We often talk about trackside structures such as towers, stations, and water tanks (and even steam pumping stations.) I thought I would add an exclusive southern perspective to the mix. Any southern town worthy of the name in the late 1800s-early 1900s had a passenger station, freight station, -- and a cotton compress. During this time in the southeast United States, cotton was king. It was everywhere, and in demand by the cotton mills in the northeast and and in England.

But coming from the field, a bale weighing 500 lbs was "fluffy" with a dimension of 4 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet. You could pile this up to the hurricane deck of a river steamboat, but you couldn't fill a boxcar or steamship to full capacity. (In the interest of dialup users, I kept the pictures small; click on each to go to webshots and get the full size image.)



So, the steam cotton compress was invented. It would take these bales, and squeeze them down to 8-10 inches thick. You could then load a boxcar or the hold of a steamship up to it's maximum load.

I have found several of these compresses around the states of Texas and Louisiana. But, just last week, I purchased a book that showed the Cleburne Compress in the 1800s, and gave the street it was on. So, I decided to drive down that street, and see if I could spot it.

Sure enough, I found it, looking like an "iron giant" trying to hide in a grove of trees. You can barely see the smokestack for the former Cleburne Santa Fe Shops in the distance in this picture.



Here is a better view of the 110+ year old giant. According to the Denton, NC group restoring the similiar Southern Railroad's Charlotte Cotton Compress; It is 35 feet tall, and weighs 135 tons. Its 8-foot-diameter piston has a 10-foot stroke. It was designed to squeeze a 500-pound, 4x4x6-foot cotton bale down to 8-10 inches in thickness.



Notice the linkage from the auxillary steam cylinder on the side that raised the side plates; one on each side. These side plates kept the cotton bale from squishing out the sides of the compress as it was being compressed.



Here, you can see the two side plates. The one closest to us appears to be in decent shape, but the one of the other side is badly rusted through.



This view shows the valves and piping that admitted steam to the bottom of the main cylinder and the bottom (and maybe the top -- if so, that's a later modification) of each auxlliary steam cylinder. The valves were operated by levers from the ground; to be seen on the McKinney, Texas compress.



You can just see the platen in this view of the heart of the compress; with it's slots to allow the bale to be wrapped with steel bands after the bale had been compressed. You can also see the side plates; raised on each side to keep the bale between the platen on the bottom and the table on top.





In this 1894 patent drawing for the Web compress, steam was admitted by the valve on the side into the space between the base of the steam cylinder and piston (19). This caused the piston to rise, lifting also the piston rod (15). This rotated the two linkages (35), which in turn lifted the four scissors legs (29), which lifted the platen (28), compressing the cotton bale against the table (1). The Charlotte compress was tested in September, 1899, and was found to exert a pressure of 60 PSI or 130,000 lbs. per bale, using low pressure (50 lbs.) steam.

Next installment, we will find out why I picked this title for this thread. If you want to read ahead, you can see the entire gallery in advance at:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/578047488CEERkL

Also, here is a Webshots gallery by the group restoring the Charlotte Compress. They are currently planning on moving the caboose and steam locomotive on display in Cleburne to a spot next to the station. This compress is a short distance away; I would love to see it moved to a spot right behind them; the trio would make a great heritage park, though moving the compress would be a major undertaking.

http://news.webshots.com/album/400282637DACiQd

The first steam compresses were installed in Galveston, Texas; followed by New Orleans. This is one of a pair of compresses that were left behind when a compress building was torn down on Galveston Island in 2001. I wondered what they were going to do with them; I now realize "nothing", because they are "too big to scrap". Both survived Hurricane Ike unscathed; the intact compress in the Moody Compress next door had it's smokestack cap knocked askew.



The one shown on Galveston Island is a later Webb design, patented in 1901; the patent drawing is shown here. It worked the same way -- steam was admitted through valve K using levers K1 and K2. The steam was admitted underneath piston B1, which raised it. The piston raised piston rod B2, which had teeth on each side that engaged ratchets C and C1. This rotated the two ratchets upward, they in turn pulled on links D and D1, which rotated links E and E1. They then lifted the scissor rods F and F1, which raised the platen G, compressing the bale against the table A3. This shows the compress in it's down position...



... and this shows it in the up position. Notice that the top of the main steam cylinder is open; it is really more like a "cup" than a traditional steam cylinder. Hence, the need to erect a coupola over it.



Now, Google Street view is not without controversy. But, it is a perfect tool for hunting down objects like these without burning a lot of gas. That is how I found this compress, at 1409 Lee Street in Greenville, Texas (coupola and smokestack in the left background.) You look along the railroad tracks for a long warehouse with a coupla on top, then go to street view for a closer look. According to a note I found on the web; "It is in a state of disrepair, but the old cotton compress in Greenville still stands, a daily reminder of the time when cotton flowed through the veins of the people of Hunt County like blood."



And here is a Google Street view of the compress in Hillsboro, Texas; I actually have a picture of it somewhere, but can't find it right now. I also went in and talked to current owner of the compress building about taking a picture of the compress itself. He said no, but explained that removing the compress itself would entail shutting down traffic on the nearby rail line, and hiring a big enough crane to lift the pieces over the tracks to the other side. The whole process would be too expensive, so once again, the compress is still there, the rest of building being used as a warehouse. Hence, it was "too big to scrap," the title for this thread.

RE. Greenville compress.The last time i was in there, there were two compresses in the building, the original 1890s one made of heavy timbers, and the later, all iron and steel one. If memory recalls right, one of them had a little vee twin engine on it to run a donkey press or some such.
It also had a reciprocating steam engine powered dynamo for lights and a neat bank of HRTs in the power house. The Audie Murphy museum got some of the stuff
BTW the cotton compress in McKinney, TX pressed with steam as late as 1999. Google producers compress for a Dallas News piece about it by Roy Appleton.

Thanks, Jim. The Producers Compress Inc. on the 300 block of Throckmorton, McKinney, TX; was where I was going to go next; I went there in about 2006.

First, I paid a visit to the compress office; where we find a display of the compress industry. The picture in the center is of a screw jack compress; used to compress the bales to their 4 x 4 x 6 size in the gin or field. One is also on display in the maritime museum in Galveston.



Despite efforts to prevent fires, they were still a common occurance in cotton warehouses. This photograph shows the aftermath of one here; the building that burned has a rusted out roof that collapsed in places. You can also see the tracks that used to run to back of the site, right next to the compress itself. They are all gone now.



As we walked back to the compress itself, the owner told me the compresses' signature watertower was declared unsafe, and was fixing to come down. I believe it provided fire protection to the complex.



The compress itself is in great shape. It looks like it is still ready for the next press that will never happen. In this view, you can see the slots in the upper table that the metal straps were ran through, the yellow scissors legs that raised the platen up to compress the bale, and the red linkage that raised the side plates.



Here, we are down at the floor in the middle of the compress at the platen with slots on it, and the side plates on each side.



Here is the leverman's station, visible in the film in the other link. The levers operated the valves that you can see exposed on the Cleburne compress.



The boiler room was intact as well; though the owner told me he was able to scrap it out so the room could be secured garage for his vehicles.



The nameplate shows the boiler was built by William & Davis of Hutchins, Dallas County, Texas; and they have an ASME S stamp for their shop. The boiler was built in 1975; and probably saw very little use before the compress was rendered obsolete.



A view of the outside, with the signature coupola, smokestack and boiler room, and water tank. The tracks would have been where the truck is now.



On the way out, he showed me two parts from the compress, along with the cotton wagons. He remarked that he tried to get the two parts cut up and hauled away, but was told the amount of gas needed to cut the parts up and the size of vehicles needed to haul them away was more than the parts were worth as scrap. Hence, once again, the title of this thread -- "too big to scrap."



Next stop; we go walking in a graveyard....

Very cool finds James. The cotton gin that was in my hometown (Salters, SC) when I was growing up in the early 1960's had a compress as the final step in the ginning operation, although it was electro-hydraulic. A friend of mine's family had owned and operated the gin since it's inception and he mentioned once that an earlier iteration of the gin had been steam powered, so I'm sure it had a steam compress at that time.

On our way back from a trip to Canyon, Texas a few years ago, I stopped in the small towns along the way home, and photographed the compresses I could see from the highway. One of them was the Panhandle Compress at 1200 W 2nd St in Quanah, Texas.



As I was taking the picture; I made a mental note that the coupola roof was missing, as you can see here. As I turned around and was walking back to the car, I happened to look up, and saw the compress parts sitting in the fied across the street. My wife and family watched as I walked past the car and into the field across the street.



In my mental travels through books and the Internet, I have seen steamboat graveyards and steam locomotive graveyards. But, here was something new -- a compress graveyard.



The linkages for the side plates appear to be dumped next to the legs and table. The cylinder and other parts were dumped a short distance away.



Dumped along with the parts was this comparitively frail frame. It had a pair of nameplates on it that read "The Howlett Cotton Tie Press, Pat. April 4, 1911. P. L. Howlett, Brownwood, Texas, No. 223." and "Built by Fort Worth Machine Co, Fort Worth, Texas."



Looking up the patent on the internet, I read that this tie press was used to press and bend the cotton bales just enough so that the six bands could be unbuckled, rather than cut. Then, you only needed to trim enough off of the six long straps to make eight short straps to strap the bale with after it had been compressed.



Later in my research, I found a picture of preserved pair of compresses on the campus of UTB in Brownsville. If you look in the foreground, you can see what appears to be tie press, painted white. Notice also that this compress had two compresses, and a substantial boiler house between them.



Purchasing such a heavy piece of machinery just to save a few cuts and splices may seem extravagant. But, when you are compressing hundreds of bales a day, and thousands of bales a year, the machine paid for itself in time and effort spent.

Very cool, and very interesting. Thanks for posting.

For those of us not familiar with cotton processing, what is used nowadays that takes the place of a "compress"?
The "Too big to scrap" heading reminds me of the time the Pacific Electric rails were pulled out of Olive Ave. in Monrovia CA (I saw this process from the schoolyard when I was 11 years old). Later I learned that in other places (e.g. Fort Collins) the rails were merely paved over. Since the Korean War was being fought at the time, I presumed that scrap iron prices were high enough to justify the expense of yanking out the rails. The Pacific Electric Historical website has photos of the strange machine that performed this unhappy task. There are also photos of a similar (or the same) machine doing this on North Lake Ave. in Pasadena during the early 40's.

It is now pressed into a bread shaped "module" in the field by a hydraulic press, and by a hydraulic press at the gin prior to shipping. No need to take it to a seperate compress building and warehouse by the side of the tracks; as it will probably get shipped by truck rather than train.

Here are a few more compress facilities I have found either in my travels or via Goggle Earth. Notice how in several instances the boiler room appears to be complete; the compress may still be there as well. Clicking on the title will take you to that location via Google Earth:

US 82, Ralls, Texas



Schulenburg Cotton Compress, James and Main Sts., Schulenburg, Texas


Power Ave. Warehouse, 434 E. Power Ave, Victoria, Texas


National Compress Company Building, Matthews St, Waxahachie, TX


Here is my photograph of the Vernon compress. Notice that the boiler room (under the smokestack) was a seperate structure made out of cinder blocks or concrete, while the rest of the compress building is conventional warehouse construction. This was to prevent an accident involving the steam boilers from burning down the entire building and the thousands of bales of cotton it might contain.

Memphis Cotton Compress, 820 Lucille St, Memphis, Texas


Could you see a compress from aerial photographs if the building is scrapped? Well, I found a Flicker website with excellent pictures of the compress in La Grange, TX; as the compress building was being demolished:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stall/sets ... 06/?page=3

Looking at it on Google Earth, you can see down into the "cup" of the compress' steam cylinder, and see it's shadow, as it sits exposed in the open now. Yep, too big to scrap.

compress site, 910 E La Fayette St, La Grange, TX

Finally, to round out our whirlwind tour of compresses across Texas for now, here is my picture of the one in Vernon; once again with it's substantial boiler room.

Vernon Compress Co., 100 US Highway 287 E, Vernon, Texas


A couple more pictures and a map showing a surprising number of facilities I have found so far wrap up my material to date.

Thanks for the update; "module" is not a word I would normally associate with cotton harvesting, but progress marches on.

Last installment. ;)

As I was moving our stuff to Cleburne, I noticed this industrial location in the one-horse town of Itasca, Texas. I wondered what an industrial site was doing in such a small town; I now realize it was the site of a cotton gin and compress. I don't know if the water tank on top of the compress coupola is later addition or what; never seen this at any other location (but never seen such a substantial coupola, either.)

Harris Ave / Weave St, Itasca, TX


Crossing the Sabine River into Louisiana; there is the former Southern Cotton gin site on Mill St. in Natchitoches, LA. I was going to drive in closer to the compress itself, and take a picture of it, but the wife said "no way." So, you will have to settle for this Google Street view. It looks like the gin itself maybe in the process of being demolished or reused for another business.

Southern Cotton Gin, Mill St., Natchitoches, LA


And here is a naked compress on Railroad Ave. in Oak Grove, LA; photo taken and sent to me by Matt Ritchie:


I was going to share all the locations I have found date, but it is up to 36! So, I will share the following link with you instead. Enjoy them in your travels across Texas and across the South, and if you see any others, I would like to hear about them. There is a list at the bottom of the page, and click on each mark for an address and description.

http://gmaps.kaeding.name/saved/Surviving_Compresses8