About Town - February 28, 2021

 This week's photos of Columbia

(Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.)

These are the hands of the workman who operated the control unit that guided the trailer that held the transformer that rolled through town on Friday.

There's more information, photos and videos on the spectacle at the end of this post.

Someone is dungin' out, out at the Visitors Center.

Here's a good man at work.

The lamp at the Von Hess building on Bank Avenue is now chained to the front wall.

And in case anyone's wondering where we are ^^^

Dropped scarf on North 4th

Yes he is.

Vigilant, that is.

A fierce feral on South Second

According to a lifelong Columbian, the witch hazel plants on the right were planted in memory of Fred Abendschein for his service to Columbia. His obit is HERE.

This plaque was recently installed at the Shannon Armory (named after General Edward C. Shannon) on the 200 block of Walnut Street.

Here's a look at the armory.

And here's the general's former home at 500 Chestnut.

This plaque is mounted there.

Bye

Looks accurate.

At last Tuesday's meeting, borough council voted to spend $144,000 on studies of the McGinness property on Manor Street with an eye towards purchasing it.

Vultures in Columbia - 

They are in all walks here.

Down at Toll Booth

This truck may have seen better days.

An abundance of skulls

Here are two snow photos (above and below) from last Monday, by Todd Stahl.

Chairs to hold parking spaces on North 2nd Street

Not surprisingly, snow was still hanging around on Tuesday.

Here's a waterlogged ADA access.

Stocked up and ready to go

On the way home

The secret lair of the Colonial Metals trailers

Scarf-bombed tree on Locust

Skid row

Graffiti, signed by the artist

The two photos above are from an accident scene at 2nd & Bridge earlier this week.

[Submitted, name withheld by request]

The following two photos from this past Thursday were submitted by Todd Stahl. The first one shows a flatbed on Bridge Street delivering a section of the trailer used to transport a large transformer through town on Friday.

********************************

And finally, the saga of the transformer:

The 18-foot high load made its way slowly up Walnut Street 

as workers lifted utility wires to allow it to pass.

As mentioned earlier in this post, a trailer carrying a large transformer slogged through Columbia on Friday on its 2-1/2-mile journey to a PPL substation on Stone House Lane in West Hempfield. On Friday morning, the 210,000-pound transformer was offloaded from a railcar just north of the Veterans Memorial Bridge and onto a 36-wheel trailer that was operated remotely by a worker with a controller. A crew of about a half a dozen men from Edwards Moving out of Kentucky lifted utility wires along the route to allow the 18-foot high load to pass. The step-down transformer was built by Delta Star, Inc. and reportedly will replace another transformer that was installed in the 1970s. 

Workers lifted lines en route.

The worker with the controller can be seen on the extreme right.

The trailer made its way past the traffic lights at 5th & Locust.

The transformer came to rest at this PPL substation on Stone House Lane in West Hempfield.

Here's a closer look.