Wooden spools in Warminster

A Navy town in central Bucks

Warminster Township, in the middle of Bucks County, was shaped for half a century by a naval aviation research centre known in its later years as the Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, and earlier as the Naval Air Development Center at Johnsville. It developed and tested aircraft systems and was home to a famous human centrifuge used to train early astronauts. The base closed in the 1990s, and its land has since been turned into a park, housing and business uses. Around it, Warminster grew into a township of suburban homes, shopping centres and a large concentration of industrial parks, especially along Street Road (PA 132), Jacksonville Road and the roads near the old base.

Industrial parks and contractors

Warminster and neighbouring Ivyland, Warrington and Hatboro have dozens of light industrial buildings: machine shops, fabricators, electronics makers, warehouses and the shops of electrical, mechanical and utility contractors. That mix produces reels in quantity:

• mid-size nailed reels of power and control cable from machine and plant work;
• plastic spools of wire from electronics and panel builders;
• large reels in contractors' yards from utility and commercial jobs elsewhere;
• broken reels and lagging boards from deliveries.

Homes and retail

Warminster's housing ranges from post-war houses to newer developments, and its retail strips along Street Road and York Road (PA 263) are refitted regularly. Those produce small reels and spools, which we collect alongside industrial pickups.

Roads

Street Road (PA 132) crosses the township from east to west, connecting toward Bensalem and I-95 in one direction and toward Horsham and PA 611 in the other. York Road (PA 263) runs north toward Furlong and Buckingham and south toward Hatboro and Willow Grove. Warminster has no interstate of its own, so loads to New Jersey usually head south to Woodhaven Road and I-95, then over the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. The Turnpike's Willow Grove interchange, south of the township, is the other way out.

Planning an industrial pickup

Industrial parks are usually easy: docks, forklifts, open yards. To make it easier still:

• put the reels together where a truck can reach them;
• mark any reels that must go back to a supplier;
• keep broken reels in a separate pile;
• tell us whether we need to check in at an office.

The old base

Redevelopment on the former base land has brought new housing and community buildings, along with the roads and utility work that go with them. Builders and utility contractors there leave reels in staging areas until a phase is complete. If you control such an area and want it cleared, tell us the location and the person who can release the reels.

Reels for re-use

Warminster's fabricators and machine shops sometimes buy reels as well as selling them, to hold wire, rope, chain or hose. If you need a particular size, tell us the flange diameter, traverse and arbor hole you need. See re-spooling reels.

Centrifuge to community park

The Johnsville centrifuge, a giant spinning arm used to test pilots and astronauts against high g-forces, was among the best-known pieces of equipment at the old naval centre. After the base closed, much of its land became Warminster Community Park, with walking trails, ball fields and ponds, and other parcels became housing and business uses. Park lighting, field lighting and building maintenance there produce occasional reels.

Machine shops and tool makers

Warminster's industrial parks have a strong tradition of precision manufacturing, tool and die work, electronics assembly and aerospace suppliers. These firms buy wire and cable on spools for wiring harnesses, control panels and machines. They generate a steady flow of plastic and plywood spools, as well as reels of heavy cable when they install new machine tools. Spools in good condition can go to other small manufacturers, hobbyists or makers.

Street Road traffic

Street Road is busy all day, with shopping centres, car dealers and restaurants lining it. Pickups from businesses along it are easiest in the early morning. If your premises have a side or rear entrance, give us the details.

Small manufacturers' spool habits

Harness builders typically buy hook-up wire on small plastic spools by the hundred, each colour-coded. Empty plastic spools stack neatly into cartons; keep them separate from wooden ones, because they travel to a plastics recycler or to other assemblers who reuse them. Wooden spools, meanwhile, can go to crafters and garden centres.

Hatboro and Horsham neighbours

Hatboro's old main street, York Road, and Horsham's business campuses near the former Willow Grove air station sit just over the county line. Pickups there share a route with Warminster.

Ivyland borough

Little Ivyland, a Victorian railway village next to Warminster, keeps its historic charm. Its quiet homes produce only occasional spools, collected alongside nearby industrial jobs.

Questions

Do you cover Ivyland, Hatboro and Warrington?

Yes, along with Southampton, Warwick and Horsham across the county line.

Can you collect on a regular schedule?

Yes. Shops that fill a corner with reels every month are good candidates for a recurring pickup.