Conveyor Drive End

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 24mm · f/8.0 · 1/4 · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The immense drive end of a coal conveyor system dominates this section of Wangi Power Station. This machinery once fed coal to the boilers, powering the plant from 1957 until its closure in 1986. Rust now claims its surfaces.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

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A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

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Colour

Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 10 to 20 business days (framed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Conveyor Drive End
Series: Wangi Power Station
Catalogue: WPS-025
Process: Giclée
Captured: 27 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/4 s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 24 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Wangi Wangi, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2016 Heritage Award, Multimedia

02 LOCATION

Wangi Wangi, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The drive end of one of the coal conveyors at Wangi Power Station sits in a steel-framed bay at the upper level of the boiler house, where the conveyor met the drive motor and the head pulley. The pulley is a heavy steel drum on a horizontal shaft, the shaft running through bearing pedestals into the reduction gearbox and then into the drive motor. The conveyor belt itself has been removed for salvage; the pulley and the gear train remain. Rust has built up on the steel surfaces. The take-up unit at the back of the drive holds the spring-loaded tension that kept the belt running true; the spring is still in place, slack now.

Coal conveyors at Wangi ran from the coal-receival yard up to the bunkers above the boiler-firing levels in both A Station and B Station. The system ran continuously through every operating shift across the working life of the plant from 1958 to the closure of B Station on 31 October 1986. The drive ends were the most heavily worked sections of the conveyors, taking the full load of the belt and the coal at the upper transfer point. Drives and pulleys at Wangi were not removed in the 1995 to 1997 equipment-removal program because of their weight and structural integration. They remain.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A heavy steel drive assembly sits bolted to a concrete plinth, its cylindrical housing and mounting brackets thick with granular rust. The metal surface is pitted, almostite in texture. Dried grass pushes through cracks at the base. Chain-link fencing runs along the left wall. Behind the machinery, pale green panels are marked with spray-painted graffiti. Flaked paint and debris cover the narrow walkway. Low light catches the curved edge of the housing and the brass tone of corroded fittings.

Brett Patman

The series

Wangi Power Station

2016–2018 · 51 photographs

Wangi Power Station ran on the western shore of Lake Macquarie from 1958 until B Station closed in 1986. Two stations under one roof, brought online to break the rolling blackouts that hit NSW through the late 1950s. The complex was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register in 1999.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.