Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Gray's Harbor Light Station


Gray's Harbor Light Station is a grand and solidly built lighthouse, sited in Westport WA and still beaming a modest light to aim in navigation.  The original rotating lens assembly (perhaps 4 tonnes of it, including the kerosene fuel reservoir) was mounted to float on a mercury bearing.  A clockwork mechanism driving it was powered by a weight that descended through the open tower.

The design is French (Henry LePaute), and was shipped over in pieces as the lighthouse was being built in the late 1890s.  There's a similar light mechanism in Cape Byron.

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