Down into the Depths!

We're on a four part tour of the Holyoke Canal system. This is part two. In part one, I gave an overview of Holyoke and its canal system. Need a refresher?  Click here. In this post, we'll go inside Open Square to look at the waterwheels!

 

What in the hell is that?!?  That is an 1852 Fourneyron Turbine.  (That last hyperlink? A REALLY COOL WEBSITE.  But come back, okay?)

What in the hell is that?!?  That's the D wheel.   That's a Leffel Z water wheel.  No one knows why it's called the 'D' wheel, but trust us - it is. The Open Square complex originally had 13 mechanical wheels, and some were converted to electrical power in the 1920s, of which two remain active.  The other wheel is called the 'G' wheel.  Despite what mom says, between the 'D' wheel and the 'G' wheel, there IS a favorite.   But I'm not telling.

Our guide demonstrates how he matches the electric sin wave of the wheels to the sin wave of the grid before connecting the wheels to the grid. When the dial in the background gets to the 12:00 position, green lights flash and he punches a big red button. I shit you not. The list of folks approved to 'start up the wheel' is VERY SHORT.

Next post, we'll go down EVEN FURTHER into the canal system.