Ghost Towns and Abandoned Places

[fragger]

PZ brought up the subject of abandoned places in the beer topic and it reminded me of something I'd like to share, but I didn't want to get further off-topic with it there so I put it here.

I love old or abandoned places too. I'm fascinated by what stories they could tell, if they could speak. There's a place north-west of Sydney called Newnes, which, back in the early 1900s, was home to a booming shale-oil refinery. There's a lovely big campsite out that way (in another topic I mentioned how two friends and I saw a strange, big black cat dart across the road when we were returning from a camping trip - Newnes was where we'd been camping) and you can take a relatively short walk along a bush track to visit what's left of the refinery. It's now largely overgrown by bush, but there are signposts and such that tell you what used to be what. It amazes me how quickly bush can reclaim stuff. The plant closed down in 1937, so in just 80 years the bush has almost totally gobbled up the site. It would have disappeared even more if steps hadn't been taken to preserve what's left. Even so, it's still slowly falling apart and getting grown over. 2,000 people used to live and w0#k out there, with a major railway line running in. Hard to believe when you see it nowadays.

The road leading in to the campground used to be all dirt (I think about 20 kays of it), which was good as it deterred most people from going in. It's all paved now and word has gotten out, so now it gets crowded on weekends and public holidays. These pics were taken before all that happened, when there would often be almost nobody else around. We don't go there anymore, it's gotten too popular. Last time we did go there, it was a total disappointment - noisy people, loud music, squealing kids running around everywhere, people setting themselves up right next to us and then inviting themselves over to our campsite... Never again. My friends and I like to camp to get away from crowds of people for a while, not to bloody socialize! Some people have got no idea of camping etiquette, and can't even seem to grasp the actual point of the exercise: They go camping; they see other people; they gravitate to where those other people are. So what's the point of them camping? They may as well stay in their own suburban backyards... I can't figure them out.

Okay fragger, enough griping

This is the only decent photo I can find of how the plant looked in its heyday:

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And how it looks today. There's an eerie kind of vibe about the place, can't put my finger on exactly why. I've got heaps of pictures, these are only a few:

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Our campsite on one of our trips there, with reprobates in residence.

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Facing the other way from said campsite, looking across the campground. The ruins are roughly in that direction but off to the left - can't see them from the campground itself.

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Rough location of refinery site on Google Earth:

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It's in a fairly rugged area. If you're interested, you'll find the campground on Google Earth if you copy/paste this into the search field:

Newnes Campground, Wolgan Road, Newnes, New South Wales

Zoom out and you can see what the surrounding terrain looks like.

[Art Blade]

I think only large countries can afford to leave a place behind like this. Here it would have been either flattened and built over or repurposed.

[PZ]

Excellent post fragger - just the kind I like because my favorite thing to do is explore the parts of the desert southwest that are still pristine in their abandoned condition (no kids, stupid parents and other undesirables).  I'd be a reprobate in your camp any day  +1

[PZ]

These pics were taken way back in the late 1990s - just outside Las Vegas. There are plenty of abandoned mines and other cool places to visit

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[fragger]

Cheers PZ You'd be welcome in our camp anytime, you'd fit right in.

Cool place you're exploring there in those pics I imagine some care would be required while poking around old mining sites.

[mandru]

Cool post fragger. 

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yep, abandoned places always fascinated me as well. There are plenty of them in my part of the country, it's just that they've been left for so long that there's hardly anything left. Many of the old home steads around here are just a depression in the ground where the cellar of the house used to be. We'd be walking in the woods and find one and wonder who used to live there. The place would be completely grown back to forest. You might find an old hand dug well at some of the places but that's about it. A lot of the time, you'd find the old roads that are still fairly visible and something you can follow, and they'd lead nowhere it seemed, until you realized that the sort of flat area over there was where the barn used to be and yes, there was a slight depression nearby where the house used to be. Almost always there's a stone wall where rocks were cleared from the field and piled out of the way. All overgrown by forest, if you weren't paying attention, you'd never see it.

Up in the mountains there's plenty of these places plus the old mines which are always interesting. Some of them are still accessible, but dangerous, of course, and there's even some of the old milling equipment to look at and wonder how much w0#k was put into these places when the only source of power was muscle? Horses and men, and they built these things, just amazing.

[PZ]

Here are a few pics of an old mining area outside of Pioche, Nevada. As far as I know, these are still as undisturbed as you see in these photos.  This is out in the wilds of Nevada - this is not a park or other maintained place - just an old abandoned area.

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[Art Blade]

sure looks cool 

[fragger]

Now that's what I'm talking about Places like that are so intriguing, especially the ones that few people know about and thus don't get too disturbed. I always find myself imagining what went on, who was there, what they did and how they lived, and so on and so on. I respect things like that and try my utmost not to damage or disturb anything. I don't move stuff around, and I certainly don't pinch anything.

Thanks for the great pictures PZ I'd love to poke around that place.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I don't have any of my own pics, but I stole a few off google images, this is Rock Pond Mine in the Adirondacks. It's very well known, since the hiking trail goes right past the mine itself and there are a few large pieces of equipment around.

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There are a few other places, like the old mines at Tahawus where the village is still accessible, because it's right next to the parking lot and the road runs past some of the old workings that are quite impressive. Then there's the even older mines near Paradox Lake that are on private property but you can still (ahem) get in there if you want, but the place is riddled with open pits and shafts, some hundreds of feet deep, partially hidden in the forest, it's not really a safe place to be. So I've heard, not that I've been there, just rumors, yes.

[PZ]

I like you fragger - love to explore but leave everything as it was 

Nice pics D_B 

I agree about the dangers of the mining areas - I never go into anything that is reinforced with wood, and never go into descending tunnels.  Don't want cave ins or toxic air

[Art Blade]

I was thinking about how dangerous those places may turn -- if they're so far from anyone who could come to your rescue..

[PZ]

Indeed - likely one would be a goner

[Art Blade]

imagine, one false step and you break through the ground and plummet down into a mining shaft without any exits.. but at least you're wearing those light fashionable camo shorts and some kind of an unbecoming Hawaiian shirt. No radio nor any Rambo survival kit but a flashy baseball cap. The mobile phone doesn't pick up any signal and all you've got to eat is a pack of chewing gum. All dark and no torch but a pair of swanky sunglasses. If only you could tell that story to anyone but the spiders and rats..