Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mystery History -- Solved



Margaret wins! I have emailed her about her fabulous prize.

The photo was taken inside Pasadena's steam plant many decades ago when everything was mechanical. This worker is cranking a wheel to turn up the heat to boil the water to create the steam to rush through the pipes to spin the turbines to generate the electricity.

It's all digital now.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Margaret. Some people might be very happy for you.

Cafe Observer said...

Congrats, MF!
Who knew a novelist would know this utility stuff. Hmmmm....

Margaret said...

I feel honored and humbled. Thank you Ann. What fun.

pasadenapio said...

I should have mentioned in my explanation that the fountain at Fair Oaks and Glenarm served double-duty: it was (and is) a nice gateway icon at Pasadena's southern border; but its real, true function was to serve as a cooling tower for the generating equipment in that now historic building.

Anonymous said...

If your careful and you approach the fountain from a discrete angle, you can take a dip. Don't worry PIO, it only happens during the hotter Santa Annas.

Congratulations Margaret.