Although we expect tours to proceed as outlined, individual sites and other details may change due to site availability and other factors. Please consult your confirmation letters and the website for updates. Final details will be provided at the registration desk upon check-in.
Thursday, October 14
7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Note change in departure time
Bus A: Anchor Steam: After a visit to Amtrak’s Wilmington shops, once home to the great GG-1 fleet, and Conectiv’s coal-fired power plant, travel to DuPont’s famed 1903 Experimental Station with lunch overlooking the facility, followed by a trip to Chester, PA, to see the works of Baldt Anchor, maker of anchor chains, and the former PECO power plant for a discussion with its developer of its adaptive re-use.
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Bus B: Heavy Metals: Beginning with the Wilmington Marine Terminal, largest fruit importing facility on the East Coast, and Delaware Car Co., a passenger car repair and overhaul contractor, we will continue to Lenape Forge, which originally specialized in pressure vessels and other power generation equipment and now makes all kinds of large forgings. Then this tour heads to Newark to visit DaimlerChrysler’s Durango assembly plant.
Friday, October 15
7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Bus 1: Vulcan’s Delight: This tour begins in Coatesville, PA, with ISG, nee Lukens Steel and once owned by Bethlehem Steel, a customized plate maker that is one of the country’s oldest continuously operating steel plants. Then on to Kaolin Mushroom Farms for a look at the equipment and processes behind Pennsylvania’s largest agricultural crop. Then on to NVF, the nation’s only vulcanized fiber maker, in the area since 1875 melding plastics with paper. Note: Hurricane Ivan caused flooding on Red Clay Creek which damaged NVF so this portion of the tour may be canceled. A stop next door at the homesite of NVF’s founders, the Marshall Museum, will include the collection of 14 Stanley Steamers and a ride on the Stanley Mountain Wagon is promised.
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Bus 2: Hooked on Industry: Visit Amtrak’s Wilmington Shops, principal heavy locomotive shop for the Northeast Corridor and for maintenance-of-way equipment, and Conectiv’s electrical peaking facility. This tour, too, will visit the ISG plate mill in Coatesville, PA with a stop at the museum recently installed in the former office building. The day will end with a short hike to view the former Joseph Bancroft & Sons cotton finishing mill, once the largest of its kind in the world.
Saturday, October 16
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Hagley: Shuttles will begin leaving from the hotel at 9:30. The Hagley Museum, one of the nation's preeminent industrial history museums, is located on the site of DuPont's original powder mills and company village. Customized tours of the waterpower system at 10:00 (additional charge), and tours of the powder yards with Rob Howard, former curator, at 12:00 and 2:00 are highlights. The rest of the time may be spent exploring the extensive grounds and exhibits on your own. Coinciding with our visit, is a craft fair where artisans will be demonstrating, displaying and selling their work. Complimentary admission with SIA tour badge is available throughout the weekend.
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Note revised end time
Bridges & More: Northern Delaware offers a cross section of 20th-century bridge types from stone arch, Melan arch, tied arch, suspension, flat-slab, open-spandrel arch, cable-stay, swing span, to bascule. Tour the lower Brandywine and Christina rivers, stop by the Delaware Memorial twin suspension bridges for a photo-op, swing through historic New Castle to take in its beautiful colonial and Federal architecture, then down along the active C&D Canal to the St. Georges Bridge. It may be possible with so many bridges so closely spaced to break an SIA record, but we’ll definitely stop to explore nearby mills, forts, railroads, and ports too. This will be a packed day with lots of walking. Wilmingtonian Patrick Harshbarger, editor of SIAN and DelDOT’s historic bridge book, will lead the way. This rugged tour involves significant walking. Tour will be aboard a school bus, but rest stops have been planned.
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Banque: Just a 9-block walk from the hotel is the former Wilmington Water Works. After paying homage to the restored Holley triple-expansion steam pumping engine with commentary provided by SIA founder Robert Vogel, cocktails will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by a lavish buffet dinner overlooking the Brandywine at the Waterworks Café. (Cocktails and wine with dinner are included.)
Sunday, October 17th
9:30 a.m. to noon Note earlier departure time
Waterfront Walking Tour: Take in the historic waterfront with Sandy Balick, Wilmington born and bred, visiting the Frank Furness-designed train stations, former Pusey & Jones and Harlan & Hollingsworth shipyards, and more, with a possible stop at the sail loft museum chronicling the building of the tall ship, Kalmar Nyckel. (Lunch on your own.) Earlier departure time will allow a shuttle bus to take walkers to the far end of the route as this is an extensive exploration of the waterfront.
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Rail & Mill: Tour Shuttle departs hotel at 10:00 for a tour of the waterpower system and bridge restoration at the Green Bank Mill, followed by a return to the steam era with an excursion on the Wilmington & Western Rail Road behind the best 4-4-0 running in the country. Travel through the Red Clay Creek Valley, passing abandoned 19th-c. industrial sites along the way, and end with a visit to the W&W shops. Upon return, shuttle will depart at 2:30 for return to hotel at 3:00. Recent hurricane damage to both sites has already been repaired.
Further updated information will be posted here as it becomes available or contact our Mary Habstritt the SIA Events Coordinator.
