Power-Generator photos on Flickr

India - West Bengal - Darjeeling - Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - Steam Locomotive Mountaineer NF-782B - 23 by Manfred Sommer

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (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 INTEGITY

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-REVERSE

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.

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 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

The Virgin River by QsySue

6 8

LaVerkin, UT

Went for a hike yesterday. That building is some sort of power generator--abandoned and wrecked. More pics to come. :)

2003 The Hon Ralph Percy, Duke of Northumberland by Wellesley House

Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland DL (born 16 November 1956), styled Lord Ralph Percy until 1995, is an English aristocrat, hereditary peer and a major UK land-owner. Northumberland is the son of Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland, and his wife Elizabeth, née Lady Elizabeth Montagu Douglas Scott.

He left Wellesley for Eton in 1969 and became the Duke of Northumberland when his older brother, Lord Harry Percy died in 1995. Harry Percy, as he was known when he was Earl Percy at Wellesley died suddenly of natural causes at the age of 42. At Wellesley he was a happy games playing boy who set a splendid example in many facets of school life. He was a clever boy, played cricket in the Ist XI and was awarded the Herbert Day Memorial Prize. He was, sadly, one of the first sufferers of "M.E." He never married. His mother, who was a frequent visitor to Wellesley when her three sons were there, survived him. The previous Duke, his father, played in a Father's Day cricket match for his youngest brother, Lord James Percy when he was over 70 years old.

The seat of the Dukes of Northumberland is Alnwick Castle, in Alnwick, Northumberland; their London residence is Syon House in Brentford which replaced as their London residence the demolished Northumberland House in the Strand. The traditional burial place of the Dukes of Northumberland is Westminster Abbey in London, the Percys thus being the last family to maintain such a privilege.

The Duke of Northumberland studied history at the University of Oxford, and then land management with Reading University and worked in the Arundel Castle estate office for seven years, before moving back to Northumberland to manage the Alnwick estate for his elder brother Henry, the 11th Duke. He succeeded in the dukedom in 1995 on the death of the 11th Duke, who had no offspring. As such, he was a member of the House of Lords until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 ended the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House.

As Duke, he is the beneficial owner (or head of the beneficially owning family) of Northumberland Estates, the main ducal commercial vehicle, and a large number of affiliate companies and trusts, which in turn own a great deal of land and property in Northumberland, Scotland, Surrey and Tyneside. Ralph Percy was ranked at number 248 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011, with an estimated wealth of £315 million. He is the titular owner of Alnwick Castle, an ancestral ducal seat, as well as Warkworth Castle and Prudhoe Castle in Northumberland; Syon Park in London; Hulne Park and Hulne Priory at Alnwick; the Albury Estate in Surrey, and other listed buildings such as Brizlee Tower. Northumberland Estates manages 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of land, directly managing 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of forestry interests and 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of farmland, with 100 tenant farmers managing the remainder of the land.

The 12th Duke has shown a greater degree of entrepreneurial zeal than recent predecessors, and his redevelopment plans meet frequent criticism. His sale on the open market, rather than at a lower price to The National Gallery, of Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks in 2003 was also subject to some criticism. At much the same time, in response to a Foot and Mouth disease crisis, the Duke cut the rents of tenant farmers by 10%. The Duke has signalled his opposition to wind farms, but has engaged with renewable energy in the restoration of a hydroelectric power generator. The Duke is a sponsor of The Northumberland Church of England Academy.

Northumberland married Jane Richard in 1979. They have four children:

Lady Catherine Sarah Valentine (b. 23 June 1982), married to Patrick Valentine since 26 February 2011.

George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy (b. 4 May 1984), managing director of energy company Cluff Geothermal with Professor Paul Younger.

Lady Melissa Jane Percy (b. 20 May 1987), engaged to Thomas van Straubenzee

Lord Max Ralph Percy (b. 26 May 1990) rumoured to be dating Princess Nora Oettingen-Spielburg.

Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Car No. 331. National Tramway Museum, Crich Tramway Village Derbyshire by woodytyke

1 3

Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Car No. 331. Built 1930. 70 seats. Feltham prototype, with centre entrance doors instead of end doors. This didn't suit London's conduit system, so it was sold to Sunderland to become No.100. Restored funded by British Steel, and appeared in a BS blue livery at Gateshead garden Festival in 1990. Known by enthusiasts and staff as MET 331, or by its original name of "Cissie". Entered workshops in June 2008.

Deira shops by Paul Fenwick

2

This shot doesn't give a true impression of the diversity of shops in Deira. One would see a shop selling mobile phones, next to one selling motorbikes, next to beds, next to clothing, next to electronics, next to power generators, next to a green-grocer.

Need more power for your business? Visit us : http://parimasindo.co.id | Fuelless Power Generator #generator #fuelless #power #electric #business #tower #mainpower #building #hospital #businesstower #school #church #indonesia #surabaya #iphonesia #ip5s by Yefta Soteros Yusak

3/4 UP 1943 Leads 21 Car Officer Special for Bush Funeral Train Bucyrus, KS 12-2-18 by Tyler Silvest

2

Union Pacific 1943(SD70AH) 'Spirit of the Union Pacific' and 8003(AC45CCTE) Leading a 21 Car Officer Special for Bush Funeral Train Southbound on the UP Coffeyville Sub seen here from the 215th Street Crossing West of Antioch Road near Bucyrus, Kansas.

Video: youtu.be/CZ8r0m5Zkz0

Car List:

Kenefick UPP 119 Business Car

Walter Dean UPP 9005 Dome Lounge

City of Denver UPP 5011 Diner Lounge

Portola UPP 1610 Deluxe Sleeper

Overland UPP 302 Diner Lounge

Harriman UPP 9004 Dome Lounge

Lone Star UPP 101 Business Car

Council Bluffs UPP 5769 Baggage Recreation Car

City of San Francisco UPP 9009 Dome Lounge

City of Portland UPP 8008 Dome Diner

UPP 2066 Power/Generator Car

Feather River UPP 114 Business Car

Little Rock UPP 315 Crew Sleeper

City of Los Angeles UPP 4808 Diner

Omaha UPP 200 Deluxe Sleeper

Green River UPP 1602 Deluxe Sleeper

Lake Forest UPP 412 Deluxe Sleeper

Lake Bluff UPP 413 Deluxe Sleeper

Powder River UPP 1605 Deluxe Sleeper

Columbia River UPP 314 Crew Sleeper

UPP 207 Power/Generator Car

Train: PCBFW1-02

Photo Taken: 12-2-18 at 1:52 pm

Picture ID# 2885

After the game by Dan

2 1

These very sweet fellows put me up for the night in their commune. There was a meet up in my room and an hour for a mass. They only had a gas powered generator and it lit a lamp in the church. Now on Google I see they are wired to a grid.

India - West Bengal - Kurseong - Streetlife - 42bb by Manfred Sommer

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (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 INTEGITY

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-REVERSE

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.

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 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

Telecom Tower Wind Turbine 2 by TechnoSpin Inc.

Check out our small wind turbines and wind power systems at:

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Wind farm power generator. Near Millicent in South Australia. by denisbin

Millicent.

The town sits on a remnant sand dune in a flat limestone area, with volcanic soils nearby with views of Mr Burr an old volcano. Any history of the town has to look at drainage schemes for the swamps and areas of annual flooding between Millicent and the Woakwine range near the coast. In 1844 Governor Grey, Charles Bonney (the lake was named after him) and Thomas Burr, Deputy Surveyor General explored the South east for suitable areas for settlement. A year later Sir Samuel Davenport (of Macclesfield) occupied a run in the Millicent area. He called it the Rivoli Bay run. Davenport was a great land speculator and city gentleman so he sent down Mr. George Glen in 1846 to run the property. In 1851 George Glen took over the leasehold from Davenport in partnership with William Vansittart a wealthy Irishman from Mt Gambier. Vansittart was accidentally killed in 1854 and left Glen as sole owner of Mayura run. Materials were carted from Rivoli Bay to build a homestead for Glen which was called Mayura in 1857, the year he married Millecent Short. She was the daughter of Bishop Augusta Short, a neighbor of the Davenports at Beaumont. The town three miles from Mayura was gazetted by the government in 1871 and became known as Millicent. As the years went by parts of the Mayura run were resumed as Hundreds were declared for survey and settlement. But settlers faced a major problem with flooding near Millicent.

The first South East drainage scheme happened in 1863 when a cutting was made at Narrow Neck near Rivoli Bay (Beachport.) Drainage works were taken over by the Surveyor General’s Department in 1866 and George Goyder visited the South East to inspect for himself. Then Wyrie Swamp and the Muirhead Flats were drained and this became the site for the proposed town of Millicent. This involved a cutting 858 feet long and up to 28 feet deep at Milne’s Gap. The drains, completed in 1869 all ended up in Lake Bonney. The early settlers also had the problem of coast disease, a disease that eventually killed many sheep. Henry Marston of the 90 Mile Desert fame solved this problem too by discovering that a deficiency of cobalt and copper which were absent from the pastures was the problem. From 1935 sheep were fed a cobalt pellet to stop the wasting disease.

One of the first buildings in Millicent was the Somerset Hotel erected in 1872 for Aaron Lane. He also built hotels at Southend, Beachport and Tantanoola. The façade of the Somerset was changed in the 1920s. The Old School was built in 1873 for 76 pupils. In the 1920s it became Millicent High School until the new high school was built in 1935. The new Primary School was built in 1910 in mock gothic Tudor revival style. Davenport requested police protection for the district in 1846 against the aboriginal people but the first policeman was not stationed here until 1874. Today the town has about 6,000 residents. Mt Muirhead which can be seen from the town is an extinct volcano.

Steampunk Electroplasmatic Gife / Gunlass 02 004 by Dave Crook (Artificer - Artist - Prop Maker - Sculptor - Concept Designer)

A second generation Gun/Knife. "Gife"

A Dirigible Airship Boarding Cutlass ... An Air-Kraken Killer. A MultiBarreled gun and Blade. An Electroplasmatically charged "Gife" capable of slicing through hull metal and Kraken armour with impunity. Whilst capable of delivering rapid fire bursts of EP energy front or rear via quad barrel emitters ;)

Think of it more as a four barreled gun with a very hefty bayonet lol .. The blade is 10mm thick all the way to the gaurd and very solidly bolted together. Its an Electroplasmatically powered weapon.

A charged 4 barrel pistol, a charged blade and a charged Knuckleduster guard.

The generator is the cage/coil thingy at the back. (Its a straight line design akin to the Force Lances used in the scifi series Andromeda)

The gauge is a power level indicator (Telling you whats left .. Measured in power units called "Harlots" after my characters name Colonel "Wolfgrin" Harlot - the creator of all these weapons and devices at the R& D facilty at Valles Marineris in the 25th century )

On the opposite side is a three position selector switch for off, pistol & blade/knuckledusters.

Dirigible Airship Boarding Cutlass ("Gife" ... "Gunlass" :) )

ElectroPlasmatically powered blade, EP-knuckleduster guard, EP-rapid fire 4 barrel pistol.

4 power settings 0 - 3

Pommel mounted ElectroPlasmatic power generator is rated up to 120,000 Harlots of EP energy. Warning : Sustained discharge over 80,000 Harlots is inadviseable ... But fun ;-)

The piece is hand built with basic tools, constructed entirely from repurposed/found items, junk (some vintage) tool parts, scrap materials. Predominately brass, some copper and the blade is 10mm aluminium. Even the wiring is vintage ;-)

Weight : 3lbs / 1.5 kgs

Overall length : 30.5 inches / 77.5 cm

Blade edge length : 18 inches / 45.5cm

Rosewood grip

IF MY THINKERING TALENTS MAY BE OF USE TO YOU, DROP ME A LINE ;-) ... kruki99@hotmail.com

UPDATED INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS LIST: Get ready for the Community Power Conference 2010 by 350 .org

Emacs!

Media Advisory

UPDATED INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS LIST:

Get ready for the Community Power Conference 2010

Join Ontario's largest annual gathering of

Community Power producers, proponents and supporters

The Community Power Conference 2010 is hosted by

the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association

(OSEA). Together with the Power Networking

Centre trade show, the conference attracts

industry regulators, commercial and community

power generators, farmers and First Nation and Métis delegations.

The conference offers two full days of meeting

and learning from community power experts, while

the trade show displays the latest innovations in

power generation technologies and services.

WHEN AND WHAT:

- November 14, 2010 (6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.)

The Green Connection opening reception

co-organized with Green Enterprise Ontario (GEO)

- November 15-16, 2010 (7:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.)

Second Annual Community Power Conference

- November 16 - 17, 2010 (9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.)

Power Networking Centre trade show

co-organized with the Association of Power Producers of Ontario (APPrO)

- November 15, 2010 (7:00 -9:30 pm)

Presentation of Community Power Awards.

WHERE:

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, 700 and 800 Level

222 Bremner Blvd., Toronto, ON Canada

This year, conference organizers have attracted

the following Ontario-wide and international

experts to speak at seminars and share their thoughts.

Speakers from Ontario include:

- Colin Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Power Authority

- The Honourable Brad Duguid, Ontario Minister of Energy

- Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

- Tom Rand, Advisory and Practice Lead of Cleantech, MaRS

- Michael Lyle, Vice President, Legal,

Aboriginal and Regulatory Affairs, Ontario Power Authority

- Don McCabe, Vice President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

- Jennifer Green, Executive Coordinator,

Agrienergy Producers' Association of Ontario

- Donna Cansfield, MPP and Parliamentary

Assistant to the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

UPDATED: International speakers include:

- Shaun Chapman, Vote Solar, United States

- Mary Dougherty, Embark, Australia

- Paul Gipe, Author, Advocate and Renewable

Energy Industry Analyst, United States

- Stefan Gsaenger, WWEA, Germany

- Henning Holst, Ingenieurbüro Henning Holst, Germany

- Frede Hvelplund, Aalborg University, Denmark

- Tetsunari Iida, Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, Japan

- Johan Lewin, Seeland Development Trust, South Africa

- Preben, Maegaard, Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable Energy, Denmark

- Miguel Mendoça, World Future Council, United Kingdom

- Fabio Rosa, IDEAAS, Brazil

The full list of speakers and their biographies can be found at:

cpconference.ca/Page.asp?PageID=924&SiteNodeID=385

For further details, please visit: www.cpconference.ca

The conference schedule can be found at:

www.cpconference.ca/Page.asp?PageID=861&SiteNodeID=384

To register for the conference, please visit:

registration.cpconference.ca

For more information or to schedule interviews

with any of the speakers above, please contact:

Maria Leung, Environmental Communication Options,

mleung@ecostrategy.ca OR 416-972-7401

-30-

OSEA works to initiate, facilitate and support

the work of local sustainable energy organizations through

membership services, province wide capacity

building and non-partisan policy work. They work

to catalyze the efforts of community organizers

and raise awareness of the benefits of community

power and renewable energy through various

communication channels and by offering a variety

of workshops and guidebooks on topics.

India - West Bengal - Kurseong - Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - 41bb by Manfred Sommer

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (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 INTEGITY

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-REVERSE

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.

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 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

India - West Bengal - Darjeeling - Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - Steam Locomotive Mountaineer NF-782B - 26 by Manfred Sommer

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (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 INTEGITY

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-REVERSE

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.

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 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

Shots From the FC AV Circus Bender_spring 2018 by lyon smith

From the FC AV Circus-Bender 5/4 at the White House. Shot on a Canon a1 on some cinestil 800t push processed to 3200. Mostly used the radioactive Canon 35mm fd. A few shots were the 50mm 1.8. One or two with a 4.5 tete. There was a blackout in the area and band/venue rented a power generator and went for it. The lighting was a fun challenge.

International Showman's Museum (9 of 11) by gg1electrice60

3

I took this series of Ten Photographs outside the International Independent Showmen's Carnival Museum, which is located at 6938 Riverview Drive in Riverview, Florida.

This is a former Royal American Shows Wagon which traveled by Carnival Train to Bring Shows/Carnivals to Major Cities across both the United States and Canada. Their Winter Quarters was located in Tampa, Florida. Unfortunately, they eventually went Bankrupt after a long drawn out Legal Issue with the Canadian Government, caused by a Competitor Carnival/Show with Headquarters in Canada.

On August 4, 2017, I drove to Riverview, Florida to see the International Independent Showman's Museum to see what the Carnies had on display in the museum. Unfortunately, i arrive late in the afternoon and apparently it was closed. They were apparently having a Public Convention, but I arrived too late to gain admission to the museum. Therefore, I took Photographs of the Items displayed outside the museum.

There was a Banner attached to the Fence with the following lettering upon it:

SHOWMAN'S CARNIVAL MUSEUM OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Museum 813 671-3503 - - - - By Appointment 813 765-7xxx

Unfortunately, the Banner was folded back on itself, so that I couldn't see the last three digits of the second Phone Number.

I came back a week later and discovered that, many of the items that I photographed had been removed from the grounds and most likely locked up inside the museum. So I stopped in the Office on the otherside of Riverview Drive at International Showman's Foundation Building and asked the Office Manager, for a schedule of when the Museum is opened to the Public. She didn't know, but suggested that they might be opened on weekends. I took one more photo of a banner outside of the foundation building which depicts two American Fags, a Globe of the Earth and a Ribbon superimposed on the banner tittle'd: "International - Independent Showmen's Association". This Photograph can be seen as the next Photo in my Photostream, following this Ten Photo Sequence.

IMG_2182 by Andrew Davidoff

1

Historic (but functional) power generation in Písek, CZ. This is the wheel spun by two turbines in the river (in the next room), spinning a 3 phase AC power generator.

Steampunk Electroplasmatic Gife / Gunlass 02 005 by Dave Crook (Artificer - Artist - Prop Maker - Sculptor - Concept Designer)

1

Three position safety selector.

Electroplasmatic power is measured in "Harlot" units. After the creator, Colonel "Wolfgrin" Harlot. :-)