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Description
Photograph of placing penstock into place for the Plumas County power plant. Donor/Source: Rob Hanford (owned by Glenn Way) GMW 138 05 20. Penstock 1927- Placing Penstock pipe in place. Audio Tape #13A-118. Sections of the upper penstock were brought up on the skip three at a time. Note that they are only partially riveted together. The stiff legged derrick is uphill from the penstock; it would lift the penstock off the skip (using compressed air), and then the block and tackle would be used to manually swing the penstock sections into place. The derrick could swing around, but the tackle was necessary for the delicate task of slipping the penstock into place. This work was done entirely by employees of Western Pipe and Steel; the skip rider would be the only employee of R. C. Storrie and CO. The section of pipe in the left foreground is already seated on the piers, and the band ready to receive the new section. The upper penstock was done first. The work went rapidly, the crews working in two shifts, night and day, for the better part of 1927. A portable forge was moved along the hill side, using coal and charcoal to heat the rivets. The hot rivet would be carried into the penstock, and shoved through the outside. Two rivets were worked simultaneously, each directly opposite the other. Two men with riveting guns, also air driven, would hammer each rivet home. The men working on the inside of the penstock had heavy ear protection. Pipe fitters were responsible for running the air lines to the riveting crews. Tongs were used for handling the rivets. The head of the rivet on the inside of the penstock was rounded identically to the head on the outside, which according to GMW did not interfere with the flow of water through the penstock in any way. GMW was responsible for providing the electric lights necessary for working inside the pipe. The tyrex cable was passed under the skip tracks from the portable transformer that GMW moved up and down the hill.
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