These photos were all taken with my trusty old Powershot G2. Old as in it’s from 2001.

When we first set foot inside the Dussault Foundry in Lockport we had no idea what the place was or why there was box just inside the door labelled U-473. Most of the machinery that had once run the foundry had been removed and parts of the place had clearly seen fires. We even found evidence that someone was living there and had set up a tiny ‘apartment’ of sorts in one of the rooms. I learned later that this place has an interesting history linked to old 20th century industry and a bad habit of catching on fire.

From what little I was able to find about this location we learned that it was built in 1906 just a year after a state program to enlarge the Erie Canal in the area was funded. (History!)

After that, there’s not much to say about the place until 1946 when it burned down for the first time. You can read a scanned copy of the Lockport Union Sun Journal from the day after here. Come for the foundry fire, stay for the article on Communist military advances in China.

The site was abandoned in 1995 and the EPA began looking at cleanup efforts there back in the year 2000 which were mostly finished by 2003.

In 2007 another fire broke out that was believed to be arson caused by some teenagers running around the property at night. Oh, kids.

Our trip through was less eventful. Some parts of the foundry had been flooded and most of it was entirely empty.

The burned out sections towards the back of the property raised some questions, that were later answered as you can see up there, and provided some more of that urbex atmosphere we enjoy so much.

In October of 2011, the remains of the foundry were finally demolished. I haven’t been back to see what’s left but I assume it would just be some flattened rubble.

I have some video, in addition to these photos, that I plan on editing together into a short sometime soon. In the meantime, here are some videos from our other trips.

You can follow me @markjamesdos on twitter or check out my gallery here.

Concrete Central is a quarter-mile long monster of a grain elevator which sits perpendicular to the Cargill Superior elevator. Both elevators are currently owned by the city. You might think that’s a sort of strange thing to point out but private owners are usually a little less happy about people poking around than a city who probably wishes these money sinks would disappear.

When you come down the dirt and gravel service road to the elevators the first one you’ll see is Cargill Superior. It’s not as large as Concrete Central but it’s a lot less worked over by graffiti and paintballs.

Inside Cargill the building is divided into two sections one of which looks and smells like it’s been rotting for decades. There’s a hallway of broken fuse boxes, with plenty of broken fuses still lodged in their sockets, and the doors have been pulled off their hinges.

Since it’s impossible to post a smell or a tactile feel on a blog (awful garbage.smell.plugin) let me stop our photo narrative and give you an impression of the smell inside this place. Cargill has a smell like a combination of an uncleaned mall bathroom and a rusting, musty junkyard. I’m sure it sees a lot of animal traffic. I know many urban exploration sites like to show you only the best and prettiest parts of urban decay, and I know I do this, but nothing take the romantic notions out of a trip like a rotting deer carcass or a pool of stagnant water filled with toxic waste. Concrete Central being more open to the elements is far less nauseating to walk through.

There’s a broken stairwell towards the West side of the building with the tabs from cut out stairs the only thing left to climb on. I’ve seen photos of people on the top of this building, some wearing flip-flops, so it is possible to get up there. It’s probably not a good idea, however. Actually, let me be clear on that one: it’s a really stupid idea. Not only are sandals more likely to make you slip, or slip off your feet, you’re walking on rusted metal with uncovered feet which is an excellent way to end up with deep cuts on your feet.

I will not stop until I have ruined all your fun.

The other half has the bins which still have writing on them from when they were in use. If you look carefully you’ll find signatures in pencil from workers dating back to the 1940s. I assume they’re real since most of the modern signing going on in these places is tagging.

Down the road, and behind a meadow, is Concrete Central.

This is probably the most popular and well travelled urban exploration site in Western New York and it shows. Almost every inch of this place is covered in a layer of graffiti that is constantly being rewritten. Much it comes from the people who play paintball here or the occasional Team Fortress 2 fan. Some if it shows talent but, we’re certainly not host to a local Banksy here. Why? Bcuz.

We’ve run into all sorts of people here including lovestruck teens, other urban explorers, the coast guard, and confused city workers. The coast guard boat spotted us and tried to have a conversation over megaphone in which we had no idea what they said while we waved politely and they waved back. Seriously, the audio quality on those things is terrible.

So I’ve made a few references to the paintball players who run around here. The first time we came across them was on TV when back in the mid-2000s one of those ‘educational networks’ started a series on urban exploration. They had a scene right in front of Concrete Central where a few people decked out in paintball gear came out from the tall plants and ‘scared’ the hosts of the show. If I remember correctly, they didn’t even bother to go inside the place and went on to Bethlehem Steel or something.

Generally when we saw the paintball players we just went to the other side of the site until they finished and left. I’d like to clarify that this isn’t just a small number of players who infrequently visit the place. If you were driving by, and you learned to recognize the white Escalades and Cadillacs, they were there in large numbers every week. If you expect a moral judgement after all that, you won’t get one. I honestly have no idea if the destruction they cause inside there is any worse than being exposed the elements for decades and it’s not as if anyone has come up with a use for this place. Is it dangerous to run (literally) around an abandoned structure with sharp metal and poor lighting? Yes.  Are they ruining a historic building for future generations? Eh.

If you’ve been to the Tift Farms visitor center you can find an aerial photo of Concrete Central back when it was still in use. That whole front yard was train tracks instead of meadow and it’s kind of interesting to see how fast nature retook this place.

My second time here my friend and I drove through the field in the middle of the summer. There was so much pollen from the plants that the truck had turned yellow. We spent about ten minutes there before he started having trouble breathing.

On another trip we went up one flight of the cut out stairs to see what was up above us. There wasn’t much. We found a blank notebook which gave me this idea to write something scary and leave it there to potentially unnerve future explorers. Then I thought maybe we could make MarbleHornets style tapes and leave them behind! I decided not to waste my tapes.

No text this time, instead a video with narration.

I know there’s like two minutes of nothing after the video ends, it’s not in the original video, so I guess YouTube is encouraging me to talk more.

Nature can retake man made structures and spaces very quickly. In the span a few short years sites can be buried and overgrown enough that no one remembers it was there. If you’ve ever been on the bike path by Tops on Grant St. you’ve passed by a place like this probably without even noticing it was there.

Tee to Green was a driving range, with a mini golf section in the back, that closed in the early 2000’s. It’s president was charged with fraud, which he eventually pleaded guilty to, and the site now sits empty.

I’m not the first to stumble across this place, in 2008 Buffalo Rising wrote a short piece on re-purposing it as a skate park. It’s been used for other, less family friendly purposes, as my friend has found on certain flash video sites which I won’t link you to.

We found it the same way most people do; by spotting a mysterious opening in the fence by the bike path.

The pictures really say it all, it’s an empty mini-golf course. There’s some graffiti around, not all of good. The recesses make for good artificial ponds which the local wildlife makes use of. We spotted a lot of dragonflies buzzing around.

I agree with the Rising article that this site should be reused for something. It would be nice to see it turned in to some sort of park or really anything other than a plaza. While they’re at they can tear down that burned out husk behind it.

Ideally, you’d leave and go find somewhere else to explore. If you decided “Well I’d climb over/cut a hole in the fence” you have chosen poorly. This is the article about not getting caught.

See, generally I’m on the side of the urban explorer. There’s an open site with no “No Trespassing” signs around and you’re just there to take pictures. From what I’ve encountered and have heard you’re usually good if you aren’t stealing and have a camera with you.

Some people, copper thieves for example, ruin sites. I had the opportunity to talk to the justifiably miffed Friends of JN Adams group recently. I wanted to interview some of their members but I get the feeling they don’t want to be in the spotlight. (I mean, the spotlight of my tiny blog. It’s small but intense. Like a laser really.) I spoke to a woman who described to me a team of thieves who came storming in with trucks and managed to strip out not only some copper pipes, but all of the gutters as well. No gutters means no drainage, which means the place starts to rot and, boy, has it rotted. The state has told them that it’s in such bad shape they aren’t even interested in selling it.

The men were caught and charged but the damage was done. Since then many people have been arrested by the local police for going there. Most recently fourteen teenagers (not the honor society I’d guess) were arrested for going there all at once.

There’s two points to that tale and one is don’t look like a copper thief. Don’t take things from these places. The second is that someone is always watching these places even if you don’t see them. Do a google search and see if a site is associated with news articles about people getting charged for going there.

If it is, and you really want to go there, call up the state or organization that manages the site and ask them. They might still say no but at least you didn’t have to appear in court. It’s actually a good idea to get permission whenever you can. You can be assured that you won’t be chased out and they might know some things about the place.

However, if you run into someone who tries to lord their access (or job position) over you, drop them like a ton of bricks. Go somewhere else. That sort of person is trouble and you don’t want to be involved with them. You’ll know one when you’ve got off the phone with that slimy feeling lingering.

As I’ve (hopefully) mentioned before going anywhere near these sites with a large group of people is a bad idea. For one thing, it draws too much attention to you. For another, it seems to everyone that either you’re there to have some sort of party (woo!) or to steal stuff. I don’t generally recommend going in groups larger than three.

It’s also a good idea to always be aware of your surroundings and to keep an eye out for other people. I have a feeling copper thieves aren’t exactly easy-going people so you don’t want to tangle with them. Sometimes it’s also a matter of courtesy; don’t get in the middle of someone’s paintball game, come back another day.

Obviously there’s other things you should avoid, like being too easy to see in a busy area, but that’s what that Infiltration book I linked in the very first post is for.

If any of this rubs you the wrong way and you’re saying “I do what I want” then that’s fine, just make sure you get pictures of the holding center for us.

(All pictures are screen grabs from a video made on ZR900)

Over on the East Side of Buffalo, close to the Science Museum and the former site of the Orphanage, was a fully stocked and completely abandoned store and warehouse. At different points there had been among other things there a TV repair shop, which looks like it also dealt in 70’s era computer terminals, and an office supply store.

We had been clued in to this site by a certain city planner who told us to get there fast because they were going to tear it down. Of course it had been sitting there with an order to be torn down for over a year so who knew exactly when it would happen.

It was a cold December morning, and there was almost no one around which was perfect for us. We parked not too far away from the building and went looking for a way in. Thankfully someone had torn out a large double door frame and we had no problem finding that.

Inside this place was a disaster. It looked like whoever owned it just closed up business as usual one day and then didn’t return for ten years. The floor was covered in retail junk in various states of decay. We found stacks upon stacks of assorted TV repair parts and the stairs to the basement were so filled with junk you couldn’t even see down there.

When I say full of junk I mean this is a special episode of Hoarders sort of affair. Wherever you walked you were on garbage and the piles of it were often taller than we were. It made the place unique, usually when we get somewhere it’s already been cleared out and gutted.

Each floor had interesting surprises on it, and the higher we went the less junk was strewn about. Occasionally we could see the ground. On one floor we found a bunch of office supplies printed with a company name that my mother had worked at back in the 80’s. It was odd mostly because that company was a defense contractor. So what was this stuff doing here?

On another floor, we found these old Wang terminals. Kind of like the ones you’d see in Fallout or corny old movies about cold war computers taking over.

Large parts of the top most floor were damaged from exposure to the weather, so we had to be careful where we stepped. I also opened the door on a pigeon hiding out in a bathroom and scared both of us.

When we decided to leave we thought that it would be better to leave via an exit we saw that led to a side street, away from any traffic that might be passing by. We were also concerned because we heard a car pull up next to the building and thought we heard talking. We slipped down the back staircase, out the window, and landed next to some poor older lady unloading her groceries. Whoops, sorry for the scare.

We waved once while we walked back to the car.

If it’s cold and wet you might want to consider either some snow pants or BDU pants. Poly or Nylon/Cotton. Something that is able to dry out fast and is ‘windproof’ (again, don’t get wet and cold) will make your trip less miserable. If it’s warm and raining, at least you aren’t getting soaked.

Long underpants, like those waffle thermals, will keep you warm. Also, don’t wear snow pants during the summer.

And speaking of finding sharp things, you’ll need gloves. Usually a pair of cheap work gloves with some grip on them will work fine. I often get them from the Dollar store which means I don’t worry about cleaning them if they get too dirty. I also carry some thin ones that are nylon during the summer to keep me from directly touching anything possibly unsafe. If you remember my story from (Wasteland) you’ll see why that’s important. I also once wasn’t paying attention and grabbed at a window frame I thought was clear of glass, it wasn’t. If I had been wearing my gloves I wouldn’t have a scar on my palm.

I’ve tried a number of different bags during our trips including messenger bags (satchels!) and backpacks of different sizes and shapes. It generally comes down to how long I plan on walking and how much I need to carry. On our short trips to places that are nearby I usually use a cheap canvas messenger bag I bought from an army surplus store online. If we’re walking longer I have a backpack with padded shoulders and some pockets and compartments that make organization much easier.  It also makes it pain to switch lenses quickly and you don’t have immediate access, so, pick your poison. Oh, and as for frame backpacks, that’s overkill for these excursions.

Finally if you’re going anywhere near a building that was constructed before the asbestos ban, or might have rats, get an asbestos abatement mask. You can find them for less than twenty dollars (US) pretty much at any hardware store and you’re best off getting one with cartridge filters so you can replace them after awhile. The simple paper mask ones won’t really help you with asbestos, so avoid those.

If you really want to scare people, you can spend way too much money and get a full face mask, and maybe a hazmat suit. Be sure to warn everyone about the ‘outbreak.’

Also @TheMoxieMan suggests the company Filson for outdoor clothes. So give them a shot if you don’t like the military style stuff.

Now I’m not saying go in there dressed like a SWAT guy, that would be silly and also draw more attention, but a few basics are good to have around.  The first thing to have is a pair of boots with thick sole and preferably a steel toe. It also helps to have something with material that wicks moisture off of you. Something like a Magnum Stealth Force (with composite toe!) would be a good choice, and you can usually find them at much lower prices through resellers than on their manufacturer site.  I realize this is actually a boot SWAT guys wear but if you don’t tuck your pants in your shoes they look like any work boot really.

I also have a pair of boots with heavier insulation for the winter because as cold as it is outside it’s probably twenty degrees colder inside an abandoned building.  Also if you go draining, you’ll want a pair of those calf-high rubber boots. Any brand will do, don’t pay more than fifty dollars (US) for them. Make sure you double your socks, though, they tend to rip up your feet.

Next you’ll need a jacket and for that I’d recommend an M-65 field jacket. The real ones, not the Target knock off ones made of different material. Also, make sure you get one with a liner. These are nice because they’re ‘windproof’ and water repellant (not proof.) You still need to use some sense when outside in the cold and you start to get wet, however. Just go google hypothermia. The liner is useful for the winter months and I often use my M-65 as a winter coat, especially when there’s wet snow coming down.

Now remember, getting everything in one color, especially black, is going to make people pay more attention to you. So, try mixing tan and black, or tan and blue. You can be safe and fabulous!

As it was far enough away that we wouldn’t know anything about the neighborhood we decided to scout it out one day then make plans to return on another. When we got to the neighborhood we decided we would park in a quiet dead-end street we found. The only activity around being a small bar a block away from us.

We had parked perpendicular from the access road that led to the plant and set out trying to spot a way in. The access road had been blocked by a large piece of sheet metal attached to a chain link fence making it impossible to climb over. Below the fence was a creek with a raging current and, being winter, was probably cold. Since we were already there we gave up on the ‘just scouting’ idea and climbed around the side of the fence over the water and onto the ruins of Flintkote.

We approached a brick building with a loading bay on the front and found our way in through there. The loading bay itself was empty so we made our way up to the second floor. That’s where we discovered this place really was a disaster.

The second floor was covered in grime, ashes, and broken equipment. Sections looked like they had just rotted away and collapsed. There wasn’t a single intact window anywhere we could see.

We walked out onto a roof section that led to the upper floors of another building but there wasn’t much to see there.

There were two long sections that we found running along parts of the complex, one was an above ground loading bay and the other was a basement level series of platforms which may have once supported a conveyor belt. It was in this second, section that the ‘don’t fucking touch that’ rule was born.

This area was dark and we were on a dirt floor that ran next to the platforms and walkways. On the walkways and in some of the sections on the ground in-between them were these large unlabeled barrels. On one wall the barrel above had rusted away and the black goo inside was dripping down the wall. Now since Prometheus hadn’t been released yet, my friend didn’t realize you should never touch the black goo. I yelled out “stop!” before even thinking about it. He was grateful to still have his finger and we moved on.

At the end of this hallway was a room filled with more of these barrels and not much else. We returned again to the second floor ruins and went down a spiral staircase we had noticed earlier. Down here we found the largest boiler I have ever seen. I’m quite sure it was larger than the house I was living in at the time and because of the way the room was built around it I wasn’t really able to get a photo that did it justice.

Having guessed we’d seen everything we headed out back the way we came and back to the car. I almost jumped because parked behind us was a truck with police lights on the top. I was sure they had spotted us and were just waiting for us to get out to ticket or arrest us.

We cautiously approached on the other side of the road and then noticed that it wasn’t a police truck. It was a fire marshal. My friend noticed that they didn’t have driveways and figured he was probably just parked outside of his house.

Still, we left quickly.

Some readers might notice the white and blue dots on these photos, always in the same place. My trusty Powershot G2 had some bad sensor damage from all the abuse I put it through for years, so those are stuck pixels.

(All the photos taken in this blog are by two of my fellow club members and not by myself.)

Sometime in the spring of 2002 there was a fire that gutted a section of the first floor of Kenmore West. Some kids in the neighborhood decided it would just be the darndest thing to set some plastic cafeteria trays ablaze and then run off. For most students, it meant eating in the old gym for the rest of the year and only having cold lunches. For me, it meant I just kept hanging out in the club room for the Digital Demons (Our school team was the Blue Devils, you see) and getting access to all the restricted areas of the high school.

Our club mentor and dear leader was Mr. Jensen, an Earth Science teacher who had a penchant for technology and microwave burritos.  He had talked with the janitors and groundskeepers who take care of the school and worked out a date and time for us to see the fire damaged sections. Since we were already seeing those areas he suggested we could see the other off-limits parts of the school and, so, one weekend we did.

Our first stop was the pair of burned out cafeterias which looked very little like the rooms we had eaten in for years. Ceiling fixtures were melted and hanging down, the walls and floors were scorched, and burned up junk had been piled all around. We all thought this was pretty cool, of course.

Next the groundskeepers took us into their office and then into a half-floor section where the schools piping runs. Inside here was a small trapdoor that led to the real basement.

Down in the basement we saw the blowers for the school, the live-wired pipes (the electricity heats them and keeps them from freezing in the winter), and the old coal boiler. We were told that back in the day they had a guy who’s job was to stand around the boiler all day shoveling in coal. Mr. Jensen made mention that one of us had a father who had that job, Hark was his name.

Around a bend and in through a small crawlspace we entered a narrow tunnel where the server room was located. There was an old (even in 2002!) monochrome monitor attached to an ancient looking computer that ran the phone systems and, I imagine, still does. There were two other servers running; one IBM and one an old Apple. It explained a lot about our network issues.

Next stop was the forbidden 5th floor of Kenmore West which can only be accessed through a caged off metal staircase. Up here we were on a raised metal platform that led over to the elevator motor and some other things I can’t recall. Up here we were able to step out on to the roof of the building.

The roof wasn’t as exciting as my 18-year-old self was led to believe it might be. We posed for some pictures and contemplated in a typically teenage fashion how much it might hurt to fall from here and then returned back inside.

Later on while starting out our urban exploration trips my friend, who was there for this tour, and I brought up how this might have helped influence our interest in abandoned buildings. It certainly wasn’t our last burned out mess.

On another note, I’ll be expanding the subjects this blog covers in a few weeks. I will still update on new urban exploration trips and at some point revisit the idea I had for a beginner’s guide as well. What will I be writing about? I haven’t quite decided yet.