Great Engineers & Scientists

The first three parts of this series described Charles Steinmetz' reasons for leaving Europe, his work at General Electric, and his efforts to introduce an electric car to the U.S. in 1920. This installment reports on a related tour - highlighting equipment which Steinmetz designed - that occurred on Saturday, September 27, 2008 at the Mechanicville Hydroelectric Station in Halfmoon, New York. Click here for a brief, ten-minute video of the tour, taken with permission by yours truly.

Mechanicville Hydroelectric Station
The highlight of writing this series is being able to connect it to currently-operating machinery that still provides value to my community. This machinery is located in Halfmoon, New York, next to the Champlain Lock of the Hudson River, at the Mechanicville Hydroelectric Station. This facility is owned and operated by engineer Jim Besha's firm, Albany Engineering.

After completing the tour on Saturday, I realize I need to make a correction. Charles Steinmetz designed the generator and a remote control system (from the Schenectady Works) for the facility, but not the water turbines or the facility itself. Below, painted bright yellow, are the generators he designed.

Venture Capitalist in Ohio sees an Opportunity in Upstate, New York
From what I learned during Saturday's tour, the "spark" (pardon the pun!) that lit the flame for construction of this power station originally came from Ohio entrepreneur Robert Newton King, and not from Steinmetz. Mr. King realized there was an opportunity to provide power to growing industries in the Mechanicville region, including GE's Schenectady Works facility. Skilled local craftsmen, many of them immigrants from Italy living in the Mechanicville area, were recruited to construct the facility.

Picture below: the manholes were open during the tour. Visitors could peer down and view the working water turbines, which harvest the potential energy of the Hudson River.

Tour Description
Because the weather cooperated, there was a good turnout (including a Dad who brought his two daughters) for this ASME Hudson-Mohawk section sponsored event that I helped to organize. The temperature was in the 60s (Fahrenheit) and the sun shined on occasion.

Jim Besha greeted folks in the parking lot and began the tour with a safety briefing and overview. He described a hidden retaining wall cleverly disguised underneath a long row of covering flowers. He also fielded questions from the local engineering community. Jim reviewed how responsibility for the facility passed from owners over the years, and what led to his company buying and restoring the facility.

The tour moved into an office with poster-boards setup for the group to view. Plans for the future were discussed, including making the facility more visitor-friendly, especially for younger, science-minded children who might plan a future career around the expanding green-energy industry.

While in the office, Jim told the group that he and his colleagues had discovered and preserved written documents and photographs connected to the construction and day-to-day operation of the facility. Many of them were mounted on the carefully-restored brick-covered walls in the hallways and offices that our tour passed through. The group was also given a copy of a letter written in 1902 by plant operator Norman L. Devendorf.

Resource:

Albany Engineering - http://www.albanyengineering.com/mechanicville.htm