SUMMER HOME POWER PLANT,
NORTHWEST BAY,
LAKE GEORGE
Among the attractive summer homes on the shores of Lake George is that of Mr. Stephen Loines of Brooklyn, located at the upper end of Northwest bay, about four miles above Bolton Landing. On his property there was a small lake known as Wing pond, having an area of about seven acres and situated at an elevation of about 180 feet above Lake George. The outlet was a small brook, which runs through Mr. Loines’ property and flows into Northwest bay.
In the summer of 1902, [Mr. Loines built a dam] across the outlet of Wing pond, raising its surface about two feet. He ran a galvanized iron pipe line from the dam, down the side of the hill and along the brook. It was four inches in diameter for a short distance, then reduced to three inches and finally to two inches, and was about 1200 feet long in all, with a fall of about 110 feet. A twenty-four-inch waterwheel of the impulse type was installed in a small power house to which the pipe line was run. The waterwheel developed about three horsepower and was belted to an electric generator.
Dam at Outlet of Wing Pond
The power was found to be insufficient to supply Mr. Loines’ needs at that time. He desired to burn thirty-five 16-candle-power carbon filament lamps and to charge a 40-cell battery for an electric launch.
Accordingly, in the fall of 1908, Mr. Loines raised his dam two feet higher and installed a six-inch spiral riveted steel pipe line, running from the dam down a gulley on the surface of the ground, for about 1600 feet, to a point a short distance from the place where the creek flows into Lake George. At this point he built a small power house and installed a twenty-four-inch waterwheel of the impulse type. This wheel operates under a head of 165 feet and is directly connected by a shaft to a six and one-half kilowatt generator, which operates at 500 revolutions per minute. This generator supplies a 60-cell house battery (45 lamps), an 84-cell battery for a 35-foot cabin launch, a 48-cell battery for a 20-foot open launch and a 40-cell battery for an electric roadster, all of which are in pretty continuous use from about the first of June to the first of November of each year.
Power Transmission Line,
Northwest Bay, Lake George