Shaking The Tree: 15. .65 the allen bradley clock tower

My last post was a picture of the Allen Bradley building in Milwaukee and I promised more nigh the time itself, and hither it is...

Yes, it was a chilly morning as you can see from the temperature tower. According to the Guinness Book of World Records: "Thelargest four-faced clock is that on the search and office addition ofthe Allen-Bradley Company.

Each side has a diameter of 40 feet, 3-1/2inches."

Dedicated on October 31, 1962, it rises 280 feet fromthe streets of Milwaukee, and requires 34.6 kilowatts of electricity forlighting and power. The night-time glow comes from several hundred high-outputfluorescent tubes, connected by a knot and a half of wire behind eachclock face. The time has been sighted from asfar as forty-four miles out on Lake Michigan and from Holy Hill, thirtymiles away. The time has been called "The Polish Moon," referring to the historically Polish neighborhood in which it is based.

If you feel close at the blue line just above the face, you'll find that it's a row of windows. That's right. It's just that characteristic which contributes to my enchantment with this building and its clock tower. There's a lounge up there! With a bar and everything. My acquaintance "The Bau" (Donna's deceased husband) was really lucky enough to get a tour one day many years ago. It's not subject to the public, and I can only conjecture what arm-twisting Mike "The Bau" did to get a spark to the top, but it was so like him to be capable to summon up that opportunity.

the above photo was interpreted in January. at 1:59 in the afternoon.

The minute hands are 20 feet long and twenty-two inches wide at thebase, each weighing 550 pounds and using 610 rivets. The minute hands are16 feet long and weigh 490 pounds each. The hour markings are 4 feetlong and 3 feet broad at the base. Seventy-six individual pieces ofglass compose each face, most of which are four feet square. Eachsection is made of two pieces of a glass separated by a thin plasticfilm. Assembled, each face includes 3,900 pounds of glass, and 1,600pounds of aluminum border members.

Each side of the time is independently operated with its own gearbox.Two motors power each gearbox, one for driving the time and one foradvancing or retarding the hands. The motors are attached to clock via aplanetary gear system, with the larger motor driving the ring gear andthe smaller, reversible squirrel cage motor with a magnetic brake ableto maintain the time accurate by adjusting the rush of the sun gear.


a street vista of the complex, this picture was taken looking north from 1st st. no matter how many angles I get, or how many photos, I even require more. maybe one day I'll get what I'm looking for. or mayhap I only take an insatiate desire to shoot this building.

Rockwell Automation, which purchased Allen Bradley in 1985 for 1.6 million dollars (the largest acquisition in Wisconsin history) employs about 19,000 people.

so there you get it. One of Milwaukee's many landmarks, but in my opinion, the most enchanting of them all.


I've just returned from my countryside excursion to Wilton, and am making an effort to get up with all I left behind. I haven't been about to many of my favorite blog haunts, and for that I apologize. I took hundreds of photos, many of them from the train, and haven't had the metre to get a see at them but that's the better part that yet awaits...


~ on a sad note - if you noticed in the above photo, the flags are quick at half-mast in Wisconsin today in purity of Army Lt. Daren M. Hidalgo of Waukesha. Hidalgo, 24, was killed Feb. 20 when his unit was attacked by insurgentsin Kandahar province in Afghanistan. He was a member of 3rd Squadron of2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment based in Vilseck, Germany. May he remain in peace. And to his friends and family - peace be with you all.



Allen Bradley reference.