Adam 2

I'm in hour 11 of my first 12 hour shift as the power plant Operator.

The power plant is staffed by at least one operator 24 hours per day to make sure the six diesel generators are well behaved and the lights stay on. During the day a mechanic and electrician are around doing maintenance but at night the operator is the only one here.

Six weeks ago one of the operators, called Adam 1, got sent to the Pole to replace a "toasty" mechanic that had been there for 15 months. His absence meant the station was one operator short. The electrician filled in for "a couple of weeks" and Adam 1 recommended me to take his place. Six weeks later the paperwork has gone though, my title has changed from General Assistant to Power Plant Technician.

Me putting generator #2 online, the syncroscope is over my right shoulder

As crazy as it may sound these old gens really are a lot of fun to play with. The control room is a big wall of switches and dials that look impressive. The generators themselves are geriatric. They're going on 30 years old with over 100,000 hours on their clocks so they need babying, including "diaper changes" to keep the oil off the floors. Getting them synchronized is done manually with luck, practice and a crazy-looking "syncroscope" made of two lights and a dial.

The control panels are the same sort of thing my dad used when was in college. There is no computer in the original system so everything is controlled by relays which makes a lot of satisfying clicks and clunks when things work properly.

The generators all have their own quirks and personalities with lots of fun little bugs and I can't stop smiling.

The generator room: generator #4 is being overhauled so it is in pieces,
the biggest piece of #4 is on the right. (click to enlarge)

The new power plant will be online in a year or so and give these old gens a rest but I'm glad to have the chance to work with them.