Urban Exploration 1 by Frostbeard
January 8th, 2008 4:19 PMFrom here i hopped down onto some railroad tracks that i knew ran right behind this factory. Walking down the tracks a started passing a bunch of cars all hooked together just sitting there. I decided that i'd stay between the cars and the nearest wall of the bed in which the tracks lay, rather than walking out in the open. It turned out to be a good choice.
As i walked down i heard some noises in some of the cars. These were either random melting snow and ice type noises, or people that i probably didn't want to run into. To the right on the walls there was all sorts of graffiti, and i even found some really cool art on one of the cars.
As i started to reach the end of the cars, a train engine came around a bend up ahead. I crouched down and kept it in my view while waiting to see what would happen. Was it here to pick up these cars right next to me, which risked exposing me? I waited as the conductor got out, flipped one of those track-shifting switch things, and then got back in. He powered forward and the train went by.
After crouching for a bit and waiting to make sure he didn't pick up the other end of my car line barrier, i went to the end of the cars and looked out. There didn't seem to be anyone in view, so i dashed across the open tracks to the edge of the building i wanted to enter, shrouded in foliage.
From here i discerned a way up onto the roof (see my UP UP and UP entry). Seeing an interesting building across the way, i climbed down the other side of the building and headed that way. An open area in-between required some scouting. After scouting i dashed across an open courtyard into this weird old stone building. It contained a lot of dripping water (it jumped to like, 60F today after being relatively cold before, so snow was melting everywhere....global warming...not just for neo-hippie liberals anymore) and some old rotting junk. I hadn't brought a torch (just thought i'd pretend to be English or H.P. Lovecraft for a second), so i used my on camera flash to try and sort out what was around me. The last place i did UE stuff, there was a homeless person living in the factory so i wanted to make sure i wasn't surprised.
After checking out the dark-as-night first floor i ascended into the fairly well lit second. Finding a room with some nice visual scenes of post-industrial decay, i wandered around a bit, took some photos, and headed on down and out across the open courtyard again.
The next building had a whole side wall falling in, like pictures of French houses from WW2 that had been bombed or tanked (yes, i know) or whatever. I was going to go in but saw a fairly new extension cord wrapping around the side of the building and some newish construction. The construction ended up being wooden, covered in plastic tarp, entryways into an asbestos clean-up site. Given this new information about possible pulmonary retribution for my actions years down the line, and the concept that people may possibly be working inside, i decided to skip it. I did walk up to the entryways listening for sounds. Nobody seemed to be there, and i could find no particularly recent tracks in the old snow. I did find the workers' bathroom, a weird looking extension of the building i didn't explore, and a better way out.
The way out was through a hole in the fence, but there was this big claw-armed machine run by some guy on the other side of the tracks. Figuring that he could see me, as could some other guy walking around on the property across the tracks, i waited for a good moment to go through the fence. When they weren't looking i scrambled through and was going to make a dash down the tracks away, but was caught by what this guy was actually doing. With this giant claw he was picking up a car. I decided right then to sit a while and see what was up, and to take some photos. He ended up ripping the roof off the car, filling it with junk, and moving some other car frame around. I eventually left back down the tracks to my car, and home.
Tracks
This is where i'd call home if i was some sort of homeless train-jumping wanderer. This side is more exposed than where i decided to walk. You can (maybe?) see the factory up ahead to the left.
Straight and Narrow
I decided to walk between these cars and the wall so that i might be occluded to the authorities and civic figures that would do me wrong. Some beer can was sitting under a dripping stream of water halfway down and was really loud.
Graffiti
Check out this gigantic awesome skull on some train i found. Worcester may not have much, but it has this. I like the weird train arrow panel things on the side of the car that add texture to the cheek. Looks like it's gonna chomp me.
Train-
Some GUY was driving his TRAIN through here. What nerve. How are upstanding citizens like myself supposed to illegally break into places with all this commotion? Really!
-train-
Don't hammer on the car body. They'll dock your union vacation pay for that.
-go way.
And it's gone. Well, it's actually right to the left of the opening between these cars, but it went away eventually.
Nice tie!
Railroad ties. These big wooden things filled with tar that are probably toxic. Yup.
Junkyard?
Some junk trucks and stuff. Over there.
I'm not drunk...
...this was just laying sideways and i didn't feel like setting it upright in the shot. Some junk near where i climbed up. See UP UP and UP for the climb...well, you know where.
Brooks Brothers?
I wouldn't buy my clothes here. This is after i climbed down. There are some pallets here if anyone is in Worcester and wants them. That'd be stealing though.
Creepy place where someone you don't know will kill you.
This is the creepy place where someone you don't know will kill you. I went in anyway.
Dark stuff.
Some dark stuff. On-camera flashes suck and i don't have enough USD to pay for a nice one. So, here's some junk.
Portal
That portal of overexposed light it a window. This is one part of the first floor of this place. No one was living here.
Portals
There are some other places that open to the outside here, that also have too much light for this picture. It's either that or you'd get none of the crappy detail of the black nebulous areas of this photo.
Green junk.
This junk is dark AND green! Verdanify? Alas, i didn't make it green, the weird plastic wavy green "windows" did. Maybe whoever installed them should get the Verdanify task points.
Fire Door
This door says "Fire Door" on it. It also had some weird small chains hanging from the door frame. I went around them.
Abstraction 1
Abstract art. I'm selling prints for $1000. Or whatever anyone wants to give me over the printing and mailing cost. Or i guess you could just right click and steal the image. Anyway, it's just a collapsing ceiling with some snow and really red thing. Now you know my secrets. I'll never be an artist.
Abstraction 2
Weird triangle-angles! Yup, it's more collapsing stuff. I wouldn't live here if you gave me a chicken.
Sketchy
Barely noticable orange extension chord? Check! Entryway made of wood and plastic with Asbestos warning signs on it? Check! Deterred from going inside the building? Check! That plastic that is breaking up the left edge of the photo in a way that i should've taken care of looped down and then up again. In the sag was a bunch of yellowish disgusto water.
Bathroom break!
If you need to go, do so now. I'm not turning this UE expedition around. This is where the guys that get paid to breathe in asbestos must pee.
Slanty-house
There are all sorts of garage bays and slanting little roof-window-roof things. What are those called? I know nothing about architecture. Well, i know enough to say that i wouldn't park my nonexistent mercedes in these garages.
Civilized man breaks things with big machine!
Pretty much what i said in the caption. Thought he might see me. Maybe he did later when i started taking pictures of him. If so, he didn't seem to do anything about it.
Convertible?
Smash! No more roof!
Power wheels?
This thing doesn't look so good. That's probably why it ended up here.
Weird
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ya, it was pretty interesting. pretty depressing given my environmental views, but also interesting.
i was excited to find this skull on the side of one of the cars. i think that might have been the highlight "find" of this effort.
Nothing says urban like a big claw machine thing destroying stuff.