Intermet Havana Foundry remains
What is known is it was built on the 1960's under the Atwood Company. This is most likely when there was rail activity possibly built to bring in equipment. I do know my father told me he helped install equipment at this place on the 60's and ended up working at this place from 1994-2004. If it shipped by rail it is unclear but it seems likely equipment could have been shipped to be installed when building the foundry. The view from Google Earth doesnt lie there was indeed a spur to this. In the 1970s it was the Dana Corporation. I guess Wagner's Casting tried to buy the place sbout 1989 but for whatever reason didnt until 1994.
In 1994 Wagner's Casting that would make Vehicle break pads and Highway markers started hiring. My father Bill May took his physical at the Decatur Wagner's Foundry and was hired on at the Havana plant. They worked long hours at time. I remember Dad came home dirty. He would sometimes bring back bags of Gatorade from here and even adopted a female Munchkin Cat he had been feeding and made friends with there. He changed shifts several times. About 2000 Wagner's became the Intermet Havana Foundry.
My time here was from May 2000- the end of July 2001. I wont lie I was a moody teen and didnt care for it or the hours. I was a Core Setter and had my favorite jobs and my hated ones. I hated the 147 Core job
They were heavy bulky cores and you would go through alot of gloves. The 710/711's while not as bad ate up gloves as well. The 166 core job was a pain in the ass as the pattern was always in need of repair and didnt succeed at many successful runs on this. I would go get gloves 20 minutes or more before shift to see what night you have ahead of you. If you see 147's it was like Well fuck....tonight is going to suck. Profanities were common in such a place and if you're stuck with 147's it would be a good bet you would be muttering them on and off. I remember the Disa machines also produced knuckles. Fun times for those on the sprew line....not.
Another fun fact about this foundry was non stop filth, sand and smoke throughout the air and all over. Yes we swept but yeah that place produced crappy air environment. My Dads Lung Cancer no doubts was contributed by here. I started having breathing issues there. If you didnt have that to be a thorn in your side then the heat and occasionally wet charges kept you on your toes. Wet charges was when a forklift driver would dump metal into the furnaces to be melted and by chance any of it was wet....Steel would fly all over the place and melted iron. I witnessed several and ducked under a conveyor belt during one particularly nasty one. I ended up getting tired of the place and hours and quitting. Some of that was from a bad depression spell so i just ended up quitting. I wasnt shy about my words either.
Well years passed and in 2004 it was announced they would be closing the plant. They did in 2004 and my Dad a sandhog and part of maintenance eas one of the last to leave. Im surprised no one ever died here. From time to time an injury would occur but their safety wasnt always the best. However the closure sadly put many people who needed the jobs out of work. The Decatur plant would follow years later as well as the Georgia main plant.
It improved my relationship and understanding of my Dad. I liked some of the people and I liked third shift. I wasnt happy going to First shift but Dad wanted it for reasonable reasons but still I didnt like First shift. Ive never been an early bird always a night owl.
The current remains is the back part built when I was there and bits of the old place but most has been torn down. I have no idea what the plans with the property are now.
2021 photos:
1998 and my Dad plus Google Earth shots of Railroad spur and property:
years back pictures:
Comments
Post a Comment