Urban Exploration

This is the abandoned Cooper-Bessmer locomotive repair shop in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The building has been vacant since 1989.

This structure was originally built by Grand Truck Railway in 1907. Canadian National Railways eventually bought Grand Truck Railway in 1923 and by the 1960s had converted the buildings to production of boilermakers.

This is one of the few abandoned locations I've seen when it was active. My uncle worked in the shops as a welder in the 1980s and helped to arrange a field trip for one of my grade school classes.

This is the control room of the Bethlehem Steel North Office in Lackawanna, New York (a few minutes south of Buffalo). I can remember the first time I explored this room in 2007; it immediately reminded me of the iconic Chernobyl control room, though on a much smaller scale.

In recent years, the City of Lackawanna has desperately attempted to demolish the building. However, preservationists have so far been able to stop their efforts. Preservationists have argued that the building should be saved and become the centerpiece of a renewed waterfront and local economy.

I always found the control room to be difficult to photograph. The room has incredibly contrasting dark and bright areas. This photo is my best effort to capture a wide, symmetrical view of the desk and wall.

Bethlehem Steel North Office's control room.

This photo and many of my other photos from the Bethlehem Steel North Office were featured on TotallyCoolPix's website.

During my 15,000km road trip, I stumbled across an abandoned church in rural Saskatchewan. A local farmer named Jack told me the church was abandoned in 1966 after 30 years of operation. In the 1980s, a man convinced locals he was going to renovate the church. He was welcomed and hosted by the community, but ended up stealing the stained glass windows and disappeared.

Abandoned church in rural Saskatchewan.

Creekside Gas & Auto Repair is an abandoned gas station in Bottineau, North Dakota. The gas station is approximately 50km from the Canadian border. Minimal information is available about when the property became abandoned. However, the pump on the right reveals a fuel price of $1.699, which (according to historical fuel price information) leads me to believe Creekside Gas & Auto Repair has been abandoned for at least a decade.

Incidentally, the current president of Cargill Inc., Gregory R. Page, hails from Bottineau. One of the first abandonments I explored in Buffalo was the Cargill Pool Elevator.

Abandoned gas station in Bottineau, North Dakota.