End Of A "Power-Full" Era

By Carl R. Flohr
Member, Subcommittee of Buildings,& Grounds and Former Member, Committee on Masonic Homes

After 90 years, the power plant at the Masonic Homes is closing down. Natural gas will replace coal with new boilers being installed at the north of Grand Lodge Hall.

The power plant at the Masonic Homes at Elizabethtown was built in 1911. Extensive remodeling in 1948 included a new stack, boilers, and revamping of the steam system. The last boiler was installed in 1960. A hot water heating loop to the five Masonic Children's Home buildings was abandoned in the mid 1990's. At that time, the older Masonic Children's Home buildings were remodeled into retirement living apartments and new and remodeled buildings were provided for the Masonic Children's Home. In the early days, steam pumps were used to circulate hot water for heating in this loop. With the completion of this heating season, the coal heating plant will be decommissioned.

In days gone by, steam was produced for two steam turbines that generated the electricity for the entire campus. One of these is now in a museum in Lancaster. Two steam pumps that supply make-up water to the boilers are still operating today. They operate automatically at various speeds to pump the correct amount of water to the boiler as more or less steam is needed to heat the campus. Currently, they pump 12 million gallons of feed water annually.

Very few of these steam-operated pumps are in use today. It is a miniature steam engine. The power side of the pump has an 8" piston and the pump side is a 5.25" piston. The power to the pump is generated in the forward stroke as well as the reverse stroke. It is hoped that this pump will end up in a museum so people can see how well it has stood the test of time. It was manufactured by Warren Pump Co. in Warren, MA. The Masonic Homes' staff has been nursing it along, rebuilding it with parts from Texas and a local machine shop. It burned approximately 5,000 tons of coal per year. Coal is now placed in the stoker hopper by a skid loader. Earlier it was shoveled by hand into a buggy that traveled on an overhead track to be dumped into the stoker hopper. Before that, it was shoveled into a wheelbarrow and then shoveled by hand into the furnace.

The Masonic Homes always has been proud of its staff including the men who operate this power plant. Plant Superintendent Vince Doyle came to work in 1980 and is a loyal and dedicated leader. His father, Edward Doyle, who was the assistant to the power plant Superintendent, started his career with the Masonic Homes in 1967. With the closing, some of the steam plant staff will work at other Masonic Homes locations. Some already have gone to other coal-burning plants, but still come back and help with the shutdown process. There is an excellent rapport between the staff of these dedicated men!