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i know everyone is fed up with this winter weather, but I look at it this way. I live in the north, it will be winter for at least 4-months, so why not have snow? it is much better than looking at brown and gray all winter long.
27th May 2012. Sinar F 4x5 camera. Schneider Repro Claron 135mm f/8 lens at f/8 on Kentmere VC select (RC multigrade) paper, 1/2s.
Direct positive (reversal) process. Scanned directly, and tones corrected in the GIMP to look as close to final print as possible (i.e. there should be no artifacts from scanning/digitising). The yellow/blue duo-tone is how it comes out.
Club Bounce - Where size & style meet is open every Saturday night at La Fonda!
2501 Wilshire Blvd La Ca 90057
The hot spot in LA for the curvy classy and cuties who love to party! All size and shapes welcome, men and women of all races and background who are open minded and fun and who love to dance and drink and smile! Maybe even hook up or just find new friends! Bonce has the best sexy & positive vibe of any nightclub you will ever attend!
Reservations or more info call or email or join our email list at www.clubbounce.net
562-243-5758
bouncereserve@aol.com
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 610 mm narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 kilometres long. Its elevation level varies from about 100 metres at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 metres at Darjeeling. Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services; however the daily Kurseong-Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by the vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives. The railway, along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway, is listed as the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong. Operations between Siliguri and Kurseong have been temporarily suspended since 2010 following a Landslide at Tindharia.
HISTORY
A broad gauge railway connected Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Siliguri in 1878. Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected to Darjeeling by a cart road (the present day Hill Cart Road) on which "Tonga services" (carriage services) were available. Franklin Prestage, an agent of Eastern Bengal Railway Company approached the government with a proposal of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The proposal was accepted in 1879 following the positive report of a committee formed by Sir Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Construction started the same year.
Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway. The stretch from Siliguri to Kurseong was opened on 23 August 1880, while the official opening of the line up to Darjeeling was on 4 July 1881. Several engineering adjustments were made later in order to ease the gradient of the rails. Despite natural calamities, such as an earthquake in 1897 and a major cyclone in 1899, the DHR continued to improve with new extension lines being built in response to growing passenger and freight traffic. However, the DHR started to face competition from bus services that started operating over the Hill Cart Road, offering a shorter journey time. During World War II, the DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.
After the independence of India, the DHR was absorbed into Indian Railways and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958. In 1962, the line was realigned at Siliguri and extended by nearly 6 km to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to meet the new broad gauge line there. DHR remained closed for 18 months during the hostile period of Gorkhaland Movement in 1988-89.
The line closed in 2011 due to a 6.8 Magnitude earthquake. The line is currently loss-making and in 2015, Rajah Banerjee, a local tea estate owner, has called for privatisation to encourage investment, which was fiercely resisted by unions.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
DHR was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999, only the second railway to have this honour bestowed upon it, the first one being Semmering Railway of Austria in 1998. To be nominated as World Heritage site on the World Heritage List, the particular site or property needs to fulfill a certain set of criteria, which are expressed in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and its corresponding Operational Guidelines. The site must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
The DHR is justified by the following criteria:
Criterion II - The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region, which was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world.
Criterion IV - The development of railways in the 19th century had a profound influence on social and economic developments in many parts of the world. This process is illustrated in an exceptional and seminal fashion by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY
Since 1881, the original route has been retained in a remarkable condition. Only minimal interventions of an evolutionary nature, such as the reduction of loops, have been carried out. Most of the original steam locomotives are still in use. Like Tea and the Ghurka culture, the DHR has become not only an essential feature of the landscape but also an enduring part of the identity of Darjeeling.
MANAGEMENT AND LEGAL STATUS
The DHR and all its movable and immovable assets, including the authentic railway stations, the line, and the track vehicles, belong to the Government of India entrusted to the Ministry of Railways. The Northeast Frontier Railway documented all the elements of the DHR in a comprehensive register. Apart from that, it handles the day-to-day maintenance and management. But moreover, several programs, divisions and departments of the Indian Railways are responsible for operating, maintaining and repairing the DHR. This includes technical as well as non-technical work. In principle, the only two legal protection mechanisms that apply to the conservation of the DHR are the provisions of the 1989 Railway Act and that it is a public property which is state-owned and therefore protected.
THE ROUTE
The railway line basically follows the Hill Cart Road which is partially the same as National Highway 55. Usually, the track is simply on the road side. In case of landslides both track and road might be affected. As long parts of the road are flanked with buildings, the railway line often rather resembles urban tramway tracks than an overland line.
To warn residents and car drivers about the approaching train, engines are equipped with very loud horns that even drown horns of Indian trucks and buses. Trains honk almost without pause.
Loops and Z-Reverses (or "zig-zag"s)
One of the main difficulties faced by the DHR was the steepness of the climb. Features called loops and Z-Reverses were designed as an integral part of the system at different points along the route to achieve a comfortable gradient for the stretches in between them. When the train moves forwards, reverses and then moves forward again, climbing a slope each time while doing so, it gains height along the side of the hill.
STATIONS
NEW JALPAIGURI JUNCTION (NJP)
New Jalpaiguri is the railway station which was extended to the south in 1964 to meet the new broad gauge to Assam. Where the two met, New Jalpaiguri was created.
SILIGURI TOWN STATION
Siliguri Town was original southern terminus of the line.
SIIGURI JUNCTION
Siliguri Junction became a major station only when a new metre-gauge line was built to Assam in the early 1950s
SUKNA STATION
This station marks the change in the landscape from the flat plains to the wooded lower slopes of the mountains. The gradient of the railway changes dramatically.
LOOP 1 (now removed)
Loop No.1 was in the woods above Sukna. It was removed after flood damage in 1991. The site is now lost in the forest.
RANGTONG STATION
A short distance above Rangtong there is a water tank. This was a better position for the tank than in the station, both in terms of water supply and distance between other water tanks.
LOOP 2 (now removed)
When Loop 2 was removed in 1942, again following flood damage, a new reverse, No.1, was added, creating the longest reverse run.
REVERSE 1
LOOP 3
Loop No.3 is at Chunbatti. This is now the lowest loop.
REVERSE 2 & 3
Reverses No.2 & 3 are between Chunbatti and Tindharia.
TINDHARIA STATION
This is a major station on the line as below the station is the workshops. There is also an office for the engineers and a large locomotive shed, all on a separate site.
Immediately above the station are three sidings; these were used to inspect the carriage while the locomotive was changed, before the train continued towards Darjeeling.
LOOP 4
Agony Point is the name given to loop No.4. It comes from the shape of the loop which comes to an apex which is the tightest curve on the line.
GAYABARI
REVERSE 6
Reverse No.6 is the last reverse on the climb.
MAHANADI STATION
KURSEONG STATION
There is a shed here and a few sidings adjacent to the main line, but the station proper is a dead end. Up trains must reverse out of the station (across a busy road junction) before they can continue on their climb. It is said that the station was built this way so that the train could enter a secure yard and stay there while the passengers left the train for refreshments.
Above Kurseong station, the railway runs through the bazaar. Trains skirt the front of shops and market stalls on this busy stretch of road.
SONADA STATION
Sonada is a small station which serves town of sonada on Darjeeling Himalayan railway. It is on Siliguri - Darjeeling national highway (NH 55).
JOREBUNGALOW STATION
This is a small location near Darjeeling and a railway station on Darjeeling Himalayan railway. Jorebungalow was store point for tea to Calcutta. This is a strategical place to connect Darjeeling to rest of the country.
GHUM STATION
Ghum, summit of the line and highest station in India. Now includes a museum on the first floor of the station building with larger exhibits in the old goods yard. Once this was the railway station at highest altitude overall and is the highest altitude station for narrow gauge railway.
BATASIA LOOP
The loop is 5 kilometres from Darjeeling, below Ghum. There is also a memorial to the Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army who sacrificed their lives after the Indian Independence in 1947. From the Batasia Loop one can get a panoramic view of Darjeeling town with the Kanchenjunga and other snowy mountains in the back-drop.
DARJEELING STATION
The farthest reach of the line was to Darjeeling Bazaar, a goods-only line and now lost under the road surface and small buildings.
LOCOMOTIVES
CURRENT
STEAM
All the steam locomotives currently in use on the railway are of the "B" Class, a design built by Sharp, Stewart and Company and later the North British Locomotive Company, between 1889 and 1925. A total of 34 were built, but by 2005 only 12 remained on the railway and in use (or under repair).
In 2002, No. 787 was rebuilt with oil firing. This was originally installed to work on the same principle as that used on Nilgiri Mountain Railway No.37395. A diesel-powered generator was fitted to operate the oil burner and an electrically-driven feed pump, and a diesel-powered compressor was fitted to power the braking system. Additionally, the locomotive was fitted with a feedwater heater. The overall result was a dramatic change in the appearance of the locomotive. However, the trials of the locomotive were disappointing and it never entered regular service. In early 2011, it was in Tindharia Works awaiting reconversion to coal-firing.
In March 2001, No.794 was transferred to the Matheran Hill Railway to allow a "Joy Train" (steam-hauled tourist train) to be operated on that railway. It did not, however, enter service there until May 2002.
DIESEL
Four diesel locomotives are in use: Nos. 601-2, 604 and 605 of the NDM6 class transferred from the Matheran Hill Railway.
PAST
In 1910 the railway purchased the third Garratt locomotive built, a D Class 0-4-0+0-4-0.
Only one DHR steam locomotive has been taken out of India, No.778 (originally No.19). After many years out of use at the Hesston Steam Railway, it was sold to an enthusiast in the UK and restored to working order. It is now based on a private railway (The Beeches Light Railway) in Oxfordshire but has run on the Ffestiniog Railway, the Launceston Steam Railway and the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway.
IN POPULAR CULTURE
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has long been viewed with affection and enthusiasm by travellers to the region and the Earl of Ronaldshay gave the following description of a journey in the early 1920s:
"Siliguri is palpably a place of meeting . . The discovery that here the metre gauge system ends and the two foot gauge of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway begins, confirms what all these things hint at... One steps into a railway carriage which might easily be mistaken for a toy, and the whimsical idea seizes hold of one that one has accidentally stumbled into Lilliput. With a noisy fuss out of all proportion to its size the engine gives a jerk - and starts... No special mechanical device such as a rack is employed - unless, indeed, one can so describe the squat and stolid hill-man who sits perched over the forward buffers of the engine and scatters sand on the rails when the wheels of the engine lose their grip of the metals and race, with the noise of a giant spring running down when the control has been removed.
Sometimes we cross our own track after completing the circuit of a cone, at others we zigzag backwards and forwards; but always we climb at a steady gradient - so steady that if one embarks in a trolley at Ghum, the highest point on the line, the initial push supplies all the energy necessary to carry one to the bottom."
The trip up to Darjeeling on railway has changed little since that time, and continues to delight travellers and rail enthusiasts, so much so that it has its own preservation and support group, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.
Several films have portrayed the railway. Especially popular was the song Mere sapno ki rani from the film Aradhana where the protagonist Rajesh Khanna tries to woo heroine Sharmila Tagore who was riding in the train. Other notable films include Barfi!, Parineeta and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. The Darjeeling Limited, a film directed by Wes Anderson, features a trip by three brothers on a fictional long-distance train based very loosely on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
TELEVISION
The BBC made a series of three documentaries dealing with Indian Hill Railways, shown in February 2010. The first film covers the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, the second the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the third the Kalka-Shimla Railway. The films were directed by Tarun Bhartiya, Hugo Smith and Nick Mattingly and produced by Gerry Troyna. The series won the UK Royal Television Society Award in June 2010. Wes Anderson's film The Darjeeling Limited also showcases three brothers riding the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
WIKIPEDIA
Pentax MZ3 | Pentax FA 43mm F1.9 limited | Kentmere pan 100
Scanned with DSLR | Essential Film Holder
After a client meeting and location scout this morning, I decided to entertain myself in the studio. Ya know, sometimes ya gotta follow your heart...
To all my friends, past present and future, "I love you man." To all you flickrers and flickrites, keep making that eye candy. So inspiring...
12 OCT 14
Today has just been a day of tears, but unlike recent tragic events in my life, these were catharsis and positive only.
It started with finally getting to see "The Fault in Our Stars." (Spoiler alerts!), the two main characters are a young man/woman who both have cancer and are in a support group together. Hazel almost died as a young girl and it has resulted in her coddling by her parents who understandably don't want to let her out of their sites and believe that she will be fine even though Hazel points out that there is nothing "fine" about being a terminal cancer patient because the truth is she will die. Hazel and Gus meet in group and after much prodding from Gus, end up in a eventual relationship together which is fraught by the fact that Gus later reveals that his cancer, once thought to be in remission has become terminal as well and the rock he once was for Hazel begins to crumble as he realizes his own fragility.
The movie doesn't rely on any sort of cheese factor or fall into stereotypical rom/com antics to tell the story, it, in my opinion came from a place that is extremely genuine. Why do I know this...because I used to work in the critical Pediatric ward of a hospital. If ever you want to be grateful for the life you have, spend time there. You learn quickly that your problems are tantamount to bulls--t when you sit with parents and hear their heart wrenching stories of their children's' traumatic brain injuries, and their only children being paralyzed, and life altering burns and hours spent hearing their children scream as doctors literally scraped their charred flesh away. So this movie hit me square in the heart reminding me of the hospital.
So in the movie, when Gus eventually succumbed to his disease, his own lungs suffocating him, it was quite real. We like to think of kids as impervious to the hurt of the world, but it happens. Kids die, and they can die horribly, tragically, and far far too young and it hits your life, exactly as Hazel explains, like a grenade. One of my friends, now just over a month now, drowned on vacation. Just like that, he was gone. So I basically spent the last half hour of this movie pouring tears into tissues and releasing the pain I felt for my friend, for the kids in the hospital I worked with, and just because the movie did such a good job of putting you in that place of understanding, and ultimately hopefully cherishing the life you do have and the loved ones around you.
In other news, coincidentally, it was about that time for me to do what I have done for the last five years, and that is to compose five letters to five people in my life who have helped shaped my life, or who have shown me immeasurable kindness, or who have just been there for me in some meaningful way. I started this practice years back, when one day at the office, I was at my desk, literally trying to keep it together. I'd had this incredibly hard day where management was stepping on my neck, my staff had been a pair of grade A jerks, the volunteer department had shoved off leaving me to manage an additional 120 people I had not prepared for b/c it wasn't my job, and a an eventful day filled with me getting yelled at by visitors who couldn't be bothered to understand the rules we'd clearly posted. All these arrows had shot me, and I wanted 8pm to come hard and fast. People expect above and beyond from management and rarely do they care you're a human being. So anyway, here I am, and in the midst of all this, this employee who by the way had given me so much gruff herself, came over and said, I want to thank you for all the work you're doing here. I know its hard (and she knew that b/c she had been management for like 3 months and quit from the stress), but you're doing an amazing job and just don't let them see you sweat. She then told me one of the things that has stuck with me through all these years, and that's that she firmly believed in giving her flowers to the living, to letting people know now, while they are alive how important they are to her.
I thanked her profusely stating that she literally had no idea how much her words meant to me in that particular instant where I felt like no one gave a damn and believe you me, it lifted my spirits and I chugged on to 8pm and went home feeling like I could do this another day, no problem. So now each year, I write five, long, well thought out letters in which I share how these particular people came into my life, why they became important, how they helped shape me or fulfill some need I had, and my best wishes for them in whatever they are doing. So far, today, I'd written out just two of these, and both were quickly met with a response, and a powerful one.
Lest you think that everyone else in the world has got their s--t together and they know what they're doing and they are doing just great, you'd be wrong because we put up walls that often project that we're fine when we are really hurting on the inside. Both wrote back that they were going through hell right now and that neither felt like they were appreciated or that they were a bit directionless because of all the drama in their lives, and that my letter not only helped lift their spirit, but validated for them that they had value, that they had helped someone in their lives, and just gave them a bit more push or hope. I was taken aback. I didn't think these two in particular would have issues like they described because they seem so flawless, but part of these letters is sharing with people that what they have done or said absolutely matters and that they have impacted the world in some way, because I'm telling you, you changed my life, you helped me in my time of need, and now I can only repay that kindness with a thank you which I believe simply isn't enough. Their personal responses to me were so lovely, and I was already charged up with tears from the movie, that on came the water works again to know that not only had they helped me and loved me and shown me great kindness, but that I had in many ways done the same. And that's just two letters! I still have 3 more to go!
Negative Lab Pro v3.0.2 | Color Model: Basic | Pre-Sat: 3 | Tone Profile: LAB - Standard | WB: Auto-Neutral | LUT: Frontier
North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton Alberta in October, 1974 - Epson V500 Scan of Positive Slide - Photographer Russell McNeil PhD (Physics) lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where he works as a writer.
Harman Direct Positive Paper trials and review :D
www.ahaywardphotographeâr.co.uk/#/harman-direct-positiâ...
Club Bounce - Where size & style meet is open every Saturday night at La Fonda!
2501 Wilshire Blvd La Ca 90057
The hot spot in LA for the curvy classy and cuties who love to party! All size and shapes welcome, men and women of all races and background who are open minded and fun and who love to dance and drink and smile! Maybe even hook up or just find new friends! Bonce has the best sexy & positive vibe of any nightclub you will ever attend!
Reservations or more info call or email or join our email list at www.clubbounce.net
562-243-5758
bouncereserve@aol.com
Harman Direct Positive Paper trials and review :D
www.ahaywardphotographeâr.co.uk/#/harman-direct-positiâ...
29/365 "Descent"
The morning guaranteed a promising day ... Positive. I was doing the picture of the day and when I connected the camera to the pc. I was not walking. I have broken the usb port of the camera. Imagine my feelings, when for a second I thought that "I would not take more pictures", that my passion had come. Obviously, then breathe, and I set a thousand more options to upload the photos, and find them. But the moment that happens, I wanted to represent it. I wanted to sit in the middle of a dark box, and that nothing would enter or leave ...
La mañana garantizaba un dia prometedor... Positivo. Estaba haciendo la fotografia del dia y cuando conecto la camara a la pc. No andaba. Se me ha roto la entrada usb de la camara. Imaginen mis sentimientos, cuando por un segundo crei que "ya no haria mas fotos", que hasta aqui habia llegado mi pasion. Obviamente, despues respire, y me fije mil opciones mas para poder subir las fotos, y las encontre. Pero el momento que pase, lo queria representar. Queria quedarme sentada en medio de una caja oscura, y que nada entrara, ni saliera...