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Purina Mills

So, I'm heading home from a day of fun with the kids in Haslet.  While driving south on I-35W I noticed a spectacular view of the Downtown Fort Worth Skyline as I was crossing over the Trinity River. I grabbed the camera and tried to get a shot of the skyscrapers but couldn't because the settings were off and it was near rush hour so traffic was heavy. I slowed down and got in the far right lane to take a shot but it was too late. There were trees and  billboards obstructing the full view. I tried to get back over to the lane left of me because the lane I was in was for exit only onto Pharr St. Unfortunately, I was next to a jerk in a pickup truck that wouldn't let me over. I had to exit. Lucky for me though, I was familiar with that part of downtown Fort Worth. I negotiated my way around the side streets and was about to get back on the freeway until I noticed this old Feed Mill. I thought that would be cool to have some pics of that old building. After stopping to get a pic of the Tandy Twin Towers I detoured to get as close to the mill as I could. 

 It wasn't as close as I would've liked but I parked and could see the back side of the Mill pretty good. I grabbed the camera and walked as far as i could without crossing the railroad tracks. I snapped a couple shots but wasn't satisfied. In my quest for a unique photo.


The second shot caught a flock of birds looking for some food

 I needed to get closer so I walked through the tall weeds and got to the first of six rail lines, when I heard a train blowing its horn. I couldn't see one approaching because of a bend in the line. As I hurried across the rest of the rail lines I got to thinking about the railroad tracks behind my Grandparents house in Port Clinton Ohio. and when I was kid my brothers and I would put a coins on the track so that when the train came the coin would be flattened out.. As I got past the last rail line, I saw the train coming from around a curve and realized I had no time for destroying government property. Instead I took a shot of the train and waited as the train came toward me traveling about 40 mph.


I timed it petty good and took a shot as the Engineer blew by me at what seemed like 100 mph. I could feel him cussing at me for standing there waiting for a pic. 




I headed to the mill for some more shots. Realizing I might be trespassing, I looked for No Trespassing signs. But didn't see any so I nonchalantly walked up to the plant.



The first shot I took I noticed a door open and wondered if I could maybe sneak in there and take some pics after I got a couple shots of the old  silos.



I was a little nervous walking in the door. Especially after seeing the wooden floor of the walkway falling apart. But once I got past that and didn't see anybody I relaxed and looked around. The first thing that caught my attention was a lift that was moving up about ten feet and then back down and repeating. Then I walked into an area to my left.


It was a large vacant loft about  1000 sq ft. The only thing in the room was an old motorized saw that was inoperable and covered with thick dust. 

The saw was sitting next to a large opening in the building about the size of a two car garage door. I looked out the opening but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary except there was no personnel. I started wondering if the plant was still being used 


I was pretty facinated with this saw because I had never seen one like it before. The way it was designed I thought was unique. Obviously it hadn't been used in a long time. I wanted it. Except nobody was around to inquire about it. I left and started to go to another area when I saw this old door... A door like I had never seen before. Reminded me of a jail cell door. 


It was covered with metal and had an opening cut out of it. 


I opened it to see where it led and behind it was a cinder-block wall. I thought that was weird so I quickly closed it and didn't investigate any further. On the way to another area I saw a worker. He had a hard hat on and was dressed like an electrician. He didn't see me until i said hello to him. I told him I was there taking photos for a personal hobby. I asked him what this place is and mentioned that i got some good shots of that cool looking saw. He said it is Purina feed mill and told me he didn't work for purina but was certain Purina wouldn't want me in there taking pics. I agreed and told him I would leave. But on the way out I noticed another room with stuff in it. A forklift and some other things I wasn't sure about what they were. I looked back and he was out of sight so i ditched into that room and noticed these long drill like things with a motor attached to one end and hanging from the ceiling. I took a couple pics and left. 


Heading back to where I parked I took a skyline photo of downtown Fort Worth, Texas. It wasn't the photo I wanted but it would do. That was an intriguing spontaneous adventure. I want to go back and snoop some more. 

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