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Just another from Day 1 of my outing with steam down in the canelands.
US Sugar Corporation's recently restored 4-6-2 Pacific number 148 appears as if it's floating atop the field of cane as it rolls east (railroad south) at about MP 936.2 (measured from Richmond, VA) at the head of the AAPRCO 'Sugarland Limited' special operating on rails now belonging to modern day shortline South Central Florida Express. They are heading from Sebring to Clewiston where the eight historic cars will be based at the railroad’s headquarters for the next several days of rare mileage excursions and tours.
Wholly owned by US Sugar Corp. as their common carrier railroad subsidiary, this particular trackage was built about 1922 by the Atlantic Coast Line and remained with ACL successors SCL and SBD until becoming part of CSX. The latter finally sold this branch line in June 1990 to the Brandywine Valley Railroad, a Lukens Steel Company subsidiary which operated it as the SCFE. Four years later they sold the railroad to its largest customer, U.S. Sugar which operates it as a separate company semi independent from the 119 miles of private non common carrier branch lines they already owned.
Clean burning (it's fired with used restaurant vegetable oil) 148 was built for the Florida East Coast Railway in 1920 at Alco's Richmond Works and served for the FEC for 32 years including operating over the famed 'Overseas Railroad' to Key West until that line was wiped out by the 1935 hurricane.
From 1952 to 1968, 148 was owned by US Sugar for use on their private cane hauling railroad. Later used in excursion service on the Black River and Western and Morristown and Erie Railroads it then languished with different owners for decades until being repatriated to Clewiston and restored over a four year period.
To learn more check out the home page of the Sugar Express, the company's planned tourist train operation: sugarexpress.com/history/
West of Moore Haven
Glades County, Florida
Saturday April 23, 2022
Here are a few more shots from the metro station. And now the whole MOC is almost in pieces, but it's just in preparation for something else ;) .
🎉 Celebrating a Decade of ADDAMS! 🎉 GIVEAWAY🎉
We're thrilled to announce that ADDAMS Store is turning 10 years old! Join us as we celebrate this incredible milestone in big style! To honor a decade of fashion, we're offering an amazing 50% OFF sale on all items (excluding events and recent releases)! ✨
But that’s not all! 🎁 As a token of our gratitude for your support, we’re hosting a G!VE-WAY with fantastic prizes:
💰 1 Winner will receive 10,000 L$!
🎉 5 Winners will get 5,000 L$ Store Credit!
🌟 10 Winners will snag a megapack of their choice!
Event Duration: September 23rd to 30th
Don’t miss out on the fun—stay tuned for more details! Let's make this celebration unforgettable together! 💖️
Thank you for being a part of the ADDAMS family! Here’s to many more stylish years ahead!
#ADDAMS10Years #AnniversarySale #Giveaway #ThankYou #FashionCelebration
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The area that was to become West Palm Beach was settled in the late 1870s and 1880s by a few hundred settlers who called the vicinity "Lake Worth Country." These settlers were a diverse community from different parts of the United States and the world. They included founding families such at the Potters and the Lainharts, who would go on to become leading members of the business community in the fledgling city. The first white settlers in Palm Beach County lived around Lake Worth, then an enclosed freshwater lake, named for Colonel William Jenkins Worth, who had fought in the Second Seminole War in Florida in 1842. Most settlers engaged in the growing of tropical fruits and vegetables for shipment the north via Lake Worth and the Indian River. By 1890, the U.S. Census counted over 200 people settled along Lake Worth in the vicinity of what would become West Palm Beach. The area at this time also boasted a hotel, the "Cocoanut House", a church, and a post office. The city was platted by Henry Flagler as a community to house the servants working in the two grand hotels on the neighboring island of Palm Beach, across Lake Worth in 1893, coinciding with the arrival of the Florida East Coast railroad. Flagler paid two area settlers, Captain Porter and Louie Hillhouse, a combined sum of $45,000 for the original town site, stretching from Clear Lake to Lake Worth.
On November 5, 1894, 78 people met at the "Calaboose" (the first jail and police station located at Clematis St. and Poinsettia, now Dixie Hwy.) and passed the motion to incorporate the Town of West Palm Beach in what was then Dade County (now Miami-Dade County). This made West Palm Beach the first incorporated municipality in Dade County and in South Florida. The town council quickly addressed the building codes and the tents and shanties were replaced by brick, brick veneer, and stone buildings. The city grew steadily during the 1890s and the first two decades of the 20th century, most residents were engaged in the tourist industry and related services or winter vegetable market and tropical fruit trade. In 1909, Palm Beach County was formed by the Florida State Legislature and West Palm Beach became the county seat. In 1916, a new neo-classical courthouse was opened, which has been painstakingly restored back to its original condition, and is now used as the local history museum.
The city grew rapidly in the 1920s as part of the Florida land boom. The population of West Palm Beach quadrupled from 1920 to 1927, and all kinds of businesses and public services grew along with it. Many of the city's landmark structures and preserved neighborhoods were constructed during this period. Originally, Flagler intended for his Florida East Coast Railway to have its terminus in West Palm, but after the area experienced a deep freeze, he chose to extend the railroad to Miami instead.
The land boom was already faltering when city was devastated by the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. The Depression years of the 1930s were a quiet time for the area, which saw slight population growth and property values lower than during the 1920s. The city only recovered with the onset of World War II, which saw the construction of Palm Beach Air Force Base, which brought thousands of military personnel to the city. The base was vital to the allied war effort, as it provided an excellent training facility and had unparalleled access to North Africa for a North American city. Also during World War II, German U-Boats sank dozens of merchant ships and oil tankers just off the coast of West Palm Beach. Nearby Palm Beach was under black out conditions to minimize night visibility to German U-boats.
The 1950s saw another boom in population, partly due to the return of many soldiers and airmen who had served in the vicinity during the war. Also, the advent of air conditioning encouraged growth, as year-round living in a tropical climate became more acceptable to northerners. West Palm Beach became the one of the nation's fastest growing metropolitan areas during the 1950s; the city's borders spread west of Military Trail and south to Lake Clarke Shores. However, many of the city's residents still lived within a narrow six-block wide strip from the south to north end. The neighborhoods were strictly segregated between White and African-American populations, a legacy that the city still struggles with today. The primary shopping district remained downtown, centered around Clematis Street.
In the 1960s, Palm Beach County's first enclosed shopping mall, the Palm Beach Mall, and an indoor arena were completed. These projects led to a brief revival for the city, but in the 1970s and 1980s crime continued to be a serious issue and suburban sprawl continued to drain resources and business away from the old downtown area. By the early 1990s there were very high vacancy rates downtown, and serious levels of urban blight.
Since the 1990s, developments such as CityPlace and the preservation and renovation of 1920s architecture in the nightlife hub of Clematis Street have seen a downtown resurgence in the entertainment and shopping district. The city has also placed emphasis on neighborhood development and revitalization, in historic districts such as Northwood, Flamingo Park, and El Cid. Some neighborhoods still struggle with blight and crime, as well as lowered property values caused by the Great Recession, which hit the region particularly hard. Since the recovery, multiple new developments have been completed. The Palm Beach Mall, located at the Interstate 95/Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard interchange became abandoned as downtown revitalized - the very mall that initiated the original abandonment of the downtown. The mall was then redeveloped into the Palm Beach Fashion Outlets in February 2014. A station for All Aboard Florida, a high speed passenger rail service serving Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, is under construction as of July 2015.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Before 1830, the aim of Quebec portraitists was primarily to honour the social status of their models. On his return from Paris, Plamondon began striving to capture their personalities. This chromatically subtle painting is the product of a decade of artistic exploration. The composition, which forms an isosceles triangle, is lit from a spot behind the sitter, creating a sense of depth. The contrast between the black veil and the immaculate wimpled concentrates attention on the face of Sister Saint-Alphonse, whose expression hints at an intense inner life.
( She reminds me of Sister Wendy )
Here are a few more shots from the metro station. And now the whole MOC is almost in pieces, but it's just in preparation for something else ;) .
Four decades ago, Rio Grande's Bingham and Garfield branches left civilization behind at Welby in West Jordan, Utah. D&RGW SD7 No. 5302 and SD9 No. 5311 pull a train of box cars for Interstate Brick on a breezy June 22, 1976 afternoon in the outer reaches of the Salt Lake Valley.
U Bein Bridge
Mandalay — Myanmar (Burma)
Mandalay's U Bein Bridge was built around 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. It's also one of the most popular places in Myanmar for photographers.
Arriving under the cloak of moonlight, I kicked off my flip flops, rolled up my pants, turned on my headlamp and wandered around in shin-deep muddy water looking for a perfect spot to set up my tripod.
A few hours — and several long exposures — later, the sun was up and I finally looked down. Boy was I lucky! Surrounding my feet were several broken and jagged bottles, just waiting to impale my bare feet. So let that be a lesson to you, future U-Bein photographers: keep your shoes on at all times ... unless you can see in the dark.
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Let's Travel the World!
I've spent the past decade exploring our world; and documenting the journey in photos and stories. For all the latest updates, follow along on:
Ten years ago I was a new transplant in Los Angeles, and after Christmas, my sister and I brought our cat, Milli, back home with us. In 2009 I shot a self-portrait every single day - and a decade later I'm still proud of the body of work I produced that year. I've had the intention to re-make one of those portraits this year, to honor the decade that has passed since then. In 2019 my sister and I have a new pet, Arrow The Corgi. While so much has changed since that first portrait, one thing that has remained constant is my relationship with Caitlin. She has been more than a sister, more than a best friend, but truly my rock and support through one of the most important and memorable decades of my life. I'm actually thrilled to be changing chapters, the time feels right. I'm ready to leave the 2010's and my twenties well behind me and march forward with more confidence and grace.
Here is a link to the original photo from 2009. www.flickr.com/photos/renolauren/4225101030/in/album-7215...
Many decades ago my partner in NZ had cats. Burmese cats. Not your regular haughty tail-waving ceream-with-brown-points Siamese variety of cat, but extra special, exotic, expensive, pure bred Burmese cats. I kid you not.The nicest one looked exactly like this brown blue eyed local cat on the street in the village I've lived in Bangkok for going on 20 years. In this part of the world kittens of cats like this are free to a good home. There is no accounting for the Western mind.
Its hard to pass up an opportunity to visit Railfan Heaven while in the same continent.
A long stack train with three General Electrics up front and two pushing from behind snakes through Cable.
Good to see there are a few warbonnets still roaming around. The dash-8s and scungy 6xx series seem to have been parked, but what's left of the 7xx and 4700-19 batches seem in reasonable nick, despite coming up on two decades of service next year.
21 September 2016, Cable,
Tehachapi Pass, California
Decades have passed since the fire which destroyed the cathedral in the all Catholic town of St. Mary's. Restoration seems to have stopped. The ruins, however, are as beautiful as any whole church and have a magic of their own.
This was taken on Mulberry between Prince & Spring, in the SoHo district of Manhattan.
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This set of photos is based on a very simple concept: walk every block of Manhattan with a camera, and see what happens. To avoid missing anything, walk both sides of the street.
That's all there is to it …
Of course, if you wanted to be more ambitious, you could also walk the streets of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. But that's more than I'm willing to commit to at this point, and I'll leave the remaining boroughs of New York City to other, more adventurous photographers.
Oh, actually, there's one more small detail: leave the photos alone for a month -- unedited, untouched, and unviewed. By the time I actually focus on the first of these "every-block" photos, I will have taken more than 8,000 images on the nearby streets of the Upper West Side -- plus another several thousand in Rome, Coney Island, and the various spots in NYC where I traditionally take photos. So I don't expect to be emotionally attached to any of the "every-block" photos, and hope that I'll be able to make an objective selection of the ones worth looking at.
As for the criteria that I've used to select the small subset of every-block photos that get uploaded to Flickr: there are three. First, I'll upload any photo that I think is "great," and where I hope the reaction of my Flickr-friends will be, "I have no idea when or where that photo was taken, but it's really a terrific picture!"
A second criterion has to do with place, and the third involves time. I'm hoping that I'll take some photos that clearly say, "This is New York!" to anyone who looks at it. Obviously, certain landscape icons like the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty would satisfy that criterion; but I'm hoping that I'll find other, more unexpected examples. I hope that I'll be able to take some shots that will make a "local" viewer say, "Well, even if that's not recognizable to someone from another part of the country, or another part of the world, I know that that's New York!" And there might be some photos where a "non-local" viewer might say, "I had no idea that there was anyplace in New York City that was so interesting/beautiful/ugly/spectacular."
As for the sense of time: I remember wandering around my neighborhood in 2005, photographing various shops, stores, restaurants, and business establishments -- and then casually looking at the photos about five years later, and being stunned by how much had changed. Little by little, store by store, day by day, things change … and when you've been around as long as I have, it's even more amazing to go back and look at the photos you took thirty or forty years ago, and ask yourself, "Was it really like that back then? Seriously, did people really wear bell-bottom jeans?"
So, with the expectation that I'll be looking at these every-block photos five or ten years from now (and maybe you will be, too), I'm going to be doing my best to capture scenes that convey the sense that they were taken in the year 2013 … or at least sometime in the decade of the 2010's (I have no idea what we're calling this decade yet). Or maybe they'll just say to us, "This is what it was like a dozen years after 9-11".
Movie posters are a trivial example of such a time-specific image; I've already taken a bunch, and I don't know if I'll ultimately decide that they're worth uploading. Women's fashion/styles are another obvious example of a time-specific phenomenon; and even though I'm definitely not a fashion expert, I suspected that I'll be able to look at some images ten years from now and mutter to myself, "Did we really wear shirts like that? Did women really wear those weird skirts that are short in the front, and long in the back? Did everyone in New York have a tattoo?"
Another example: I'm fascinated by the interactions that people have with their cellphones out on the street. It seems that everyone has one, which certainly wasn't true a decade ago; and it seems that everyone walks down the street with their eyes and their entire conscious attention riveted on this little box-like gadget, utterly oblivious about anything else that might be going on (among other things, that makes it very easy for me to photograph them without their even noticing, particularly if they've also got earphones so they can listen to music or carry on a phone conversation). But I can't help wondering whether this kind of social behavior will seem bizarre a decade from now … especially if our cellphones have become so miniaturized that they're incorporated into the glasses we wear, or implanted directly into our eyeballs.
If you have any suggestions about places that I should definitely visit to get some good photos, or if you'd like me to photograph you in your little corner of New York City, please let me know. You can send me a Flickr-mail message, or you can email me directly at ed-at-yourdon-dot-com
Stay tuned as the photo-walk continues, block by block ...
1951 advertisement page.
In fact all 1951 Frazers were modified 1949-1950 Kaisers.
Up➔down:
1951 Frazer Standard Model 5151 4-Door Sedan.
1951 Frazer Standard Vagabond Model 5155 4-Door Utility Sedan.
1951 Frazer Manhattan Model 5162 4-Door Convertible Sedan.
1951 Frazer Manhattan Model 5161 4-Door Hardtop Sedan.
The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was famous for their many novelties and progressive design. Like this yellow 4-door convertible: Frazer was the only American car manufacturer which offered such a postwar feature. It was a novelty. Engineers John Widman and Ralph Isbrandt were responsible for realizing this idea. A 4-door Kaiser convertible was also produced (in smaller numbers).
Also a 4-door hardtop sedan was a new body type (with nylon covered roof).
Despite all these efforts Frazer sale numbers dropped down in 1951.
For model year 1952 Frazer disappeared from the K-F Corp. catalogs.
3707 cc L6 petrol engine.
112 bhp.
C. 1750 kg.
Production Frazer all these versions: 1951 only.
Image was found in:
James M. Flammang, Cars of the Fabulous '50s, a Decade of High Style and Good Times, Publications International LTD, Lincolnwood, 1995.
Original photographer, place and date unknown.
Book collection Sander Toonen (2018, present from Willem).
Halfweg, Jan. 27, 2025.
© 2025 Sander Toonen, Halfweg | All Rights Reserved
Zakouma wildlife ranger Daoud Abakar (right)and a colleague from the park's rapid reaction Mamba Team, on patrol, 25 March, 2016. Anti-poaching teams patrol on foot, on horseback, in cars and in the sky to protect the remnants of one of Africa's biggest herds of elephants in Zakouma National Park in Chad. The herd numbered 4350 in 2002 but plummted to just 443 in 2014. However, the most recent survey in March 2016 showed the first increase in more than a decade, with 483 elephants recorded including 81 calves.
For several decades, local boosters wanted to make the site of Daniel Freeman's farm a national park. After the 1906 Antiquities Act, they could have pushed for a national monument instead, which better fits the character of the place, and which would have required only a presidential proclamation (and some money).
In the 1930s, advocates accepted the national monument idea. The Senate Committee on Public Lands amended the proposal's name to "Homestead National Monument of America" - with the phrase "of America" unique to Homestead. The legislation passed in 1936, and the park was established in 1940.
The roof of the Heritage Center, only part of which you see here, recalls the plows that homesteaders used to break prairie sod.
A decade and a World War later at the little Country Gas Station and the “Kid on a bike” who saw those fabulous Deco cars is driving a yellow hot rod.
Most of the cars in his world now look a bit tubby. Some still have a bit of grace to their lines, hints of what came before the War.
The country was on the move, figuratively and literally. As businesses retooled after that War, they moved factories and families across the country. Many American Families also spent their Vacations on the road. “Breadwinners” as men liked to be called in those days, spent still more time on the road commuting to work from the newly expanding Suburbs sprouting across the country.
Babies were booming and those babies needed their own rooms because the Greatest Generation were a randy lot, not content to have a child or two and call it quits. No, their lusty appetite for parenting created a vast wave of babies that would not slow until the 1960s.
This is a forced perspective photograph of 1/43 scale models in front of a real background.
American Caravan Trailer is by Brooklin
1948 Packard Eight Station Sedan is by Brooklin
1932 Ford Street Rod [doesn’t tell me who made it] Might be one of the rare Hot Wheels cars made in my scale.
1949 Mercury Lead Sled is by Kool Kustoms
1947-49 International KB7 Tractor/ Mayflower Van was listed as an IXO but the box it came in says only, 1/43. It was made in Bangladesh and I hope they make more.
1950 Nash Ambassador Police Car is by Premium X
1948 Tucker Torpedo is by Dinky
Gas Station is by Woodland Scenics
Trees are by Marilyn Heath
For about a decade, a train sat on display at the historic Piedmont & Northern Railway depot in Belmont painted for the Milltowne Railway Line. Information on the train was hard to find. Easier to find online is the fact that there was,in fact, never a Milltowne Railway Line in North Carolina. The train had been moved to the site by Steve Pepitone, owner of South Main Cycles which calls the old depot home.
In 2016, Pepitone sold the train to a man in nearby Dallas, North Carolina. According to local news accounts, Pepitone and the city had been discussing ways to save the display because they knew it was becoming an attraction to the area for people who like trains. That was, ion fact, part of the problem. Kids and sometimes adults often climbed on them which became a liability issue for him and the city. A fence would have taken away from the aesthetics.
Consideration was given to turning the train into a restaurant or a shop, but they were not sure it could be brought up to code. Leaving the train on site did not make much sense, even less when upkeep was weighed in. So the train was sold to Hunter McMillan, who owns McMillan Crane Service in Dallas. Owning a set of cranes was definitely a bonus when it came to moving the train
So while the history of the non-existent Milltowne Railway and the train display was rather short and easy to find online, the history of the train itself was not as easy. Most folks calls the locomotive and it's train by the name painted on the cab of the old engine. I found more questions about the lineage of the engine than I did answers. My usual first stop place for locomotive roster information was of no use due to the unique nature of the locomotive. But noted railroad photographer Robert Graham was gracious enough to share me what he knew about the train engine. It turns out that even though the railroad it is painted for is fictional, it does have ties with North Carolina.
It was built in March 1949 as Pacific Great Eastern Railway #553 (b/n 30038)
to Sidney & Loisburg #60
to Devco Railway #60
to Laurinburg & Southern Railroad #107 (in October 1972)
to Fairmont & Western 107
The Laurinburg & Southern is located in North Carolina and operated the Fairmont &Western (also in the Tarheel State) before that railroad was abandoned.
The caboose is former Nickel Plate #436 while the passenger car was former New Haven Railroad
The locomotive and caboose was sold and moved off site in 2016 while the passenger car was scrapped on site in March 2019.
Photograph was takien on September 14, 2011.
Berlin boasts two zoological gardens, a consequence of decades of political and administrative division of the city. The older one, called Zoo Berlin, founded in 1844, is situated in what is now called the "City West". It is the most species-rich zoo worldwide. The other one, called Tierpark Berlin ("Animal Park"), was established on the long abandoned premises of Friedrichsfelde Manor Park in the eastern borough of Lichtenberg, in 1954. Covering 160 ha, it is the largest landcape zoo in Europe.
Karl Foerster war ein berühmter Staudenzüchter und Gartenphilosoph (1874 bis 1970). Sein Werk lebt weiter in den von ihm gezüchteten Stauden, von denen viele auch noch heute erhältlich sind, und in zahlreichen Gärte, die nach den von ihm entwickelten Prinzipien gestaltet wurden.Der Karl-Foerster-Garten im Tierpark Berlin wurde ab 1962 von der Gartenarchitektin Editha Bendig in enger Zusammenarbeit mit dem in Potsdam lebenden Karl Foerster entwickelt.
Karl Foerster was a famous perennial breeder and garden philosopher (1874 to 1970). His work lives on in the perennials he bred, many of which are still available today, and in numerous gardens designed according to the principles he developed.The Karl Foerster Garden in the Tierpark Berlin was developed from 1962 by the garden architect Editha Bendig in close collaboration with Karl Foerster, who lived in Potsdam.
An eastbound WP train was climbing out of Oroville, CA, on the new track that was built a decade earlier due to the building of Oroville Dam
Stopping at the restored Howell Depot, which hasn't seen regular passenger service for decades, is stopping to pick up a couple people for their Santa Train on December 18, 2005. The 385 is wearing its second TSBY paint scheme, as it was one of the earliest to receive TSBY paint after the formation. Photo by Ron Cady.
IRM's CNW SD40-2 sits waiting to pull out of the station again as the UP family days special heads back west on the Belvidere with UP 1995 on the rear.
Sometime last decade. Appreciated and appreciative.
How do you think the unthinkable? With an itheberg.
Ébouriffé et distrait, au cours de la dernière décennie. Il a apprécié et j'ai apprécié.
Please, read my profile, leave a comment - or visit my website!
SVP, commenter ou lire mon profil, ou visiter mon page sur Web!
Essenburgpark
Honderdtien jaar geleden geleden was dit stuk Essenburgpark onderdeel van de Blijdorpse polder, een boerengemeenschap van veehouders onder de rook van Rotterdam. Achter de boerderijen aan de Beukelsdijk lagen lange weilanden met sloten die onder het spoor doorliepen. De twee bruggen in de oude spoordijk zijn hier een overblijfsel van. Het lage deel van het Essenburgpark, noemen we de Waterpolder. De tuinders die hier decennia lang moestuinen van de NS huurden zijn weg. Sporen van hun aanwezigheid in de vorm van lupine, bamboe en appelboom kun je nog in de Waterpolder aantreffen.
Hier is nu een waterbuffer van 5000m3
Met het Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard hebben we hier een groene waterbuffer gemaakt. Dat wil zeggen dat we gebruik maken van de lage bodem en de bestaande sloten en bruggen om, als het hard regent, water op te slaan zodat de straten in de omgeving niet onderlopen. Bij het graven kwamen we meteen in het oude veenpakket terecht, zwarte grond, die hier al duizenden jaren ongestoord ligt. Ook zaten daar kleilagen tussen. Wie weet sporen van middeleeuwse overstromingen? Je kunt over de kleine bruggetjes door het gebied wandelen. Binnenkort bedekken de oeverplanten die we in december 2018 gezaaid hebben en het riet de kale veengrond.
A hundred and ten years ago this piece of Essenburgpark was part of the Blijdorp polder, a farming community of cattle farmers in the surroundings of Rotterdam. Behind the farms on the Beukelsdijk lay long meadows with ditches that ran under the track. The two bridges in the old railway embankment are a remnant of this. We call the lower part of Essenburgpark the Waterpolder. The gardeners who rented vegetable gardens from the Dutch Railways for decades here are gone. You can still find traces of their presence in the form of lupine, bamboo and apple tree in the Waterpolder.
Here is now a water buffer of 5000m3
Together with the Water Control Board of Schieland and the Krimpenerwaard, we have made a green water buffer here. That means that we use the low soil and the existing ditches and bridges to store water when it rains hard so that the streets in the area do not flood. When we were digging, we immediately ended up in the old peat package, black soil, which has been undisturbed here for thousands of years. There were also clay layers in between. Who knows traces of medieval floods? You can walk through the area over the small bridges. Soon the bank plants that we have sown in December 2018 will cover and the reed will cover the bare peaty soil.
A decade after Western Maryland operations were integrated into the B&O and three years after the proud company was officially merged out of existence, WM caboose 1812 clears the boarded up train order office and deactivated interlocking at Emory Grove, MD. The train is westbound headed to Hanover, PA via the WM's Hanover Subdivision, usually referred to by fans and crews as the "Dutch Line". At this time, the former East Subdivision main line via Union Bridge was severed between Emory Grove and Westminster.
She's Back!
Performing for her adoring fans for the first time in nearly 21 years, N&W Class J 4-8-4 611 has a small photo freight in tow as she steams toward the photo line south of the old Southern Railway Spencer Shop complex now how to the North Carolina Transportation Museum.
Built by the Norfolk and Western in house at their East End Shops she was in the last of three batches of the class built totalling fourteen units. Entering revenue service on May 29, 1950 she had a short nine year revenue service career before being retired and donated to the city of Roanoke and placed on display in a park. In 1963 the Roanoke Transportation Museum was created around 611 as its centerpiece. The museum's original location was destroyed by a flood in 1985 and subsequently moved downtown and was renamed the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Restored by NS for their original steam program she would have her first excursion career spanning from September 1982 until December 1984 when she would be retired again for another two decade slumber.
In 2012 the city officially donated her to the museum and a year later the Fireup611! campaign began with a goal of raising $3.5 million for her second resoration. With NS contributing $1.5 million to the project she was moved here to NCTM only one year prior to this photo where her restoration began.
On May 9th less than a year after restoration began she made her first test run under her own power and on this day she finally performed in her first public appearance. Two days after I took this image she would triumphantly steam home to Roanoke over her old home rails unassisted with NS CEO Wick Moorman at the throttle as the culmination and conclusion of NS 21st Century Steam program. She led multiple mainline excursions the rest of 2015 and the next two years though in recent times she has been relegated to only operating on museum grounds here and on the Strasburg's 4 1/2 mile route that she has visited twice now for extended periods.
But here she is back in the limelight for the first time for a photo line of railfans that paid top dollar (me included!) to see her show off in the Carolina sun. And show off she did, as this was the start of a fabulous few days for us with the Queen of Steam, that was worth the every penny and the trouble of coming all the way from Alaska!
Spencer, North Carolina
Thursday May 28, 2015
Winged dove or beached whale carcass? These are just two of the descriptions being used for the $4 billion structure that encloses the World Trade Center Transportation hub in New York.
Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, I think it is a beautiful glass and steel structure. Consider it a modern - very modern - Grand Central station update. People still gaze in awe at Grand Central and people will still gaze at this structure for decades to come.
I took this photo myself decades ago with a Konica film camera. It was either the late 1970's or the early 1980's. I don't remember. It was my Grandparent's house. Though it was a place of poverty, I still had many happy visits to this place. My childhood was wonderful, but with some troubles. My grown-up years, well I had enemies at that point. Let's just say, I see a shrink. I have since I was seventeen. My life was happy until then. I'll use a 1970's phrase. I will survive! That photo was one of the better pictures I took back then. Luckily it's been preserved well. Enjoy this blast from the past! Peace! Maybe the world will keep on going on for a long while! Let's hope!
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments is a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.
Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 by the Chandela dynasty. Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 20 temples have survived, spread over 6 square kilometers. Of the various surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is decorated with a profusion of sculptures with intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness of ancient Indian art.
The Khajuraho group of temples were built together but were dedicated to two religions - namely Hinduism and Jainism - suggesting a tradition of acceptance and respect for diverse religious views among Hindus and Jains.
LOCATION
Khajuraho group of monuments are located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, in Chhatarpur district, about 620 kilometres southeast of New Delhi. The temples are in a small town also known as Khajuraho, with a population of about 20,000 people (2001 Census).
Khajuraho is served by Civil Aerodrome Khajuraho (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai. The site is also linked by Indian Railways service, with the railway station located approximately six kilometres from the monuments entrance.
The monuments are about 10 kilometres off the east-west National Highway 75, and about 50 kilometres from the city of Chhatarpur, that is connected to Bhopal - the state capital - by the SW-NE running National Highway 86.
HISTORY
The Khajuraho group of monuments was built during the rule of the Rajput Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand. Most temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga. Yashovarman's legacy is best exhibited by Lakshmana temple. Vishvanatha temple best highlights King Dhanga's reign. The largest and currently most famous surviving temple is Kandariya Mahadeva built in the reign of King Ganda from 1017-1029 CE. The temple inscriptions suggest many of the currently surviving temples were complete between 970 to 1030 CE, with further temples completed during the following decades.
The Khajuraho temples were built about 35 miles from the medieval city of Mahoba, the capital of the Chandela dynasty, in the Kalinjar region. In ancient and medieval literature, their kingdom has been referred to as Jijhoti, Jejahoti, Chih-chi-to and Jejakabhukti.
Khajuraho was mentioned by Abu Rihan-al-Biruni, the Persian historian who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his raid of Kalinjar in 1022 CE; he mentions Khajuraho as the capital of Jajahuti. The raid was unsuccessful, and a peace accord was reached when the Hindu king agreed to pay a ransom to Mahmud of Ghazni to end the attack and leave.
Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of 12th century. This changed in the 13th century, after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, attacked and seized the Chandela kingdom. About a century later, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller in his memoirs about his stay in India from 1335 to 1342 CE, mentioned visiting Khajuraho temples, calling them “Kajarra” as follows:
...near (Khajuraho) temples, which contain idols that have been mutilated by the Moslems, live a number of yogis whose matted locks have grown as long as their bodies. And on account of extreme asceticism they are all yellow in colour. Many Moslems attend these men in order to take lessons (yoga) from them.
— Ibn Battuta, about 1335 CE, Riḥlat Ibn Baṭūṭah, Translated by Arthur Cotterell
Central Indian region, where Khajuraho temples are, remained in the control of many different Muslim dynasties from 13th century through the 18th century. In this period, some temples were desecrated, followed by a long period when they were left in neglect. In 1495 CE, for example, Sikandar Lodi’s campaign of temple destruction included Khajuraho. The remoteness and isolation of Khajuraho protected the Hindu and Jain temples from continued destruction by Muslims. Over the centuries, vegetation and forests overgrew, took over the temples.
In the 1830s, local Hindus guided a British surveyor, T.S. Burt, to the temples and they were thus rediscovered by the global audience. Alexander Cunningham later reported, few years after the rediscovery, that the temples were secretly in use by yogis and thousands of Hindus would arrive for pilgrimage during Shivaratri celebrated annually in February or March based on a lunar calendar. In 1852, Maisey prepared earliest drawings of the Khajuraho temples.
NOMENCLATURE
The name Khajuraho, or Kharjuravāhaka, is derived from ancient Sanskrit (kharjura, खर्जूर means date palm, and vāhaka, वाहक means "one who carries" or bearer). Local legends state that the temples had two golden date-palm trees as their gate (missing when they were rediscovered). Desai states that Kharjuravāhaka also means scorpion bearer, which is another symbolic name for deity Shiva (who wears snakes and scorpion garlands in his fierce form).
Cunningham’s nomenclature and systematic documentation work in 1850s and 1860s have been widely adopted and continue to be in use. He grouped the temples into the Western group around Lakshmana, Eastern group around Javeri, and Southern group around Duladeva.
Khajuraho is one of the four holy sites linked to deity Shiva (the other three are Kedarnath, Kashi and Gaya). Its origin and design is a subject of scholarly studies. Shobita Punja has proposed that the temple’s origin reflect the Hindu mythology in which Khajuraho is the place where Shiva got married; with Raghuvamsha verse 5.53, Matangeshvara honoring ‘’Matanga’’, or god of love.
DESCRIPTION
The temple site is within Vindhya mountain range in central India. An ancient local legend held that Hindu deity Shiva and other gods enjoyed visiting the dramatic hill formation in Kalinjar area. The center of this region is Khajuraho, set midst local hills and rivers. The temple complex reflects the ancient Hindu tradition of building temples where gods love to play.
The temples are clustered near water, another typical feature of Hindu temples. The current water bodies include Sib Sagar, Khajur Sagar (also called Ninora Tal) and Khudar Nadi (river). The local legends state that the temple complex had 64 water bodies, of which 56 have been physically identified by archeologists so far.
All temples, except one (Chaturbhuja) face sunrise - another symbolic feature that is predominant in Hindu temples. The relative layout of temples integrate masculine and feminine deities and symbols highlight the interdependence. The art work symbolically highlight the four goals of life considered necessary and proper in Hinduism - dharma, kama, artha and moksha.
Of the surviving temples, 6 are dedicated to Shiva and his consorts, 8 to Vishnu and his affinities, 1 to Ganesha, 1 to Sun god, 3 to Jain Tirthanks. For some ruins, there is insufficient evidence to assign the temple to specific deities with confidence.
An overall examination of site suggests that the Hindu symbolic mandala design principle of square and circles is present each temple plan and design. Further, the territory is laid out in three triangles that converge to form a pentagon. Scholars suggest that this reflects the Hindu symbolism for three realms or trilokinatha, and five cosmic substances or panchbhuteshvara. The temple site highlights Shiva, the one who destroys and recycles life, thereby controlling the cosmic dance of time, evolution and dissolution. The temples have a rich display of intricately carved statues. While they are famous for their erotic sculpture, sexual themes cover less than 10% of the temple sculpture. Further, most erotic scene panels are neither prominent nor emphasized at the expense of the rest, rather they are in proportional balance with the non-sexual images. The viewer has to look closely to find them, or be directed by a guide. The arts cover numerous aspects of human life and values considered important in Hindu pantheon. Further, the images are arranged in a configuration to express central ideas of Hinduism. All three ideas from Āgamas are richly expressed in Khajuraho temples - Avyakta, Vyaktavyakta and Vyakta.
The Beejamandal temple is under excavation. It has been identified with the Vaidyanath temple mentioned in the Grahpati Kokalla inscription.
Of all temples, the Matangeshvara temple remains an active site of worship. It is another square grid temple, with a large 2.5 metres high and 1.1 metres diameter lingam, placed on a 7.6 metres diameter platform.
The most visited temple, Kandariya Mahadev, has an area of about 6,500 square feet and a shikhara (spire) that rises 116 feet. Jain templesThe Jain temples are located on east-southeast region of Khajuraho monuments. Chausath jogini temple features 64 jogini, while Ghantai temple features bells sculptured on its pillars.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE TEMPLES
Khajuraho temples, like almost all Hindu temple designs, follow a grid geometrical design called vastu-purusha-mandala. This design plan has three important components - Mandala means circle, Purusha is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while Vastu means the dwelling structure.
The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, concentrically layered, self-repeating structure around the core of the temple called garbhagriya, where the abstract principle Purusha and the primary deity of the temple dwell. The shikhara, or spire, of the temple rises above the garbhagriya. This symmetry and structure in design is derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles.
The circle of mandala circumscribe the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 sub-squares called padas.
Most Khajuraho temples deploy the 8x8 padas grid Manduka Vastupurushamandala, with pitha mandala the square grid incorporated in the design of the spires. The primary deity or lingas are located in the grid’s Brahma padas.
The architecture is symbolic and reflects the central Hindu beliefs through its form, structure and arrangement of its parts. The mandapas as well as the arts are arranged in the Khajuraho temples in a symmetric repeating patterns, even though each image or sculpture is distinctive in its own way. The relative placement of the images are not random but together they express ideas, just like connected words form sentences and paragraphs to compose ideas. This fractal pattern that is common in Hindu temples. Various statues and panels have inscriptions. Many of the inscriptions on the temple walls are poems with double meanings, something that the complex structure of Sanskrit allows in creative compositions. All Khajuraho temples, except one, face sunrise, and the entrance for the devotee is this east side.Above the vastu-purusha-mandala of each temple is a superstructure with a dome called Shikhara (or Vimana, Spire). Variations in spire design come from variation in degrees turned for the squares. The temple Shikhara, in some literature, is linked to mount Kailash or Meru, the mythical abode of the gods.In each temple, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the pilgrim to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa and the main deity. The pillars, walls and ceilings around the space, as well as outside have highly ornate carvings or images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life - kama, artha, dharma and moksa. This clockwise walk around is called pradakshina. Larger Khajuraho temples also have pillared halls called mandapa. One near the entrance, on the east side, serves as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapas are also arranged by principles of symmetry, grids and mathematical precision. This use of same underlying architectural principle is common in Hindu temples found all over India. Each Khajuraho temple is distinctly carved yet also repeating the central common principles in almost all Hindu temples, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as “an organism of repeating cells”.
CONSTRUCTION
The temples are grouped into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern.
The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone, with a granite foundation that is almost concealed from view. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons. Some repair work in the 19th Century was done with brick and mortar; however these have aged faster than original materials and darkened with time, thereby seeming out of place.
The Khajuraho and Kalinjar region is home to superior quality of sandstone, which can be precision carved. The surviving sculpture reflect fine details such as strands of hair, manicured nails and intricate jewelry.
While recording the television show Lost Worlds (History Channel) at Khajuraho, Alex Evans recreated a stone sculpture under 4 feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea how much work must have been involved. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. They concluded that these temples would have required hundreds of highly trained sculptors.
CHRONOLOGY
The Khajuraho group of temples belong to Vaishnavism school of Hinduism, Saivism school of Hinduism and Jainism - nearly a third each. Archaeological studies suggest all three types of temples were under construction at about the same time in late 10th century, and in use simultaneously. Will Durant states that this aspect of Khajuraho temples illustrates the tolerance and respect for different religious viewpoints in the Hindu and Jain traditions. In each group of Khajuraho temples, there were major temples surrounded by smaller temples - a grid style that is observed to varying degrees in Hindu temples in Angkor Wat, Parambaran and South India.
The largest surviving Saiva temple is Khandarya Mahadeva, while the largest surviving Vaishnava group includes Chaturbhuja and Ramachandra.
Kandariya Mahadeva Temple plan is 109 ft in length by 60 ft, and rises 116 ft above ground and 88 ft above its own floor. The central padas are surrounded by three rows of sculptured figures, with over 870 statues, most being half life size (2.5 to 3 feet). The spire is a self repeating fractal structure.
ARTS AND SCULPTURE
The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of art work, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples. Some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices. Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples. James McConnachie, in his history of the Kamasutra, describes the sexual-themed Khajuraho sculptures as "the apogee of erotic art": "Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejewelled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy apsaras run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles....Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked maithunas, or lovemaking couples."
The temples have several thousand statues and art works, with Kandarya Mahadeva Temple alone decorated with over 870. Some 10% of these iconographic carvings contain sexual themes and various sexual poses. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities; however the kama arts represent diverse sexual expressions of different human beings. The vast majority of arts depict various aspects the everyday life, mythical stories as well as symbolic display of various secular and spiritual values important in Hindu tradition. For example, depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians making music, potters, farmers, and other folks in their daily life during the medieval era. These scenes are in the outer padas as is typical in Hindu temples.
There is iconographic symbolism embedded in the arts displayed in Khajuraho temples. Core Hindu values are expressed in multitude of ways. Even the Kama scenes, when seen in combination of sculptures that precede and follow, depict the spiritual themes such as moksha. In the words of Stella Kramrisch,
This state which is “like a man and woman in close embrace” is a symbol of moksa, final release or reunion of two principles, the essence (Purusha) and the nature (Prakriti).
— Stella Kramrisch, 1976
The Khajuraho temples represent one expression of many forms of arts that flourished in Rajput kingdoms of India from 8th through 10th century CE. For example, contemporary with Khajuraho were the publications of poems and drama such as Prabodhacandrodaya, Karpuramanjari, Viddhasalabhanjika and Kavyamimansa. Some of the themes expressed in these literary works are carved as sculpture in Khajuraho temples. Some sculptures at the Khajuraho monuments dedicated to Vishnu include the Vyalas, which are hybrid imaginary animals with lions body, and are found in other Indian temples. Some of these hybrid mythical art work include Vrik Vyala (hybrid of wolf and lion) and Gaja Vyala (hybrid of elephant and lion). These Vyalas may represent syncretic, creative combination of powers innate in the two.
TEMPLE NAME - DEITY - YEAR COMPLETED
Chausath Yogini - Devi, 64 Yoginis - 885
Brahma - Vishnu - 925
Lalgun Mahadev - Shiva - 900
Matangeshwar - Shiva - 1000
Varaha - Vishnu - 950
Lakshmana - Vaikuntha Vishnu - 939
Parshvanath - Parshvanath - 954
Visvanatha - Shiva - 999
Devi Jagadambi - Devi, Parvati - 1023
Chitragupta - Sun, Chitragupta - 1023
Kandariya Mahadeva - Shiva - 1029
Vamana - Vamana - 1062
Adinath Jain Temple - Rishabha - 1027
Javeri - Vishnu - 1090
Chaturbhuja - Vishnu - 1110
Duladeo (Duladeva) - Shiva - 1125
Ghantai - Jain Tirthankara - 960
Vishnu-Garuda - Vishnu - 1000
Ganesha - Shiva - 1000
Hanuman - Hanuman - 922
Mahishasuramardini - Devi - 995
Experimenting with black and white photos.
We had some rain today, the sky was overcast with low light when I captured this flower.
Uploaded for the theme "Black and White" in The Flickr Lounge .
Critique is welcomed.
Thank you all very much for your visits, favs and comments.
A few decades of commercial aviation tech in one pic as Virgin's 789 lands while a Western Global (N543JN) MD11 taxis. My favorite shot of the afternoon.
Looking back 10 years ago today finds manifest 187 heading west on the Central of Georgia on a calm winter afternoon, passing the trackside pond at Calcis. Hard to believe this has been a decade ago, back when interesting consists on NS road trains were still a common occurrence. Fast forward to 2024 and both the 3330 and 6669 have been purged from the roster, with the SD60 having already met the torch even.
Trains were a bit more plentiful on the old Central of Georgia Birmingham main back in 2014 as well, with usually at least 4-5 a day. Now we're down to one manifest a day each way and half the sidings have been ripped out, all in the nonsense of "maximizing shareholder value" that ripped through the class ones in recent years.