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 Replies: 47 / Views: 9,154 |
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New Member
United States
2 Posts |
I hadn't heard of anything like this until a friend of mine invited me to go searching a storm drain outfall in a midwestern state. He wanted me to bring my metal detector. It would have been useless. There was so much metal I couldn't believe it. We found everything from bicycle spokes to live ammo, keys, some jewelry (one gold wedding band), and plenty of coins. Most of the coins were modern. I did find one silver half dollar. Most of the time when I go out with my detector if I find two or three coins it's good. I used my beach coin scoop and picked up about 150 coins, mostly pennies. Pennies (the new zinc/copper ones) don't do well in storm water (acid rain?). Searching the outfall is probably much safer than searching down in the tunnels for many reasons already mentioned. The water isn't the cleanest but follow standard procedures and you should be alright. Be careful of deeper water. You probably won't get arrested, suffocate, blow yourself up or get attacked by rats. We did have an inebriated person come and try to hold a conversation with us. The outfall may not be located in the best part of town. It may be difficult to locate the outfalls in your town. If anyone tries this let me know. But don't tell anyone else, then it wouldn't be a secret anymore.
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Valued Member
United States
136 Posts |
This is a great post. But posting online your exploits may not be a good idea. We have a new hospital in our city so the old hospital is now empty and in decay. An urban explorer took pictures of the inside and posted them online and it made the front page of the paper. And the police were asking for leads. Also the police caught 2 people trying to steal copper piping from there. Also Norton was Ralph Kramdens sidekick on The Honeymooners. A 1950's television show starring Jackie Gleason. Norton worked in the sewer.
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Valued Member
United States
404 Posts |
I think for the most part police officers can tell the difference between those exploring and those with the intent of stealing or defacing, especially in vacant buildings. I would assume if a law official ran into you entering or exiting drains, they may tell you not to do it anymore, but I can not see them arresting you, unless you have 50 pounds of copper piping in your hands.
Or I could be completely wrong and they may arrest you for planning a terrorist attack....who knows anymore. I would like to think the first statement would be true.
Any which way, good luck in the exploring, look forward to seeing more pics. Maybe you can turn this into a business venture. With how good those pictures came out, I can see people wanting to take tours.
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New Member
Switzerland
1 Posts |
Hi, I followed a link back here and thought I'd offer my experiences as they may help someone. I haven't read the entire thread, so excuse any repetition. Firstly sewers, in non-combined systems, are usually quite explorable so long as they're not trunk lines which carry large amounts of flow. The trunk flow is not conducive to exploring, nor searching for coins and other interesting artifacts. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that anything which carries sewage is going to be a right pain in the butt anyway. Since the water isn't well, water, it'll be tough to go digging around for things when you can't see because it's a) murky, and b) digusting Still it's well worth a shot but expect nastiness. However, stormwater systems (in countries such as Australia where sewage and storm are separate) are right treasure troves. In particular the older systems constructed of stone/brick which allows the floor to deteriorate at uneven rates, especially in the areas below waterfalls. This deterioration creates little pools and crevices which catch heavy objects, such as coins, old metal nails, etc etc. The newer concrete pipe systems don't do this as much. The other advantage to stone and brick tunnels is that the construction materials are not full of steel reinforcement which may have an effect on your metal detectors (disclaimer: I've never used one). One great tunnel under Brisbane (Aus) is 100+ years old and has a series of stone tunnels connected by small waterfalls. Below each of these is a pool full of trinkets, on one particular journey there we pulled out $50+ worth of scunge-caked modern coins, a quantity sufficient for our post-exploration 3am pancakes. The waitress was not so amused. I believe we also pulled out some old australian pennies. My best find however was a vintage fire extinguisher found half buried in a culvert in Manchester. It cleaned up quite well and my parents now use it as a garden ornament.  http://sleepycity.net/photos/1338/Fire-Snow Edited by dsankt
01/25/2012 3:19 pm
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New Member
United States
2 Posts |
We also found Two (not just one but two) brass watchmen clock keys. They still had the brass chains attached. I guess some lazy watchman decided if the keys were missing he could miss those stops. I was digging a bit in a crack in the cement and when I got through some of the mud I saw "gold". I spent the next 15 minutes digging it out. I was a brass rod, all shiny and bright from being polished on its trip down the tunnels.
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Valued Member
United States
163 Posts |
This is insane, hats off to you trent. never would've thought of it and kinda tempted actually
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Pillar of the Community
United States
619 Posts |
There aren't any coins down there. The Ninja Turtles took them all for pizza money.  Edited by CPC24
01/26/2012 01:45 am
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
This is awesome. I can only imagine how exhilarating it must be. Fantastic photos as well.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I suppose most people that go into any kind of those underground tunnels don't really think of what could go wrong. Usually nothing does happen or at least nothing reported. I'm sure few know or remember what did happen though in the Chicago area where a company punched a hole in the top of one of those underground tunnels. Virtually billions of gallons of water flowed into those tunnels from the Chicago River for weeks. Many of those tunnels led to the basements of stores and those too were flooded. If anyone would have been in those tunnels at the time that happened, they would have been instantly drowned or crushed. I wonder if anyone ever did a search in those places after for possible anything of value. It is really amazing how many tunnels, sewers, underground piping systems there are in a large city.
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Valued Member
United States
100 Posts |
N-A-S-T-Y E-W-W-W!
What part of the states do you live in? Here we have snakes that can kill you, rats that can eat you, and lots of pee and poo...ain't no way I'm going down there unless it's really SHTF and I got to get out of the city!
Earl
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New Member
Canada
33 Posts |
You can usually find some good stuff in the spring if you wander around the snow dumps.
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Valued Member
United States
193 Posts |
Some time ago I read an article in a magazine about a guy who researches and digs up old outhouse sites. I Was amazing what he found. Quite a variety of things from coins to old bottles and even a set of dishes.
No worry of nasty stuff as the digs were on old outhouses that have long since turned all the bad stuff into soil.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
Don't know if anyone saw that but someone put a hole in the bottom of the Chicago River and it flooded the entire lower city. They discovered a leaking weak area in a huge tunnel that ran under the water, and figgered it would cost $80,000 to fix. With an authorization of $10,000 for routine expenses, the pubic serpent in charge didn't want to defend an allowable $80,000 for emergency repairs, so he put it out for bids, and before they could get them, the tunnel opened and caused billions in damage. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
 , dsankt! |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
old outhouse sites. I Was amazing what he found Outhice were a favorite hunting place for beer cans. Gramps would drink out of sight, and pitch the empties down the hole (most of those bottles were likker, right?) |
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Replies: 47 / Views: 9,154 |
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Posted 01/25/2012 2:25 pm
