Tunnel Quest I
 
 August 2007
 Max Action, Junkyard, Rosin, Mandelbrot

The Steam Plant had been great. The Assembly Plant - incredibly awesome.

But I was not satisfied - I simply had to revisit the sand mines far below the plant before I was done.

FLASHBACK: Max Action & Slim Jim look out into the Assembly Plant , but dare not enter - Dec 2000

We had two options. The main option was to search the Assembly Plant until I found the other side of the doors that I'd gazed out from, seven years before, when we'd emerged up into the Assembly Plant from the Hydro power tunnels. But not knowing where to look, this was a bit of a needle in the haystack operation - it would take time, luck, and a lot of risky scouting.

Another option, even less plausible, was the subbasement of the Steam Plant - I didn't think there was a connection to the mines there, but it seemed worth checking out, just in case.

Junkyard and his girlfriend Rosin were in town that weekend, so I invited them along on the hunt, knowing that they'd love the chance to explore this local icon.

Under cover of darkness, we snuck back into the steam plant, and headed straight for the Assembly Plant floor.

tunnel to the assembly plant	steam tunnel steps	boiler room	assembly maintenance zone
Junkyard does the SBC Salute	rangers in the womb	assembly plant computer screen	junkyard excited by a womens lockerroom
reflectors mess up flash pics	We spent perhaps an hour sneaking around the assembly floor, enjoying the varied sights and looking for anything that went downward. Although we found plenty of descending ladders, these all proved to go into maintenance areas and such, with no access to the mines below. We were somewhere in the middle of the plant, somewhat split up, when we thought we heard the crackle of a radio form somewhere nearby. Was it security? Junkyard returned form a foray into the raised woman's locker room/bathroom to find the three of us tense and straining to see or hear anything threatening. Minutes passed, and we began to relax. No one was totally sure what they'd heard, and soon we were back to exploring with increasing casualness, taking flash photos and walking more brazenly out in the open. But when we got toward the main entrance to the assembly area by the security offices, I started to feel nervous - if someone came into the building, they could easily surprise us. I mentioned this bad feeling to the others, but Junkyard wasn't concerned. It was about one minute later when there was an enormous CLANG from somewhere waaay too close for comfort - as the headlights of a fast-approaching electric golfcart bore down on us. Plant security!! We all ran for the nearest cover we could find, which unfortunately meant that Junkyard & Rosin were separated from Mandelbrot & me. The security guard cruised along nearby as we ran along the rows of machinery and equipment, moving as fast as possible while still trying to stay silent and hunched over, trying to get more and more distance and obstructions between us and the guard, trying to see where the others were, and trying to get our bearings and get back to the steam tunnel. A few agonizing minutes later, we saw the two of them hurrying from shadow to shadow a few dozen yards away and hissed to get their attention. Once reunited, we slipped back to the safety of the boiler room, miraculously unseen by the cruising guard. ... Although we all agreed that further exploration in the Assembly Plant that night was a bad idea, we felt safe enough to return to the Steam Plant to see if there was an entrance to the tunnels from the lowest levels. Once down there, it didn't take long to see that there was no hope of a connection, so we headed back upward, wanting to hang out on the roof a bit before calling it a night. We were in the middle of the building, on a middle-level catwalk, when I rounded the corner and saw the Steam Plant Operator booth - with the Operator in it, maybe 25 feet from where I stood, only a big pane of glass between us. Bearded, probably in his early 40s, the Operator sat facing some monitors, his left profile to me. If he turned his head, he'd be surprised, and we'd be running like hell. The three others were behind me, out of sight around a corner. "Shhhh," I whispered back - "we have company." Slowly, I lifted my camera - I wanted a photo of this guy. Making sure my flash was off, I zoomed in, and slowly pushed the button downward. Halfway there, a red beam zapped out from the camera, twinkling on the glass pane and caressing the side of the Operator's bearded face. Shit! fucking anti-redeye!! Heart leaping, I snapped the camera down and lurched back around the corner. Startled, Junkyard and the gals prepared to bolt - but when I peeked around the corner, Beard hadn't budged - he hadn't noticed. I decided to forget about the photo, and we retreated back to a staircase that would take us up above his office, out of sight. We got up and out onto the roof without any more scares, at the base of the massive phallus of the Steam Plant smokestack, among the glowing skylights and the rhythmic clanking of a bad motor in a exhaust vent. We peed off the roof and relaxed and accidentally took flash photos (another ancient Action Squad tradition) as we decompressed and prepared to head home. Junkyard was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to spend more time in the Assembly Plant, but I promised him that we'd return when he was back in town again. After 20 minutes or so on the roof we snuck down past Beard the Steam Plant Operator and out into the night.
assembly trench allows workers to easily get under vehicles
assembly plant trike DWI
front of assembly plant
assembly main entrance
minute or so before the security cart came crashing along
glowing wheel wells
steam plant machinery
beautiful sign
removed steam plant equipment
officially abandoned
humorous label (google it)	leaky steam plant machinery	ford security?	steam plant catwalk
looking for Beard the Operator through the skylights	steam plant rootfop	Ford Bridge & Water Treatment Plant roof	relaxing on steam plant roof

Tunnel Quest II - "ALARMING."
 August 2007
 Max Action & Mandelbrot

I'd seen some ladders and potential routes downward the previous night that I was dying to check out, and I wanted to search further for the door to the Transformer Room - so we decided to head back the next day. We got back in without much trouble, got into the Assembly Plant, and started our search.

Now that we knew that Ford security patrolled the floor, we decided that rather than walk out in the corridors, where we would be easily spotted, we'd travel amongst the machinery and truck components, along the assembly line. It seemed sensible at the time, and it sure felt safer hidden in the shadows and ample cover.

However, this sensible risk-management plan would backfire in our faces, soon enough.

I had a notion that the Transformer Room we sought might be not far in from the western wall of the plant (closest to the Hydro Dam and its tunnels), so we explored along that area, moving northward, getting into tool shops and electrician shops - for the Ford employees who worked on the machines that built the cars, not on the cars themselves.

It was cool, but there was no sign of an entrance to the tunnels, so we headed toward the center of the plant, moving among the control panels, conveyors, and machinery.

And that's when it happened - one instant, all was quiet, chill, dark.

The next - flashing and spinning red siren lights, a metal clapper alarm bell, like an old Big Ben alarm clock with a megaphone, instantly shattering our calm as it shattered the darkness and quiet.

An alarm had been triggered.

The sound was deafening. If someone was running at us, I wouldn't be able to hear it. The bell was nearby - within 20 feet for sure. The flashing light, as well. Did they know exactly where we were? Were they around us now?

We bolted, ran like electrified jackrabbits, ducking beneath equipment, trying to see from which direction security was descending, trying to get distance between ourselves and the strident, horrifying alarm - and then trying to figure out which way the steam tunnel cage was.

But in the panicked surge of adrenaline and fear, when escaping likely approaching security was the immediate priority rather than finding a way out, we'd both lost our bearings.

Zip-zagging around workstations, assembly bays, hissing back and forth as we ran. "Is it this way?!" "I DON'T KNOW." "Shit!"

Finally, I spotted the railroad tracks that cut through the plant, got my bearings and sprinted toward the steam tunnel.

We ran down into the caged stairs leading down into the boiler room ... and I stopped Mandelbrot.

"Hold on."

"What!?"

"Wait a sec. I wanna see the response."

"WHAT?!"

Catching my breath, I explained that we were probably in the clear now - even if security came in, we could disappear out to the Steam Plant easily, while everyone's attention was on the Assembly plant. And I wanted to see what kind of response was raised - this has always been my preference after escaping an alarm successfully - hang tight nearby and evaluate the response ... if you have any intention of returning, it could be instructive.

Besides - I really wanted to find an entrance to the sand mines. I was starting to suspect that the alarm we'd tripped was not a security alarm, but a localized safety alarm ... and I was getting ideas about sticking around.

"I'm going to try to turn it off. If I'm not back in a few minutes, or you see or hear anyone coming after us, run."

And then, as damned ridiculous as it seems now, I darted back across the assembly floor, toward the alarm.

When I got there, I was going to get up into the machinery we'd offended, and see if there was an obvious means of aborting the alarm.

If no one had come yet, I had a shot at turning it off before a patrolling security guard heard the racket, I figured.

Approaching the screaming equipment, I saw a huge control panel, with a monitor built in and lots and lots of buttons and switches. It was beyond nerve-wracking to run up to it and try to find a way to shut it up - once I got anywhere near the alarm, I couldn't hear anything but the clanging bell - if anyone was coming, they'd surprise me.

Several frantic button pushes later, I realized that I was not going to be able to shut it down, and I aborted the mission, darting back toward the steam tunnel.

After a few more minutes went by, the alarm ringing and ringing without any noticable reaction, I decided I wanted to risk checking out the area around the line worker's cafeteria, which was just across the railroad tracks and down a short ways.

Mandelbrot reluctantly agreed, and we slipped out of the door and across the tracks, using the platforms and hitches between two boxcars to get across the track trench easily.

We'd made it maybe 20 feet away from the track when the incessantly ringing alarm abruptly stopped.

The sudden silence was just as startling as the alarm had been.

A second stretched out, and I had just enough time to say "let's go" before the mother of all alarms went off.

Whereas the original alarm had been localized, singular - this alarm was global, from everywhere, and we were running and across the tracks and down the tunnel and through the steam plant and outside into the cover of the woods and sneaking through the shadows toward the car before we had time to catch our breath enough to speak again.

"Holy shit. That was scary."

 

"Yeah.

 

... and fun."