Cold Storage

3 photos · 2018

3 photographs tagged Cold Storage, 2018.

Related: Abandoned Minnesota Boiler Boiler Room HB Hopkins
Electrical panel bank from a former cold storage plant in Minnesota controls refrigeration and power systems.
The switchgear and breaker panels on this wall once distributed power for refrigeration equipment inside a cold storage plant, a facility type built to hold perishable goods like meat, dairy, or produce at controlled low temperatures before modern refrigerated trucking made large centralized cold-storage warehouses less necessary. Ammonia-based compressors were standard in plants of this era, and the switchgear supplying them had to run continuously, since even brief power interruptions could bring storage rooms above safe temperatures and spoil inventory. Plants like this were commonly sited near rail spurs or waterfronts, allowing perishable shipments to move quickly between cold storage and market. The mix of panel styles and added conduit runs on this wall the electrical system was expanded and patched over multiple decades of operation rather than installed all at once.

Electrical Switchgear Wall, Former Cold Storage Plant, Minnesota

Two industrial boilers with perforated steel drums in an abandoned cold storage facility.
Fire-tube boilers like these once generated the steam that powered refrigeration equipment in cold storage warehouses, a common setup through the mid-20th century. Running two units side by side gave plant engineers redundancy, letting one boiler operate while the other underwent maintenance or repair. Many such plants used ammonia-based refrigeration systems driven by boiler-generated steam, technology that was largely phased out as electric compressors became the industry standard by the 1970s and 1980s.

Twin Fire-Tube Boilers, Abandoned Cold Storage Plant, Minnesota

Hopkins Cold Storage warehouse interior with tall storage racks in Hopkins, Minnesota.
Hopkins Cold Storage in Hopkins, Minnesota, is an industrial cold storage warehouse facility. The building was later demolished after the period documented here. Interior storage rack systems and insulated utility lines reflect its use for refrigerated freight handling.

Hopkins Cold Storage warehouse interior, Hopkins, Minnesota

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