Charles Hoskins

Charles Henry Hoskins (1851-1926) was an Australian industrialist, who was significant in the development of the iron and steel industry in Australia.
Early life.
Charles Hoskins was born on 26 March 1851 in the City of London, to John Hoskins, gunsmith, and his wife Wilmot Eliza, née Thompson. He emigrated with his family to Melbourne as a small child in 1853, and all his education occurred in Melbourne.
After his father's death, the family moved to Smythesdale, near Ballarat. Hoskins began work as a mail boy, tried his luck on the goldfields, and worked as an assistant an ironmongery store in Bendigo.
Sydney.
Charles Hoskins joined his elder brother George (1847-1926) in Sydney in 1876, operating a small engineering workshop at Hay Street, Ultimo. Around 1889, they moved to larger premises in Wattle Street, Ultimo and established a foundry, pipe-works and boiler shop. This plant was expanded in 1902. It was pipe manufacturing that would lead to their success.
Innovation and success.
A breakthrough came when they began to win contracts for the Sydney water supply mains. This was to provide a steady flow of work through their Ultimo factory for a number of years after 1892. In 1904, the other major pipe manufacturer in the Sydney market, Pope & Maher, failed; G & C Hoskins were left as the dominant supplier in that market. From 1911, they opened a second facility at Rhodes, to manufacture cast-iron pipes.
The Hoskins Brothers were not only efficient; they were also innovative, patenting a number of their ideas for improving pipes and their manufacturing processes.
Free trade and industry protection.
The issue of protection against imports was the principal political division of late 19th-century Australia. In New South Wales, almost alone of the Australian colonies, there was widespread support for free trade. A growing force was the Labor Party; it somewhat favoured protection, as a means to maintain relatively high wages, but also advocated nationalisation of major industries, complicating its position.
Politically, Hoskins was for Federation, free trade between the Australian colonies, and uniform tariff protection against imports from other countries. The Chamber of Manufacturers of New South Wales had been established in 1885—Hoskins was an early and prominent member—with its primary supporters focusing on lobbying for protection, in direct opposition to the "Free Traders" led by Sir Henry Parkes and later George Reid. This oppositional approach made little progress, with Free Trade governments holding power in New South Wales, except between 1891 and 1895. In 1895, Charles Hoskins was the first President of a reconstituted Chamber of Manufacturers that aimed to advance industry without partisan political lobbying, an approach that it has followed since that time.
Free Traders were not opposed to a local iron and steel industry; their view was that it could come about, without a protective tariff. The N.S.W. Government had offered a large contract for locally made steel rails. A leading Free Trade businessman and politician, Joseph Mitchell won the contract, in 1897, but died before he could build his planned large iron and steel works near Wallerawang. G & C Hoskins also tendered, unsuccessfully. It was an early sign of an interest in entering the iron and steel industry. However, in 1899, when William Sandford attempted to interest Charles Hoskins in buying the Eskbank works at Lithgow, the offer was declined.
Charles Hoskins was a Protectionist but also—through lack of other options—a major user of imported iron and steel. After his friend and fellow protectionist, William Sandford, commenced production of pig iron at Lithgow, in May 1907, G & C Hoskins became one of Sandford's major customers.
Interstate expansion.
In the 1890s, G & C Hoskins opened a branch in Melbourne to make steel pipes.
In 1898, after negotiations, G & C Hoskins and the Melbourne firm Mephan Ferguson shared the contract to manufacture and lay 60,000 lengths of pipe over the 350 miles (563 km) from Perth to Coolgardie, for the water-supply scheme designed by C. Y. O'Connor. This allowed the Hoskins' firm to further increase its technical capabilities in pipe manufacturing, as a result of the collaboration with the leading Melbourne firm and the purchase of their patent rights for New South Wales. Hoskins' share of the contract was worth around £500,000.
The contract for the pipeline in Western Australia stipulated that the pipes were to be manufactured in that state, and that all would be to Mephan Ferguson's design using an ingenious 'rivetless' locking bar. The steel for the pipes for the Coolgardie Water Scheme was imported but the Hoskins' share of the pipes were fabricated at a factory that the Hoskins established at Midland Junction, which was reported to employ 200 workers. Ferguson made his share of the pipes at another factory in Perth, reported at the time as 'Falkirk', now Maylands.
After completion of the pipeline to the Goldfields, the Hoskins established a works, on a block lying between Wellington and Murray Streets in Perth, and won other work associated with the reticulation of water in Western Australia.
In November 1923, the company opened a steel pipe plant at South Brisbane.
Lithgow.
Failure of William Sandford Limited.
In December 1907, there was a crisis when the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney took over the assets of William Sandford Limited, owners of the Eskbank Ironworks at Lithgow, including its nearly new modern blast furnace. It was Charles Hoskins, one of William Sandford's closest friends, one of his largest customers, one of the few outside shareholders of William Sandford Limited, and a fellow protectionist, who stepped in to acquire the assets and keep the works operating.
Taking over from William Sandford.
Charles Hoskins relocated to Lithgow, to manage the works, leaving his brother George to manage the growing pipe manufacturing operations.
G & C Hoskins became the owners of the blast furnace, a colliery, coke ovens, steelmaking furnaces, rolling mills, an iron ore mine at Coombing Park near Carcoar, an iron ore lease near Cadia, and 400 acres of freehold land at Lithgow, as well as Sandford's house on his 2000-acre estate, 'Eskroy Park', near Bowenfels.
As for the management team, Sandford, his two sons, and their reliable and competent General Manager, William Thornley, were lost to the Hoskins, but most of the line management came over, which was crucial to the Hoskins' subsequent success.
William Sandford Limited had been a large enterprise employing over 700 workers. Although notionally a public company, it had been run more like the private company of the Sandford family, who held nearly all the company's shares. Sandford had managed the company in an idiosyncratic manner. Sandford has employed his workers under contracts, with different wage rates in different parts of the works.
Upon taking over, the businesslike Hoskins found the account books in a mess. The costs of production were difficult to identify and understand but turned out to be higher than expected. The Lithgow works had been making a loss, which became clear within a year after the take over.
Industrial strife and disputes.
Charles Hoskins' views on industrial relations were very different to those of William Sandford. Hoskins had a more belligerent personality, not given to compromise. He was also under pressure to turn around a failing enterprise.
As Hoskins prepared to take over the works from Sandford, he made a generous gift to workers facing a bleak Christmas of 1907, following the shutdown of the works. Any initial goodwill did not last, when Hoskins attempted to move from contract arrangements to day labour wages, in 1908, and to lower the overall wage paid to his workers. He closed the works for five weeks in July 1908, ostensibly to carry out repairs, but later was found guilty of deliberately engineering a lock out and fined.
Matters came to a climax at the end of August 1911, when during a bitter and sometimes violent company-wide strike—following Hoskins use of strikebreaking 'scab' labour in his coal mine to keep the works operating—Hoskins and his sons, Henry and Cecil, were besieged by rock-throwing workers and his motor car was destroyed by the rioters. The blast furnace was shutdown briefly.
Perhaps as a result of the strain he was under, earlier in August 1911, Charles Hoskins had made some ungracious public remarks—about the previous owner, William Sandford, and his management of the Lithgow plant—resulting in a bitter public dispute between the two old friends. By then, both men felt that they had been deceived by the other; Sandford believed that Hoskins had connived in his downfall and besmirched his reputation and Hoskins believed that Sandford had not disclosed that the Lithgow works has been losing money. The two men also had very different views of their workforce; Hoskins had little of Sandford's paternalistic concern for his workers and was more concerned about profits.
The strike continued for another nine months—an uneasy industrial peace resulted from a compromise outcome in April 1912—but Hoskins did achieve a wage cut.
Lithgow and its coal and ore mines were never to be harmonious workplaces, once Hoskins took over; there were numerous disputes and strikes, right to the end. The same was true of the G & C Hoskins plants in Sydney.
Hoskins also took a hard line in commercial relationships. When ore mining ceased in May 1923 at Coombing Park, near Carcoar, the cause was not that the ore was exhausted but because Hoskins would not agree to renew the lease on similar terms to the original agreement.
Initial expansion and protection.
As part of the rescue deal, C & C Hoskins took over Sandford's contract to supply the iron and steel needs of the New South Wales Government, extending its term to nine years from 1 January 1908. Unfortunately for the new owners, apart from the new blast furnace, much of the rest of the plant was antiquated or otherwise not ready to supply the Government with its needs, particularly steel rails.
The long-sought protection of the iron and steel industry was finally introduced, from the first day of 1909, by Andrew Fisher's Labor government, in the form of bounties to be paid under the "Manufacturers' Encouragement Act", which made it a condition that those benefitting from bounties would pay "fair and reasonable wages". The government paid a bonus of 12s per ton from 1908 to 1914 and 8s per ton thereafter, until 1917, after which the industry would receive no further payments.
The Lithgow plant was in urgent need of expansion; the Hoskins brothers had the financial means to do so and experience of operating a heavy industrial enterprise. The new management immediately closed down marginal operations such as the sheet mill and galvanising plant—although these were to be reopened later—and began to renovate and rearrange the existing operations.
The company had modernised and upgraded the mine at Carcoar, by mid 1909, and opened a second iron ore mine at Tallawang in 1911.Sandford had left a half-completed 24-inch rolling mill—for rolling heavy sections such as rails—but, when the new management, completed it and tried to use it, it broke down. Hoskins imported parts for this mill, including a more powerful steam engine to drive it, and reworked its design to create a 27-inch mill. New reheating furnaces were built to suit rail rolling. It would take until 1911 for Lithgow to deliver the first steel rails made in Australia. The works later won a contract to supply rails for the new Trans-Australian Railway.
Sandford's plans for Lithgow had provision for up to four blast furnaces. G & C Hoskins quickly built a second blast furnace—with its parts made at Hoskins' own works at Lithgow and Ultimo—which was almost identical to Sandford's, but slightly larger. This new furnace opened in 1913. They built a short rail line from the blast furnaces to the steel furnaces, allowing the pig iron to transferred in a molten state, using 30-ton capacity ladle cars. They added a new larger open hearth steel furnace that produced larger steel ingots to suit the new 27-inch mill. To match the increased production, more coke ovens were built.
By 1914, the Lithgow plant had been transformed into a viable iron and steel making operation.
First World War.
Australia entered the First World War with a small but economically viable iron and steel industry at Lithgow, a fortuitous circumstance because the country could no longer rely upon imports from Europe or America, for the duration of the war. Much of the credit for this belonged to Charles Hoskins.
During the war, the Lithgow plant was put to use making special grades of steel unobtainable from Europe. In 1916, it made ferromanganese needed for armaments, using manganese ore from a mine near Grenfell. It supplied the nearby Lithgow Small Arms Factory with steel for weapon manufacture. Charles Hoskins became personally involved in solving problems of wartime production. While the war was in progress, he was building a new branch railway line and an aerial ropeway to open up a new iron ore quarry at Cadia.
However, by the time of the war, difficulties associated with the location of his plant at Lithgow had already become apparent to Hoskins, leading him to reconsider its long term future. Consequently, the further expansion of the Lithgow plant effectively ceased by the end of the war. Hoskins had offered to sell the plant to the N.S.W. Government in early 1914 but his offer was not taken up.
Difficulties, vision for the future, and sole control.
Iron ore.
The original decision to site an ironworks at Lithgow in 1875, was based upon the existence of coal and a relatively small iron ore deposit there. After blast furnace operation recommenced at Lithgow in 1907, ore had to be brought from further away, from Coombing Park—near Carcoar—(up to May 1923), Tallawang (from 1911 to Feb. 1927) and Cadia (from 1918).
The ore from Carcoar was high in manganese and needed to be blended with other ore for some grades. The Tallawang ore was largely magnetite but the grade was only around 42% iron and the deposit relatively small. The ore from Cadia was hematite with some magnetite but averaging only around 51% iron with a high silica content; the silica content resulted in relatively large amounts of slag, when the ore was smelted, and increased the consumption of limestone flux.
New South Wales, although it possessed some widely dispersed smaller deposits of iron ore, was not well-endowed with large deposits. With two blast furnaces in operation at Lithgow, after 1913, not only did Hoskins need to rail his complex iron ores a considerable distance but his ore deposits had a limited life. This last aspect became more critical, once it was discovered that the ore deposit at Cadia—to which Lithgow's future was to be inextricably tied—contained a far lesser quantity of good-quality ore than had been estimated by the Government's geological surveyor.
G. & C. Hoskins explored and—in some cases—took out leases on other deposits of iron ore in New South Wales; one was close to the eastern side of the Main Southern Railway between Breadalbane and Cullerin—mined sporadically from 1918, with the ore smelted at Lithgow—and others were near Crookwell , Michelago, Cumnock, Picton, Cudgegong near Mudgee, and even as far from Lithgow as Tabulam.
Through Charles Hoskins' commercial intransigence—his unwillingness to renew the lease on the existing terms and conditions—the company lost access to its deposit at Carcoar in 1923, after extracting only about a third of its ore.
Coking coal.
Lithgow was a coal mining centre but only one of the mines, Oakey Park, produced coal that could produce coke, and even that was of marginal quality. Hoskins opened new mines at Lithgow to obtain suitable coal. After 1916, higher-quality coke was brought from Wongawilli.in the Illawarra by rail.
Transport.
Lithgow was totally dependent upon rail transport. Until 1921, the railway west of Lithgow toward the ore mines was single track. Limestone, for use as smelting flux, needed to be carried from Ben Bullen and Havilah, and later from Excelsior near Cullen Bullen. The cost of rail freight and sensitivity to increases in freight rates were unavoidable disadvantages of Lithgow's inland site and its distance from the ore and limestone quarries, and, after 1916, even some its coke production.
Until 1910, rail traffic from Lithgow to the coast and Sydney was constrained by the Lithgow Zig Zag. Even after the Zig Zag was replaced by the Ten Tunnels Deviation and the line duplicated—including the Glenbrook Deviation (1913)—the distance from the coast and the gradients of the Western railway remained an issue. Although Hoskins sought new sources of ore in other states, it would never be feasible to bring iron ore from a coastal port to Lithgow; in the longer term, the blast furnaces could not remain in operation at Lithgow.
Competition and product quality.
With BHP's rival steelmaking operation imminent, the N.S.W. Government ended Hoskins' exclusive contract for supply of iron and steel in 1913, and he claimed £150,000 in compensation. For a time, there was active consideration of the government purchasing the works.
The BHP works at Newcastle opened in 1915. However, initially, Lithgow was not badly affected by competition, due to buoyant demand for steel during the First World War and the government bonuses paid until 1917. That began to change once the war ended.
The newer and larger BHP works could produce larger quantities of rolled steel products of a higher quality, at a lower cost of production. Newcastle's seaport location brought access to virtually inexhaustible amounts of very high-grade iron ore from its mine at Iron Knob; it allowed BHP to ship its products to Sydney and to interstate markets by sea, at lower cost than Lithgow could by rail. By the early 1920s, Newcastle had three blast furnaces, each of which was capable of making 50% more pig iron than both of Hoskins' Lithgow blast-furnaces combined. BHP also had vast cash flows from its Broken Hill silver-lead mines and smelters, with which to fund expansion of its steelworks. Hoskins' family-owned company could not match BHP's ability to fund capital works.
BHP had access to more modern American technology and employed more professionals. Consequently, the quality of their steel was higher than Hoskins could make at Lithgow; in 2006 it was stated that, "rail produced before 1914 and all Hoskins rail are generally regarded as being of dubious metallurgical composition".
Labour.
Lithgow always had relatively higher labour costs—a legacy of the industrial relations arrangements of William Sandford—and a relatively strong culture of unionism. Under competitive conditions, labour costs, poor labour relations, and strikes affected the long-term viability of the Lithgow plant. Wage rates at coastal locations were lower and unions perceived as less troublesome there.
Vision for the future and sole control.
Charles Hoskins began to see that his works at Lithgow had inherent problems that could not be resolved—even more so, after BHP's Newcastle works became a formidable competitor, from 1915 onward. He began to form a vision for a larger, more modern steelworks on the coast.
In 1919, Charles Hoskins bought out his older brother George's share of the company G & C Hoskins, renaming the company Hoskins Iron and Steel Limited in July 1920. George retired, leaving Charles—by then in his late sixties—in sole charge of the destiny of the company.
Plans for Port Kembla.
Port Kembla was selected, by the New South Wales Government at the end of 1898 as main port for area and in 1901 construction commenced on two breakwaters to protect two existing coal jetties at the site and to enclose an area of seabed that became the Outer Harbour. In 1908, it first became the site of heavy industry when the Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company's plant was opened.
The first association of Charles Hoskins with Port Kembla was in 1911, when there was talk of an ironworks at Port Kembla to process Tasmanian iron ore. In 1912, BHP planned to set up a large steelworks at Newcastle to exploit its vast South Australian iron ore deposits. Port Kembla was a site that BHP had considered before deciding upon Newcastle. That left the stage clear for Hoskins to take advantage of Port Kembla's seaport location, amidst the Southern Coalfields renown for their excellent hard coking coal.
Charles Hoskins' first step was when G & C Hoskins purchased the Wongawilli colliery at Dapto, in 1916, and established a cokeworks there. Hoskins had secured a source of coal and coke, close to a seaport at which iron ore could be unloaded. At first, the high-quality coke would be railed to Lithgow. However, he soon had more coke making capacity than he needed. Hoskins' approach to industrial relations was no different at Wongawilli and there were numerous strikes there.
In late 1920, the company acquired 380 acres of the Wentworth Estate, at Port Kembla, as the site for a steelworks. Also in 1920, Hoskins secured leases over an ore deposit near Mt Heemskirk in Tasmania, and apparently planned to ship the ore via rail to the port of Strahan. At an official event in Wollongong in April 1921, Hoskins spoke openly about his plans for a steelworks on the land that he had purchased at Port Kembla but also about what he wanted from the N.S.W. Government first, a lease for a private wharf at the harbour and a new railway line connecting Port Kembla to the Main Southern line.
In July 1923, he announced that a new integrated steelworks would be built at Port Kembla, without at this stage mentioning closing Lithgow; it was stated that Port Kembla was intended for the ‘interstate trade'. Later in 1923, the government announced the building of a rail line to Moss Vale, which would allow limestone flux to be carried from Marulan. The company gained the lease for a private wharf at Port Kembla that would be completed in 1928.
Charles Hoskins retired as managing director in 1924, leaving the question of the future of the Lithgow works open. The construction of the new plant at Port Kembla would be for his successor as Chairman, his son Cecil Hoskins. His other son A. Sidney Hoskins would take charge of the Lithgow Steelworks. Together the two sons were co-Managing Directors of the company, which after their father's death would gradually transfer operations from the old works to the new.
Family, homes, and personal life.
Although his father had died when he was young, Charles Hoskins was not an orphan, as his obituary would incorrectly state; his mother, Wilmot Eliza Hoskins, lived until 1896. He also had an uncle, William Hoskins, in Australia, as well as two brothers, George John Hoskins (1847-1926)—his business partner—and Thomas, and at least one sister. Although Thomas was not initially involved in G & C Hoskins, he later became the manager of the works at Midland Junction, in Western Australia.
Charles married Emily Wallis (1861-1928) on 22 December 1881. They raised eight children; sons Henry Guildford (1887-1916), Cecil Harold (Sir Cecil 1889-1971), Arthur Sidney, known as Sid, (1892-1959), and daughters, Florence Maud, later Mrs. F.A. Crago (1882-1973), Wilmot Elsie, later Mrs F.A. Weisener (1884-1964), Hilda Beatrice (1893-1912), Nellie Constance (1894-1914), and Kathleen Gertrude, later Mrs E.C. Mackey (1900-1950). Another daughter, Emily (b.1886), died soon after birth.
The family moved often; their choices of housing in Sydney reflected the family's rapidly increasing prosperity. During the 1880s, they lived first at 'Exeter Terrace' on Crystal Street, Petersham, then on Macauley Street, Leichhardt., then at 'Auburn Vale', Granville, and later at 'Waverley' on Croyden Street, Petersham. In the 1890s, they lived first at 'Koorinda' on Albert Street, Strathfield and later at 'Illyria', on The Boulevard, Strathfield.
Hoskins built 'Illyria' in the early 1890s. With his typical thrift and practicality, the stone facade of this grand building was obtained from the City Bank building in Pitt Street—built in 1873—which had been gutted by a fire in October 1890. The stonework was dismantled and transported in sections to its new site and re-erected in the same orientation as the original bank building, becoming the facade of a more conventional Italianate mansion.
It was at 'Illyria' that Charles was able to indulge his passion for motor cars, buying the second Ford car imported to Australia, in 1904, and a succession of other cars, including a 1908 Clément-Talbot. The garage suite, at the rear of the house, was probably built during Hoskins' time to house his vehicles, making it one of the earliest private garages in Sydney.
In 1907, his eldest daughter, Florence, and her new husband were living at 'Mevaina', on Appian Way, Burwood, in an exclusive 'garden city' influenced residential precinct—known as the 'Hoskins Estate'—founded in 1903 by Charles Hoskins' brother, George, who lived at nearby 'St Cloud'.
After the takeover of the Lithgow works, in early 1908, Charles and his family moved from Strathfield to Marrangaroo, west of Bowenfels and Lithgow, living in William Sandford's former home, 'Eskroy Park', which was situated on 2000 acres of land. They also spent time at Lawson in the Blue Mountains, having an association with the area that went back well before their move to Lithgow. Later, they were to make their home in the area and contribute to the beautification of its parks and gardens.
Charles and Emily lost three of their children, within the space of four years. In 1912, his daughter Hilda drove her car onto the level crossing at 'Eskroy Park' where it was struck by a locomotive. Although she was taken to the house, she died without regaining consciousness. In 1914, his daughter Nellie, who was stricken with tuberculosis, died at Lawson, before the family's new home nearby—built with her recovery in mind—could be completed. Their eldest son, Henry Guildford Hoskins was fatally injured in an acetylene gas explosion, in 1916, while repairing a gas generator, at 'Eskroy Park'. Although moved to a hospital in Sydney, he died. He was 28 when he died and already a significant figure in the company.
The family's home 'Cadia Park', on five acres of land, at Bullaburra, lay close to the boundary of that mountain settlement with Lawson and was completed in 1914. It had eight bedrooms, billiard-room, drawing and dining rooms, three bathrooms, entrance hall, maids' dining room and larder, and kitchen. Separate out-buildings include stables, a garage accommodating six cars, and laundry. The house was sighted so as to have magnificent views over the adjacent valley. Outdoors, 'Cadia Park' had grassed tennis courts, shrubberies, two large swimming baths, one for adults and one for children, and extensive gardens. Hoskins also leased some crown land nearby for use as a private zoo to which he allowed public admission. The Hoskins made 'Cadia Park' their home, until 1922. Charles sold the property in 1923, with the land-holding totalling 42 acres.
Charles Hoskins moved, in 1922, to what would be his last home, Ashton in Elizabeth Bay.
Later life and death.
After he stepped down as Managing Director of Hoskins Iron and Steel, in 1924. Charles Hoskins had only a short retirement; he was in poor health during that time. He died at his home on 14 February 1926, not living to see the fulfillment of his plans for Port Kembla.
He was survived by his wife, Emily, two sons, three daughters and twenty-two grandchildren. His fortune of well in excess of £1,000,000 had been distributed among this large family before he died, and he left a relatively small personal legacy of £12,018. Charles Hoskins' immense fortune had been made in his own lifetime, starting from nothing at age thirteen. He had been very much a self-made man.
His widow Emily died in November 1928, having lived just long enough to light the new blast furnace at Port Kembla in August of the same year.
Charles Hoskins' grave lies in the Congregational section of the Rookwood Cemetery; nearby are the graves of his wife and his children, Florence, Hilda, Nellie and Henry.
Legacy.
The most lasting legacy of Charles Hoskins is the large steelworks at Port Kembla. Although he did not live to see it, his vision and foresight had led to its creation. For many decades, this plant was known as 'Hoskins Kembla Works'; now, no longer known by that name, it is still the site of most of Australia's steel production.
Between 1928 and early 1932, some parts of the old Lithgow works were re-erected at Port Kembla but other parts, including the two Lithgow blast furnaces, made the journey to Port Kembla only as scrap iron to be fed into the furnaces of the younger plant. In December 1931, the last steel was rolled at Lithgow. Only very little remains of the Lithgow works today, in what is now the Blast Furnace Park. 'Wallaby', a locomotive from the Lithgow steelworks, survives. From 1913, 'Wallaby' worked the then new line to Hoskins' two Lithgow blast furnaces and then was at Port Kembla until 1963.
Hoskins Iron and Steel Limited become a part of Australian Iron and Steel Limited, a new company—also part owned by Dorman Long, Howard Smith Limited, Baldwins and preference shareholders—that was set up in March 1928 to build and operate the new plant at Port Kembla and its associated iron ore, limestone and coal mines. In 1935, a victim of the Great Depression, this company became, via an exchange of ordinary shares, a subsidiary of BHP. Preference shares of Australian Iron and Steel Limited remained trading on the stock exchange, until 1959 when BHP's offer was accepted and the AIS preference shares were converted to ordinary BHP shares.
Charles Hoskins' sons Cecil and Sidney Hoskins remained managers at Port Kembla and directors of Australian Iron and Steel Ltd. They were also major shareholders of BHP. Under BHP ownership, the plant was greatly expanded, and outlived the Newcastle works. Following the demerger of BHP's steel interests from the rest of the company, it is now owned by Bluescope Steel.
The Hoskins Memorial Presbyterian Church in Lithgow was intended as a memorial to his son Henry Guidford Hoskins and also to commemorate his daughters Hilda and Nellie but it also commemorates Charles, his wife Emily, and two of his grandsons, all of whom died before its opening. Standing on an opposite corner of the intersection of Mort and Bridge Streets from the church, the Charles Hoskins Memorial Institute building—opened in 1927—is now a campus of the Western Sydney University.Charles Hoskins had initiated the Hoskins Trust, in 1919, for charitable purposes, endowing a fund to support the Hoskins Memorial Church. Since 2006, this trust has awarded an annual scholarship, the Hoskins Lithgow Scholarship, for a Lithgow resident to study at a university or other tertiary education institution.
Although Hoskins and his family endowed Lithgow with fine buildings, their longer-term legacy there is mixed. The stark and desolate ruin of the blast furnace's blower house stands as a reminder that the closure of the town's main industry—at the height of the Great Depression—and the exodus of skilled managers and workers to Port Kembla—with their families, about 5000 people—was a blow from which the future prospects of the town never recovered fully. In 1929, Lithgow had the fourth largest population in New South Wales—after Sydney, Newcastle, and Broken Hill—but by 2016, it was 36th; Lithgow's population fell from around 18,000, in 1929, to only 11,530 in 2016.
A former garden at Lawson, 'Hilda Gardens', was funded by Hoskins and dedicated to the memory of his daughter, Hilda. Sadly, this garden has been subsumed by the growth of the Lawson Bowling Club and no trace of it remains.
The mansion that Hoskins built in the early 1890s, 'Illyria' at Strathfield, was renamed 'Holyrood' by its next owner—William James Adams, a nephew and an heir of George Adams—and survives to this day. It is heritage listed and better known now as part of Santa Sabina College. Charles's home near Lithgow, 'Eskroy Park'—earlier the home of William Sandford— is now part of the clubhouse of the Lithgow Golf Club.
Hoskins' house, 'Cadia Park', on the Great Western Highway, Bullaburra, was too large to be a practical family residence. It was sold several times in the 1920s, before becoming a convent in 1930. It was still a convent when the old building was destroyed by the massive bushfire of December 1977; it was never rebuilt, leaving only an ornamental rotunda made of iron ore, a brick boundary fence, and the overgrown garden beds, pathways and terraces of Hoskins' extensive gardens.
Biographies.
Charles Henry Hoskins is the subject of two biographical works, "The Ironmaster", written by his grandson Don Hoskins (published 1995) and "The Hoskins Saga", written by his son Sir Cecil Hoskins (published 1969). He also has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.


Perkins 4.236

The Perkins 4.236 is a diesel engine manufactured by Perkins Engines. First produced in 1964,over 70,000 were produced in the first three years, and production increased to 60,000 units per annum. The engine was both innovative (using direct injection) and reliable, becoming a worldwide sales success over several decades.
The Perkins 4.236 is rated at ASE (DIN), and is widely used in Massey-Ferguson tractors, as well as other well-known industrial and agricultural machines, e.g. Clark, Manitou, JCB, Landini and Vermeer.
The designation "4.236".
The designation 4.236 arose as follows: "4" represents four cylinders, "236" represents , which is the total displacement of the engine. This logic can be used for most of Perkins engine designations. Bore and stroke , for an overall displacement of .
Applications.
The Massey-Ferguson tractors that were originally fitted with this engine are: 168S, 175, 175S, (174 - Romanian model). Later came the 261, 265, 275, 365, 375, 384S. Volvo Trucks used this engine in their Snabbe and Trygge trucks beginning in 1967; they called it the D39.
A now defunct American car manufacturer, Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo, Mich., offered the 4.236 in their Checker Marathon, as an option in 1969 only.
Also the Dodge 50 Series received this engine, from July 1979 until July 1987 as the 4.236 and also between July 1986 and July 1987 in turbocharged T38-specification. It was also fitted as an option for Renault 50 Series vehicles. In Brazil, the locally developed Puma trucks received the Perkins 4.236 engine, with a maximum of DIN. Brazilian versions of the Chevrolet C/K series also relied on the Perkins 4.236 throughout the 80's as its only Diesel option.
The Vermeer BC1250 brush chipper used this engine until the BC1250A replaced it. The BC1250A used the turbocharged version of the same engine.
In Republic of Korea, Hyundai Motor Company produced this engine under license by Perkins in 1977 to 1981 and Hyundai Bison Truck(HD3000, HD5000) equipped it as called 'HD4236'.
Long-term liveaboard sailors Bill & Laurel Cooper installed three Perkins 4.236 engines with three screws and stern gear into their 88' schooner-rigged Dutch barge, "Hosanna". Having three engines (using just one on a calm canal, but engaging the other two in fast rivers or for manoevering) was still cheaper than having an equivalent single engine such as a Cummins or Volvo.
References.
Dodge 50 website


JSW Ratnagiri Power Station

JSW Ratnagiri Power Station is a coal-based thermal power plant located in Nandiwade village near Jaigad in Ratnagiri district Maharashtra. The power plant is operated by the JSW Energy Limited (JSWEL).
The coal for the plant is imported.
Capacity.
It has an installed capacity of 1200 MW (4x300 MW). The plant became fully operational in year 2011.


Smith Warehouse

Smith Warehouse is a historic tobacco storage warehouse located at Durham, Durham County, North Carolina. It was built in 1906, and is a two-story Romanesque style brick structure divided into 12 70-foot-wide units by projecting corbeled firewalls. The building measures 850 feet long and 100 feet wide and features ornamental brickwork. It is an example of "slow burn" masonry and wood factory construction. It was the last of the 12 brick tobacco storage warehouses erected by The American Tobacco Company trust beginning in 1897. The building has been converted to residential use.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.


Campbell Leckie

Campbell Leckie (1848, Glasgow – 14 January 1925, Hamilton, Ontario) was a Scottish-Canadian engineer.
Leckie completed his technical school training in Scotland, becoming a marine engineer on ships in the Atlantic. He emigrated to Hamilton in 1873, working as a marine engineer and machinist in the Grand Trunk Railway shops. In 1897 he became engineer at the "City Disposal Works" and worked his way up to chief engineer in 1904 where he stayed until 1922.
Tribute.
The Leckie Park neighbourhood on the Hamilton, Ontario Mountain was named after him. It is bounded by Highland Road West (north), Rymal Road East (south), 2nd Road West (west), and Upper Centennial Parkway (east). It is mostly a residential area on the south-east corner of the city. Landmarks include "Whitedeer Park" and "Cline Park".


Thierbach Power Station

Thierbach Power Station was a brown coal-fired power station in the Leipzig Bay at Espenhain-Thierbach, Germany. It had a 300-metre-tall chimney, which belonged to the tallest free-standing structures of the former GDR (Eastern Germany).


Gordon Stirling

Gordon Francis Stirling (28 December 1924 – 11 June 1999) was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Williamstown in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1988.
Career.
Stirling worked as a moulder before joining the Royal Australian Navy in 1946. He served as an Able Seaman aboard during the Korean War, reached the rank of Petty Officer, then completed his service in 1958. In 1962 he joined the Labor Party.
Stirling's political activity led to a career as a unionist, becoming an official of the Federated Storemen and Packers Union. He was a member of the Australia-USSR Friendship Society as well as the Congress for International Cooperation and Disarmament. He was also involved in the Williamstown Historical Society, the Williamstown branch of the Returned and Services League, and he was a member of the Williamstown Hospital board.
Stirling was elected to the Victorian Electoral district of Williamstown at the 1973 State election, won by the Liberal party under new leader Rupert Hamer. He served on Labor's Public Works Committee from 1976 to 1982 and the Salinity and Printing committees from 1974 to 1983, and was a member of the Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences board. He retired in August 1988, a month before John Cain II's narrow re-election to a third term.


Auraiya Thermal Power Station

NTPC Auraiya is located at Dibiyapur in Auraiya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The power plant is one of the gas-based power plants of NTPC. The gas for the power plant is sourced from GAIL HBJ Pipeline – South Basin Gas field. Source of water for the power plant is Auraiya – Etawah Canal.


Bromborough power stations

Bromborough power stations are three electricity generating stations that supplied power to industrial and domestic users in Bromborough, Port Sunlight and the wider Wirral area from 1918 until 1998. Bromborough power station provided public electricity supplies from 1951 to 1980. Central power station Bromborough (1918–1998) was originally owned by Lever Brothers and supplied electricity to domestic users in Port Sunlight as well as electricity and steam to industrial users. Merseyside power station Bromborough (1958–1998) was also owned by Unilever and provided electricity and steam at a range of pressures to industrial users in the locality. All three power stations at Bromborough have been demolished.
Bromborough power station.
Bromborough power station was built as a 210 MW coal-fired station by the British Electricity Authority. Construction started in 1948 on a site (53°20'04.2"N 2°57'44.5"W) adjacent to the River Mersey.
The plant at Bromborough comprised:
The first machine was commissioned in November 1951, followed by the other sets in December 1951, October 1952, and December 1952.
Condenser cooling water was abstracted from, and returned to, the tidal River Mersey.
Soon after commissioning the boilers were converted to oil-firing in accordance with government policy to take advantage of differential prices between coal and oil as fuel sources.
Bromborough power station was subsequently owned and operated by the Central Electricity Authority (1955–57) and the Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–80) as the UK electricity supply industry was restructured.
Operating data for the station throughout its operational life is shown in the table.
The station had a high thermal efficiency and was used intensively from the time it was commissioned. As an oil-fired station its utilisation was reduced following the oil crisis of 1973-4 when oil prices increased significantly.
Bromborough power station was closed in 1980 and was demolished in 1986.
Central Power Station.
Central power station (53°20'29.5"N 2°57'51.7"W) was built by Lever Brothers in 1918 to supply electricity for their manufacturing processes at Port Sunlight works. It initially comprised:
The station was adjacent to the River Mersey which provided water for the condensing plant. In 1929 electricity was installed in the houses of Port Sunlight Village.
In the early 1930 the Central Power Station was expanded with three coal-fired boilers and a 6.25 MW generating set. The station then had a rated capacity of 11.5 MW.
In the 1950s a connection to the National Grid was installed. When local demand was high electricity could be imported from the grid, and conversely could be fed into the grid when local demand was low.
Some of the Unilever manufacturing processes required steam. A 1.3 MW British Thomson-Houston back-pressure generator was installed at the Central Station. This comprised a steam turbine fed with steam at 230 psi (15.9 bar) from the existing boilers. The expanding steam drove an alternator and discharged steam at 50 psi (3.4 bar), which was used in the works processes.
In the 1970s the oldest three boilers were decommissioned and part of the boiler house was demolished. The generating plant was decommissioned in 1998 and most of the site was demolished, the 11 kV control room block was retained until new electricity supplies from the National Grid were installed.
Merseyside power station.
To help meet increased demand for electricity and steam Unilever Group built an oil-fired power station (53°20'42.9"N 2°58'33.0"W) on Thermal Road industrial estate Bromborough which was commissioned in 1958.
The station comprised:
The total electricity output was 14 MW and the station was designed to generate 80 GWh of electricity for the company's high voltage network. It supplied steam to 15 local companies and electricity to nearly 50 firms. The overall thermal efficiency of the station was about 78  per cent. The station had three slender concrete chimneys.
Oil was supplied to the station by a 4-inch diameter pipeline from Ellesmere Port. The power  station used 100,000 tonnes of fuel oil a year.
The station cost £2.5 million to build and in 1958 was the largest privately owned power station in the UK. It had two 250 feet (76.2 m) high chimneys.
In 1964 work started on expanding Merseyside Power Station to meet growing demand. The new plant comprised:
By 1966 the Unilever network had a total generating capacity of nearly 30 MW and provided steam at 50, 110, 230 and 1,500 psi (3.4, 7.6, 15.9 and 103 bar).
In 1974, a further extension to Merseyside Power Station was undertaken and comprised a single high pressure boiler (rated at 104 tons/h), and two back pressure generating sets (5.8 MW)  operating at 102/45 bar.
The specification and condition of the boilers and turbines in the last few years of operation were as follows.
The requirement for steam was reduced by new manufacturing processes and the aging generating plant was decommissioned in 1998. Merseyside Power Station was subsequently demolished.


Noble Brothers Foundry

The Noble Brothers Foundry was a large ironworks manufacturer based in Rome, Georgia, United States. Its products included steam boat engines, furnaces, locomotives, and firearms (notably cannons) before, during and after the United States Civil War. The remains of the facility can still be seen today.
History.
The Noble Brothers Foundry was built by James Noble Sr. and his six sons (William, James Jr., Stephen, George, Samuel and John) around 1855 in Rome, Georgia. The brothers ordered a lathe from Pennsylvania around the same time. This massive lathe was brought by boat to Mobile, Alabama. From there it was transported by a river boat up the Coosa River to the first waterfall. Here the lathe was unpacked and hauled by horse and cart to the foundry at First and Broad Street.
The foundry manufactured steam boat engines, furnaces, and locomotives. In 1857, the foundry produced the first locomotive for the Rome Railroad, making this the first locomotive to be manufactured below Richmond. In 1861 the production of the foundry took on another role. The Confederate Government ordered the foundry to produce cannons and other war materials. A rifle plant was built by the brothers, but burned down before production got started. Jefferson Davis exempted the brothers from battlefield fighting. He proclaimed "... the 6 Noble brothers are exempt from the fighting as we have plenty of men to fight but few that can make cannons."
A Noble Brothers Foundry 954-pound cannon that was made around 1861 is on display outdoors in Naperville, IL. To see the cannon, head to Central Park off Benton Street any time of the year.
Even though the foundry's production of cannon had been halted by the Confederate government due to an investigation into improper manufacture of weapons at the facility, they continued output of other war-related materials, especially locomotives, attracted the attention of the Union Army and was a prime factor in the occupation of Rome by Sherman's troops in 1864.
On their way out of town at the end of the occupation, Sherman's troops burned the foundry facility to the ground, and attempted to dismantle the lathe using sledgehammers, with little success. The hammers marks are still visible today and the fire caused minimum damage to the lathe. The massive machine stayed in production until the mid-1960s.
The Noble Brothers played a major role in rebuilding Rome after the American Civil War. They played key roles in the production of Rome's Clock Tower.


Hatch bell foundry

The Hatch bell foundry at Ulcombe, near Maidstone, in Kent, England, was operated by three generations of the Hatch family from 1581 or earlier until 1664. The bellfounders were based at nearby Broomfield from about 1587 until at least 1639. Joseph Hatch, bellfounder from 1602 to 1639, cast at least 155 bells, including "Bell Harry", after which the central tower of Canterbury Cathedral is named. Most Hatch bells were used in churches east of the River Medway in East Kent.
The bellfounders.
The first recorded member of the Hatch family of bellfounders, named Thomas, received payment for work in the church at Cranbrook, Kent, in 1581 and 1593. He also made bells for the church at Lyminge in 1585 and for St Margaret's Church, Canterbury, and the churches at Bearsted, Langley and Margate in 1599. In 1887, according to J. C. L. Stahlschmidt, the only remaining bells made by Thomas Hatch were the treble bells at Langley and in St Margaret's Church, Canterbury, the latter being "cracked and useless". Stahlschmidt also wrote that a Bible belonging to the Hatch family gave Thomas Hatch's year of death as 1599, but he noted that a Thomas Hatch was recorded as a churchwarden for Broomfield, near Maidstone, in 1603. A bell cast in 1602 for the church at Waltham, Kent, bears Thomas Hatch's foundry stamp of a bell on a shield with the letters "T" and "H" on either side, but the bell also bears the legend "Iosephvs Hatch Me Fecit", or "Joseph Hatch made me", in reference to Thomas Hatch's son Joseph. Robert H. Goodsall, writing in 1970, noted that marriage bonds were provided by a "Thomas Hatch of Broomfield, bellfounder", in December 1607, for the marriage of one Joseph Hatch, also a bellfounder of Broomfield, and Jane Prowd of Canterbury: this Thomas Hatch could have been either Joseph Hatch's father or a brother of the same name.
The bell cast for Waltham in 1602 was probably the first made by Joseph Hatch, who otherwise used a foundry stamp of a circle containing three bells, for example on two bells cast in the same year for Egerton. In 1887 there remained 155 of his bells in Kent, and in 1969 there were 19 in Canterbury alone. While there were "probably a good many more of which no records have come to light", bells may also have been cast by him for buildings other than churches. Among Joseph Hatch's output was the bell known as "Bell Harry", dated 1635, after which the central tower of Canterbury Cathedral is known. Stahlschmidt wrote that, in 1887, there remained complete rings of bells by Joseph Hatch in the churches at Boughton Malherbe, Fordwich, High Halden, Waltham and Wouldham, all in Kent. He also observed that Joseph Hatch's bell-foundry business over 37 to 38 years "may fairly be described as enormous". In addition to the provisions of his written will, Joseph Hatch made oral bequests totalling £240 on 13 September 1639, the day before he died.
There was no explicit reference to the bell foundry in Joseph Hatch's will, and it may be that, while he was childless, it had already been passed on to his nephew William Hatch, who is described in the will as Joseph Hatch's servant. Stahlschmidt understood "servant" to mean "foreman", since William Hatch's initials occur on bells cast by Joseph Hatch from 1633. The business was disrupted in William Hatch's time by the English Civil War (1642–1651), and he is only known to have cast 25 bells, including rings at Lower Halstow and Minster-in-Sheppey. He died in 1664, and the bell foundry was discontinued.
The bell foundry.
Stahlschmidt suspected that Thomas Hatch was first based in Canterbury, but, from late in the 16th century, the Hatch family of bellfounders was based at Roses Farm, Broomfield, near Maidstone, where Thomas Hatch may have first taken up residence in 1587. In 1889, W. Scott Robertson noted that the property of Roses Farm straddled the boundary between the parishes of Broomfield and Ulcombe: in a receipt for work on the bells at Birchington-on-Sea in 1606 Joseph Hatch described himself as "of Bromfeild", and he was buried in the churchyard at Broomfield, but he said in his will of 1639 that he was "of Ulcombe". Stahlschmidt considered it unlikely that the foundry was among the property bequeathed to Joseph Hatch's widow Jane, which included the main dwelling-house of Roses Farm, in Broomfield, and a smaller house adjacent, so it must have lain elsewhere. Bellfounding did not require dedicated buildings, and bells were sometimes cast in the vicinity of the churches for which they were made, but Stahlschmidt also reported a statement by James T. Hatch, a descendant of the same family, that the Hatch foundry was:
The Hatch bell foundry was thus located adjacent to the Weald, giving easy access to skilled metalworkers from the local iron industry and a plentiful supply of cheap charcoal, used to fuel the foundry. From there bells would have been carted to their destinations, some across the River Medway into West Kent, but most to East Kent. That the foundry produced items other than bells is indicated by a mortar held at Maidstone Museum, cast in bell metal, and bearing the initials "TH" and the year 1590.


Bruce Mansfield Power Plant

Bruce Mansfield Power Plant was a 2.49-gigawatt (2,490 MW), coal power plant located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The plant was operated by FirstEnergy. It began operations in 1976 and was shut down in November 2019.
History.
Construction of Bruce Mansfield commenced in 1970. The plant was operated by Pennsylvania Power (a subsidiary of Ohio Edison). Its ownership was a consortium of Pennsylvania Power, Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating, Toledo Edison, and Duquesne Light to form the Central Area Power Coordination (CAPCO). Bruce Mansfield began commercial operations of Unit 1 in 1976 with Units 2 and 3 following suit in 1977 and 1980 respectively. All three of the units generated 830 MW each with a nameplate capacity of 2490 MW. The plant was named after D. Bruce Mansfield, a former chairman of Pennsylvania Power. Murray Energy was the primary supplier of coal for Bruce Mansfield. The coal was shipped from West Virginia.
FirstEnergy Solutions announced in August 2018 that they were closing Bruce Mansfield by June 2021. FirstEnergy Solutions blamed the wholesale market system, which PJM Interconnection operates on, for not relying on coal and nuclear plants. PJM Interconnection conducted an analysis and concluded the plant's closure would not affect grid reliability. The closure was moved back to November 2019 due to, "a lack of economic viability."
Environmental mitigation.
Units 1 and 2 were installed with a flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) system to prevent sulfur dioxide () from being emitted into the atmosphere. Its chimney is tall. The sludge was then transported by pipe to Little Blue Run Lake between Beaver County, Pennsylvania and Hancock County, West Virginia. When Unit 3 was constructed in 1980, an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) system, designed by the Weir Group, was installed instead for the unit to curb particulate emissions. Its chimney is tall. To reduce waste disposal from scrubbers at Bruce Mansfield, National Gypsum constructed a nearby plant in 1998 to process synthetic gypsum from the plant to produce drywall. To deliver the gypsum for the nearby manufacturer, a forced-oxidation gypsum (FOG) system was built. A $200 million dewatering facility was completed in 2016 in response to a 2012 settlement that prohibits the further disposal of byproduct at Little Blue Run Lake. The facility would separate byproduct from water and then be properly disposed of in a lined impoundment at Murray Energy's mine in Marshall County, West Virginia. The dewatering facility began operations in January 2017, but problems at the new facility forced the plant to go offline the following month. The plant restarted two weeks later.
Incidents.
A release of hydrogen sulfide () during repair work on a pipe killed two and injured four workers in August 2017. The workers' families who experienced casualties in the accident filed lawsuits against FirstEnergy in November 2017 seeking damages. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined FirstEnergy $77,605 for workplace hazards and also fined subcontractor Enerfab $129,340 for failing to provide “appropriate respiratory protection”. FirstEnergy ultimately settled by paying a fine of $65,963.
On January 10, 2018, Bruce Mansfield caught on fire causing damage to its roof and duct work. In a filing later that month, FirstEnergy revealed that the fire caused significant damage to the equipment for Units 1 and 2. The damage was severe enough that deactivation of both units were accelerated from June 2021 to February 5, 2019.


Kirklees EfW

The Kirklees EfW is a major moving grate incineration plant in Huddersfield, Kirklees, England. The incinerator is owned and operated by Suez Recycling and Recovery UK who signed a 25-year contract with Kirklees Council in 1998 with an option to increase the time period to 2028. The plant is integral to the waste strategy and Unitary Development plan of Kirklees Council, treating of locally generated municipal waste, which when incinerated, will produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes. Only of waste is actually incinerated, the other tonnages permitted are recovered materials such as metals (for recycling) and Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and Fly ash.
The incinerator has been operational since 2002 and was one of the first waste projects financed by PFI in the United Kingdom. The plant, which employs 29 staff and operates 24 hours a day, cost £35 million.


Scholven Power Station

Scholven Power Station is a coal-fired power plant in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. With an installed capacity of 2,126 megawatts, it is one of the largest power stations in Europe. It is owned by Uniper.
Structure.
Two power station units present on the location were beaconed up to their shut-down with oil. The power produced in the power station Scholven covers about 3% of the German current need. The units B - E, the long-distance heating power station Buer (FWK) and the steam work Scholven (DWS) supply steam to neighbouring chemistry enterprises and long-distance heating to some surrounding cities. The 302-metre-high chimneys, which are the second highest in Germany, form an impressing industrial skyline together with the 7 cooling towers. The power station area and the neighbouring waste dump of the coal mine "Scholven" became a film scene in the Tatort "The ball in the body" of 1979.
History.
The power station was an enterprise for the covering of the internal requirement at river and steam of the coal mine "Scholven". Soon however, a high performance main power station developed from it. In the years 1968 to 1971 the almost identically constructed blocks B to E went into operation, in 1974 and 1975 followed G and H (50% portion of RWE power), 1979 the block F and at the end of 1985 the long-distance heating power station Buer (FWK). Block G was shut down in summer 2001 and Block H finally in summer 2003.


Abinger Hammer Mill


Rostock Power Station

Rostock Power Station is a bituminous coal-fired combined heat and power plant operated by Kraftwerks- und Netzgesellschaft mbH (KNG), located in Rostock, Germany. Construction on the plant began in June 1991, and test firing and Grid connection were carried out from March to September, 1994. In October of that year it entered normal service.
In addition to a generating capacity of 553 MWe, the station also feeds the Rostock district heating net. A notable feature of the Rostock Power Station is that the 160 metre tall cooling tower also serves as chimney.


Novosibirsk Chocolate Factory

Novosibirsk Chocolate Factory is a factory in Oktyabrsky District of Novosibirsk. It was founded in 1942. The factory is part of the United Confectioners Holding.
History.
The factory was created on the basis of evacuated department of Odessa Confectionery Factory in 1942.
Products.
The Factory produces chocolate, marmalade, zefir (more than 80 kinds of products).


Obruk Dam

Obruk Dam is an embankment dam on the Kızılırmak River in Çorum Province, Turkey. Constructed between 1996 and 2007, the development was backed by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works. The dam supports a 203 MW power station.


Brooklyn Bowl

Brooklyn Bowl is a music venue, bowling alley and restaurant in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2009, it is located in the former Hecla Iron Works Building at 61 Wythe Avenue. It is known for its high-tech green construction and variety of musical acts. In 2013 Rolling Stone named Brooklyn Bowl the 20th best music club in the United States.
There are additional locations in Las Vegas and Nashville.
Hecla Iron Works Building.
The building was home to Hecla Iron Works, founded in 1876 by Scandinavians Neils Poulson (1843-1911) and Charles Eger (1843-1916). It was named after an active volcano in Iceland, Mount Hekla. By 1889 the works had grown to a large complex taking up most of a city block. Following two fires, Poulson, who had a background in architecture and engineering, began experimenting with fire-proof design. The replacement building was innovative, combining non-combustible brick, plaster and iron in a single foundry structure built in 1892 and other buildings completed in 1896-97.
Throughout the main structure samples are found of the products made at Hecla. Staircases, fire escapes, manhole covers, street gratings, subway kiosks and the cast iron frameworks for elevators came from the Hecla Ironworks factory and were shipped by barge across the river from the Greenpoint Avenue piers. The 133 original subway entrance and exit shelters, built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company prior to the New York City Subway's 1904 opening, were fashioned there and assembled in place on location. Street lampposts, fences, balustrades, door facades, security gates and sidewalk clocks were all available by catalog. Many older buildings in New York still have iron stairways and elevators created by Hecla that are still in use. Until the advent of terracotta as a prime ornamental building material, the industry was competitive with other ironwork factories supplying the trade from Brooklyn, manufacturing all manner of iron works for the building trades. Hecla merged its foundry with a rival firm in 1913; the new firm was named Hecla-Winslow. Poulson gave ownership to a foundation which sold it in 1928 to the Carl H. Schultz Mineral Water Company.
In 1989 the upper floors of the four story building were converted into residential space to serve the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. The building was made a New York City designated landmark on June 8, 2004 for the Bower–Barff process used on the facade which imparted a black velvety surface to cast iron that did not require painting.
Conversion to bowling alley.
By 2005 Williamsburg had evolved a nascent hipster scene. During the early 2000s, the neighborhood became a center for indie rock and electroclash. Peter Shapiro, a former owner of the Tribeca nightclub Wetlands Preserve and Charley Ryan, the venue's General Manager, discovered the vacant iron foundry, originally built in 1882 while walking around Williamsburg. The pair teamed with fellow founding partners Alex and Arthur Cornfeld for a two-year renovation of the space that they opened as Brooklyn Bowl on July 7, 2009. It was the first bowling alley in the country, and possibly the world, to be LEED certified with its pinspotter machines using 75% less energy than typical pinspotters.
The concert stage floor was built using recycled truck tires, and is lit entirely by LEDs. Much of the rest of the establishment was constructed using recycled materials, including glass reclaimed from the Brooklyn Navy Yard and custody-controlled wooden floor boards reclaimed from the original ironworks building in which it now stands.
In 2010 former President Bill Clinton held a benefit at Brooklyn Bowl for the Clinton Foundation Millennium Network. In February 2016, Clinton returned to Brooklyn Bowl to hold a fundraiser for his wife Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Presidency.
Features.
Brooklyn Bowl has over two thousand square feet of floor space that includes a sixteen-lane bowling alley, operating alongside the music floor. The 800 capacity music hall has hosted numerous notable acts, including Guns N' Roses, Elvis Costello, The Roots and RJD2.
The bars serve only draught beers brewed within Brooklyn, and in 2010 it was reported the establishment was the biggest seller of Brooklyn-based beer.
The venue also features food service run by the popular citywide chain Blue Ribbon, including a restaurant area which seats approximately 60 people.
Other locations.
Brooklyn Bowl opened additional locations in London and Las Vegas in 2014. The London site closed in January 2017 to facilitate building work at the O2 Arena.
In June 2020, a fourth location was opened in Nashville, Tennessee, overlooking First Horizon Park, a ballpark which is home to the Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team.


John and William Rufford

John and William Rufford were English 14th century Bell founders. They were probably father and son and were the successive owners of a foundry in Toddington, Bedfordshire. Royal effigies appear on their bells. They were producing bells between 1353—1400.


Turbo-Union

Turbo-Union Limited is a joint venture between three European aero-engine manufacturers, FiatAvio (now Avio), MTU Aero Engines and Rolls-Royce.
Products.
The company's only product is the RB199, a three-spool turbofan developed specifically for the Panavia Tornado.
Structure.
The ownership of the company similarly split into-
It had an office on "Arabellastraße" in Munich near both NAMMA and Panavia, but the head office was initially at Filton. It was known as Rolls-Royce Turbo-Union Ltd. Turbo-Union was a fully integrated and collaborative European Company, whose formal language was English, by kind and charitable agreement of the Governments concerned. The organisation of the company was of FG (Functional Group) kind - for example, FG4 was Concept Design Engineering, FG6 was Customer Support Engineering and Provisioning, and so on. Each FG was chaired by a European person included people from all three companies as required. The FG also had subgroups - for example, FG4-4 was Development, FG6-2 was FTC (Flight Test Centre) support.
The company is now based at the home of Rolls-Royce in Derby, but also has an office at the Panavia head office in Germany at Hallbergmoos.
Production sites.
Turbo Union as a whole designed and produced the engine, albeit the GA (General Arrangement) drawing was assembled at Bristol (Filton) from all three partners' inputs. Over 2000 engines were built up to and including the 1990s, from components sourced in all three countries in approximate proportion to their Governmental support. The RAF had engines assembled and supported from Bristol, the German Air Force and Navy from Munich, and the Italian Air Force from Turin (Torino).
History.
When it was formed in October 1969 it was claimed to be the largest aero-engine consortium in the world. The RB199 would be Europe's biggest ever military engine programme, and was based at Filton.
Development of the Rolls-Royce RB199 started in September 1969, prior to the formation of Turbo-Union.
The first RB199 engine ran in September 1971, with the first flight in a Tornado in August 1974. The engines are all FADEC controlled with slightly different engine versions for each Tornado variant. The French took no part in the European project, not least because it was a direct competitor of the Snecma M53 engine. However, later in the 1980s, the French joined MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce to build the MTR MTR390 helicopter engine.
In 1983, a Swiss organisation, the Arbeitsgruppe für Luft und Raumfahrt (ALR) based in Zurich, proposed an aircraft called the Piranha 6 powered by a single RB199.
The first prototype Eurofighter planes used the RB199 engine, until in June 1995 when the first EJ200-engined plane took off from Turin. Its predecessor, the British Aerospace EAP, also used the engines.
Management.
The first Chairman was Hugh Conway, the Managing Director of the Bristol (Filton) plant of Rolls-Royce. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Denis Spotswood was Chairman from 1975-80.
For many years, the designer of the Pegasus engine, Gordon Lewis, was Managing Director. Previous to him was Martin Steinberger of Motoren und Turbinen-Union (MTU - based in Munich). Karlheinz Koch was MD until 2008.


Snuggery Power Station

Snuggery Power Station is a power station near Tantanoola in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. It was built in 1978. It is now owned by Synergen Power, a subsidiary of Engie Energy International.
The power station has a generating capacity of 63 MW, consisting of three diesel-fueled open cycle gas turbines. It is used as a peaking power plant.


Versamat

Versamat is a Kodak trade name for their automated film processing units, for both with versions for black and white as well as color-capable.
First and foremost, Versamats were designed for short roll/single photo developing. Many places, however, have used it for long roll film; it can handle film up to approx. 12 inches wide. With long rolls, however, there are a lot of problems because the film passes over many rollers. Most long roll film processors, on the other hand, use one roller at the top and bottom of each tank, which means that the film contacts only a few of them for the entire run.
The Versamat has multiple uses and possible processing styles.
For instance, the Versamat 1140 has 7 tanks, each with a full rack in it. The film goes in the supply side, and follows the racks up and down through the tanks to be processed.
Most Versamats use developer, followed by a stop bath, fix, water wash, and finally conditioner. Some variations don't require the stop bath.
The Versamat also has control over the height of the liquid/chemical, as well as speed of the film, to determine how long it is in each solution. Usual speeds are 25-35 fpm, with a developer temp of 90 F–95 F and a drybox temp of 128–135 F
Put simply, the developer converts the latent image to a visible one, fix stops the development, water washes off the fix, and conditioner helps to restore the hardness of the emulsion.
Finally, the film goes through the dry box to remove volatile chemicals and to dry it. As well, there are static removers at the exit end of the dry box.


Kodak Pocket Carousel


Robert A. Boyd

Robert A. Boyd (June 21, 1918 – November 6, 2006) was a Canadian electric engineer and utility executive. He successfully led the construction of the first phase of the James Bay hydroelectric project, a large dam complex built in northern Quebec by Hydro-Québec during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Early life and family.
Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec in a working-class family to a Scot-Irish father and a French Canadian mother,
Boyd graduated from École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1943.
Career.
Soon after finished school, Boyd joined the ranks of the newly created provincially owned utility Hydro-Québec, as the first French-speaking engineer ever hired by the company.</ref> He spent his 37-year career in different positions, reaching the top job in 1977.
In 1972, Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa asked Boyd to take the helm of the Société d'énergie de la Baie James, a Crown corporation tasked with the construction of the first phase of what was then called "Le projet du siècle (The Project of the Century)", a network of dams, reservoirs and three giant hydroelectric generating stations located in a remote area north of Montreal. Stretching for east of James Bay along the course of the La Grande River, the 10,000 MW public works project presented massive logistical challenges to the builders: roads and airstrips had to be built and towns for the 18,000 workers had to be set up deep into the Quebec Hinterland.
Boyd took over as president of Hydro-Québec on August 9, 1977, after the departure of financier Roland Giroux. During his 4-year tenure as president of the Crown Corporation, Boyd secured large bond issues with international banks to finish the construction project. On October 27, 1979, Boyd inaugurated, with Premier René Lévesque, the LG-2 generating station, a massive 5,616 MW underground powerhouse buried deep in the Canadian Shield.
Construction on Phase I of the James Bay Project was completed in 1984, when La Grande-3 and La Grande-4 generating stations came on-line further upstream.
Honors and awards.
In 1978, he received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University. Boyd was selected Construction's Man of the Year in 1981 by the "Engineering News-Record" for his work on the James Bay project.


Safran Aircraft Engines

Safran Aircraft Engines (previously Snecma, Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation or Snecma Moteurs) is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes, France. It designs, makes and maintains engines for commercial and military aircraft as well as rocket engines for launch vehicles and satellites.
Some of its notable past developments, alone or in partnership, include the M88 for the Rafale, Olympus 593 for Concorde, CFM56/CFM-LEAP for single-aisle airliners, and the Vulcain engines for the Ariane 5.
It has 15,700 employees working at 35 production sites, offices, and MRO facilities worldwide. It files an average of nearly 500 patents each year. Safran Aircraft Engines is a subsidiary of Safran.
Major programmes.
In terms of volume, the most impactful commercial aero engine produced by Safran Aircraft Engines is the CFM International CFM56 turbofan powerplant. This engine is both developed and manufactured via a 50-50 joint venture company, CFM International, which Safran splits the ownership of with the American industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE). Established during the 1970s, the CFM56 was not an early success; by April 1979, the joint venture had not received a single order in five years and was allegedly two weeks away from being dissolved. The program was saved when Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Flying Tigers chose the CFM56 to re-engine their DC-8s; shortly thereafter, it was also selected to re-engine the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet of the United States Air Force, this operator being the engine's biggest customer. Following this turn of fortune, tens of thousands of engines have since been produced over the decades. A total of 30,000 CFM56s have been completed by July 2016.
Safran Aircraft Engines is also the main partner for several other engines coproduced with GE, including the CF6-80 and GE90. Safran Aircraft Engines is also involved in the Engine Alliance, which manufactures the GP7000 high-thrust turbofan engine, one of the only two powerplants certified to power the twin-decker Airbus A380. During the 2010s, Safran started manufacturing its portion of the LEAP engine via the CFM International joint venture; Safran and GE each assemble half of the annual volume. To cope with high demand for the LEAP engine, CFM has duplicated supply sources for 80% of parts and as well as subdivided assembly sites.
Safran Aircraft Engines is also involved PowerJet, a joint venture business with Russian aero engine specialist NPO Saturn; this company produces SaM146 turbofan engine, which is used to power the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet. During 2005, a new production plant was founded in Rybinsk, "VolgAero", to manufacture components of the SaM146; additionally, parts and assemblies of other engines produced by PowerJet's two parent companies are also produced on this site.
In terms of military engines, Safran Aircraft Engines produces the Snecma M88 turbofan. This engine was developed to power the Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft. It fulfills numerous stringent performance criteria, including a high thrust-to-weight ratio, low fuel consumption across all flight regimes, and a long engine life. Additional considerations were afforded to both the M88's maintainability and upgrade potential (73 kN to 105 kN using the same core). Qualification of the M88-2 engine was completed during 1996 while the first production engine was delivered by the end of that year. It is of a modular design for ease of construction and maintenance, as well as to enable older engines to be retrofitted with improved subsections upon availability, such as existing M88-2s being upgraded to M88-4E standard. In May 2010, a Rafale flew for the first time with the M88-4E engine, an upgraded variant with greater thrust and lower maintenance requirements than the preceding M88-2.
In 2002, the Europrop International (EPI) consortium was set up by four aero engine manufacturers, Safran Aircraft Engines, Germany's MTU Aero Engines, Britain's Rolls-Royce Holdings and Spain's Industria de Turbo Propulsores. EPI GmbH is tasked with designing, developing, marketing, manufacturing and providing support for the TP400-D6 turboprop engine to power the Airbus A400M Atlas, a military airlifter manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. The TP400 is the most powerful turboprop in the world currently in production.
During 2008, the European Commission launched an open rotor demonstration led by Safran within the Clean Sky program with 65 million euros funding over eight years : a demonstrator was assembled in 2015, and ground tested in May 2017 on its open-air test rig in Istres, aiming to reduce fuel consumption and associated CO2 emissions by 30% compared with current CFM56 turbofans.
With its 30:1 bypass ratio, it should deliver a 15% improvement over the CFM International LEAP already at 11:1; but Airbus is more interested in the more conventional Ultra High Bypass Ratio (UHBR) turbofan at 15:1, which could be introduced from 2025, offering 5% to 10% better efficiency than the LEAP and to be tested from 2020. Built around the M88's core, the fan blades are slower than the 1980s GE36 due to the reduction gear, lowering noise and the fan can be mounted at the engine front for under-wing configurations. The gearbox and the blade variable-pitch technologies were validated in 100 cycles and 70 hours of tests, including 25% at takeoff thrusts of , reverse thrust, and rotor imbalance with a blade weight. Afterwards, it was disassembled in April 2018 to examine each part and refine expected wear predictions. GE Aviation was involved through its Italian subsidiary Avio Aero, providing the gearbox and the low-pressure turbine. To be certified, a blade-out event have to be extremely improbable, less than once every billion flight hours as its RTM carbon fiber fan blades will be supported by the in-service LEAP experience.
During December 2019, Safran and MTU announced an agreement to found a 50/50 joint venture to manage the development, production, and after-sales support activities of the new military aero engine intended to power the Future Combat Air System.


Kuokuang Power Plant

The Kuokuang Power Plant () is a gas-fired power plant in Guishan District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. At a total capacity of 480 MW, it is currently Taiwan's smallest gas-fired power plant.
Kuo Kuang Power Corporation.
Kuo Kuang Power Corporation is a company owned by China National Petroleum Corporation [CPC] (45%), CTCI Taiwan (20%) and Meiya Power Company (35%).
References.
Taipei Times: "CPC to use state-owned land for new power plant" 2nd Dec 2000


Japanese Aero Engine Corporation

The Japanese Aero Engines Corporation is a consortium of several large Japanese companies (Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that develops and manufactures aero engines.
The joint venture was formally established during 1981, it became a part of the larger International Aero Engines (IAE) consortium in the following year. Via IAE, the group was involved in the manufacture of the V2500 turbofan engine, which became the second most successful commercial jet engine program in production today in terms of volume, and the third most successful commercial jet engine program in aviation history. The Japanese Aero Engine Corporation has been involved in a number of other engines, including the General Electric CF34-8/-10, General Electric GEnx, Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, Pratt & Whitney PW1100/1400G-JM, General Electric Passport 20 engine and General Electric GE9X.
History.
During the late 1970s, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries partnered with British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, originally to help develop the 20000 lbf RJ500 civil turbofan. Although two prototype engines were built and ground tested, the RJ500 project was cancelled when American aerospace manufacturer Boeing decided to reject the engine in favour of the competing CFM56-3 to power the 737-300 instead.
Around 1982, the consortium's attention was redirected towards the co-development of a more advanced engine in the 25000lbf thrust class for the 150 seater market. Pratt & Whitney, MTU and FiatAvio joined the consortium, by then named International Aero Engines, shortly afterwards. The V in V2500 denotes the five original partners, whilst 2500 symbolizes the original thrust level of 25000 lbf. FiatAvio later withdrew from the V2500 consortium. Workshare on the joint venture's first engine, the V2500, was divided between the constituent aero-engine companies. Rolls-Royce based the high pressure compressor on a scale-up of the RC34B eight stage research unit used in the RB401-06 Demonstrator Engine, but with a zero-stage added at the front and a tenth stage added to the rear. Pratt & Whitney developed the combustor and the 2-stage air-cooled high pressure turbine, while the Japanese Aero Engine Corporation provided the low pressure compression system. MTU Aero Engines were responsible for the 5-stage low pressure turbine, while Fiat Avio designed the gearbox. The initial version of this engine, the "V2500-A1", first entered service with Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways.
The Japanese Aero Engines Corporation provides investigation, research, testing, and analysis on the development of commercial aircraft engines, along with various services related to the production, sales, and maintenance of aero engines. In the decades since its establishment, the consortium has been involved in the development of numerous civil aero engines via international collaborations. Under such structures, it has manufactured elements of the following engines: IAE V2500, General Electric CF34-8/-10, General Electric GEnx, Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, Pratt & Whitney PW1100/1400G-JM, General Electric Passport 20 engine and General Electric GE9X.