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This railroad has been a dream of mine to see since the first time I learned about its existence decades ago. The Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad is considered the last interurban railroad in America and it's right of way clearly belies that fact despite modernization over the years.
For me the big draw has always the nearly two miles of street running through downtown Michigan City. The railroad snakes down 11th street for 1.1 miles then jogs across Amtrak's Michigan Line (ex NYC new Michigan Central) Ybefore another 0.6 miles or so of street running down 10th street before regaining a private right of way for a fast race west thru the Indiana dune country.
Like much of the midwest Michigan City has a good variety of rail action though nowhere near what it once was. In addition to the CSSB and Amtrak (which sees a tiny bit of NS action) CSXT's main to Grand Rapids (ex Pere Marquette) that also hosts a pair of Amtrak trains, cuts through the city. In days of old the Monon and Nickel Plate also came to town though the Monon is long gone and the NKP has been cut and a good portion of it is now a branch operated by the CSSB.
Anyway, a bit of history of the famed South Shore:
The South Shore began in 1901 as the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway, a streetcar route between East Chicago and Indiana Harbor. Reorganized as the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway in 1904, by 1908 its route had reached South Bend, Indiana via Michigan City, Indiana. The company leased the Kensington and Eastern Railroad, an Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary, to gain access to Chicago. Passenger service between South Bend and Chicago began in 1909. The Lake Shore added freight service in 1916.
Samuel Insull, the Chicago utility magnate, acquired the bankrupt Lake Shore in 1925 and reorganized it as the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, which it remains today. The railroad experienced two more bankruptcies, in 1933 and 1938. Despite having become unprofitsble again in the post WWII period, in 1967 the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) purchased the road to gain direct access to then new Bethlehem Steel plant at Burns Harbor (which still today as an Arcelor Mittal plant is still the CSSB's largest customer). Under C&O ownership electric freight operations ended and the famed 800s (Little Joes in Milwaukee Road parlance) were retired. In 1981 10 GP38-2s were bought new and they have been stalwarts ever since.
In 1977 the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) began subsidizing the passenger operations on the South Shore Line and in 1984 the Venango River Corporation (VRC) purchased the South Shore from the Chessie Sysem. Venango declared bankruptcy in 1989 due largely to problems with its much larger Chicago Missouri and Western property. In 1990 the Anacostia and Pacific Company stepped in and purchased the South Shore, while at the same time NICTD purchased the passenger assets. The two operations are entirely separate businesses but closely integrated, and NICTD continues to use the familiar South Shore branding for its passenger operations.
To learn more check out these great articles from TRAINS:
cs.trains.com/ctr/b/mileposts/archive/2019/01/10/putting-...
www.anacostia.com/sites/www.anacostia.com/files/assets/Tr...
But these iconic scenes aren't going to be around for long. A massive nearly half billion dollar project to double track the line all the way to Michigan City in order to shave 30 or more minutes off transit times and allow greater train frequencies is supposed to start construction soon (though the Covid-19 situation may push back the dates). This will lamentably lead to the end of street running and the removal of nearly all the homes and structures on the south side of 11 th street. To learn more check out the project web site and the detailed PPT presentation on the project: www.doubletrack-nwi.com/images/DT_PRS_DTVirtualOpenHouse_...
But change is the only constant in life, and the CSSB has been modernizing and rebuilding since the Insull era. In fact in 1956 the long section of street running in East Chicago was bypassed and in 1970 the street running into downtown South Bend was abandoned...so I suppose this is just a continuation of what has come before.
Anyway, I do think this will not be my only visit before this trackage disappears because there just isn't quite anything like it.
As for this shot, here is eastbound NICTD train 503 with a consist of Nippon-Sharyo built electric multiple unit cars. Lead #48 is a double ended car built in 1992 though the oldest of the type date from 1982 and were the cars that replaced the old Pullman and Standard Steel cars dating from the 1920s.
The train is about to stop at Michigan City 11th Street station near MP 33.9. The historic station with its ornate facade was built in 1927 and closed to passengers in 1987. It has been vacant since with trains stopping at a bus stop style shelter adjacent to it. It was sold to the city in 2007 and has an uncertain future with the coming changes.
Michigan, City Indiana
Saturday August 15, 2020
© All Rights Reserved - Black Diamond Images
Although the existence of Machu Picchu had been known for many years before Professor Hiram Bingham walked into it with a local farmer, named Arteaga, in 1911, it was the American Professor of History and amateur archaeologist, who introduced the Sacred City of Machu Picchu to the world.
The ruthless Spanish conquistadors destroyed much of the former Inca Empires religious and cultural sites as they rampaged through Peru and Bolivia, all in the name of christianity and catholiscism.
Fortunately the Spanish did not find Machu Picchu and it lay hidden to all but a few local people for several centuries before Bingham's visit in 1911.
Grafitti and some evidence of looting indicate that others had certainly been there before Bingham. Nevertheless Machu Picchu was relatively pristine at the time of Bingham's visit.
Before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru smallpox spread ahead of them with 50% of the Inca population killed by the disease by 1527.
The Inca government of the region had already begun to fail and part of the empire seceded with civil war soon erupting.
By the time Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador, arrived in Cusco in 1532 Machu Picchu was all but forgotten and remained lost to the world for several centuries.
"Like everyone else I have at my disposal only three means of evaluating human existence: the study of self, which is the most difficult and most dangerous method, but also the most fruitful; the observation of our fellowmen, who usually arrange to hide secrets where none exist; and books, with the particular errors of perspective to which they inevitably give rise."
(Quotes from "Memoirs of Hadrian" by French writer Marguerite Yourcenar)
This marble statue of Antinoüs stands at Le Louvre museum, it allowed me to try a Canon EOs 500D and to take a few pictures where there is no edition.
Memoirs of Hadrian (French: Mémoires d'Hadrien) is a novel by the French writer Marguerite Yourcenar about the life and death of Roman Emperor Hadrian.
The book was first published in France in French in 1951 as Mémoires d'Hadrien, and was an immediate success, meeting with enormous critical acclaim.
Antinous was born to a Greek family in Bithynion-Claudiopolis, in the Roman province of Bithynia in what is now north-west Turkey.
He joined the entourage of the Emperor when Hadrian passed through Bithynia in about 124, and soon became his beloved companion who accompanied him on his many journeys through the empire.
Although some have suggested the two might have had a romantic relationship, it is uncertain if this was true.
In October 130, according to Hadrian, "Antinous was drowned in the Nilus."
It is not known whether his death was the result of accident, suicide, murder, or religious sacrifice.
After his death, the grief of the emperor knew no bounds, causing the most extravagant respect to be paid to his memory abd he decreed his deification.
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Disintegrating Planetary Existence.
La disminución de las criaturas extrínsecos convertibles verdades divinas cambiantes esencia inmutable,
approchant la compréhension des connaissances éminence pénétrante enluminures effets lointains,
confortatus est momenti materia nota immensitate species praedicta connaturalitate,
Vorfahren berühmten Jahrhunderte böswillige bitteren Herzen ständigen Kriege glühender Chancen Macht umgibt,
不公正的邪惡寬大嚴酷的教訓唆使暴徒脾氣敵人憤怒鞭笞孵化地塊,
блуждающих несбалансированным ОПЕРАЦИЙ безграничные основы против раструбили будущих неблагоприятных подарков,
تبقى المتمردين أصوات تشتبك قادة سنوات يرثى لها معايير الهمجية المشينة القوانين المعطلة داخل,
εξαφανίστηκε συμβούλια έσβησε το πρωί προσευχές έκπληκτος ευκαιρία για αναδύεται σφαίρες λήθαργο λόγους,
厳粛な基準は、ペノンが高いボディをヒービング武装法律を行進恐ろしい文字を破壊上昇します.
Steve.D.Hammond.
“It is through Art and through Art only that we can realize our perfection; through Art and Art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence”
~Oscar Wilde
The Mount Elliott Mining Complex is an aggregation of the remnants of copper mining and smelting operations from the early 20th century and the associated former mining township of Selwyn. The earliest copper mining at Mount Elliott was in 1906 with smelting operations commencing shortly after. Significant upgrades to the mining and smelting operations occurred under the management of W.R. Corbould during 1909 - 1910. Following these upgrades and increases in production, the Selwyn Township grew quickly and had 1500 residents by 1918. The Mount Elliott Company took over other companies on the Cloncurry field in the 1920s, including the Mount Cuthbert and Kuridala smelters. Mount Elliott operations were taken over by Mount Isa Mines in 1943 to ensure the supply of copper during World War Two. The Mount Elliott Company was eventually liquidated in 1953.
The Mount Elliott Smelter:
The existence of copper in the Leichhardt River area of north western Queensland had been known since Ernest Henry discovered the Great Australia Mine in 1867 at Cloncurry. In 1899 James Elliott discovered copper on the conical hill that became Mount Elliott, but having no capital to develop the mine, he sold an interest to James Morphett, a pastoralist of Fort Constantine station near Cloncurry. Morphett, being drought stricken, in turn sold out to John Moffat of Irvinebank, the most successful mining promoter in Queensland at the time.
Plentiful capital and cheap transport were prerequisites for developing the Cloncurry field, which had stagnated for forty years. Without capital it was impossible to explore and prove ore-bodies; without proof of large reserves of wealth it was futile to build a railway; and without a railway it was hazardous to invest capital in finding large reserves of ore. The mining investor or the railway builder had to break the impasse.
In 1906 - 1907 copper averaged £87 a ton on the London market, the highest price for thirty years, and the Cloncurry field grew. The railway was extended west of Richmond in 1905 - 1906 by the Government and mines were floated on the Melbourne Stock Exchange. At Mount Elliott a prospecting shaft had been sunk and on the 1st of August 1906 a Cornish boiler and winding plant were installed on the site.
Mount Elliott Limited was floated in Melbourne on the 13th of July 1906. In 1907 it was taken over by British and French interests and restructured. Combining with its competitor, Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Limited, Mount Elliott formed a special company to finance and construct the railway from Cloncurry to Malbon, Kuridala (then Friezeland) and Mount Elliott (later Selwyn). This new company then entered into an agreement with the Queensland Railways Department in July 1908.
The railway, which was known as the 'Syndicate Railway', aroused opposition in 1908 from the trade unions and Labor movement generally, who contended that railways should be State-owned. However, the Hampden-Mount Elliott Railway Bill was passed by the Queensland Parliament and assented to on the 21st of April 1908; construction finished in December 1910. The railway terminated at the Mount Elliott smelter.
By 1907 the main underlie shaft had been sunk and construction of the smelters was underway using a second-hand water-jacket blast furnace and converters. At this time, W.H. Corbould was appointed general manager of Mount Elliott Limited.
The second-hand blast furnace and converters were commissioned or 'blown in' in May 1909, but were problematic causing hold-ups. Corbould referred to the equipment in use as being the 'worst collection of worn-out junk he had ever come across'. Corbould soon convinced his directors to scrap the plant and let him design new works.
Corbould was a metallurgist and geologist as well as mine/smelter manager. He foresaw a need to obtain control and thereby ensure a reliable supply of ore from a cross-section of mines in the region. He also saw a need to implement an effective strategy to manage the economies of smelting low-grade ore. Smelting operations in the region were made difficult by the technical and economic problems posed by the deterioration in the grade of ore. Corbould resolved the issue by a process of blending ores with different chemical properties, increasing the throughput capacity of the smelter and by championing the unification of smelting operations in the region. In 1912, Corbould acquired Hampden Consols Mine at Kuridala for Mount Elliott Limited, followed with the purchases of other small mines in the district.
Walkers Limited of Maryborough was commissioned to manufacture a new 200 ton water jacket furnace for the smelters. An air compressor and blower for the smelters were constructed in the powerhouse and an electric motor and dynamo provided power for the crane and lighting for the smelter and mine.
The new smelter was blown in September 1910, a month after the first train arrived, and it ran well, producing 2040 tons of blister copper by the end of the year. The new smelting plant made it possible to cope with low-grade sulphide ores at Mount Elliott. The use of 1000 tons of low-grade sulphide ores bought from the Hampden Consols Mine in 1911 made it clear that if a supply of higher sulphur ore could be obtained and blended, performance, and economy would improve. Accordingly, the company bought a number of smaller mines in the district in 1912.
Corbould mined with cut and fill stoping but a young Mines Inspector condemned the system, ordered it dismantled and replaced with square set timbering. In 1911, after gradual movement in stopes on the No. 3 level, the smelter was closed for two months. Nevertheless, 5447 tons of blister copper was produced in 1911, rising to 6690 tons in 1912 - the company's best year. Many of the surviving structures at the site were built at this time.
Troubles for Mount Elliott started in 1913. In February, a fire at the Consols Mine closed it for months. In June, a thirteen week strike closed the whole operation, severely depleting the workforce. The year 1913 was also bad for industrial accidents in the area, possibly due to inexperienced people replacing the strikers. Nevertheless, the company paid generous dividends that year.
At the end of 1914 smelting ceased for more than a year due to shortage of ore. Although 3200 tons of blister copper was produced in 1913, production fell to 1840 tons in 1914 and the workforce dwindled to only 40 men. For the second half of 1915 and early 1916 the smelter treated ore railed south from Mount Cuthbert. At the end of July 1916 the smelting plant at Selwyn was dismantled except for the flue chambers and stacks. A new furnace with a capacity of 500 tons per day was built, a large amount of second-hand equipment was obtained and the converters were increased in size.
After the enlarged furnace was commissioned in June 1917, continuing industrial unrest retarded production which amounted to only 1000 tons of copper that year. The point of contention was the efficiency of the new smelter which processed twice as much ore while employing fewer men. The company decided to close down the smelter in October and reduce the size of the furnace, the largest in Australia, from 6.5m to 5.5m. In the meantime the price of copper had almost doubled from 1916 due to wartime consumption of munitions.
The new furnace commenced on the 16th of January 1918 and 77,482 tons of ore were smelted yielding 3580 tons of blister copper which were sent to the Bowen refinery before export to Britain. Local coal and coke supply was a problem and materials were being sourced from the distant Bowen Colliery. The smelter had a good run for almost a year except for a strike in July and another in December, which caused Corbould to close down the plant until New Year. In 1919, following relaxation of wartime controls by the British Metal Corporation, the copper price plunged from about £110 per ton at the start of the year to £75 per ton in April, dashing the company's optimism regarding treatment of low grade ores. The smelter finally closed after two months operation and most employees were laid off.
For much of the period 1919 to 1922, Corbould was in England trying to raise capital to reorganise the company's operations but he failed and resigned from the company in 1922. The Mount Elliott Company took over the assets of the other companies on the Cloncurry field in the 1920s - Mount Cuthbert in 1925 and Kuridala in 1926. Mount Isa Mines bought the Mount Elliott plant and machinery, including the three smelters, in 1943 for £2,300, enabling them to start copper production in the middle of the Second World War. The Mount Elliott Company was finally liquidated in 1953.
In 1950 A.E. Powell took up the Mount Elliott Reward Claim at Selwyn and worked close to the old smelter buildings. An open cut mine commenced at Starra, south of Mount Elliott and Selwyn, in 1988 and is Australia's third largest copper producer producing copper-gold concentrates from flotation and gold bullion from carbon-in-leach processing.
Profitable copper-gold ore bodies were recently proved at depth beneath the Mount Elliott smelter and old underground workings by Cyprus Gold Australia Pty Ltd. These deposits were subsequently acquired by Arimco Mining Pty Ltd for underground development which commenced in July 1993. A decline tunnel portal, ore and overburden dumps now occupy a large area of the Maggie Creek valley south-west of the smelter which was formerly the site of early miner's camps.
The Old Selwyn Township:
In 1907, the first hotel, run by H. Williams, was opened at the site. The township was surveyed later, around 1910, by the Mines Department. The town was to be situated north of the mine and smelter operations adjacent the railway, about 1.5km distant. It took its name from the nearby Selwyn Ranges which were named, during Burke's expedition, after the Victorian Government Geologist, A.R. Selwyn. The town has also been known by the name of Mount Elliott, after the nearby mines and smelter.
Many of the residents either worked at the Mount Elliott Mine and Smelter or worked in the service industries which grew around the mining and smelting operations. Little documentation exists about the everyday life of the town's residents. Surrounding sheep and cattle stations, however, meant that meat was available cheaply and vegetables grown in the area were delivered to the township by horse and cart. Imported commodities were, however, expensive.
By 1910 the town had four hotels. There was also an aerated water manufacturer, three stores, four fruiterers, a butcher, baker, saddler, garage, police, hospital, banks, post office (officially from 1906 to 1928, then unofficially until 1975) and a railway station. There was even an orchestra of ten players in 1912. The population of Selwyn rose from 1000 in 1911 to 1500 in 1918, before gradually declining.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force began as the "Korean Aviation Society" in 1945. It was organized along the lines of flying clubs in the Soviet Union. In 1946, the society became a military organization and became an aviation division of the Korean People's Army (KPA). It became a branch of the army in its own right in November 1948. The KPAF incorporated much of the original Soviet air tactics, as well as North Korean experience from the UN bombings during the Korean War.
North Korea’s first indigenous jet fighter aircraft, the Wonsan Aircraft Works 여-1 (known as “W-1” outside of the country), started its existence in China as the Shenyang J-3 (Jianjiji = fighter). The J-3 was a project to exploit the knowledge and hardware gained through the license production of the Soviet MiG-15UTI trainer, locally designated JJ-2 (Jianjiji Jiaolianji – fighter trainer), a study that was primarily intended to improve China’s aircraft industry and the country’s respective engineering know how after the Korean War. The Soviet VVS and PVO had been the primary users of the MiG-15 during the Korean war, but not the only ones; it was also used by the PLAAF and KPAF (known as the United Air Army).
The J-3 was designed during the Korean War between 1952 and 1953 and two prototypes were built with Soviet help and tested in 1953, but the aircraft came too late – and it was not regarded as a successor or even an alternative to the Soviet MiG-15, because it lacked modern features like swept wings. The J-3’s design drew more on American rather than British inspiration, having elected to use features such as a very thin (but almost straight) wing akin to the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star and a basic configuration comparable to the North American F-86 Sabre. Due to its conceptual interceptor role, an emphasis had been placed on a fast rate of climb. Power came from a Klimov VK-1 centrifugal-flow turbojet, a derivative of the British Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.104B that also powered the MiG-15. Armament consisted of four 23 mm (0.906 in) Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 autocannon under the nose.
The J-3’s rate of progress on the project was such that, within 15 months of design work having formally started, the first prototype had been fully constructed. On 28 October 1953, the first J-3 fighter prototype conducted its first flight, even though it still lacked pressurization, armament, and other military equipment. Gradually, new hardware was integrated and tested, and a second aircraft joined the tests in January 1954. Flight tests followed quickly and showed that the J-3 was easy to fly and had exceptional performance and maneuverability for a straight-wing aircraft. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the laminar flow section used for the original tail unit was totally unsuitable, with extremely severe buffeting setting in at 500 km/h (310 mph). The buffeting was so bad that the test pilots were thrown about in the cockpit, banging their head on the canopy, and the needles fell off all the flight instruments. Fortunately, accidents could be avoided, and the tailplane section was changed with much improved results.
The gun armament caused troubles, too. Firing all four NS-23 at once made the robust engine surge – a problem that did not occur on the MiG-15, but it only carried two of these weapons. A remedy was eventually found through the introduction of a slightly elongated nose that kept the air intake further away from the gun blast shock waves. The flight and test program lasted until 1955, and a total of five J-3 prototypes were built, but with no serious plan to put this aircraft into series production, even more so after China had been offered to produce the even more modern and capable Soviet MiG-17 fighter under license as the J-5. In the People's Republic of China (PRC), an initial MiG-17F was assembled from parts in 1956, with license production following in 1957 at Shenyang. The Chinese-built version was/is known as the Shenyang J-5 (for local use) or F-5 (for export). After this decision, the J-3 program was stopped, but the machines were retained in flightworthy condition as testbeds and chase planes by the PLAAF until the late Sixties
However, this was not the end of the J-3. After fighting had ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force (KPAAF) was keen to boost its capabilities and build a domestic aircraft industry, beyond the option to produce existing designs in license. Turning to its main sponsor China, North Korea was offered the plans for the J-3 and its tools, together with a supply of Chinese-built VK-1 engines. Even though the J-3 did not represent the state-of-the-art in jet fighters anymore, it was the best option for an industrial quickstart and until 1956 a dedicated production site for the J-3 was built at Wonsan, leading to the Wonsan Aircraft Works (Wonsan hang-gong-gi jag-eob , 원산 항공기 작업) and its first military product, the 여-1 (Yeo-1 = W-1). When NATO became aware of the aircraft it received the reporting code name “Freshman”.
However, despite the J-3’s plans and tools at hand, the W-1’s production was hampered by the lack of experience, sub-optimal materials, and poor logistics (esp. concerning vital imported components like the Chinese WP-5 engine, a license-built VK-1). Consequently, it took almost three years to roll out the first pre-serial production aircraft in 1959, and even then, the W-1 was plagued with material and reliability problems. Furthermore, once the W-1 became operational in 1961, the aircraft had become outdated. The W-1 had been designed to intercept straight-and-level-flying enemy bombers, not for air-to-air combat (dogfighting) with other fighters. The subsonic (Mach .76) fighter was effective against slower (Mach .6-.8), heavily loaded U.S. fighter-bombers from the Fifties, as well as the mainstay American strategic bombers during the aircraft's development cycle (such as the Boeing B-50 Superfortress or Convair B-36 Peacemaker, which were both still powered by piston engines). It was not however able to intercept the new generation of British jet bombers such as the Avro Vulcan and Handley Page Victor, which could both fly higher. Most W-1s were initially used as night fighters – even though they lacked any on-board radar and the pilot had to rely on visual contact and/or radio guidance from ground stations to make out and close in on a potential target. The USAF's introduction of strategic bombers capable of supersonic dash speeds such as the B-58 Hustler and General Dynamics FB-111 rendered the W-1 totally obsolete in front-line KPAAF service, and they were quickly supplanted by supersonic interceptors such as the MiG-21 and MiG-23.
The rugged aircraft was not retired, though, and found use as ground attack aircraft (despite its limited payload of around 2 tons) and as an advanced fighter trainer. Total production numbers are uncertain, but less than 100 W-1s were produced until 1969, with no further variants becoming known. In 1990, probably forty were still operational, and even after 2000 some KPAAF W-1s were still flying.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 10.73 m (35 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 12.16 m (39 ft 10½ in)
Height: 4.46 m (14 ft 7½ in)
Wing area: 23.8 m² (256 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 7.3
Empty weight: 4,142 kg (9,132 lb)
Gross weight: 7,404 kg (16,323 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 7,900 kg (17,417 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Wopen WP-5 (Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.104B) centrifugal-flow turbojet
with 26.5 kN (5,950 lbf) thrust
Performance:
Maximum speed: 940 km/h (580 mph, 510 kn) at sea level
Maximum speed: Mach 0.76
Cruise speed: 750 km/h (470 mph, 400 kn)
Maximum Mach number: M0.83
Combat range: 450 km (280 mi, 240 nmi)
Ferry range: 920 km (570 mi, 500 nmi)
Service ceiling: 13,000 m (43,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 38 m/s (7,500 ft/min)
Take-off run: 783 m (2,569 ft)
Landing run: 910 m (2,986 ft)
Armament:
4× 23 mm (0.906 in) Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 autocannon with 100 rounds per gun
2× underwing hardpoints for 2.000 kg of payload, including a variety of unguided iron bombs such
as 2× 250 kg (500 lb) bombs, napalm tanks, pods with unguided missiles, or 2× 350 l (92 US
gal; 77 imp gal) drop tanks for extended range.
The kit and its assembly:
I always thought that the tubby Dassault Ouragan had something “Soviet-ish” about it, looking much like one of the obscure early Yakowlew jet fighter prototypes (e .g. the straight-wing Yak-25 [first use of this designation in 1947] or the swept-wing Yak-30) around 1950. With this idea I had stashed away a Heller Ouragan for a while, and recently wondered about an indigenous North-Korean aircraft that could have emerged after the Korean War? The Ouragan looked like a good basis, and so this project started as a simple conversion of the Heller kit.
While most of the airframe was retained, I made some cosmetic changes to change the aircraft’s looks and add a Warsaw Pact flavor. The characteristic wing tip tanks disappeared, and the wings’ ends were rounded off. The fin tip was extended with a piece of 1.5 mm styrene sheet and a different fin shape was sculpted from it. The original stabilizers were replaced with what I think are stabilizers from a VEB Plasticart 1:100 An-24 – they better match the wing shape than the OOB parts!
The cockpit was taken OOB, I just replaced the ejection seat with a different piece from a KP 1:72 MiG-19. The air intake was modified with the opening from a Heller 1:72 F-84G, extending and narrowing it slightly, even though the internal splitter plate (which also bears the front wheel well) was retained. The landing gear was also basically taken OOB, but the main wheels were now mounted on the outside position (with an adaptation of the covers), and the front wheel was moved 3 mm further forward, to compensate for the slightly longer nose section, and its cover was modified accordingly. The flaps were lowered, primarily because this modification is easy to realize on this kit and it makes the simple aircraft look “livelier”, and the canopy was cut into three parts for open display.
Pylons were added under the wings, together with drop tanks from a Hobby Boss 1:72 MiG-15. The same source provided the swept antenna mast behind the cockpit and the small but characteristic altimeter sensors under the wings. As a final twist of “Sovietization” I added small fences to the wings, made from styrene profiles – they would not be necessary on the aircraft’s straight wings, but they help change the model’s overall look. 😉
Building the Heller Ouragan was a straightforward affair, even though the plastic of the recent re-boxing I used was pretty soft and took long to cure after gluing parts together. A real problem occurred when I tried to close the fuselage halves, though, because the parts did not align well behind the cockpit, as if they were warped? The walls were rather thin, too, and as a result a lot of PSR went into the spine and the ventral area behind the wings, which mismatched badly. The rather thin material in these areas did not help much, either. I have built the Ouragan before, and I do not remember these massive troubles?!
Painting and markings:
I initially considered a North-Korean night fighter camouflage from the Korea War, but since the aircraft would have been introduced into service after the open hostilities, I rather settled for a very dry NMF finish with minimal markings. Therefore, the model received an overall coat with “White Aluminum” from the rattle can and a light overall rubbing treatment with graphite to emphasize the raised panel lines and add a slightly irregular metallic shine to the paint. Since they had disappeared through PSR, I also added/recreated some panel lines with a soft pencil.
The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey and Soviet cockpit turquoise, the landing gear and its wells became metallic-grey (Humbrol 56). The areas around the exhaust and the guns were painted with Revell 91 (Iron), the only color contrasts are red trim tabs.
The large KPAAF roundels with a white background came from a Cutting Edge MiG-15 sheet, the large red tactical code was left over from an unidentifiable “Eastern Bloc” model’s decal sheet. After some more graphite treatment around the guns and the tail section the model was sealed with a coat of semi-gloss acrylic varnish (Italeri), resulting in a nice metallic shine that looks better than expected on this uniform aircraft.
Well, this converted Ouragan looks pretty dull at first sight, due to its simple livery. But this makes it pretty plausible, and the small cosmetic changes add a serious Soviet-esque touch to the aircraft.
Homosexuality is still technically illegal in Singapore. The law is not generally enforced, but the fact of its existence gives some idea of the struggle gay people still face in this very conservative society, and may explain why Pink Dot is very different to pride events as I understand them in the west. These differences were not merely superficial, but substantial.
Pink Dot, which this year attracted a record 15,000 attendees, says to the heterosexual, conservative society of Singapore 'we are like you: we are human, and we want to love.' Gay Pride in the UK seems to say 'we are not like you, and we are proud of that.' While gay persons should be proud of the courage they had to muster in order to be honest about who they are, and the obstacles they overcame in doing so, being gay is not in itself an achievement or an accomplishment. To walk the streets holding hands with another man or woman every day - because that is what you want to do and in spite of bewildered or hostile looks and comments - takes more courage, and is more deserving of respect, if not pride, than dancing in your underwear and angel wings at an event sponsored by a brand of vodka on a day that society has set aside for you to express yourself in that way.
Needless to say, there were no men in swimwear, no headdresses and no bondage gear at Pink Dot. This was not an event for gay people, or for straight people to come and look at gay people, but for everyone and anyone who wants to live in a society where people are free to love. There were straight families who looked so perfect they could have come out of a catalogue - blandly handsome Dad, pretty Mum, two little toddlers - all wearing pink to show support for this idea; there were pensioners, gay and straight. There were real conversations taking place - I had several with people I don't know - about what it means to live as a gay person, a question which I never hear discussed in the UK.
Moreover, it was an environment where a young, closeted person - no matter their personality - might feel safe and included. The same can't be said of Pride in the UK. Imagine a shy, awkward, gay teenager with no interest in Broadway musicals or Lady Gaga, but who likes to play Dungeons & Dragons and watch Monty Python and Jackie Chan films: how is he to look at a pride march and feel that it speaks to him in any way? How is he to feel anything but alienated and frightened, to feel a pressure that this is what he's "required" to like or to be like if he's gay? Okay, okay: there's obviously some personal stuff being dredged up here, but it's relevant.
Pink Dot seems to have a real and worthy agenda: it's not an excuse for a big, commercialised party where non-heterosexual identity and culture are commodified, but is about, as its tagline says, "Supporting the Freedom to Love."
Singapore, 2012.
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As the peaks of the Krakatoa blasted itself out of existence, a small part of the island survived. In 1927, it emerged from under the ocean from the collapsed crater that was created during the 1883 eruption as a column of steam and debris which spewed above. The Krakatoa had awakened after 44 years of calm...Taken @Krakatoa-Krakatau mountain, Sunda strait, Indonesia
Even if it turns into bones, it has a presence that overwhelms those who see it. Here is proof that it once reigned at the top of the food chain. At the museum in Ueno.
Ghost, a lost semi-transparent appearance
Soul, a fog-like human form of mental anger, caught between life and death
A threatening presence of an invisible personality
It keeps bewitching the sceneries of earth instead of departing to a much more blissfull world
Doomed and forgotten in a mortal realm of bloom
Repeating tragedy summoned by the moon
Paranormal hysteria
Poltergeist phenomena
Listen to the laments of the sick moaning dead
They speak a simple fearsome language
Knocking, moving objects and scratching against the walls
For some reason they refuse to pass over to the light
It could be love, hate, and vengeance that keeps them wandering circles at night
Heretic poltergeist phenomena!
Heretic poltergeist phenomena!
Ghost, a lost semi-transparent existence
Soul, a misty human form of negative anger, confusing life with death
Cursed and desolated in an earthly stream of tears, it keeps arising like a wolf when a full moon appears
Paranormal hysteria
Poltergeist phenomena
The dandelion is so under appreciated. I've walked by it so many times, not even giving it a second glance. Now, I have a new found wonder over it's tiny details.
There is no need to go out looking for physical evidence of God’s existence; we can work out that he exists just by thinking about it.
There clearly are certain claims that we can tell are false without even having to look into them to find out. The claim to have made a four-sided triangle, and the claim to be over six feet tall but less than five, for example, are both claims that are obviously false. We know that triangles have three sides. We know that being over six feet tall means being over five feet tall too. There’s no need to spend time looking for four-sided triangles or tall short people in order to know that there aren’t any.
We must therefore think of God as cannot be imagined to be better than he is, put it, God is “that than which no greater can be conceived.”
So as we all know those laws of physics that universe tends to be balanced in anyway. If we say God does exist, we actually say yes to the existence of Evil.... Whatever you may name it, Devil, Satan, etc...
There was emptiness more profound than the void between the stars, for which there was no here and there and before and after, and yet out of that void the entire plenum of existence sprang forth.
“The mystery of existence is the connection between our faults and our misfortunes”. So why we battle over a same believe cause. Fighting over the differences. Why not cherish our similarities and make each other understand about the Existence.. of peace, love and humanity.
Taken: Central Church of Abbottabad, NWFP, Pakistan.
L’existence d’un orgue dans la nef de l’église Saint-Pierre est attestée depuis le 15ème siècle. Détruit en 1562 par les Huguenots, il est reconstruit en 1578. Le 14 avril 1783, est inauguré un orgue de Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Lefebvre. Le 8 octobre 1881, Alexandre Guilmant inaugure un orgue d’Aristide Cavaillé-Coll qui a conservé l’ancien buffet pour y mettre un instrument de trois claviers et 42 jeux. Dans la nuit du 6 au 7 juin 1944, l’orgue est détruit par la chute du clocher et des voûtes lors des bombardements. En 1958, Jacquot-Lavergne installe un orgue dont les 4 buffets sont accrochés au triforium alors que la console est dans le chœur. Enfin, en 1997, Jean-François Dupont installe un orgue accroché en nid d’hirondelle au milieu de la nef côté gauche (photo).
The existence of an organ in the nave of Saint-Pierre church has been documented since the 15th century. Destroyed in 1562 by the Huguenots, it was rebuilt in 1578. On April 14, 1783, an organ by Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Lefebvre was inaugurated. On October 8, 1881, Alexandre Guilmant inaugurated an organ by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, which retained the old organ case to house an instrument with three keyboards and 42 stops. On the night of June 6-7, 1944, the organ was destroyed by the collapse of the bell tower and vaults during the bombings. In 1958, Jacquot-Lavergne installed an organ whose four cases are suspended from the triforium, while the console is located in the choir. Finally, in 1997, Jean-François Dupont installed an organ suspended like a swallow's nest in the middle of the nave on the left side (photo).
Stockport Edgeley shed on a Sunday near the end of its existence.
Stanier 8F 2-8-0 48745 stands in front of the LNWR water tank. Facilities at this depot were pretty basic to the end; the rusty structure on the right was a conveyor belt lift used to coal the locomotive tenders. The water crane on the left does have one labour saving device - the water valve can be opened & closed from the tender top using that wheel at the top. Normally the fireman would have climb up put the bag in & climb down again to turn the valve, to be repeated to turn it off. This probably explains why you always saw tenders overflowing. It's much easier to stick the bag in and just wait by the column for the water to come cascading out rather than judging the time to come down and turn the valve off.
The shed entrance was a gate in the wall at the top of the embankment to the left and the classic "cinder track" led down to the yard. Over on the right the electric overhead gantries of the Crewe to Manchester main line can be seen. Edgeley station is about half a mile beyond.
This was the only time I visited Edgeley before the end of steam there on 4th May 1968. Myself and a friend from Nelson had been to Burnley Rose Grove shed earlier that day & hitched down to Manchester & back to Sheffield via Stockport.
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka, 2011
Normal people with extraordinary lifestyles
Along with smile and the gloomy, here life has its own rhyme, has its own colour.
Time passed by, humanity changed along with its history...
But these people remained here tolerating the hardest truth of existences
..........its their story of extraordinary existences.
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka. A very interesting place for all of us to visit. Culture and customs of old Dhaka are the tribute to the ancient history of Bangladesh. Peoples still living in 100 years old building from generations after generations. With the reflection of their religious beauty Old Dhaka attracts peoples from here and abroad.
Shakhari Bazaar is one of the oldest mohallas (a traditional neighbourhood) in Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka), located near the intersection of Islampur Road and Nawabpur Road;the two main arteries of the old city and only a block away from the Buriganga River. Shakhari Bazaar stretches along a narrow lane, lined with thin slices of richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period. Despite rampant modifications, accretion, extension over time, even redevelopment, many still bear the testimony of a rich tradition.
Shakhari Bazaar is the manifestation of the irrational policies, lack of adequate development control rules and distorted legal framework, all of which have left their indelible mark on this precious little mohalla that shares a long history of more than 400 years with Dhaka city itself.The history of Shakhari Bazaar goes back to the pre-Mughal days if not earlier. The first mention of Puran Dhaka can be found in the writings of Mirza Nathan, the general turned historian, who traveled with Subahdar Islam Khan. He mentioned Puran Dhaka, as the area between Dholai Khal and Buriganga river covering Shakhari Bazaar, Tanti Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Lakhsmi Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Kamar Nagar, Sutar Nagar, Goala Nagar, etc. Each mohalla belonged to separate communities depending on their craft and trade. The influences of the Mughal vocabulary in the planning of the spaces are literally evident in the use of Persian names to identify different spaces..
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka, 2011
Normal people with extraordinary lifestyles
Along with smile and the gloomy, here life has its own rhyme, has its own colour.
Time passed by, humanity changed along with its history...
But these people remained here tolerating the hardest truth of existences
..........its their story of extraordinary existences.
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka. A very interesting place for all of us to visit. Culture and customs of old Dhaka are the tribute to the ancient history of Bangladesh. Peoples still living in 100 years old building from generations after generations. With the reflection of their religious beauty Old Dhaka attracts peoples from here and abroad.
Shakhari Bazaar is one of the oldest mohallas (a traditional neighbourhood) in Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka), located near the intersection of Islampur Road and Nawabpur Road;the two main arteries of the old city and only a block away from the Buriganga River. Shakhari Bazaar stretches along a narrow lane, lined with thin slices of richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period. Despite rampant modifications, accretion, extension over time, even redevelopment, many still bear the testimony of a rich tradition.
Shakhari Bazaar is the manifestation of the irrational policies, lack of adequate development control rules and distorted legal framework, all of which have left their indelible mark on this precious little mohalla that shares a long history of more than 400 years with Dhaka city itself.The history of Shakhari Bazaar goes back to the pre-Mughal days if not earlier. The first mention of Puran Dhaka can be found in the writings of Mirza Nathan, the general turned historian, who traveled with Subahdar Islam Khan. He mentioned Puran Dhaka, as the area between Dholai Khal and Buriganga river covering Shakhari Bazaar, Tanti Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Lakhsmi Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Kamar Nagar, Sutar Nagar, Goala Nagar, etc. Each mohalla belonged to separate communities depending on their craft and trade. The influences of the Mughal vocabulary in the planning of the spaces are literally evident in the use of Persian names to identify different spaces..
Me, my daughter (Daini)
Light
Shadow
Lens
Camera
M4-P + MS-Optical Sonnetar 50 mm F1.1 on Portra 400
F2.0 1/125 Second
Lebuh Ampang
Kuala Lumpur MY
Oktober 2010
Hasselblad 501C
Carl Zeiss 80mm f2.8 CF T*
Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160
Sekonic L308s
Epson V700
Romantics cite butterflies as being carefree creatures that flutter aimlessly in the sunshine. I guess being very open free spirits we T.Girls could be viewed in the same way as we enjoy the best of everything a kind of erotic jack of all trades and even draw endless pleasure from what we've become as living out our fetish. But I'm afraid like the precarious flight of the butterfly it's carefree air hides a long and difficult struggle from hungry caterpillar. Thankfully I have been lucky as I've had no problems or less trouble than I imagined.
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka, 2011
Normal people with extraordinary lifestyles
Along with smile and the gloomy, here life has its own rhyme, has its own colour.
Time passed by, humanity changed along with its history...
But these people remained here tolerating the hardest truth of existences
..........its their story of extraordinary existences.
Sakharibazar, Old Dhaka. A very interesting place for all of us to visit. Culture and customs of old Dhaka are the tribute to the ancient history of Bangladesh. Peoples still living in 100 years old building from generations after generations. With the reflection of their religious beauty Old Dhaka attracts peoples from here and abroad.
Shakhari Bazaar is one of the oldest mohallas (a traditional neighbourhood) in Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka), located near the intersection of Islampur Road and Nawabpur Road;the two main arteries of the old city and only a block away from the Buriganga River. Shakhari Bazaar stretches along a narrow lane, lined with thin slices of richly decorated brick buildings, built during the late Mughal or Colonial period. Despite rampant modifications, accretion, extension over time, even redevelopment, many still bear the testimony of a rich tradition.
Shakhari Bazaar is the manifestation of the irrational policies, lack of adequate development control rules and distorted legal framework, all of which have left their indelible mark on this precious little mohalla that shares a long history of more than 400 years with Dhaka city itself.The history of Shakhari Bazaar goes back to the pre-Mughal days if not earlier. The first mention of Puran Dhaka can be found in the writings of Mirza Nathan, the general turned historian, who traveled with Subahdar Islam Khan. He mentioned Puran Dhaka, as the area between Dholai Khal and Buriganga river covering Shakhari Bazaar, Tanti Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Lakhsmi Bazaar, Bangla Bazaar, Kamar Nagar, Sutar Nagar, Goala Nagar, etc. Each mohalla belonged to separate communities depending on their craft and trade. The influences of the Mughal vocabulary in the planning of the spaces are literally evident in the use of Persian names to identify different spaces..