower floor (our train was due to leave in 10 minutes), but judging by the holes seen in the pic below, it was just as hazardous as the furnace hall

It was then a speedy packing away of my gear, Fishbrain already ahead of me and clock watching, before we ran through the precarious Furnace hall, as debris dropped around us like an Indiana Jones movie. Through the undergrowth and onto the platform. As I took a breath and quickly whipped the camera out to grab an external shot of the station, a person on the platform alerted us to the fact we were on the wrong platform, so we ran back over the bridge as our train pulled in on the correct platform. Shattered, I fell into my seat, admiring the beautiful steel bridges straddling the river beside us as we trundled back into the big bad city for more adventures

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