A Walk For the Angels
After being neutralized at the Store House, the nitro had to be then sent on to the Mix House, where it was mixed with the “dope” to form the gelatinous filler for the dynamite sticks. This was by far the most dangerous job at Atlas, as the smallest of bumps or jolts could cause the nitro to explode. To minimize this risk the transportation of the nitro was handled as delicately as possible, using wheeled carts pushed along level wood and concrete pathways. The path was known as the “Angel Walk”, for obvious reasons.
Here’s what one of those wheeled carts looked like. According to Bill Haller the tubes coming out of its side were for the dispensing and loading of the nitro. He also points out that while this cart has soft air-filled tires, the ones at Senter used hard tires.
Here’s a shot of the “Angel Walk” as it was being demolished. Due to the large amount of snowfall here, the walks had to be covered. What strikes me here is how narrow and short the walkway is - to think of being confined in this small space with a large amount of explosives that could go off at any time - its a job I wouldn’t want that’s for sure.
Though most of the angel walk was dismantled, a portion of its still exists near the “T” junction where the nitro could be sent to one of two Mix Houses. This section of raised walkway runs overtop of a marshy area (which a great deal of Senter sits upon) and is probably the reason why it still stands. Who wants to go wading in a swamp to take a walkway apart.
Here’s that “T” junction, which has fallen down into the swamp. The picture is taken from the perspective of the Store House, with Mix Houses sitting off to the left and right.
Sitting up in the woods is this framing, which I’m not sure is part of the supports for the walk, or remains of the covered portion of the walk. My guess is the supports. I assume that the angel walk had to be kept completely level during its entire run instead of following the contours of the land. That would mean that portions of the walk would have to be elevated.
A later addition to the walk was the addition of electrification (for lights in the covered walkways I assume) and a sprinkler system - which you see here. Portions of conduit and water pipes can be seen lying around the walk’s ruins. The sprinklers were probably not so much to protect the nitro as it was the wood structure itself.
After getting the nitro to the Mix House without exploding, the process of making the sticks of dynamite themselves could be started. That’s tomorrow…
Due to the extreme volatility of nitro, I imagine the folks who performed ‘the walk’ were paid pretty well in relation to the times. Well enough that the risk would probably be worth it to people ‘lucky’ enough to be hired. Something tells me that unsafe practices at an explosives facility wouldn’t have been tolerated much either, even back then.
The mentality would have been different too. In the old days (prior to 1910 or so), if an accident occurred on the job (in the mines or elsewhere), it was, for the most part, considered just that - an unfortunate accident. Nowadays, in an age where folks will sue at the drop of a hat and someone seemingly has to take the blame, the ‘it was just an accident’ school of thought doesn’t hold up much anymore.
This has been a nice series on Atlas though. I’d heard about this out-of-the-way ruin called Senter before, and I was curious.
Tim | June 26, 2008
In 1950 those workers that handled the Nitro could expect at the maximum to make just shy over $1.40 an hour. (starting at about $1.29) The people that worked in the powerhouse made a dime more. Go figure.
As far as safety was concerned, the plant was very serious about it which made sense. An accident at the plant might kill a person or two, but it would also destroy a great deal of expensive equipment and infrastructure. It would also impact production and of course the bottom line. Accidents at a explosives factory could cost the company a great deal of money, so avoiding them was imperative. It sounds cold i suppose, but no matter the reasoning safety was still being insured. I believe there was only one major accident at Senter, (when one of their NG houses blew) but no one got injured. Compare that to the Woodside plant, where accidents were comment and dozens of people (mostly teenagers) died.
explorer | June 26, 2008