Hydro Power TB Hotel Traditional Geocache

Beside the beautiful scenic view of the Falls, a part of the water has and is been diverted to generate Hydro Electric Power.
The Canadian Niagara (hydro electric) Power Plant was inaugurated as the William Birch Rankine Power Station. It started generating electricity on January 1st 1905, with two 10,000 electrical horsepower generators.

The power house is built on what used to be Cedar Island. It takes advantage of the normal river current which used to flow around Cedar Island. A submerged weir diverts water into the forebay. The water enters the power house through steel penstocks which lead to the turbines located near the bottom of the wheel pit, 130 feet (40m) under ground. After the water passes through the turbines it is discharged through a 200 foot (60m) long tunnel to the river below. Along here is the cache location. In 1907, the Rankine Power Station provided the first electricity to the Village of Fort Erie. By 1927, construction of the Rankine Power Station was completed. The final cost of construction of this power station including the installation of its eleven generators cost $5,199,827.78. Later, eleven blue generators (have a peak through the glass of the doors) produced 100,000 horsepower (75 megawatts). The generators have vertical shafts, wound for three-phase current, producing 11,000 volts of 25 cycle power at 250 revolutions per minute.
The station was closed in 2009 and handed over to the Niagara Parks Commission. Reason for the closure were: 1. The station produced 25 Hz power, and would have needed to be retrofitted to the North American standard of 60 Hz. 2. The turbines and generators had drifted out of alignment due to movement of the rock on which the station was built. 

It is now incumbent on the NPC, government, and private investors to secure a future for the building before neglect and inertia takes this fascinating place down. Idea’s about a museum and upscale stores were mentioned a few years ago.