Whatzit?

[webenda]

At last, enough clues. It is a vent for a railroad tunnel that runs under the property.

Chuck, you have the hardest Whatzits I have ever worked on.

[chuck]

You got it. Great job on analyzing it.

The railroad had to put up some kind of protection around the 10'x'10'x 250' deep shaft that they carved through "Bergen Hill" (aka the backside of the Palisades cliffs) to keep people and life stock from falling in. Tunnel is still there but it's now a utility chase for a couple of pipe lines and an electric feeder cable. It MAY be converted back to a light rail tunnel if the Edgewater waterfront continues development as a commercial and residential center. The same line that serves the old West Shore Weehawken yards (and it's tunnel) may be extended north and connected.

[chuck]

More of a what was it/where was it. Original photo is obviously an amusement park, picture is dated 1905. Other picture is a ground shot from near the same place as the 1905 photo but it was taken in 2016. Where is this and what happened to the park? Not the usual real estate development demise. It's really an interesting story/location

[HONDO74]

Fort George Amusement Park
https://www.mcny.org/story/fort-george-amusement-park

The story is within the article.....

[chuck]

Yes, very quick!

Another article on the old park with some additional info on what happened next, scroll to near the bottom.

http://myinwood.net/fort-george-amusement-park/

When Ft. George closed down in 1913 the brother took their act across the Hudson about 3.5 miles away and started "Palisades Amusement Park"



That's Edgewater at the bottom of the photo, not to far from the exit point of the train tunnel referenced in the previous whatzit.

[chuck]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Pivot of a bascule bridge?

[chuck]

Nope.

[healey36]

Looks like some sort of sculpture or adornment on a building...maybe...???

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The adult walking along in the distance is a clue as to what the whole shebang is. So I'm wondering, especially given the large pipe in the left top corner, overhead, could it be parts of a dam, like where there is facility for overspill ?.

And yet, in the far distance, I almost can make-out an automobile, parked, and perhaps even a hydrant near it? Could the structure be a cable-car system like the one that connects the eastside of Manhattan to an island community in the East River ?

[chuck]

Great analysis, especially about the scale of things! We're not in NY (no where near NY) and none of this stuff moves.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Interesting - roped / chained off area and the signs appear to be radiation hazard signs. Part of a reactor containment structure?

[chuck]

Kind of. The guy can walk around the tubes but the "fencing" is for the area under them

Arial view:



This is Hanford, Washington State.

The tubes are actually the reactor compartments from the decommissioned subs. The sub is cut into three pieces.



Special bulkheads were welded over the ends of the reactor compartments as "caps" since the vessel bulkheads had doors for access to the compartment. I'm pretty sure the "vertical" vessels (top center) are from the nuclear cruisers. It looks like 4 are missing, aka two vessels, probably from the last class, Virginia. It takes a while to demo the vessels. Even after the reactor fuel is removed they have to cool down.

The Enterprise's eight reactors are supposed to wind up here as well once the Navy figures out how to get them out of the ship. They are deep in the hull and I don't think there is a west coast shipyard that could handle carving it up.

The pit is open to the air for treaty verification purposes. It will be covered with dirt when full.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Even after the reactor fuel is removed they have to cool down.

Having seen a fuel core unit "cooling" down prior to re-processing, I know that can take quite a while......

[chuck]

And now, for something completely different: