Abandoned structure

[Amy Earl]

I have no idea what this buliding used to serve, but it always catches my eye driving past it. It's a tall, rusty wreck among a group of dumpy buildings near a railroad that parallels the highway. This route is actually a pretty drive through the Green Mountains apart from this particular little town which feels like a sort of redneck outpost. Side story: next to this building is a gun store and flea market run by a tall, craggy guy that collects antiques and lots of junk. Stuff is piled everywhere inside and outside the building with no prices and no real attempt to organize it. He has a workshop in the back and keeps the front door locked, and there's a sign on the door saying to call a number to get in. When you call the number, someone else answers the phone and relays the message to him to open the door. Weird place!

Anyway, on a damp foggy evening as it was getting dark, I got my husband to drive me up the road so I could take pictures out the window. I'm glad I got this one, it was the right night for this shot!

 

[AlanLichty]

Fascinating array of pipes. Fun to try to conjecture what they were designed to do without knowing why they built it. I like the gloomy graveyard look you gave it.....

 

[JimFox]

How fascinating Amy! Both the story and this photo. What an odd fellow who runs that store.

For this setup it's a typical way to store grain or food ingredients. There will be a rotary valve at the top to divert the to which pipe and tank they want the product to go to. It can be screw fed, especially in the older days, or it can be a vacuum/blower system that blows the product up and then gravity assists in it going to specific tank. Not sure what other buildings are there, but it could have been used in a bakery or other food processing plant.

 

[Amy Earl]

Fascinating array of pipes. Fun to try to conjecture what they were designed to do without knowing why they built it. I like the gloomy graveyard look you gave it.....

Thanks Alan. It does add more mystery to the photo if you aren't familiar with the structure.

How fascinating Amy! Both the story and this photo. What an odd fellow who runs that store.

For this setup it's a typical way to store grain or food ingredients. There will be a rotary valve at the top to divert the to which pipe and tank they want the product to go to. It can be screw fed, especially in the older days, or it can be a vacuum/blower system that blows the product up and then gravity assists in it going to specific tank. Not sure what other buildings are there, but it could have been used in a bakery or other food processing plant.

Thanks for the explanation - I search "grain distributor" and I got exactly what you describe and it looks quite similar to this one. I'm interested in getting more pictures around of this building and the others around it. They are all in varying states of decay and would make for good photos.