(
Satellite, most of the land is now container storage. But ComEd does store some transformers next to its switchyard.)
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| See below for source details |
I knew ComEd had the
Fisk and Crawford Generating Stations along the South Branch and Canal. The comments on the following photo taught me that ComEd had a third generating station along the waterway --- Ridgeland.
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Jerry Jackson posted
I'll bet the guy in the 76' AMC Hornet could care less about this train and wonders if his spare is any good. I, on the other hand, wore a glove. Driving up the Stevenson Expressway, just past Harlem Ave. I saw this cool lash-up just after it had crossed the DesPlaines River, rolled the winder down and took as many as I safely could. This one was the best of the grab shots. The train is headed towards Nerska/Corwith. January 1988.
No thats not Ridgeland station , thats the Metro Water Reclaimation plant in the background. Ridgeland was directly north of where the photo was taken. |
The plant existed in 1938: (Jun 2025 Update: a comment below says the plant did not exist in 1938. I've learned that this aerial is a mistake. (I left it in so that some of the comments make sense. Since I wrote these notes, I have learned how to get aerial photos between WWII and the 21st Century.) The Ridgeland Plant was west of this 1938 aerial view. So now I wonder what this building was. (Jul 2025 Update: per a comment below, the plant was the Brisch Brick Company.))
The first four units were done in 1951. (I included the roundhouse because I didn't know about this one. Only the foundation of the roundhouse is visible in the above 1962 photo.)
Three sources say it was built in the early 1950s:
- JohnnyBigboy1425: "It was the most Modern Power plant in the world when it came on line in the 50's. People from all over the world would come and see it's operation."
- IEEE: "Newest addition to the Commonwealth Edison Company is the Ridgeland Station with an ultimate capacity of 600,000 kw. The result of long-range planning, the station has many modern features including centralized control, cyclone-fired furnaces, and hydrogen-cooled generators." (This was published in 1951.)
- Chicago Tribune: "The first completely new electric generating station built in the Chicago area since 1929"
So why do I see the same buildings with the same smokestacks exist in the 1938 aerial??? My current working assumption is that it was built as a coal plant and converted to an oil-burning plant in the early 1950s. JohnnyBigboy1425 also stated: "
When I worked there, in the operating department it was an oil burning plant, it had been converted from coal some years before I started working there." Because OPEC very successfully increased the price of petroleum products in the 1970s, JohnnyBigboy1425 says it was dismantled piece by piece and reassembled in Florida. It must be the Florida plant that
rmurwin is referring to with his 2014 comment: "
This power plant is still in operation, albeit heavily modified. It now burns biofuel (wood). Ferndog confirms it was closed in 1982 due to high oil costs. (Update: see the comment below about it being closed because of "high maintenance costs on tube leaks from burning gas.")
Alan Medsker provided the following three images from a Sargent & Lundy book. The last paragraph on page 53 starts the description of this plant. The "Reheat Returns To Use" puts the 1800 psig design for Ridgeland into perspective. The state of art had been 1250 psig.
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| 3, the source for the image at the top of these notes |
The siding is still there and it is a Comed substation and storage for large transformers.
ReplyDeleteI went past Ridgeland station every day on my way to Dresden station. It had strange stacks - I was told that they were a special design that mixed and dispersed the flue gases better to reduce effects on planes coming into Midway.
ReplyDeleteRidgeland station was the site of a catastrophic turbine failure during overspeed testing of unit 4 LP turbine. December 19, 1954. Two were killed and five were injured. Taught everyone a lot about metallurgy and brittle fracture.
I worked there when they did the asbestos removal in 1985 those two engineers were still hanging around on the turbine floor replaying the blow up over and over it was real scary
DeleteThat was the first turbine accident. My dad worked at Ridgeland station 32 years and walked into work as a machinist one day when another turbine went out of control. He walked into the center of the spinning out of control turbine to the idiot box and shut it down, saving lives in doing so.
DeleteYears later he entered an area at work and
saw a turbine being rigged to lift and realized it was rigged incorrectly and yelled to clear area just before it fell. He was given an award by Mayor Daley for saving lives ! Dad was transferred to Crawford Station when Ridgeland was closed down, for his last 3 years, retiring at age 55 in 1985 after 35 years of service..
He missed only ONE day in all those years! Sadly he passed away in 1991 from Malignant Mesothelioma. Prognosis 3 months.. He lived 6 months , letting Doctors experiment on him. He said he just wanted to help his buddies that he worked with so they could survive. Dad and his co-workers were never warned about asbestos at Ridgeland .It was everywhere,. When he started at Crawford Station, the workers wore protective suits and masks. He asked why and was told because of asbestos… 💔 lastly Changing from coal to oil was extremely costly… however after realizing the monumental error con ed re-tooled back to coal. It was the right choice. Working at Ridgeland was hard. It was cold in the winter. It was extremely hot in the summer. It was way too loud and most workers suffered significant hearing loss. Standing on concrete floors hours on end was hard on the workers feet , knees and hips. Then there was the danger. But in the end it was the silent killer. 20 to 40 years… asleep inside the lungs… (the Latency period)
My dad rarely passed up the often offered “RED HOURS”… overtime for those outside ConEd…Das was a great provider. He was a great employee. Miss him everyday.
I worked as a project engineer for Ridgeland, Fisk, and Crawford stations. The plant did not exist in 1938.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I had the wrong area in my 1938 aerial photo. I have made major changes to my notes. I still haven't been able to find any photos of the plant.
DeleteMy dad took me to an open house at Ridgeland a few months before the accident. The cyclone furnaces were very hot. You could monitor the flame through a small window. Fuel was finely pulverized coal.
ReplyDeleteRidgeland was closed in 1982 due to high maintenance costs on tube leaks from burning gas….
ReplyDeleteThe plant to the east of Ridgeland Generating Station was Brisch Brick Company. It shows up on a 1942 Chicago & Illinois Western track chart.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I have updated my notes.
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