2020-11-15, 07:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 2020-11-15, 07:54 PM by DeathValleyDazed.
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(2020-11-13, 12:58 AM)David_Bricker Wrote: The pelton wheel is mentioned in the original water rights paperwork, and it was powered from the waterline from Darwin Wash. So, the staff person at the general store was partially correct.
Thanks David for settling things here about the "springs" or should I say the lack thereof.
I found some more fascinating detail about the PSR Pelton Wheel from Google Books Search. I was actually alive one year before the wheel license expired.
http://salamandersociety.com/deathvalley...l-1953.png
Maybe the folks at PSR got the idea for the Pelton Wheel from Albert Johnson over at Scotty's Castle?
"Not only is this Spanish-influenced mansion seemingly out of place in the high desert, but it's design seemingly pushed the technological limits of the 1920s. Not only did Albert Johnson see that there was a solar heating system at work, but he also had a Pelton water wheel turbine installed to generate electricity for the place. Too, an evaporative cooling system employed indoor waterfalls and even wet burlap to keep things inside the castle relatively cool on those 100-degree summer days."
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/20...ional-park
Or from the Skidoo engineers?
Interestingly enough (for a place as dry as Death Valley the stamp mill was water powered. Water (for mill and town) was piped down from Birch springs high in the Panamint Mountains about twenty miles away (and 2,000 feet higher). The water drove a Pelton wheel which ran the machinery and stamps. Later, a gas engine was added to help power the mill when the spring was running low."
I found an informative video about "The Pelton Wheel" which you say powered Panamint Springs for some time. I assume they used this until the overhead power lines were installed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oe8YAJ9eSQ
And thanks again David for clarity on the Old Toll Road which prompted me to make a short video about it. I've to drive that historic road again but take much more time to explore the area instead of hurrying to return the rental jeep.
Life begins in Death Valley