Ansco Super Speedex and a PA mill town...

[bliorg]

Hi, all -

I live near a dying mill town, not unlike hundreds in Pennsylvania. Having only shot 400 speed film in the Super Speedex, and wanting to see what it does with a slower film like Acros, I took my son for a walk through Birdsboro this afternoon.

It's an old town with a lot of history dating back to pre-Revolutionary times. But the steel mill shut down thirty-odd years ago, and there's nothing left to keep it running.

Lots of street chaff all about:

And a grain mill at the end of the dead-end main street:

The former Birdsboro Corporation (google it) is a presence seen from everywhere:

Plenty of small detail hints at a better time, when people had more pride in the town:

Lots of buildings are showing their age:

The newest shop in town:

Finally, my son posed for a snapshot to commemorate his first stroll through Birdsboro with me:

The town is a sad story, not a unique one, but is a fascinating place to me nonetheless. I've spent hours strolling the streets with old cameras I've fixed up, and I never seem to get tired of the place. This walk was superlative, due to the companionship and the Super Speedex.

Thanks for looking.
Scott

 

[Rick A]

Outstanding photos. Nothing I like more than taking walks with a member of the family and an old camera. Does your son shoot yet?

 

[bliorg]

Thanks, Rick. He's just getting started in film cameras. He's been using an old HP digicam for years, but the camera's recently given up the ghost. Think I'm putting the Rollei in his hands for a while...

 

[pentaxpete]

Is that the same as an AGFA Isolette camera -- I have the 1956 Isolette III with the Solinar lens -- why not post these photos in the 'Folders' Group ?

 

[bliorg]

Is that the same as an AGFA Isolette camera -- I have the 1956 Isolette III with the Solinar lens -- why not post these photos in the 'Folders' Group ?

Not quite the same - more of an Isolette on steroids. Coupled rangefinder, automatic film transport and counter, unit cell focusing, and the Solinar is reformulated.

Where's the folders group?

 

[Towermax]

Is that the same as an AGFA Isolette camera -- I have the 1956 Isolette III with the Solinar lens -- why not post these photos in the 'Folders' Group ?

Ansco Super Speedex = Agfa Super Isolette

It's the identical camera, made by Agfa, but labeled and sold by Ansco. "Badge Engineering", as they say.

 

[Towermax]

Scott--very nice, indeed. I got an Ansco Super Speedex a few months ago, and just got it back from a CLA. Your photos make me very eager to start using it.

 

[Neanderman]

Nice photos from a great camera. I have an 'assortment' of Isolette/Speedex models, but nothing 'Super'. My icon image was made with a folder -- can't recall if it was one of these or the Ikonta.

 

[DWThomas]

Nice work!

What's perhaps more mind boggling at Birdsboro, just south/east of town, sharing its driveway with the Schuylkill River Trail, is the defunct Armorcast corporation. There are four tall smokestacks sticking up along one side. I think it was a spin-off from the Birdsboro Steel Foundry, etc., but at any rate, they apparently made Sherman and Patton tanks during WWII and the Korean war. But like so many things, eventually they failed to win a contract in the 1980s and shut down. I did a little Googling on this stuff after bicycling by there a week or two back. Supposedly the Armorcast building has multiple bays 70 feet wide and over 1400 feet long -- could make some hellacious loft condos!

(I'd show some pix, but I only had my P&S bit electrocuter on my rides by there.)

Alas, most of the Schuylkill Valley is in various stages of those downward industrial life cycles. I fear sales associate at MalWart doesn't quite replace the sorts of jobs lost out of those plants. Phoenixville seems to be once again rising from the ashes at least a little; Pottstown is trying but has a ways to go.

DaveT

 

[rrankin]

Terrific series, Scott.

 

[P C Headland]

Nice pictures, but sad too.

With the quality of modern films, the old folders (at least the better ones) can deliver pretty decent results.

 

[brucemuir]

Nice work/story.
I know it a bit.
My old man escaped the coal mine that employed his father and claimed his grandfather.
The town is a shadow now.

I've often thought what a good subject for an in depth docu series.
Thanks for posting.

 

[bliorg]

Thanks, everyone! The Super is indeed super - it's a simple joy to use.

Nice work!

What's perhaps more mind boggling at Birdsboro, just south/east of town, sharing its driveway with the Schuylkill River Trail, is the defunct Armorcast corporation. There are four tall smokestacks sticking up along one side. I think it was a spin-off from the Birdsboro Steel Foundry, etc., but at any rate, they apparently made Sherman and Patton tanks during WWII and the Korean war. But like so many things, eventually they failed to win a contract in the 1980s and shut down. I did a little Googling on this stuff after bicycling by there a week or two back. Supposedly the Armorcast building has multiple bays 70 feet wide and over 1400 feet long -- could make some hellacious loft condos!

(I'd show some pix, but I only had my P&S bit electrocuter on my rides by there.)

Alas, most of the Schuylkill Valley is in various stages of those downward industrial life cycles. I fear sales associate at MalWart doesn't quite replace the sorts of jobs lost out of those plants. Phoenixville seems to be once again rising from the ashes at least a little; Pottstown is trying but has a ways to go.

DaveT

Dave, I'm familiar with Armorcast. You should search for it on flickr - there are a lot of people who've snuck in to shoot. I've read the police are cracking down on that, and defunct industrial sites are inherently dangerous, so I'll leave that to those more foolhardy. I've also read that the site is being developed, but those stories are dated by a few years now, so it may never happen. Why it would in Birdsboro, in the first place, kind of eludes me. But it's a neat town with a lot of history. And it's nearby.

Phoenixville is becoming a nice little town again. Pottstown does indeed have a way to go, though.

Scott

 

[bliorg]

In case anyone's bored, I added a post about the Super to my blog...

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Love those cameras and pictures!

Jeff

 

[Brian Legge]

Beautiful work.

I wish I had the cash to make an offer on that camera when it came up. In the unlikely work that you should you ever decide to part with it, shoot me a message. Haha!

 

[bliorg]

Thanks, guys!

Brian, I don't think the Super will be going anywhere anytime soon...

 

[removed account4]

great work scott!

i hope you continue with this sort of thing and do a lulu book ( with your son too ! )

john