Yes, I've been back here a few more times; everything seemed the same structurally, albeit more vandalized.

It is all natural light coming from hallway windows on either side of the stage.

Perhaps it was the Perkins School in Lancaster? It is still in operation today.
http://www.perkinsprograms.org/

There was also a state industrial school in Lancaster, but I believe it was for women only.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/ma43.htm

A good bit of sneaking around; sometimes you can just walk into these places, other times you have to climb fences and walls, evade security or police, and get creative finding ways in.

I only worry about asbestos exposure in confined spaces with friable material (usually tunnels), and use a mask with a P-100 rated particulate filter.

I think the secure facility was constructed circa 1920; nevertheless I'd venture to say these were installed some decades after.

Yes but cell phones usually don't work in these kinds of places, so another person or two is always better.

Almost all the bricks at Lorton were produced on-site by inmates; not sure if they took part in laying them.

If I were to take a guess at what "Industry" means, I might go with a grouping of privileged inmates. Perhaps the dorm was for those who were allowed to work in industry at the facility (power plant, etc), as opposed to agriculture, which was a large part of inmate work at Lorton. I could be totally wrong too :-)

It's the corner of the bed "frame," which is really just a metal box welded to the wall. It does look like the floor though...

No, this section of floor had been gone for some time.

Like supernatural stuff? Not yet, but I'd definitely post something like that...

Hey Vince, I'm not sure there's a clear cut answer... some hospitals push stuff into storage then leave it all when they finally shut down or relocate. Some facilities will auction off the leftover equipment, but not everything gets sold and so it sits in the building.

Some equipment might contain dangerous materials and could be more costly to remove than to just leave behind - for example, these x-ray machines might be painful to properly dispose of due to radioactive contaminants inside. Other nasty contaminants that can be found in old equipment are lead and asbestos.

It might all boil down to a poor overseeing of the hospital's closure, illegal cost cutting by leaving it behind, or just being wasteful.

It's an observation window, and is part of the door (not a wall). I assume the deadbolt kept the resident from wandering...

Ah yes, there was an error - Henryton wasn't involved with the Dept. of Mental Health until 1963. I've corrected the history page, thanks!

The name "Verden" is a pseudonym.

I don't think quite yet, but demolition seems imminent.

I believe it's a closet; the metal rail inside looks to be a pipe or conduit.

No, I process the photos on the computer which can give a similar effect to on-camera photo filters.

I've noticed that the water main is shut off in almost every disused building I've been in, probably to eliminate a leakage problem that could go unnoticed for some time. This would disable any water based fire extinguishing systems; I'm not sure how other systems are handled (Halon etc).

Autopsies can get messy no matter what; I think the cleanliness of the room usually depends on the diener, perhaps someone in the field can speak about it.

Once they're abandoned one can only guess as to how clean it was while in use. However, I've seen photo evidence of a pretty disgusting morgue while it was closing, but still in use.

Ah, typo on my part, it is Manville; thanks!

I think the fire was the "death knell" for this building.

Here's the Hoya filter for that 50mm: http://www.amazon.com/...Filter/dp/B0000AI1HP

Use a tripod and manual exposure; auto focus should work in enough sunlight.

Infrared photography - it captures a spectrum of light normally invisible to our eyes, and causes long exposures in the day time (blurred trees in the wind).

It's weird, I can pull colors like this sometimes from the filter on my Canon 50mm, but on the 24-70mm it all comes out monochrome. Must be the way the glass is laid out...

It was difficult to find the history of the Ancilla Domini Academy in Germantown over the net, so I'm not sure why they abandoned the campus.