I can remember, as a Pratt student, roaming (legally, hmmm) the "steamy" steam tunnels between the buildings (mostly the engineering hall to the main building) on the main part of the campus, including ending up in this room.

Many a late night sketch made in those tunnels. And there was a rumor (perhaps true) the tunnels used to run as far as 3 blocks west to Higgins Hall. Bricked up by the time I was there.

What's missing are the dozens of cats Conrad used to be the step-father to (still?)

It was one of the neatest places on campus and definitely folks should check out the New Year's whistle blow.

Great photos. Good memories.

Pratt has not been generating power from these units for quite some time. I believe that last to go was DC for some old elevators, but they have all been converted for quite some time.

At present there is no connection between the switch panels in the engine room and the ConEd utility. The cables that connect the generators to the switch panels were intact at my last visit. However, these cables have asbestos in the insulartion so the fear was that if remediation requires removal (instead of encapsulation, which could be applied as a coating) this might be the beginning of the end as demolition would be required to open up the floors for access.

An adjoining area houses the boilers for the campus HVAC and steam is still plumbed into the steam engines. Therefore Conrad can still power up these beauties for demonstration purposes. They are not really generating anything (a few light fixtures might still be wired to the switch panels.)

I have additional photos of the steam plant and of the several utility steam engines therein. I will send them to Jake if he requests.

I agree that it the home run is for one's steampunk design to actually have purpose.

There is a lot of history here. The reciprocating engines were first used to generate pwer. These eventually gave way to the steam turbine pictured. When that was no longer repairable, diesel engines were brought in - you can see the older diesel in the rear, under the calliope. A newer one hides in the corner. So you see, the power plant has always been operated intelligently and efficiently. It kept pace with the times. It is wonderful that everything there has always followed an aesthetic and that the older equipment was not perfunctorily scrapped. Given the value of a square foot in urban New York, this speaks volumes about the ability of the caretakers - and for the past 40 years or more, this has been Conrad - to preserve this magnificent facility.

... as a way to centralize production of heat and then distribute it to many buildings. High pressure steam in suitably insulated pipes can transfer a lot of heat energy. If you've ever wondered why pictures of New York City show steam rising from manholes, that's why; central steam generation is still in use. My alma mater also had (and still has) a central steam plant, and ran tours all too rarely for my taste.

Of course if steam pipes spring a leak, that energy can be dangerous.

Unsubstantiated rumor has it that the process for locating a pinhole leak is in one of these pipes has two steps. First, approach the area of the leak extending a broom toward it. When the broom head intersects the escaping steam, it will be knocked violently aside, and the length of the broom lets you detect this before getting too close. That locates it to within a square foot or so. The next step is to come in with a piece of paper, which will burst into flame when the steam hits it directly (temperatures in these pipes are well above the flash point of paper). Those two images should give you some indication of what we're working with.

Those marble switchboards were tagged on the back by GE with the quarry number. This way, additions or replacements over time would match. Talk about attention to detail and pride in one's product.

Wonderful pics - thanks for sharing

Wow Jake. That is great stuff. I love steam. We have an old fashioned threshing bee every years in August at a little town fairly close by. It is amazing to watch 100+ year old steam tractors power up and run thrashing machines, lumber mills, and other sorts of ancient farm implements. Most of them burn coal and the smell of steam and cinders in the air draws me like a magnet. I just wish August in Kansas wasn't usually 90+ degrees. It makes for a rather uncomfortable afternoon around all that heat. Thanks for posting the pics. I am adding a link to the threshing bee. The site is not loaded with photos and i am sure a lot of the equipment shown is no longer there. The giant steam powered tractor you see in the colour photo at the top of the "photo gallery" page is familiar to me. i am pretty sure I saw it live and in action when I was a teenager. From the looks of it, it is still going.

http://mclouththreshingbee.com/index.html