Facade

black and white has done this alot of justice... very nice.

Thats wierd to see that the tracks were right on the side of the plant.

Not really. Since these coal powered facilities needed a constant flow of fuel delivered by rail... it would make no sense in constructing a long conveyor system or other means of delivery if the train could just roll next to the plant.

This practice still takes place today and will until the coal supplies are depleted.

My uncle worked at the plant for years he relayed some gruesome stories about medical experiments and treatment of patients ...

it strikes me as odd they would elevate the coal damn near to the top of the building to transfer it into the building. The amount of energy to lift 100 tons of coal (I seem to recall that was the amount used on a daily basis at one point) must be considerable, rendering the process itself somewhat inefficient.

I imagine there were design issues involved where the plant might not have been laid out with the eventual volume of coal in mind when it was built. Maybe it _was_ that way from the start, who knows.

Eventually, the plant was converted to other fuel sources, rendering the coal loading process a moot point. However, the inefficiency might have played a part in the migration to a different fuel source.