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Commencée en 1324 à l'initiative de Sanche, roi de Majorque en style gothique méridional, le chantier est presque abandonné à la fin du royaume en 1344.
La collégiale devient cathédrale en 1602 en supplantant l'ancien siège épiscopal d'Elne.
Elan Air was a British Cargo Airline founded in October 1982 that commenced operations in November 1983. Elan Air operated night freight charters for DHL using the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy and Handley Page Dart Herald. The airline then acquired a Merchantman freighter version of the Vickers Vanguard. On May 16th, 1989 the company was renamed DHL Air.
G-BEYF (Handley Page HPR-7 Herald 401, c/n 175) was delivered in January 1964 to the Royal Malaysia Air Force as FM1022.In August 1977 the plane was sold to BUAF British Air Ferries as G-BEYF and started a long career of leasing. Between October 1977 and January 1978 it was leased to Gulf Air. From January to the end of 1979 it was leased to BIA British Island Airways. During the year 1980 Air UK briefly operated the plane and from March 1981 to ?? 1981 it was leased to Occidental Oil of Libya. From December 1981 to ?? 1982 it was operate dby Libyan Arab Airlines and during 1983 to Tunisavia. IPEC Aviation leased the aircraft from December 1985 to April 1986.Elan Air Cargo leased it in 1987. In April 1988 the plane was sold, again as G-BEYF, to Channel Express. Last flight to Bournemouth-Hurn on April 09th, 2009 was the last ever Herald flight. The aircraft was preserved at Bournemouth Aviation Museum since March 2002 but the aicraft was broken up in June 2008 after the Museum closed. The cockpit arrived at Wycombe Air Park, Buckinghamshire early 07.08.
Hood, S. J.
Part of the collection: J.C. Williamson collection of photographs.; Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3509141; Seasons in Australasia recorded in programs and ephemera held in J.C. Williamson collection, PROMPT Collection : 1928 commencing 28 April. Theatre Royal, Melbourne ; 1928 commencing 6 October. His Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane ; 1942 commencing 4 July. Theatre Royal, Sydney ; 1943 commencing 21 August. His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne ; 1947 commencing 9 August. Theatre Royal.
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Until 1814, timber was cut in Chatham Dockyard by pairs of sawyers working in sawpits located through the site. Squaring timber and cutting planks for decks and ship's sides was back-breaking repetitive work, and readily identified for mechanisation.
In 1812 construction commenced on a steam-powered sawmill designed by Marc Brunel (father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel) assisted by Jeremy Bentham and Edward Holl. The sawmill was completed in 1814 and included a series of reciprocating sawing-machines and a mechanical timber transport system linked to the dockyard's mast ponds by an underground canal.
Historic England records that this Grade I listed structure is made of brick with stone dressings and a hipped slate and corrugated-iron valley roof. At the south end of the sawmill in the engine house which has a notably-large battered (receding) square chimney in three stepped stages, each with sunken panels divided by ashlar bands, clasping buttresses to the base and a round opening extending through. A domed iron pressure vessel can be seen in front of the chimney. Tall, narrow former offices attached to the engine house have round-arched windows with 20th century casements and flat-headed 12-pane second-floor windows with similar windows to those found at the northern end of the sawmill.
The Blackall Woolscour, a collection of large sheds containing shearing and scouring equipment built for the Blackall Proprietary Woolscouring Company, commenced operations in 1908 at a cost of about £20 000. Situated 4km outside Blackall adjacent to the newly opened railway line the scour continued to operate until its closure in 1978.
Wool scouring, one of the methods for cleaning impurities from wool after shearing, began as an alternative to sheep washing in Australia in the 1840s and had almost replaced it by the 1890s. Initially scouring was done by manual methods such as pot and stick or hand box, but by the early 1890s steam driven mechanised scouring dominated the industry.
In Australia the large mechanical scours were generally located in the major urban centres. Western Queensland was the exception with the construction of mechanical scouring plants in Charleville, Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Julia Creek, Richmond, Maxwelton and Alba near Hughenden between the late 1890s and the early 1920s. Of these Blackall scour is the only one to remain intact and was the last to cease operating.
Scouring, probably using the hand box method, began in Blackall in 1893 when
WH Banks established a scour near the town bore. Operations were transferred in 1900, after disputes with the town council over water leases, to Duneira, Banks's property.
Construction of the railway line to Blackall began in 1905. The same year the Blackall Proprietary Woolscour Co. was founded by five members of the local grazing and business community with JH Hart as chairman and in December tenders were advertised for the sinking of a bore "not more than three miles from the township of Blackall". The scouring and shearing shed was erected by Renshaw and Ricketts, Rockhampton builders, using hoop pine from Maryborough.
The plant, offered for sale in 1913, was acquired by Western Queensland Meat Export Co. The Melbourne based company which already owned a boiling down works and a wool scour in Barcaldine made progressive improvements and modifications to the machinery to increase the efficiency of the scour and therefore its capacity, more than doubling the 1913 output by 1918 to 7640 bales, the largest output in its history. The years of peak production were 1916 to 1920. Business declined in the 1920s with other scours in the region closing temporarily or permanently. The general management of the scour was overseen by AM Ferguson from 1913 until his death in 1933. Members of the Ferguson family continued to manage the complex until 1957.
WQMEC continued to operate the scour, mostly at a profit, until 1964 when it was sold to K Austin of Glencoe Station. In 1974 CF Thomas Pty Ltd bought the scour and it was closed in 1978 after a storm caused damage to the boiler. Subsidiary activities of the scour included fellmongering, the removal of wool from dead sheep skins; selling petrol for the C.O.R. Company and farming in the 1950s. Shearing was also carried out as a separate activity and wool could be classed and pressed without being scoured. The shearing board is still in use.
In 1988 Blackall Shire Council took out a 99 year lease. The site has since been subdivided to allow the Historic Woolscour Association to purchase most of the buildings and a substantial amount of associated property. The wool storage shed, on an adjoining property, is currently used by a pet food manufacturer. The bore remains the property of R Politch.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
Construction, Week 62 (Demolition, Week 2)
As you’ve probably seen by now thanks to swift, detailed coverage from l_dawg2000, the Hernando Millennium Kroger has finally begun meeting its end this week (well, beyond what we saw last Friday, anyway). These pictures are from day two of demolition – yesterday, Monday, October 3rd, 2016 – and come to flickr thanks to my awesome dad, who has promised to stay on top of this for me while I’m college-ing…
EDIT: Speaking of college, Ole Miss’s lovely wifi went down as I was about to post these last night, so when I say “yesterday” I mean Monday, and “today/tonight” refers to Tuesday…
(c) 2016 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
White Bus of Winkfield have now received their 5 brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC B30F buses for recently won Surrey bus routes which commence on September 1st 2018. The third bus to receive full fleet livery ready for the big day is 61 YX68UHP seen here at the depot in late August 2018.
Commencing on Sunday 30th June, Lothian Country will launch its new Green Arrow Express services.
The new routes will be as follows:
EX1: Bathgate Town Centre, Boghall, DIRECT VIA M8, Maybury, Haymarket and The Exchange every 30 minutes, Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday
EX2: Linlithgow Bridge, Linlithgow Town Centre, Springfield, DIRECT VIA M9, RBS Gogarburn, Maybury, Haymarket, and The Exchange every 30 minutes, Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday.
Green Arrow will have a bespoke and dedicated team of drivers. The operation will run with a fleet of eight coaches which have been custom built in the UK by Plaxton, part of Alexander Dennis Limited, to exceed customer expectations.
The coaches have an innovative new forward facing wheelchair bay and have been fitted with full coach seating, Wi-Fi, USB charging, mood lighting and audio-visual stop announcements, offering a fantastic customer experience.
Lothian Country Green Arrow 9206 seen here at SVBM during the Open Day on the 19th May 2019.
Cette photo fait partie d'une série.
Je l'ai commencée pour participer à Dimanche Critique Photo du blog Apprendre la photo de Laurent Breillat.
Si vous ne savez pas par où commencer en photo, son blog est vraiment bien fait.
Les contraintes pour cette série :
Des personnes en mouvements (pause de quelques secondes), des personnes statiques, un élément coloré.
Le post traitement a simplement consisté à désaturer partiellement et ajouter un peu de contraste et de vignettage.
Les autres photos :
à regarder sur fond noir de préférence : appuyez sur la touche "L"
© akfoto.fr
Ultra brand new lady commenced service just one month ago!
LGAV I 08.12.2018 I Airbus A321-231 I G-WUKH
The view from the tower of Lincoln Cathedral, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Building commenced in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549) before the central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt.
Remigius de Fécamp, the first bishop of Lincoln, moved the Episcopal seat there between 1072 and 1092. Up until then St. Mary's Church in Stow was the "mother church" of Lincolnshire (although it was not a cathedral, because the seat of the diocese was at Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire).
Bishop Remigius built the first Lincoln Cathedral on the present site, finishing it in 1092 and then dying on 9 May of that year, two days before it was consecrated. In 1141, the timber roofing was destroyed in a fire. Bishop Alexander rebuilt and expanded the cathedral, but it was mostly destroyed by an earthquake about forty years later, in 1185.
The earthquake was one of the largest felt in the UK. The damage to the cathedral is thought to have been very extensive: The Cathedral is described as having "split from top to bottom"; in the current building, only the lower part of the west end and of its two attached towers remain of the pre-earthquake cathedral.
After the earthquake, a new bishop was appointed. He was Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France, who became known as St Hugh of Lincoln. He began a massive rebuilding and expansion programme. Rebuilding began with the choir and the eastern transepts between 1192 and 1210. The central nave was then built in the Early English Gothic style. Until 1549 the spire was reputedly the tallest medieval tower in Europe, though the exact height has been a matter of debate.
The two large stained glass rose windows, the matching Dean's Eye and Bishop's Eye, were added to the cathedral during the late Middle Ages. The former, the Dean's Eye in the north transept dates from the 1192 rebuild begun by St Hugh, finally being completed in 1235.
After the additions of the Dean's eye and other major Gothic additions it is believed some mistakes in the support of the tower occurred, for in 1237 the main tower collapsed. A new tower was soon started and in 1255 the Cathedral petitioned Henry III to allow them to take down part of the town wall to enlarge and expand the Cathedral.
In 1290 Eleanor of Castile died and King Edward I of England decided to honour her, his Queen Consort, with an elegant funeral procession. After her body had been embalmed, which in the 13th century involved evisceration, Eleanor's viscera were buried in Lincoln cathedral, and Edward placed a duplicate of the Westminster tomb there.
Information Source:
Commencée en 1226 dans le plus pur style gothique français sur l'emplacement de la grande mosquée qui elle même avait remplacé la cathédrale wisigothique sur la volonté de l'archevêque Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada, elle est achevée au XVe siècle.
New look for an old bus....
A recent repaint into the new First Glasgow livery is 32600 (SF54TJY). This sixteen year old veteran was one of 84 such buses that arrived in 2004 and were its first two-axle low-floor double-deckers to be delivered. However they were not the first low-floor deckers as that honour went to ten East Lancs Nordic bodied Volvo B7L tri-axles. Those are long gone, and withdrawals have commenced from the batch that came in 2004 but this one has received the latest livery.
Je commence tout juste à utiliser cet appareil, le GX8, qui m'a presque déçu à la sortie de sa boîte, tant il semble banal... Il ne faut pas se fier à ça! L'habit ne fait pas le moine. Il ressemble en fait à un vieux rangefinder... Il me rappelle étrangement mon Leica. Pourtant, c'est une caméra ultra high-tech qui n'a pas fini de me surprendre.
Bref, J'ai fait cette photo alors que je m'apprêtais à déambuler dans le vieux Longueuil. Il s'agit des chats de mon voisin et ami, Dave. Ce sont des "savannah", une race issue du croisement entre un serval et un chat domestique. Ils me regardaient très attentivement, presque des chats de garde!
D'autres images faites avec le GX8 suivront.
:)
I am just starting to use this camera, the GX8, who have almost disappointed me at the exit of his box... It seems so banal! Do not rely on that! Do not judge a book by its cover. It actually looks like an old rangefinder ... It reminds me my Leica. Yet this is an ultra high-tech camera that does not stop surprising me.
In short, I made this picture when I was about to walk through the old Longueuil. These are the cats of my neighbor and friend Dave. These are "savannah", a breed obtained by a cross between a serval and a domestic cat. They looked at me very carefully, almost like watch dogs! (In this case, watch cats!)
:)
Other images made with the GX8 will follow.
Press L to view in full screen.
Victorien Liria, alias Maye a commencé à peindre en 2004. Ses décors sont habités par des personnages longilignes, souples et courbés.
Sur cette fresque, réalisée dans le cadre du premier festival d’art urbain et de street-art de la ville de Calais intitulé «Jam Graffiti», Maye nous propose un totem humain composé de migrants. Celui du haut écrit un message de solidarité « Ensemble »
Localisation : 91 Boulevard Jacquard, Calais
Source: www.trompe-l-oeil.info/graffitis/details.php?image_id=24578
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Victorien Liria, aka Maye, started painting in 2004. His paintings are inhabited by slender, flexible and curved characters.
On this mural, produced as part of the first urban art and street-art festival in the city of Calais entitled "Jam Graffiti", Maye offers us a human totem composed of migrants. The one at the top writes a message of solidarity "Ensemble" = "Together"
Location: 91 Boulevard Jacquard, Calais
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IATA ICAO Callsign
TN TAA TRANSAIR
Founded8 February 1946
Commenced operations9 September 1946
Ceased operationsApril 1994 (acquired by Qantas Airways)
HubsMelbourne Airport (Essendon Airport from 1947 to 1971)
Parent companyAustralian National Airlines Commission
HeadquartersMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), renamed Australian Airlines in 1986, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. As a result of the "COBRA" (or Common Branding) project, the entire airline was rebranded Qantas about a year later with tickets stating in small print "Australian Airlines Limited trading as Qantas Airways Limited" until the adoption of a single Air Operator Certificate a few years later. At that point, the entire airline was officially renamed "Qantas Airways Limited" continuing the name and livery of the parent company with the only change being the change of by-line from "The Spirit of Australia" to "The Australian Airline" under the window line with the existing "Qantas" title appearing above.
During its period as TAA, the company played a major part in the development of the Australian domestic air transport industry. The establishment of TAA broke the domestic air transport monopoly of Australian National Airways (ANA) in the late 1940s, and taking over the Queensland air network from Qantas. It was also at the time TAA supported the Flying Doctor Services of Australia by providing aircraft, pilots and engineers to ensure every emergency was answered quickly. Qantas had also been instrumental in the formation of the Flying Doctor Service.
The airline's headquarters were located in Melbourne.[1][2] In 1954 TAA became the first airline outside Europe to introduce the Vickers Viscount "propjet", and in 1981 it introduced the Airbus A300, the first wide-body aircraft to be purchased by an Australian domestic airline providing TAA with a clear edge over major competitor at the time, Ansett which had purchased instead, the Boeing 767-200, receiving the type approximately a year later. Ironically, although the A300s were initially painted in full Qantas livery, they were phased out within a few years being replaced by previously international operated Qantas 767-238ERs, 767-338ERs and later supplemented by seven ex British Airways 767-336ERs.
Qantas revived the Australian Airlines brand between 2002 and 2006 to serve the low-cost leisure market of visitors to and from Australia but using a full-service model, operating selected Qantas 767-338ERs – although the livery used was not the same as that used by the previous domestic operation.
History
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Background
Up until World War II, Australia had been one of the world's leading centres of aviation. With its tiny population of about seven million, Australia ranked sixth in the world for scheduled air mileage, had 16 airlines, was growing at twice the world average, and had produced a number of prominent aviation pioneers, including Lawrence Hargrave, Harry Hawker, Bert Hinkler, Lawrence Wackett, the Reverend John Flynn, Sidney Cotton, Keith Virtue and Charles Kingsford Smith. Governments on both sides of politics, well aware of the immense stretches of uninhabitable desert that separated the small productive regions of Australia, regarded air transport as a matter of national importance (as did the governments of other geographically large nations, such as the Soviet Union and the United States). In the words of Director General of Civil Aviation AB Corbett,
A nation which refuses to use flying in its national life must necessarily today be a backward and defenceless nation.[3]
Air transport was encouraged both with direct subsidies and with mail contracts. Immediately before the start of the war, more than half of all airline passenger and freight miles were subsidised.
However, after 1939 and especially after Japan's invasion of the islands to the north in 1941, civil aviation was sacrificed to military needs. By the end of the war, there were only nine domestic airlines remaining, eight smaller regional concerns and Australian National Airways (ANA), a conglomerate owned by British and Australian shipping interests which had a virtual monopoly on the major trunk routes and received 85% of all government air transport subsidies.
The Chifley Government's view was summed up by Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford: Where are the great pioneers of aviation? ..... We discover that one by one the small pioneer enterprises are disappearing from the register. It is the inevitable process of absorption by a monopoly. Air transport, the government believed, was primarily a public service, like hospitals, the railways or the post office. If there was to be a monopoly at all, then it should be one owned by the public and working in the public interest.
In August 1945, only two days after the end of World War II, the Australian parliament passed the Australian National Airways Bill, which set up the Australian National Airways Commission (ANAC) and charged it with the task of reconstructing the nation's air transport industry. In keeping with the Labor government's socialist leanings, the bill declared that the licenses of private operators would lapse for those routes that were adequately serviced by the national carrier. From this time on, it seemed, air transport in Australia would be a government monopoly. However, a legal challenge, backed by the Liberal opposition and business interests generally, was successful and in December 1945, the High Court ruled that the Commonwealth did not have the power to prevent the issue of airline licenses to private companies. The government could set up an airline if it wished, but it could not legislate a monopoly. Much of the press objected strongly to the setting up of a public airline network, seeing it as a form of socialisation by stealth.
Beginnings
Trans-Australia Airlines Skymaster
With the bill suitably amended to remove the monopoly provisions, the Australian National Airways Commission came into existence in February 1946. The commissioners themselves were prominent high-achievers, including the director-general of civil aviation, the deputy director, a Labor party luminary and former member of the Commonwealth Bank board, the director-general of posts and telegraphs, and the assistant secretary of the Treasury. The commission was to be chaired by Arthur Coles.
Coles was one of the richest men in Australia, and the co-founder of the Coles Group. By this time however, Coles had withdrawn from active management of the family business. He was 'a great believer in competition for business'[4] and would not have accepted the post of Chairman of the ANAC had the monopoly provision been retained.
The Commission decided on the name "Trans-Australia Airlines", applied to the Treasury for a preliminary advance of £10,000 and set about making plans, recruiting staff, and purchasing equipment. Reginald Ansett, proprietor of the small Victorian company Ansett Airways was quick to offer to get the new airline off to a flying start by selling his entire operation to the ANAC as a going concern, including (if desired) his own services as managing agent. The asking price, the Commission decided, was optimistic, and Ansett declined a more modest counter offer.
There was considerable correspondence between the Commission and Ivan Holyman, the Chairman of ANA, with a view to recruiting Holyman as General Manager of TAA at the princely salary of £10,000 pa, and, when that offer was declined, of buying the near-monopoly airline outright. Holyman was not willing to sell, nor to work for a government-owned body, but was interested in setting up a "composite company", the details of which proposal remained unclear.
Eventually the ANAC proceeded with the original plan, to build an airline from scratch. One of the first people hired was Lester Brain, then operations manager at Qantas. Brain had 22 years of pioneering aviation experience behind him and was regarded as the man behind Qantas' reputation for technical excellence. He applied for the advertised position of TAA Operations Manager, but to his surprise and delight, was instead offered an appointment as General Manager — though at £3,000 pa, not the £10,000 that had been offered to Holyman.
TAA Douglas DC-3 at Brisbane Airport, early 1970s
TAA acquired its first two aircraft in mid-June 1946, both Douglas DC-3s. A dozen more DC-3s would be added over the next few months, all ex-Royal Australian Air Force aircraft originally bought by the Australian Government under lend-lease. In July, the Treasury released £350,000 to allow TAA to order four larger, more modern DC-4s from Douglas in the United States, and Brain appointed Aubrey Koch (from Qantas) as Senior Pilot DC4 Skymaster and John Watkins as Chief Technical Officer. Watkins would become one of the key figures in TAA's success. His first task was to travel to the United States to accept delivery of the DC-4s. He later wrote:
To my utter astonishment Arthur Coles, after the expected pep-talk about the DC-4 assignment, said he was relying on me to find out what new equipment was being developed that would enable us to offer our passengers a better product than our established rival, at a competitive price.
It was typical of Coles, who knew nothing about aircraft, to reason that quality equipment would be vital, and then select the best man for the job of finding it and be prepared to back his judgement.
At this point, political considerations came to the fore again. TAA planned to start regular services on 7 October, but there was a federal election set for 28 September. Britain's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill had been enormously popular during the darkest hours, but was voted out at the first post-war opportunity. There was no certainty that the Chifley Government would not be treated likewise, and the opposition was opposed to government ownership. Coles addressed the Commission at a meeting on 2 September 1946.
Gentlemen, the Government wants us to start services as soon as possible. There is a Federal election on 28 September. If we don't have an airline up and running by then and Labor loses the election there'll be no airline. We'll be out of a job. Any suggestions?
After some discussion it was agreed that the airline was not ready. It had a name, some excellent pilots, and some aircraft, but no ground facilities, no sales staff, no documentation, not even tickets. With a great deal of effort, it should be possible to make the planned start date of 7 October. With the discussion complete, Coles said:
I have news for you. We start next Monday.
After a week of frantic effort hiring staff, borrowing a tin shed at the RAAF base at Laverton because Essendon Airport had been turned into mud by heavy rain, creating operations manuals, passenger manifests, tickets, and load sheets — even making passenger steps and baggage carts because there was no time to buy them in the ordinary way — Captains Hepburn and Nickels took off from Laverton at 5:45 am bound for Sydney. TAA's first scheduled flight carried a full load of VIPs and just one paying passenger.
Rapid expansion
Fokker Friendship Series 100 of TAA at Melbourne's Essendon Airport in 1970.
The subsequent few years led to massive growth for the new airline. As post-war austerity gave way to a more affluent era, Australians were able to travel by air in ever increasing numbers.
Much of the growth in domestic aviation in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was dominated by the rivalry between the privately owned Ansett-ANA and the government-supported TAA. A major factor in the success of the government airline was the wise choice of aircraft. After initially utilising the venerable and readily available Douglas DC-3, TAA was able to acquire the revolutionary pressurised Convair 240. Popular with the travelling public because of its ability to fly above much of the weather, it was really this aircraft that established the airline's reputation for excellence and service reliability.
TAA Douglas DC-9-31 Paul Strzelecki awaiting passengers at Melbourne's Essendon Airport in 1971, wearing the 1964-1969 Whispering T-Jet colour scheme used exclusively on DC-9s and Boeing 727s.
East-coast services were continually expanded and TAA soon earned its title as a true 'trans Australian' airline with services to Perth on the west coast of the continent, using Douglas DC-4 aircraft. Vickers Viscount turboprop aircraft were introduced in the 1950s and again proved immensely popular as a result of their smooth, vibration-free ride.
Although government-owned, the Liberal conservative government of the 1950s had a philosophical leaning towards the needs of the privately owned Ansett and the requirements of TAA suffered as a result. The controversial Two Airlines Policy was introduced and effectively seriously limited growth and expansion opportunities for the airlines without government approval.
Flight numbers and schedules were strictly controlled, and TAA and Ansett-ANA invariably had flights departing airports for the same destination at exactly the same time with exactly the same equipment. The policy was so strict that even newly purchased identical aircraft (one from each airline) were required on their delivery flights to enter Australian airspace at exactly the same time.[citation needed]
TAA's first Lockheed Electra II four-engined turboprop airliner at Melbourne's Essendon Airport, January 1971, wearing the 1960-1969 Jetliner colour scheme
The conservative government's benevolent attitude towards Ansett was epitomised in the 1950s when it forced TAA to swap a number of its popular turbo-prop Viscount aircraft with Ansett-ANA in return for slower and older, piston-engined Douglas DC-6Bs. In another instance, TAA had planned to re-equip with the revolutionary Sud Aviation Caravelle pure-jet but as Ansett felt this was too advanced at that stage for their own needs, both airlines were required to purchase the Ansett preference: the less advanced turbo-prop Lockheed L-188 Electra.
Nonetheless the Electra proved a reliable aircraft and TAA continuously grew and prospered. In the 1960s it introduced Boeing 727-100 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 Whispering T-Jets on primary routes as well as Fokker F27 Friendship Jetliner turboprops on regional routes.
By the late 1960s it had a massive network criss-crossing the continent, as well as an internal network within Papua New Guinea and flights from Darwin to Baucau in Portuguese Timor. At this time the airline's livery was the famous white T on a blue tail, referred to as The Look of the '70s. One of the more memorable television advertisements of the period was the jingle "Up, Up and away, with TAA, the Friendly Friendly Way", whose lyrics and music were a variation on the 1967 song Up, Up and Away, written by Jimmy Webb and also used by the US airline TWA.
Further expansion occurred in the 1970s and larger 727-276s (simultaneously with Ansett) were acquired. Once again the terms of the introduction were restricted by the two-airline policy.
The policy was marginally relaxed in the early 1980s when TAA was able to introduce the Airbus A300B4, whilst Ansett chose to purchase the Boeing 767. The A300 was a revolutionary aircraft at the time for the domestic airline industry, in that it was a wide-body (twin aisle) aircraft. It provided significant extra capacity on the trunk east coast network and to Perth. In 1986, Trans-Australia Airlines was rebranded as 'Australian Airlines' and the kangaroo returned to its livery. Its new image coincided with a very successful and popular television campaign: "You Should See Us Now", "Face To Face" and "The Way We Do The Things We Do" became the carrier's new theme songs.
Rebranding
A Boeing 727 at Brisbane Airport in March 1992
In 1986, after a change of airline management, the name Trans-Australia Airlines was controversially dropped, in favour of Australian Airlines. Associated with this image change was a new livery for the airlines' aircraft, which wore the title Australian.
Australian Airlines was the travel sponsor for the television shows Neighbours, Wheel of Fortune and Sale of the Century between late 1987 and 1994.
Between 1980 and the merger with Qantas, selected teams participating in the Australian Touring Car Championship bore both Trans Australian Airlines (TAA) and Australian Airlines insignia, and from 1985 to 1990 the Seven Network commentary team used the airline to travel between the states to attend the various racing venues.
By the end of the 1980s, the government began to move towards deregulation of domestic aviation. (Deregulation took effect in October 1990.[5]) A by-product of this impending change was the 1989 Australian pilots' dispute. As the result of prolonged wage suppression, this dispute saw the resignation of the majority of Australian Airlines' aircrew and the basic structure of the airline was changed forever. The Hawke cabinet not only encouraged the airline companies to employ overseas "strike breakers" but went even further, opting to pay the newly employed pilots from the public purse.[6]
Downturn
The early 1990s changed the face of Australian domestic air travel. The Federal Government, although technically having deregulated the domestic aviation sector, made it effectively impossible for new entrant Compass Airlines to succeed. In 1987, the Hawke Government announced that the then government-owned domestic air terminals would be effectively privatised and leased to the two domestic airlines. Compass, a threat to the TAA/Ansett duopoly, was granted severely limited access to terminal facilities. At Sydney Airport both major airlines had effectively been given freehold ownership of their two separate terminals. The Federal Airports Corporation later purchased the Ansett terminal when it went broke in 2002. Any third airline operating there had to make do with the regional airline facilities. At other airports the two airlines had leased mostly empty terminals and installed all operational furnishings themselves. The airport authorities eagerly accepted lease money from Compass while providing almost no space in their terminals.
The ambitious new airline was allocated by the government what were clearly the worst gates, in the least desirable sections of domestic terminals across the country (in some cases, Atco huts were used) and had to operate from the international terminal at Perth Airport. As the result of liens placed over the Compass aircraft (due to alleged non-payment of airways expenses), the government's Civil Aviation Authority effectively caused the shutting down of Compass on 20 December 1991, 5 days before what would have been the immensely profitable Christmas travel period.[7] A seemingly well-orchestrated plan saw the Compass aircraft quickly flown out of the country and, with them, potentially the demise of a truly deregulated domestic aviation sector.
Ansett and TAA/Australian were the sole remaining players, in effect a de facto two-airline policy yet again. Throughout this period of transformation and deregulation, Australian Airlines continued its successful run by posting healthy profits, increasing passenger loads and gained much favour from its catchy television commercials. Although the merger with Qantas was seen as inevitable to give the latter a domestic network — and revive its bottom line — many former staff of Australian Airlines (TAA) and the general public mourned the loss of this iconic Australian brand.
Acquisition by Qantas
Although Compass was controversially and perhaps inevitably forced out of business, Australian's days, and those of Ansett, were numbered: the decision had been made at Federal Government level to offer both government-owned carriers (Qantas and Australian) for sale. Australian Airlines was offered first but was quickly snapped up by Qantas, which offered $400m to purchase the domestic carrier. Qantas then decided to merge the airline into its network; subsequently the government offered the entire merged operation in a public float, after selling a cornerstone 25% stake to British Airways, thus returning Qantas to the stock market after being absent from listing since 1947.
Qantas acquired Australian Airlines on 14 September 1992,[8] in preparation for its closure on 30 April 1994.[9] Subsequent to the merger, TAA/Australian's Boeing Customer Number '76' was replaced by the Qantas Customer Number '38' for all subsequent Boeing aircraft deliveries commencing with the Boeing 737-838.
The majority of the Australian Airlines branding was removed during the merger and replaced with Qantas branding; for instance, Australian's Flight Deck Lounge became The Qantas Club. The sole remaining Australian Airlines brand identity – The Australian Way (inflight) magazine – was rebranded as The Qantas Magazine in 2016.
Rebirth
In October 2002, Qantas revived the Australian Airlines brand as a full-service carrier, targeting the low-cost leisure market and flying primarily out of Cairns and Bali. This airline was disbanded in 2006 and its assets were absorbed back into the Qantas group.[8]
TAA Museum
Qantas currently allocates space at its Airport West Training Facility (formerly the TAA/Australian Airlines Flight Training Centre) for The TAA Museum. The museum displays artifacts from the life of TAA/Australian including service ware, uniforms, advertisements and photographs and is open to the public during the week. The museum is immensely popular with former staff and the travelling public and is run by a dedicated group of volunteers.
Fleet
The nose section of an Australian Airlines Airbus A300 in TAA colours at Eagle Farm Airport, 1988
An Australian Airlines Boeing 737-300 at a gate at Sydney Airport, with a company Airbus A300 in the background, in TAA colors, 1987
Over the years, the airline operated the following aircraft types:
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A300[10][11]
1981
1993
Wide-body aircraft. Transferred to Qantas.
Bell 47[12]
1961
1971
Light helicopter
Boeing 707[13] Leased from Qantas
Boeing 727[14]
1964
1992
Includes B727-100 and B727-200 aircraft
Boeing 737-300[11]
1986
1993
Transferred to Qantas.
Boeing 737-400[11]
1990
1993
Transferred to Qantas.
Boeing 747-200[11]
1989
1990
One leased from All Nippon Airways.
Boeing 757-200[11]
1989
1990
Two leased from Monarch Airlines
Bristol 170 Freighter[15]
1961
1967
Cargo aircraft
Consolidated PBY Catalina[16]
1962
1966
Amphibious flying boat built as Canadian-Vickers OA-10A for USAAF
Convair CV-240[17]
1948
1959
One Convair CV-440 operated by HARS in TAA livery
de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter[18]
1960
1966
STOL aircraft
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter[19]
1966
1993
STOL aircraft
Douglas DC-3
Douglas C-47 Skytrain[13]
1946
Douglas DC-4
Douglas C-54 Skymaster[13]
Douglas DC-6[13]
Fokker F27 Friendship[13] Turboprop aircraft
Lockheed L-188 Electra[13]
1959
1971
Turboprop aircraft
Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar[citation needed]
McDonnell Douglas DC-9[13]
1967
1987
DC-9-30 aircraft
Vickers Viscount[20]
1954
1970
Turboprop aircraft
Australian Airlines also ordered the Airbus A320 and 'pictures' appeared in Australian aviation magazines advertising the paint company who were to supply the paint for the livery. The airline never took up the option on the A320 opting instead for the Boeing 737-400.
Accidents and incidents
Fatal
On 8 August 1951 at around 9 p.m. local time, a Trans Australia Airlines Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registered VH-TAT) crashed into the sea shortly after take-off from Cambridge Aerodrome for a cargo flight to Melbourne, killing the two pilots. They had lost control of the aircraft due to a severe ice build-up.[21][22]
On 31 October 1954, a Vickers Viscount (registered VH-TVA) crashed shortly after take-off from Mangalore Airport. Three of the eight crew members that had been on the training flight were killed.[23]
On 10 June 1960, Flight 538 from Rockhampton to Mackay, Queensland, which was operated by a Fokker F27 Friendship registered VH-TFB, crashed into the sea while approaching Mackay Airport, killing the 25 passengers and four crew on board. It was the worst accident in the history of the airline.
On 24 May 1961, a Douglas DC-4 registered VH-TAA was destroyed when it crashed on Bulwer Island whilst on approach to Brisbane Airport, killing the two pilots that had been on the cargo flight from Sydney. The captain had suffered a heart attack and collapsed onto the throttles, and the co-pilot had thus been unable to see large trees in front of him because he could not reach the switch for the landing light.[24]
On 28 April 1970, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (registered VH-TGR) crashed shortly after take-off from an unpaved airfield near Kainantu, Papua New Guinea, killing the two pilots and six of the nine passengers on board.[25]
Non-fatal
The damaged tail of a Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas DC-8, that was hit by a TAA Boeing 727 at Sydney Airport in 1971
On 29 January 1971, a Boeing 727 registered VH-TJA hit the tailfin of a Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas DC-8 (registered CF-CPQ) right after take-off from Sydney as Flight 592 to Perth. The DC-8 had not yet cleared the runway following its arrival. The TAA 727 suffered a gash in its fuselage, but the pilots managed to safely return the aircraft to the airport, so that there were no injuries.[26]
On 11 April 1972, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registered VH-PNB) that had been leased from Ansett, overran the runway on landing at Madang Airport, ending up in the sea damaged beyond economic repair.[27]
On 9 June 1982, a Fokker F27 Friendship was damaged beyond repair when it skidded off the runway upon landing at RAAF Base Amberley. The aircraft with three people on board had been on a training flight, which included a landing with one engine deliberately shut down, during which the pilot lost control.[28]
Criminal occurrences
On 19 July 1960, Flight 408 from Sydney to Brisbane, operated by a Lockheed L-188 Electra registered VH-TLB, was the subject of an attempted hijacking. An armed man demanded the flight be diverted to Singapore, but he was overpowered by the crew.[29]
On 8 June 1979, a hijacking attempt occurred on board a TAA McDonnell Douglas DC-9 during a flight from Coolangatta to Brisbane. The pilots landed at Brisbane Airport, where the perpetrator was arrested.[30]
On 21 September 1982, Trans Australia Airlines Flight 454, operated by a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 registered VH-TJS, was the subject of an attempted robbery of $600,000 from the Reserve Bank of Australia. The robbery involved four men consigning themselves as freight, intending to steal the money during two flights of the aircraft.[31]
On 13 February 1983, an Airbus A300 was hijacked en route a flight from Perth to Melbourne and the hijacker demanded to be flown to Tasmania. He was protesting the Franklin River Dam development.The pilots continued to Melbourne Airport, on taxi-in the hijacker, who was on the flight deck told the crew his bomb was on a timer – the aircraft was stopped and a full evacuation followed. The hijacker was subsequently arrested.[32]
Copper was discovered at Kuridala in 1884 and the Hampden Mine commenced during the 1890s. A Melbourne syndicate took over operations in 1897 and with increasing development of the mine in 1905 - 1906 the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company was formed. The township was surveyed as Hampden in 1910 (later called Friezland, and finally Kuridala in 1916). The Hampden Smelter operated from 1911 to 1920 with World War I being a particularly prosperous time for the company. After the war, the operations and the township declined and the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company ceased to exist in 1928. Tribute mining and further exploration and testing of the ore body has continued from 1932 through to the present day.
The Kuridala Township and Hampden Smelter are located approximately 65km south of Cloncurry and 345m above sea level, on an open plain against a background of rugged but picturesque hills.
The Cloncurry copper fields were discovered by Ernest Henry in 1867 but lack of capital and transport combined with low base metal prices precluded any major development. However, rising prices, new discoveries in the region and the promise of a railway combined with an inflow of British capital stimulated development. Additionally, Melbourne based promoters eager to develop another base metal bonanza like Broken Hill led to a resurgence of interest, especially in the Hampden mines.
The copper deposits at Kuridala (initially named Hampden) were discovered by William McPhail and Robert Johnson on their pastoral lease, Eureka, in January 1884. The Hampden mine was held by Fred Gibson in the 1890s and acquired in 1897 by a Melbourne syndicate comprising the 'Broken Hillionaires' - William Orr, William Knox, and Herman Schlapp. They floated the Hampden Copper Mines N. L. with a capital of £100,000 in £100 shares of which 200 were fully paid up. With this capital, they commenced a prospecting and stockpiling program sending specimens to Dapto and Wallaroo for testing. Government Geologist, W.E. Cameron's report on the district in 1900 discouraged investors as he reported that few of the lodes, other than the Hampden Company's main lode at Kuridala, were worth working.
A world price rise in copper in 1905, combined with a government decision in 1906 to extend the Townsville railway from Richmond to Cloncurry, stimulated further development. The Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited was registered in Victoria in March 1906 to acquire the old company's mines. However, the company only had a working capital of £35,000 after distributing vendor's shares and buying the Duchess mines. During this period there were over 20 companies investing similarly on the Cloncurry field.
The township was surveyed by the Mines Department around 1910 and was first known as Hampden after the mines discovered in the 1880s. By 1912 it was called Friezland, however was officially renamed Kuridala in October 1916 to minimise confusion with another settlement in Queensland. The reason for this change was considered to be linked to German names being unpopular at the outbreak of World War I.
Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited and its competitor, Mount Elliott, formed a special company in 1908 to finance and construct the railway extension from Cloncurry through Malbon, to Kuridala, and Mount Elliott. The company reconstructed in July 1909 by increasing its capitalisation, and concluding arrangements for a debenture issue to be secured against its proposed smelters. Its smelters were not fired until March 1911 and over the next three years 85,266 tons of ore were treated with an initial dividend of £140,000 being declared in 1913. In one month in 1915 the Hampden Smelter produced 813 tons of copper, an Australian record at that time.
Concern over the dwindling reserves of high grade ore led to William Corbould, the general manager of Mount Elliott mines, negotiating an amalgamation with Hampden Cloncurry to halt the fierce rivalry. But the latter was uninterested having consolidated its prospects in 1911 by acquiring many promising mines in the region, and enlarging its smelters and erecting new converters. In 1913, following a fire in the Hampden Consol's mine, Corbould convinced his London directors to reopen negotiations for a joint venture in the northern section of the field which still awaited a railway. Although Corbould and Huntley, the Hampden Cloncurry general manager, inspected many properties, the proposal lapsed.
The railway reached the township by 1910. A sanitary system was installed in 1911, after a four month typhoid epidemic, and a hospital erected by 1913, run by Dr. Old. It was described as the best and most modern hospital in the northwest. At its height, the town supported six hotels, five stores, four billiard saloons, three dance halls, and a cinema, two ice works, and one aerated waters factory, and Chinese gardens along the creek. There were also drapers, fruiterer, butcher, baker, timber merchant, garage, four churches, police station, court house, post office, banks, and a school with up to 280 pupils. A cyclone in December 1918 damaged the town and wrecked part of the powerhouse and smelter.
A comprehensive description of the plant and operations of the Kuridala Hampden mines and smelters was given by the Cloncurry mining warden in the Queensland Government Mining Journal of the 14th of September 1912. Ore from other company-owned mines (Duchess, Happy Salmon, MacGregor, and Trekelano) was railed in via a 1.2km branch line to the reduction plant bins, while the heavy pyrites ore from the Hampden mines was separated at the main shaft into coarse and fine products and conveyed to separate 1,500 ton capacity bins over a standard gauge railway to the plant.
A central power plant was installed with three separate Dowson pressure gas plants powered by three tandem type Kynoch gas engines of 320hp and two duplex type Hornsby gas engines of 200hp. Two Swedish General Electric Company generators of 1,250kw and 56kw running at 460 volts, supplied electricity to the machines in the works, fitting shops and mine pumps. Electric light for the mine and works was supplied by a British Thompson-Houston generator of 42kw, running at 420 volts. The fuel used in the gas producers was bituminous coal, coke or charcoal, made locally in the retorts.
The reduction plant consisted of two water-jacket furnaces, 2.1m by 1m and 4.2m by 1m, with dust chambers and a 52m high steel stack. There were two electrically driven converter vessels, each 3.2m by 2.3m. The molten product ran into a 3.7m diameter forehearth, while the slag was drawn off into double ton slag pots, run to the dump over 3 foot gauge, 42lb steel rail tracks. The copper was delivered from the forehearth to the converters. A 1.06m gauge track ran under the converters and carried the copper mould cars to the cleaning and shipping shed, at the end of which was the siding for railing out the cakes of blister copper.
The war conferred four years of prosperity on the Cloncurry district despite marketing, transport, and labour difficulties. The Hampden Cloncurry Company declared liberal dividends during 1915 - 1918: £40,000, £140,000, £52,500 and £35,000 making a total disbursement since commencing operations of £437,500. Its smelters treated over a quarter of a million tons of ore in this period, averaging over 70,000 tons annually. The company built light railways to its mines (e.g. Wee MacGregor and Trekelano) to ensure regular ore supplies and to reduce transport costs. In order to improve its ore treatment, Hampden Cloncurry installed a concentration plant in 1917. In 1918 an Edwards furnace was erected to pre-roast fine sulphide concentrates from the mill before smelting.
The dropping of the copper price control by the British government in 1918 forced the company into difficulties. Smelting was postponed until September 1919 and the company lost heavily during the next season and had to rely on ores from the Trekelano mine. Its smelter treated 69,598 tons of ore in 1920, but the company was forced to halt all operations after the Commonwealth Bank withdrew funds on copper awaiting export.
Companies and mines turned to the Theodore Labor Government for assistance but they were unsympathetic to the companies, even though they alone had the capacity to revive the Cloncurry field. More negotiations for amalgamation occurred in 1925 but failed, and in 1926 Hampden Cloncurry offered its assets for sale by tender and Mount Elliott acquired them all except for the Trekelano mine. The company was de-listed in 1928.
The rise and decline of the township reflected the company's fortunes. In 1913 there were 1,500 people increasing to 2,000 by 1920, but by 1924 this had declined to 800. With the rise of Mount Isa, Kaiser's bakehouse, the hospital, courthouse, one ice works, and a picture theatre, moved there in 1923 followed by Boyds' Hampden Hotel (renamed the Argent) in 1924. Other buildings including the police residence and Clerk of Petty Sessions house were moved to Cloncurry.
In its nine years of smelting Hampden Cloncurry had been one of Australia's largest mining companies producing 50,800 tons of copper (compared with Mount Elliott's 27,000), 21,000 ounces of gold and 381,000 ounces of silver. A more permanent achievement was its part in creating the metal fabricating company, Metal Manufacturers Limited, of which it was one of the four founders in 1916. Much of the money which built their Port Kembla works into one of the country's largest manufacturers came from the now derelict smelters in north-west Queensland.
In 1942 Mount Isa Mines bought the Kuridala Smelters for £800 and used parts to construct a copper furnace which commenced operating in April 1943 in response to wartime demands. The Tunny family continued to live at Kuridala as tributers on the Hampden and Consol mines from 1932 until 1969 and worked the mines down to 15.25m. A post office operated until 1975 and the last inhabitant, Lizzy Belch, moved into Cloncurry about 1982.
Further exploration and testing of the Kuridala ore body has occurred from 1948 up until the present with activities being undertaking by Mount Isa Mines, Broken Hill South, Enterprise Exploration, Marshall and James Boyd, Australian Selection, Kennecott Exploration, Carpentaria Exploration, Metana Minerals, A.M. Metcalfe, Dampier Mining Co Ltd, Newmont Pty Ltd, Australian Anglo American, Era South Pacific Pty Ltd, CRA Exploration Pty Ltd, BHP Minerals Ltd, Metana Minerals and Matrix Metals Ltd.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
Commencing on Sunday 30th June, Lothian Country will launch its new Green Arrow Express services.
The new routes will be as follows:
EX1: Bathgate Town Centre, Boghall, DIRECT VIA M8, Maybury, Haymarket and The Exchange every 30 minutes, Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday
EX2: Linlithgow Bridge, Linlithgow Town Centre, Springfield, DIRECT VIA M9, RBS Gogarburn, Maybury, Haymarket, and The Exchange every 30 minutes, Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday.
Green Arrow will have a bespoke and dedicated team of drivers. The operation will run with a fleet of eight coaches which have been custom built in the UK by Plaxton, part of Alexander Dennis Limited, to exceed customer expectations.
The coaches have an innovative new forward facing wheelchair bay and have been fitted with full coach seating, Wi-Fi, USB charging, mood lighting and audio-visual stop announcements, offering a fantastic customer experience.
Lothian Country Green Arrow 9206 seen here at SVBM during the Open Day on the 19th May 2019.
Having arrived and run round the set of HAA hoppers, Class 37/7 37701 waits for the loading to commence at Penallta Colliery. This Saturday MGR would be the 7C87, 14:17 departure to Aberthaw Power Station.
I took a look on Google Maps to trace where this image was taken and I think I was stood somewhere in what is now Griffin Drive. How times have changed!
All images on this site are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights reserved – Copyright Don Gatehouse
Five years in from the first repaint of a Renown (62122 incidentally since scrapped), repaints have commenced of the Y then Renowns many of whom
Have not seen a lick of paint in a decade and are showing that. The repaints are being done but Glasgow and to a good standard although there are slight variations between 62164 seen here and 62167 which has followed it.
62164 seen here in place of a Platinum 12 branded bus (which had been allocated to the 8/8/X40, 11 and 23 instead). Barbie 62150 was also on the 12 with it.
Photographed at Devils Garden in Arches National Park in Utah, USA. This park has a large number of weathered rock formations and many stone arches. In a spectacular and beautiful desert setting.
Figure details:
Classification: Nendoroid 656
Character: Kashima
Origins: Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~
Company: Good Smile Company
Copper was discovered at Kuridala in 1884 and the Hampden Mine commenced during the 1890s. A Melbourne syndicate took over operations in 1897 and with increasing development of the mine in 1905 - 1906 the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company was formed. The township was surveyed as Hampden in 1910 (later called Friezland, and finally Kuridala in 1916). The Hampden Smelter operated from 1911 to 1920 with World War I being a particularly prosperous time for the company. After the war, the operations and the township declined and the Hampden Cloncurry Limited company ceased to exist in 1928. Tribute mining and further exploration and testing of the ore body has continued from 1932 through to the present day.
The Kuridala Township and Hampden Smelter are located approximately 65km south of Cloncurry and 345m above sea level, on an open plain against a background of rugged but picturesque hills.
The Cloncurry copper fields were discovered by Ernest Henry in 1867 but lack of capital and transport combined with low base metal prices precluded any major development. However, rising prices, new discoveries in the region and the promise of a railway combined with an inflow of British capital stimulated development. Additionally, Melbourne based promoters eager to develop another base metal bonanza like Broken Hill led to a resurgence of interest, especially in the Hampden mines.
The copper deposits at Kuridala (initially named Hampden) were discovered by William McPhail and Robert Johnson on their pastoral lease, Eureka, in January 1884. The Hampden mine was held by Fred Gibson in the 1890s and acquired in 1897 by a Melbourne syndicate comprising the 'Broken Hillionaires' - William Orr, William Knox, and Herman Schlapp. They floated the Hampden Copper Mines N. L. with a capital of £100,000 in £100 shares of which 200 were fully paid up. With this capital, they commenced a prospecting and stockpiling program sending specimens to Dapto and Wallaroo for testing. Government Geologist, W.E. Cameron's report on the district in 1900 discouraged investors as he reported that few of the lodes, other than the Hampden Company's main lode at Kuridala, were worth working.
A world price rise in copper in 1905, combined with a government decision in 1906 to extend the Townsville railway from Richmond to Cloncurry, stimulated further development. The Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited was registered in Victoria in March 1906 to acquire the old company's mines. However, the company only had a working capital of £35,000 after distributing vendor's shares and buying the Duchess mines. During this period there were over 20 companies investing similarly on the Cloncurry field.
The township was surveyed by the Mines Department around 1910 and was first known as Hampden after the mines discovered in the 1880s. By 1912 it was called Friezland, however was officially renamed Kuridala in October 1916 to minimise confusion with another settlement in Queensland. The reason for this change was considered to be linked to German names being unpopular at the outbreak of World War I.
Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited and its competitor, Mount Elliott, formed a special company in 1908 to finance and construct the railway extension from Cloncurry through Malbon, to Kuridala, and Mount Elliott. The company reconstructed in July 1909 by increasing its capitalisation, and concluding arrangements for a debenture issue to be secured against its proposed smelters. Its smelters were not fired until March 1911 and over the next three years 85,266 tons of ore were treated with an initial dividend of £140,000 being declared in 1913. In one month in 1915 the Hampden Smelter produced 813 tons of copper, an Australian record at that time.
Concern over the dwindling reserves of high grade ore led to William Corbould, the general manager of Mount Elliott mines, negotiating an amalgamation with Hampden Cloncurry to halt the fierce rivalry. But the latter was uninterested having consolidated its prospects in 1911 by acquiring many promising mines in the region, and enlarging its smelters and erecting new converters. In 1913, following a fire in the Hampden Consol's mine, Corbould convinced his London directors to reopen negotiations for a joint venture in the northern section of the field which still awaited a railway. Although Corbould and Huntley, the Hampden Cloncurry general manager, inspected many properties, the proposal lapsed.
The railway reached the township by 1910. A sanitary system was installed in 1911, after a four month typhoid epidemic, and a hospital erected by 1913, run by Dr. Old. It was described as the best and most modern hospital in the northwest. At its height, the town supported six hotels, five stores, four billiard saloons, three dance halls, and a cinema, two ice works, and one aerated waters factory, and Chinese gardens along the creek. There were also drapers, fruiterer, butcher, baker, timber merchant, garage, four churches, police station, court house, post office, banks, and a school with up to 280 pupils. A cyclone in December 1918 damaged the town and wrecked part of the powerhouse and smelter.
A comprehensive description of the plant and operations of the Kuridala Hampden mines and smelters was given by the Cloncurry mining warden in the Queensland Government Mining Journal of the 14th of September 1912. Ore from other company-owned mines (Duchess, Happy Salmon, MacGregor, and Trekelano) was railed in via a 1.2km branch line to the reduction plant bins, while the heavy pyrites ore from the Hampden mines was separated at the main shaft into coarse and fine products and conveyed to separate 1,500 ton capacity bins over a standard gauge railway to the plant.
A central power plant was installed with three separate Dowson pressure gas plants powered by three tandem type Kynoch gas engines of 320hp and two duplex type Hornsby gas engines of 200hp. Two Swedish General Electric Company generators of 1,250kw and 56kw running at 460 volts, supplied electricity to the machines in the works, fitting shops and mine pumps. Electric light for the mine and works was supplied by a British Thompson-Houston generator of 42kw, running at 420 volts. The fuel used in the gas producers was bituminous coal, coke or charcoal, made locally in the retorts.
The reduction plant consisted of two water-jacket furnaces, 2.1m by 1m and 4.2m by 1m, with dust chambers and a 52m high steel stack. There were two electrically driven converter vessels, each 3.2m by 2.3m. The molten product ran into a 3.7m diameter forehearth, while the slag was drawn off into double ton slag pots, run to the dump over 3 foot gauge, 42lb steel rail tracks. The copper was delivered from the forehearth to the converters. A 1.06m gauge track ran under the converters and carried the copper mould cars to the cleaning and shipping shed, at the end of which was the siding for railing out the cakes of blister copper.
The war conferred four years of prosperity on the Cloncurry district despite marketing, transport, and labour difficulties. The Hampden Cloncurry Company declared liberal dividends during 1915 - 1918: £40,000, £140,000, £52,500 and £35,000 making a total disbursement since commencing operations of £437,500. Its smelters treated over a quarter of a million tons of ore in this period, averaging over 70,000 tons annually. The company built light railways to its mines (e.g. Wee MacGregor and Trekelano) to ensure regular ore supplies and to reduce transport costs. In order to improve its ore treatment, Hampden Cloncurry installed a concentration plant in 1917. In 1918 an Edwards furnace was erected to pre-roast fine sulphide concentrates from the mill before smelting.
The dropping of the copper price control by the British government in 1918 forced the company into difficulties. Smelting was postponed until September 1919 and the company lost heavily during the next season and had to rely on ores from the Trekelano mine. Its smelter treated 69,598 tons of ore in 1920, but the company was forced to halt all operations after the Commonwealth Bank withdrew funds on copper awaiting export.
Companies and mines turned to the Theodore Labor Government for assistance but they were unsympathetic to the companies, even though they alone had the capacity to revive the Cloncurry field. More negotiations for amalgamation occurred in 1925 but failed, and in 1926 Hampden Cloncurry offered its assets for sale by tender and Mount Elliott acquired them all except for the Trekelano mine. The company was de-listed in 1928.
The rise and decline of the township reflected the company's fortunes. In 1913 there were 1,500 people increasing to 2,000 by 1920, but by 1924 this had declined to 800. With the rise of Mount Isa, Kaiser's bakehouse, the hospital, courthouse, one ice works, and a picture theatre, moved there in 1923 followed by Boyds' Hampden Hotel (renamed the Argent) in 1924. Other buildings including the police residence and Clerk of Petty Sessions house were moved to Cloncurry.
In its nine years of smelting Hampden Cloncurry had been one of Australia's largest mining companies producing 50,800 tons of copper (compared with Mount Elliott's 27,000), 21,000 ounces of gold and 381,000 ounces of silver. A more permanent achievement was its part in creating the metal fabricating company, Metal Manufacturers Limited, of which it was one of the four founders in 1916. Much of the money which built their Port Kembla works into one of the country's largest manufacturers came from the now derelict smelters in north-west Queensland.
In 1942 Mount Isa Mines bought the Kuridala Smelters for £800 and used parts to construct a copper furnace which commenced operating in April 1943 in response to wartime demands. The Tunny family continued to live at Kuridala as tributers on the Hampden and Consol mines from 1932 until 1969 and worked the mines down to 15.25m. A post office operated until 1975 and the last inhabitant, Lizzy Belch, moved into Cloncurry about 1982.
Further exploration and testing of the Kuridala ore body has occurred from 1948 up until the present with activities being undertaking by Mount Isa Mines, Broken Hill South, Enterprise Exploration, Marshall and James Boyd, Australian Selection, Kennecott Exploration, Carpentaria Exploration, Metana Minerals, A.M. Metcalfe, Dampier Mining Co Ltd, Newmont Pty Ltd, Australian Anglo American, Era South Pacific Pty Ltd, CRA Exploration Pty Ltd, BHP Minerals Ltd, Metana Minerals and Matrix Metals Ltd.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
With only a month until the S22 schedule comes to a close and as Delta prepares for the upcoming W22 schedule, the carrier has all but confirmed their flights for the upcoming winter period, however unsurprisingly for many carriers they are in process of preparing for the S23 schedule commencing from late-March 2023.
Indeed, Delta already made preliminary changes for the S23 schedule but very recently, the carrier has been making further changes to their long-haul schedule, notably the introduction and re-introduction of brand new routes as air travel continues to recover.
For the S23 schedule, Delta will be ramping up their schedule into London Heathrow effective from 25th March 2023 unless otherwise stated which are as follows:
-Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta: Continues to operate twice-daily; DL30/31 and DL32/33 utilising Boeing 767-400ERs.
-Boston-Logan: Continues to operate daily; DL58/59 utilising Boeing 767-400ERs.
-Detroit-Metropolitan Wayne County: Continues to operate twice-daily; DL16/17 and DL18/19 utilising Airbus A330-200s.
-Los Angeles: Newly reintroduced after being cancelled from September 2015; will operate daily utilising Airbus A330-900s (DL186/187).
-Minneapolis-St. Paul: Continues to operate daily; DL10/11 utilising Airbus A330-200s replacing Boeing 767-400ERs.
-New York-John F. Kennedy: Continues to operate twice-daily; flights have been renumbered with DL1/2 becoming DL3/4, and DL3/4 renumbered DL5/6. DL3/4 will continue to utilise Boeing 767-400ERs whilst DL5/6 will utilise Airbus A330-900s.
-Salt Lake City: Operates daily; DL50/51 will utilise Airbus A330-900s replacing Airbus A330-200s.
-Seattle-Tacoma: Operates daily; DL20/21 initially scheduled to utilise Airbus A330-900s but will now utilise Airbus A330-300s replacing previously allocated Boeing 767-400ERs.
As ever, these changes are provisional but there is a considerable ramp up in regards to aircraft type and product being offered to match with Virgin Atlantic. For Delta, the carrier will operate 77 weekly flights from London Heathrow; 4 of those daily flights remain in the hands of their newly refurbished Boeing 767-400ERs, otherwise Airbus A330s make up the lion-share with 3 daily flights provided by Airbus A330-200s, one by Airbus A330-300s and 3 by the new Airbus A330-900s.
Since initially posting their changes a few months prior, Delta tentatively scheduled Airbus A330-900s into London Heathrow on a regular basis with Salt Lake City and Seattle-Tacoma the first two flights to receive the type; this has now changed whilst Salt Lake City retains the Airbus A330-900s, Seattle-Tacoma will have to wait with Airbus A330-300s replacing the Boeing 767-400ERs. Another notable change is one of 2 daily flights from New York-John F. Kennedy will operate with Airbus A330-900s operating alongside the Boeing 767-400ERs.
Finally, Delta will reinstate their daily service from Los Angeles with Airbus A330-900s, which originally operated for the S15 schedule with Boeing 767-300ERs but prematurely cancelled in September 2015. It is very likely the reinstatement of their daily flight to Los Angeles is as a result of a slot-swap with Virgin Atlantic who at present operates thrice-daily flights to Los Angeles.
If rumours are to be believed, Delta will be making further announcements in regards to their long-haul programme for 2023 and with Virgin Atlantic confirmed to be joining SkyTeam from early-2023, expect more changes to follow.
Currently, Delta Air Lines operates 60 Airbus A330s, which includes 11 Airbus A330-200s, 31 Airbus A330-300s and 18 Airbus A330-900s. Delta Air Lines have 20 more Airbus A330-900s on-order.
November Eight Five Five November Whiskey is one of 11 Airbus A330-200s operated by Delta Air Lines, delivered new to Northwest Airlines on 7th October 2004 until transfer to Delta Air Lines on 29th October 2008 and she is powered by 2 Pratt & Whitney PW4168A engines.
Airbus A330-223 N855NW on short finals into Runway 27L at London Heathrow (LHR) on DL18 from Detroit-Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW), Michigan.
slowing down over the next 3 weeks…exhibition commencing 18th April through til the 4th May…fingers crossed :))
After finally commencing front lift collections in 2015 to compliment the existing C&I services, today URM runs 6 of these bright yellow twin steers, which get all over Sydney to empty the dark blue bins provided by the company. They started off with a pair of 2010 Ivecos sourced from VIC, before gathering a couple of MacDonald Johnston FL4 bodies to throw on new ACCOs, then added two used Volvos featuring both a Wastemaster and FL4 body. Like a few of the other smaller waste contractors in Sydney today, these trucks definitely stand out on the roads - I don’t think you can make a garbage truck anymore high vis. I hope to catch up with a few of their yellow monsters in future, seeing that they’re keeping earlier equipment alive that you don’t find much of anymore.
Commencing on Monday the 23rd of April, St. James Rail Tours ran The Anzac Aurora, a week long charter from Goulburn NSW to Ararat in Victoria.
This years Anzac Aurora was led by EL63 'Saintly' & EL64 'Super Impose' seen here on the return trip to Goulburn powering north at Gerogery shortly after departure from Albury.
This train departed Albury at 0845 running as 6L69 to Goulburn.
Saturday 28th April 2018.
Shoreditch London Old Street and City Road Silicon Roundabout Major Road Works.
This was due to be completed Autumn 2022 which has been delayed until Early 2024. The project commenced way back in 2019.
This cycle lane change was initially a three-year project. Now Five Years. The road is the inner ring road for London. They have blocked one of the tube entrances which includes the underpass. Ironically, cyclist do not even use this route since they blocked off the backstreets to traffic. They are trying to sabotage London. The situation is disgusting.
The Grade I Listed Lincoln Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Lincoln, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Building commenced in 1088 and continued in several phases throughout the medieval period. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549) before the central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt. It is highly regarded by architectural scholars; the eminent Victorian writer John Ruskin declared: "I have always held... that the cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have."
Remigius de Fécamp, the first bishop of Lincoln, moved the Episcopal seat there between 1072 and 1092. Up until then St. Mary's Church in Stow was considered to be the "mother church" of Lincolnshire (although it was not a cathedral, because the seat of the diocese was at Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire).
Bishop Remigius built the first Lincoln Cathedral on the present site, finishing it in 1092 and then dying on 9 May of that year, two days before it was consecrated. In 1141, the timber roofing was destroyed in a fire. Bishop Alexander rebuilt and expanded the cathedral, but it was mostly destroyed by an earthquake about forty years later, in 1185. The earthquake was one of the largest felt in the UK. The damage to the cathedral is thought to have been very extensive: the Cathedral is described as having "split from top to bottom"; in the current building, only the lower part of the west end and of its two attached towers remain of the pre-earthquake cathedral.
After the earthquake, a new bishop was appointed. He was Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France, who became known as St Hugh of Lincoln. He began a massive rebuilding and expansion programme. Rebuilding began with the choir (St. Hugh's Choir) and the eastern transepts between 1192 and 1210. The central nave was then built in the Early English Gothic style. Lincoln Cathedral soon followed other architectural advances of the time – pointed arches, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting were added to the cathedral. This allowed the creation and support of larger windows. The cathedral is the 3rd largest in Britain (in floor space) after St Paul's and York Minster, being 484 feet (148 m) by 271 feet (83 m). Until 1549 the spire was reputedly the tallest medieval tower in Europe, though the exact height has been a matter of debate. Accompanying the cathedral's large bell, Great Tom of Lincoln, is a quarter-hour striking clock.
The two large stained glass rose windows, the matching Dean's Eye and Bishop's Eye, were added to the cathedral during the late Middle Ages. The former, the Dean's Eye in the north transept dates from the 1192 rebuild begun by St Hugh, finally being completed in 1235.
After the additions of the Dean's eye and other major Gothic additions it is believed some mistakes in the support of the tower occurred, for in 1237 the main tower collapsed. A new tower was soon started and in 1255 the Cathedral petitioned Henry III to allow them to take down part of the town wall to enlarge and expand the Cathedral, including the rebuilding of the central tower and spire.
In 1290 Eleanor of Castile died and King Edward I of England decided to honour her, his Queen Consort, with an elegant funeral procession. After her body had been embalmed, which in the 13th century involved evisceration, Eleanor's viscera were buried in Lincoln cathedral, and Edward placed a duplicate of the Westminster tomb there.
Between 1307 and 1311 the central tower was raised to its present height of 271 feet (83 m). The western towers and front of the cathedral were also improved and heightened. At this time, a tall lead-encased wooden spire topped the central tower but was blown down in a storm in 1548. With its spire, the tower reputedly reached a height of 525 feet (160 m) (which would have made it the world's tallest structure, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza, which held the record for almost 4,000 years).
The first bus to use TfGM's Guided Busway, albeit on test is Volvo B5LH 39228 which is on loan from First West Yorkshire whilst testing is underway.
It is seen heading away from Leigh past the rear entrance to Lilford Woods with a plethora of HiViz and Hard Hats on board on the morning of the 11th January 2016.