he giant Coplay Cement Company Kilns, located in the Saylor’s Park on North Second St., in Coplay, Pennsylvania which is not too far from Allentown. These giant ninety foot tall vertical Kilns were in use From 1893 to 1904 when they were superseded by more advanced cement kiln technology. In the 1920s all the surrounding Coplay Cement Company buildings were demolished and the top 30 feet of each kiln was removed for some reason. Today, the kilns house a museum dedicated to the cement industry. They are located next to the Ironton Rail Trail which is part of the “Rails to Trails” program that takes abandoned rail lines and converts them to multi-use recreation paths. I walked about five miles of the trail today and even though the skies were threatening, there was a ton of people out walking, bike riding, roller blading and generally having a great time on the paved trail.
For more information on the Coplay Cement museum, visit their web site. For more information on the Ironton Rail Trail, please checkout their web site.
I used a Cokin Pro Z neutral density filter (ND4) and a Cokin Pro Z Graduated Tobacco Filter (T2) on my Sigma 10-20mm to bring out the ominous nature of the clouds. Post processed from five bracketed frames to create an HDR in Photomatix Pro.
