Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berri%E2%80%93UQAM_station:

Berri–UQAM station is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and is the system's central station. This station is served by the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines. It is located in the Quartier Latin.

Berri–UQAM is the 2nd deepest station in the network, and also the busiest station in the network, transfers not included. If transfers were included, the 13 million passengers number would rise to about 35–40 million a year.

The work of five artists is exhibited in this station. The largest work is a stained-glass mural by Pierre Gaboriau and Pierre Osterrath entitled Hommage aux fondateurs de la ville de Montréal (homage to the founders of the city of Montreal). A gift of the Union régionale de Montréal des caisses populaires Desjardins and installed in 1969, it depicts Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, Jeanne Mance, and Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve. It is located over the eastern portal of the Green Line tunnel.

Three paintings by Robert LaPalme are located over the main staircase leading to the Yellow Line terminus. Originally located at the entrance to Expo 67, they represent three themes of the Expo: science, recreation, and culture.

A plaque by LaPalme and Georges Lauda, commemorating the inauguration of the Metro, is located at the centre of the mezzanine. It is enclosed in a black circular bench, a popular meeting site, referred to as la rondelle (the hockey puck) or la pilule (the pill) or "le banc des fous" (the crazy bench).

In the newer Sainte-Catherine entrance pavilion, a statue of Mother Émilie Gamelin by Raoul Hunter, commemorating Place Émilie-Gamelin (also called Berri Square) in which the entrance is located. The statue is owned by the City of Montreal.

The most recent art piece put in place inside the station is the Wall of Peace on the concourse level of the Yellow Line. It consists of coloured metal plates bearing the word "peace" in multiple languages.

Back to 2006.

Pluto is demoted to "dwarf planet" status From its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was considered the Solar System's ninth planet.

Twitter.com was launched in July 2006. This new method of social networking and micro-blogging grew rapidly. Donald Trump's first tweet would probably read...Pluto is a dwarf for years he called himself large but all the time he was at Disney he did bad things...very bad things..so now having been declared a dwarf he has been sent to the Snow White mines in the deep south along with other dwarfs.

I came across this small, sparkly creek in Ravalli County, western Montana, with very strong and bright backlighting from our solar system's star, also known as Sunny.

Spring rains in an otherwise arid part of the country were frequent and adequate enough to both green the pastures and fill the rivers, ponds and streams of our local neighborhood.

Evidence of a storm front in the upper right corner of the image suggests that more rains were likely later in the day. And that suggestion proved to come true by the time I drove back home later in the afternoon/early evening.

CSXT SD40-2 #8247 is paired up with 8017 at Cumberland, MD. The duo is assigned to a yard switching job this evening April 12, 2025. The 8247 is unique among the fleet of remaining SD40-2s in that it retains the much beloved "YN2" scheme otherwise known as Yellow Nose 2 from the mid 1990s. It is believed to be one of only two SD40s remaining in that scheme. 8247 was manufactured by EMD in January 1977 for Chessie System's B&O and was numbered 7605. The 8017 was manufactured by EMD in April 1979 for Family Lines System's Louisville & Nashville and currently retains it's original L&N number of 8017. Nikon D610.

The morning sun has finally broken through the fog as the Vermont Rail System's 263 train makes its way through Rockingham, Vermont and crosses over Parker Hill Road. VTR 431 leads the train as it runs from Rutland to Bellows Falls, where the crew will drop their train and return light power to Rutland.

====Info====

GMRC Bellows Falls Subdivision

Rockingham, VT

VTR 263 (Local; Rutland, VT to Bellows Falls, VT)

VTR 431 SD70M-2 Ex. FURX 101, FEC 101 Blt. 2006

VTR 210 GP38-2 Ex. GMTX 2684, LLPX 3106 GP40, CSX 9704, CSX 6609, BO 4034 Blt. 1971

A detouring Amtrak GG1 918 was being towed by a former Penn Central GP38-2 eastbound on Chessie System's Belt Line at NA Tower in 1978. The 918 was built in 1942 as PRR 4920 and scrapped in the 1980s.

A derailment on the Northeast Corridor prompted Amtrak to run on the Chessie System. Passing a freight in the Mount Royal siding, the wayward electric was passing underneath I-83, the Jones Falls Expressway.

Excuse the poor composition and focus - I was eight.

Could you imagine CSX allowing Amtrak to run detours here nowadays?

Nope. Busitution or cancellation, not a detour. The shareholders would not benefit from such a move.

Pluto has long been a mystery, a dot at our solar system’s margins. The best images, even with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, were fuzzy and pixelated. In July 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto and captured the sharpest views of the dwarf planet to date. One of the most striking areas, informally named "Sputnik Planum," is a sweeping, frozen plain the size of Texas and ringed by mountains of ice. Its smooth deposits are unmarred by impact craters, a stark contrast to the rest of Pluto’s battered surface. As a result, scientists believe the region formed recently, within the last few hundred million years. This contradicts past depictions of Pluto as an unchanging world. By analyzing images taken during the flyby, scientists hope to unravel more of the dwarf planet’s history. Watch the video for an up-close look at Pluto.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Video courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/S. Robbins

Night traffic passing along the A52 and under the Nottingham tram system's Ningbo Friendship Bridge.

My day out offered some challenging clouds and as you've seen I certainly didn't get all the shots I was hoping for but the light here was by far the best of the day and worthy of sharing a few!

After setting out all the empties at Barre Transfer on the old main (ex CV) Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad headed back west light engine with GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38). They are now seen back on the old main at the other end picking up the outbound loads they'd left here earlier to take them down to Montpelier Junction yard to the NECR interchange. This is about MP 2.3 on the Washington County Railroad's Montpelier and Barre Division and the aptly named Gin Lane crossing in the foreground leads to the Bar Hill distillery behind me.

Interestingly the former CV trackage including both bridges (the thru truss span at the east end and the thru girder span here) was ultimately not abandoned and was actually tied in with switches on both ends and is used as a storage track called appropriately enough the 'Old Main'.

Montpelier, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

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I think this is one of the connecting tunnels at Bank tube station but feel free to correct me......

Click here for more of my underground photography : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157670949337253

From Wikipedia, "The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.

The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, opening on 10 January 1863 as the world's first underground passenger railway. It is now part of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line.

The network has expanded to 11 lines with 250 miles (400 km) of track. However, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London; there are only 33 Underground stations south of the River Thames. The system's 272 stations collectively accommodate up to 5 million passenger journeys a day. In 2020/21 it was used for 296 million passenger journeys, making it one of the world's busiest metro systems."

© D.Godliman

A set of WM power works through B&O's yard at Cumberland, MD on March 19, 1976. Two WM GP40s and a WM GP35 bracket a N&W RS-11. At this point in time, a lot of WM traffic came from N&W, especially grain traffic headed for Port Covington. Pool power was common. I am convinced to this day, that Chessie System's abandonment of part of WM had more to do with keeping N&W's hands off WM, than it did with eliminating duplicate trackage. Chessie did not want N&W in Baltimore.

Take these little rockets lightly at the traffic light, and you lose! "To give some idea of this mechanical system’s efficiency, the Delta S4 Corse famously ran 0-60 MPH in 2.4 seconds on gravel, nearly identical to the F1 cars of the era."

The Group B car rulebook stipulated that 200 identical roadgoing variants of the car had to be presented for a competition variant to qualify and the Delta S4 was finally homologated on November 1st 1985.

Now, certain sources claim that the actual number of produced models is closer to 150, while some argue that the numbers were in fact much smaller. That wouldn’t be a surprise considering Lancia’s legendary ruse when homologating the 037 by presenting the same batch of cars on two different lots.

The delays in development meant that the Delta S4 race car was ready to debut at the very end of the group B rally car 1985 season which it did in great style, but more on that later. Now, let’s see what made Lancia Delta S4 so formidable.

For the competition cars to maintain light weight, Abarth constructed the frame of the S4 in used lightweight chrome-molybdenum tubular spaceframe with carbon fiber reinforcements.

The tubular frame of the Delta S4 was constructed in a similar manner to the 037, yet with improved rigidity, enabling the car to perform better under demanding conditions of various rallying across the championship.

Even though the car shared its name with the 5-door hatchback, the Delta S4 Stradale retained only the front grille, the windshield glass and rear lights with its pedestrian namesake. The headlights were sourced from the Fiat Ritmo and virtually everything else was unique for this car.

The two-door hatchback-like car featured lightweight epoxy and fiberglass body panels with both the front and the rear being clamshell panels. The S4 Stradale featured the iconic flared fenders which later found their way onto the Delta HF Integrale, whereas the large side scoops covering the whole C pillar fed air to the turbo and supercharger intercoolers mounted horizontally behind the engine bay cover.

The imposing look of the Delta S4 Stradale was upped even more in the competition-ready Corse trim. The front clamshell panel featured a Gurney flap on the hood and a front splitter with aerodynamic winglets moulded into the edges of the front bumper panel. The rear had exposed exhausts, and the roof mounted spoiler featured a prominent aerodynamic wing.

The body of the Corse version was constructed in lighter carbon fiber composite with hollow shell Kevlar doors keeping the weight even more down. Unlike the glass windows of the S4 Stradale, the Lancia Delta S4 Corse had fixed perspex windows.

Engine and Transmission

Carrying over from the 1984 variant of the 037, the Delta S4 had a Fiat Twin Cam 16-valve inline-four engine.

Originally developed by Aurelio Lamperdi, this aluminum alloy engine had been in production since 1966 and over the course of decades, it powered various Fiats, Alfa Romeos, and Lancias. In the case of the Delta S4, it was one of its most extreme iterations as it was thoroughly reworked by Abarth, officially getting the name Abarth 233 ATR 18S.

Unlike the 2.1-liter unit from the 037 EVO, the Delta S4 used the 1.8-liter variant which enabled the car to stay under the 2.5-liter class with a minimum weight of 1,962 lb or 890 kg, essential for rally success. Also, for better weight distribution due to the centrally mounted transfer case, the engine was rotated 180° compared to its position on the Lancia 037.

Just like in the 037 EVO, the engine was twin-charged, meaning it was both turbocharged and supercharged to eliminate issues with turbo lag – a common occurrence in early turbocharged cars. This complicated system was well-engineered and proved to be reliable during pre-production testing and Delta S4’s competing years too.

In the lower RPM range, it was the supercharger boost giving additional power to the engine while the turbo activated to work in unison with the supercharger midway into the RPM range. Finally, when the engine was getting to its redline, the supercharger disengaged letting the turbo provide

For the Corse variant, the Abarth was able to extract way more power from the setup. Various sources claim that the power during engine testing surpassed the 1000 hp mark, but the rally cars ran around 450 horsepower at 8,000 RPM and 289 lb-ft of torque for the 1985 season.

In 1986, the figures were raised to 480 hp at 8,400 RPM and 362 lb-ft of torque, although the power output was unofficially over 550 horsepower. Moreover, Markku Alen claimed that his Delta S4 had 750 horsepower at the final event of the 1986 season.

The S4 Corse engine ran on 7.1:1 compression, while the KKK K27 Turbo and Volumex R18 supercharger provided a boost of 1.5 bar. Both the competition and the street trim engine had dry-sump lubrication, but only the racing car had a functional roof-mounted scoop for the oil cooler

This tour de force of an engine was mated to Hewland 5-speed dogleg manual gearbox sending the power to the wheels via innovative three-differential all-wheel drive. In the Corse variant, the central Ferguson viscous coupling allowed front-to-rear power distribution to range from 25:75 to 40:60 to both the front and the rear ZF limited-slip differential.

On the other hand, the Delta S4 Stradale had fixed 30:70 power distribution between the front open and the rear limited-slip ZF differential via central Ferguson viscous coupling.

To give some idea of this mechanical system’s efficiency, the Delta S4 Corse famously ran 0-60 MPH in 2.4 seconds on gravel, nearly identical to the F1 cars of the era.

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

In 2009, an Environmental Assessment (EA) began to create a proposal of electrically-powered light rail transit through Kitchener and Waterloo, and adapted bus rapid transit from Kitchener to Cambridge. On June 24, 2009, Regional Council voted to approve the project, subject to funding from higher levels of government, which was in turn approved by council on June 15, 2011.

Construction began in August 2014 and service was expected to begin in late 2017; however, because of delays in the manufacture and delivery of rolling stock, the introduction of the light rail service was significantly delayed. The total cost of the system was estimated at $818 million, but in December 2017, the overruns were estimated to total approximately $50 million. The Province was expected to provide $25 million of that amount.

According to the Region of Waterloo, the Ion network is named after the atom, which it describes as being “always in motion”.

On July 10, 2013, it was reported that a deal was finalized with Metrolinx to join its contract with Bombardier Transportation for the purchase of 14 Flexity Freedom LRVs to form the system's initial fleet, with an option to purchase up to 14 more as the need arises. The 14 vehicles are estimated to cost $92.4 million, an average of $6.6 million per vehicle.

Each 30-metre-long, 30-tonne vehicle has 56 seats and a standing capacity of 144 passengers. The body is constructed of five sections, in an accordion-like configuration to allow for sharp turns. It can be driven from either end. The top speed is 88 km/h but the average travel speed is unlikely to exceed 50 km/h.

The vehicles are numbered with a three-digit unit number in the 5xx series beginning with 501. This fleet number is displayed prominently on the end modules of each vehicle followed by a single letter to denote which end module the fleet number is on (e.g. 503A, 507B).

C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet. Was discovered in February 2023 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). It was also independently observed in January 2023 by the Tsuchinshan Chinese Observatory.

The comet has a retrograde orbit, meaning it moves in the opposite direction to most major solar system planets. It has an 80,000-year orbit around the sun, but NASA now says it may leave the solar system entirely.

At its closest point to the sun, called perihelion, September 27th, 2024, it was 0.39 astronomical units (AU) from the sun.

At its closest point to Earth, October 12th, 2024, coming within approximately 70 million kilometers (44 million miles) of Earth.

It was visible primarily to those in the Southern Hemisphere and the Tropics until about October 8. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere had more opportunities to see it in subsequent days. Binoculars might help you locate it, especially after October 15th.

Comet A3 is believed to originate in the Oort cloud, a theorized shell of icy bodies that orbit at the solar system's far outer edges.

Captured with Askar ACL200, a 200mm widefield telescope on October 20th, 2024.

My first ever comet image. Some alignment artifacts near the head. But for this being my 1st attempt at tracking, guiding, capturing, and processing data. I am pleased.

Deep crimson maples against a soft autumnal background of more red leaves and branches.

Light and shadows.

Wide opened with FE 85mm f1.4 GM.

A7R5 is finally out after a 1 year delay, it does tick a lot of boxes for me even if some of the new features already existed in other brands.

As expected, it retains the same 61mp from the preceding A7R4. The biggest improvements to me are listed below from (a) to (c).

(a) 8 stops IBIS measured at 50mm, up from 5.5 stops of the preceding A7R4. Sony IBIS has always been pegged at 50-55mm since the A7R2. I thought this improvement isn’t due till Sony brings out a 100mp camera, looks like the next iteration A7R6 will probably have the 100mp sensor; www.flickr.com/photos/86145600@N07/50937613287/

Sony IMX555CQR 102mp sensor already exists. Highly likely Sony will wait for Canon to launch a 100mp camera then respond.

(b) Subject recognition AF, this could be similar to the OM System’s new OM-1 Subject Detection mode which apparently makes a bigger difference to the AF than its new m43 quad-pixel stacked sensor. However, A7R5’s Ai AF goes one further as it runs on a dedicated AF processor unlike the OM-1. This separate AF chip in the A7R5 should finally match and perhaps surpass DSLR AF which relies on a separate PDAF module like the one in Nikon D850, without resorting to an expensive stacked sensor.

(c) Fully-articulated rear screen on tilt-out cradle (hence +58g vs A7R4?), very thankful that Sony didn’t go the A74 route with the annoying off-axis flippy screen. Really disliked the flippy screen on my OMD E-M1 Mkii.

(d) Ultrasonic sensor cleaning, a truly effective sensor cleaning function that has been available since my Olympus OMD E-M5 from 2012. The conventional sensor cleaning functions in Nikon and older Sony cameras are utterly useless, for placebo effect only!

(e) Focus bracketing function, the older A7R and A7R II could perform focus bracketing via Playmemories Apps, Olympus also has this since OMD E-M1 Mkii as well.

(f) Movement compensated pixelshift, Panasonic G9 already had this since 2017.

(g) As usual, no mention of sensor readout speed, likely no change since it’s the same sensor and as such slow as molasses. The workaround is to revert back to mechanical shutter for faster paced subjects.

(h) 10fps with mechanical shutter but as usual no mention of bit rate. Unusually with electronic shutter, it's only 7fps. The buffer is more than sufficient at RAW (Lossless Compressed) & JPEG: 159 frames.

(i) $3,898 full retail for 61mp A7R5 vs A7R4 at $3,500 and $5,000 ($6,500 at launch) for a 50mp used A1.

Probably time for me to buy this new camera although the A7R6 might arrive sooner with an improved sensor and possibly 100mp assuming the pandemic is truly over after another year. Those who have bought every A7R iteration will likely face upgrade fatigue.

Going forward, if the sensor can expose the highlights and shadows separately, DR can increase. Currently auto metering averages out the exposure unless one shoot exposure brackets and merge in post-processing.

_Boîtier argentique réflex : Olympus OM20.

_Objectif : OM System S Zuiko 35/70 1:4.

_Film : IlfordDelta100.

_Scan : GCMC RODFS70.

_Date: P22 Scan09 2024 09 01.

Download 38 Mega Pixels Fractal Art work! ;)

Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, have spent most nights over the last week shooting this crazy part of the sky. Have played around with so much different software for processing and this is a mix of all sorts . i have spent way too long messing with this that now my eyes hurt. Rho Ophiuchi is a multiple star system in the constellation Ophiuchus. The central system has an apparent magnitude of 4.63. Based on the central system's parallax of 9.03 mas, it is located about 360 light-years away. The other stars in the system are slightly farther away. Wikipedia

After coming down the switchback route from the quarry in Websterville and stopping in Barre to pick up more cars Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew head into Montpelier with more than a dozen loads of granite armor rock from the Northeast Materials quarry. They set off their whole train on the old CV main, where they were temporarily left and are now running light engine down to Montpelier Junction to pull empties from the NECR interchange and make room for the outbound loads they'll bring down later.

A trainman flags the busy Main Street crossing in the center of the little capital city as red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) roll over a short stretch of street running at about MP 1.4 on the Washington County Railroad's M&B Division.

These particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1849 by CV predecessor Vermont Central. In 1958 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between this point and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.

The large square brick building at right which now serves as a bank was once the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad station and headquarters building. Built in 1876 as the Murray Block, it was purchased and refurbished by the M&WRR in 1881 for $8,000.

Montpelier, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

Back in August of 1978, there weren't a lot of signs of the Chessie System's ownership of the Western Maryland. But what signs that you could see were dealt with in somewhat humorous fashion. Looking at that yellow caboose, Chessie looks worried about the whole thing. BL2 7181 and company are headed back into the yard at Hagerstown, MD.

Amtrak AEM7-911 is S/B on the Northeast Corridor, passing Conrail's Orangeville Terminal, with an LRC (Light, Rapid & Comfortable) set behind, led by power unit 38. To help celebrate Amtrak's 10th anniversary, LRC sets 38 & 39 were brought to Union Station in Washington, DC in May of 1981. The overhead Whipple truss bridge is Chessie System's Sparrows Point Industrial Track. The bridge was demolished & replaced in 2016.

Hamburg suburban third rail system's DB 472 554 and a mate heading for the city at Möörkenweg signal box, before this section of the line to Berlin was quadrupled with tracks for DC third rail and AC overhead electrification separated

Fall is upon us and soon there should be those colors New England is known the world over for. It's uncertain how good this autumn's foliage will be in 2022 so here's a look back three years.

The Green Mountain Railroad's 1230 Fall Foliage Passenger Special is seen returning to Chester from Ludlow curling downgrade deep in Cavendish Gulf on the old Rutland Railway Green Mountain mainline now Vermont Rail System's Bellows Falls Subdivision. They are approaching the Densmore Road crossing at MP B20.7 on a gorgeous fall day.

Alas this image can't be repeated this year because the Vermont Rail System has decided not to run their excursion trains out of Chester this year and they've sold off most of the green coaches seen here trailing VTR 303. And that's not all, even the locomotive is no more having been retired from the roster and sold off to a lessor. This is a bit of a loss too, since this EMD GP40-2 had deep New England roots having been built new for the Boston and Maine in Dec. 1977 as their number 314 part of the last order of new units ever purchased by the independent (and then bankrupt) road prior to its 1983 purchase by Tim Mellon's Guilford Transportation.

Cavendish, Vermont

Saturday October 5, 2019

Vermont Rail System's legendary septuagenarian diesel number 405 leads a three car Trains magazine charter special performing a photo runby eastbound on the Green Mountain Railroad's Bellows Falls Subdivision mainline at MP 27 as it descends the grade passing the old wooden passenger station. This line traces its history back to 1849 when the Rutland Railroad's mainline from the Connecticut River town to Burlington opened by way of its namesake community.

The venerable Alco RS-1 rolled out of the Schenectady plant in November 1951 as one of a half dozen of the model built for the Rutland and served the erstwhile Class 1 until it shut down for good in 1961. While her siblings were scattered to the wind she never left her home state being picked up by Nelson Blount (founder of Steamtown) and then staying with the Green Mountain Railroad in freight service even after Steamtown left in 1983. She has remained in service on her home rails for 73 years and still occasionally is called up to freight duty, though now largely enjoys an easier life on excursion and passenger duty such as this.

Per a history of the town published in 1949 the wooden station at left dates from 1851 and is the second one on the site and was remodeled in 1891. I'm not sure who owns it now and if it is railroad or town property but as one of only a few surviving in its as built location it makes for a popular photo prop.

Ludlow (village), Vermont

Saturday September 28, 2024

Ex. NVS # 126 from Schwerin arrived in Almaty in 2004 in the years of the system's slight revival after the 90s. As all other Schweriners, it contained a second cabless twin car. The latter was in service until 2006 and 1027 was the last of the operating multiple-units here. The head car was running through the next years until the arrival of ex-Berliners in 2013.

[AET / АЭТ] Tatra T3DC # 1027

Makatayev koshesi, Almaty, KZ

A Conrail S/B coal train, UMP (Morgantown-Pepco), is rolling past Bay Tower (above the 2nd unit) on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. CR B23-7s 2009 & 1946, an unknown geep & SD40s 6302 & 6306, are on the point. Chessie System's Bay View Yard is above 2009's number boards.

emberrandt.blogspot.ca/2016/09/walk-alone.html

I have never craved the system's sympathy

I get restless over pity smiles

Some precaution wouldn't harm my history

If I had the will to wait a little while

You cut the silence like a knife

You know I can't repent for

Moonlight falling over me

Sail on where the shadows hide

Moonlight crawling down on me

Just like you could not compete with my pride

Compensation for a misconducted life

Is it way too much to ask

Hard to wake up

With your heart and soul deprived

When the morning comes

The second to your last

You cut the silence like a knife

At the edge of my last defenses

You cut the silence like a knife

You know I won't repent for all

Moonlight falling over me

Sail on where the shadows hide

Moonlight crawling down on me

Just like you could not compete with my pride

Shine on silver From the sky into the night

Gaia shivers and I need your leading light

Moonlight falling over me

Sail on where the shadows hide

Moonlight crawling down on me

Just like you could not compete with my pride

Moonlight falling over me

Sail on where the shadows hide

Moonlight crawling down on me

Just like you could not compete with the pride

Kamelot - Moonlight

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWgbF3DojKA

Last night we had a rare and relatively clear sky, or so I thought, so I hurredly gathered my equipment after sunset and rushed out to try and photograph "the Great Conjunction" as the new moon was setting (which I almost missed). It was a hurried first attempt to capture this spectacle, as I probably won't be around for the next one.

In 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei pointed his telescope to the night sky, discovering the four moons of Jupiter – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. In that same year, Galileo also discovered a strange oval surrounding Saturn, which later observations determined to be its rings. These discoveries changed how people understood the far reaches of our solar system. Thirteen years later, in 1623, the solar system’s two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, travelled together across the sky. Jupiter caught up to and passed Saturn, in an astronomical event known as a “Great Conjunction.”

The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in the sky about once every 20 years. What makes this year’s spectacle so rare, then? It’s been nearly 400 years since the planets passed this close to each other in the sky, and nearly 800 years since the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter occurred at night, as it will on 21 December 2020, allowing nearly everyone around the world to witness this great event.

This photograph is a blend of the foreground with setting moon and the sky at a slightly higher focal length. You can just about see two of Jupiter's moons. I'd love to have another go with a longer lens, but chances of a clear sky over the next few days are minimal.

_Boîtier argentique réflex : Olympus OM20.

_Objectif : OM System S Zuiko 35/70 1:4.

_Film : IlfordDelta3200.

_Date: P17 Scan29 2024 06 0122h20.

_Ouverture : 1.4.

_Temps d’exposition : 125.

_profondeur: +5m.

_Focus : 35mm.

_Métadonnée: Gimp-2.10.36.

After coming down the switchback route from the quarry in Websterville and stopping in Barre to pick up more cars Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew head into Montpelier with more than a dozen loads of granite armor rock from the Northeast Materials quarry. They set off their whole train on the old CV main, where they were temporarily left and are now running light engine down to Montpelier Junction to pull empties from the NECR interchange and make room for the outbound loads they'll bring down later.

They have just passed under Interstate 89 and crossed Junction Rd. at MP 0 on the Washington County Railroad's Montpelier and Barre Division. This is the west end of the railroad and the property line between VRS and NECR ownership. As they cross the short thru girder span over the Dog River they leave the city of Montpelier and enter the town of Berlin and approach the tail swith for the wye which is right behind me.

The power is VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and these particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1849 by CV predecessor Vermont Central. In 1958 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between downtown Montpelier and Barre. The state purchased the line in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.

Berlin, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

Ex. NVS # 126 from Schwerin arrived in Almaty in 2004 in the years of the system's slight revival after the 90s. As all other Schweriners, it contained a second cabless twin car. The latter was in service until 2006 and 1027 was the last of the operating multiple-units here. The head car was running through the next years until the arrival of ex-Berliners in 2013.

[AET / АЭТ] Tatra T3DC # 1027

Kablukov koshesi, Almaty, KZ

I just love an overgrown weedy line that still has life in it so here's another take on this very cool scene.

Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew curls around the corner coming off the south leg of the wye pulling empties from the NECR interchange yard at Montpelier Junction.

They are approaching the short thru girder bridge over the Dog River that marks the line between the town of Berlin and the city of Montpelier where I'm standing. Immediately behind me they will cross Junction Rd. which is MP 0 on the Washington County Railroad's Montpelier and Barre Division, the west end of the railroad and the property line between VRS and NECR ownership.

The power is VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and these particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1849 by CV predecessor Vermont Central.

Berlin, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

My day out offered some challenging clouds and as you've seen I certainly didn't get all the shots I was hoping for but the light here was by far the best of the day and worthy of sharing a few!

After setting out all the empties at Barre Transfer on the old main (ex CV) Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad headed back west light engine with GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38). They are now seen back on the old main at the other end picking up the outbound loads they'd left here earlier to take them down to Montpelier Junction yard to the NECR interchange. They are at about MP 2.3 on the Washington County Railroad's Montpelier and Barre Division just east of aptly named Gin Lane crossing which leads to the Bar Hill distillery behind me.

Interestingly the former CV trackage including both bridges (the thru truss span at the east end and the thru girder span here) was ultimately not abandoned and was actually tied in with switches on both ends and is used as a storage track called appropriately enough the 'Old Main'.

Montpelier, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

On a gray but colorful fall morning, Vermont Railway train 263 is crossing the famed Cuttingsville Trestle over the Mill River and VT Route 103 at about MP 40.7 on the modern day Vermont Rail System's Green Mountain Railroad Bellows Falls Subdivision, the former Rutland Railroad mainline. The 412 ft. long double-intersection Warren deck truss bridge was built in 1895 by Rochester Bridge and Iron Works.

Leading the way, with an SD70 and two blue geeps trailing, is VTR 208 a GP38-2 purchased from LLPX. The unit was originally blt. in Aug. 1972 as Penn Central 8028 then passed to Conrail until being picked up by Union Pacific at the end of its 15 year lease where it spend a half dozen years before ending up in EMD's lease fleet for a time.

Wallingford, Vermont

Sunday September 29, 2024

The Montreal Stations & Tunnels: The Real Lords of the Underground

Today, Mook Life shows love to the underground stations and tunnels that sleep beneath our Montreal pavements. We bring you flicks and knowledge from heads who’ve shared the same passion as us and get up on the metro system’s infrastructures. Some might see it as disrespectful vandalism, while others will see it as an expressive artform. At the end of the day, it is what it is and we do this for the mooks. We’re just here to shed light on things that usually don’t shine, and today this light is shining on the underground world where vandals dwell.

www.mook-life.com/stations-tunnels-the-real-lords-of-the-...

Here is another from the favorites of 2018 file I'm just now getting on to Flickr.

Pan Am Railways BFPO (Bellows Falls to Portland) slurry train departed from Vermont Rail System's Riverside yard, and after a couple mile run down into the center of town is swinging off the old Rutland and on to New England Central Railroad's ex Boston and Maine / Central Vermont Conn River Line main. The three second hand six axle GE dash 8s are about to duck into the tunnel under downtown MP 144.56 on modern day NECR's Palmer Subdivision.

This Friday only unit train was a staple for years but it's recently been cancelled as the need for the Vermont clay slurry has waned as Maine's paper mills have transitioned from white bleached writing paper (that requires the slurry for the bleaching process) to undyed brown packaging papers.

The tunnel was initially constructed in 1851 by the Vermont Valley Railroad. The Vermont Valley would ultimately end up in the fold of the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1893 and this tunnel would come to be a choke point on what one the B&M's core north south gateway to and from Canada as their Conn River mainline. In addition to seeing frequent B&M freight and passenger trains the Central Vermont Railway also operated thru here on trackage rights.

In 1988 the former B&M owned section from Brattleboro to Windsor became CV property (in a complicated tale of legal wrangling not to be retold here) with B&M successor Guilford (now Pan Am Railways) retaining trackage rights and the CV itself becoming the New England Central in 1995 when parent CN sold the line to then Railtex.

Over its lifespan, the tunnel floor has been lowered three times; once in 1897, again in 1977 (by the Boston & Maine Railroad), and most recently in 2007 (as a joint venture between the Vermont Agency of Transportation, FHWA, and NECR with consultants; Parson Brinckerhoff Engineering & ECI Rail Constructors, Inc.) in order to accommodate increased car and locomotive heights at their respective periods of time.

The 2007 project lowered the floor an additional 3 ft to allow for clearance of modern multilevel auto rack cars and this view clearly shows the pronounced dip in the track profile to provide the 20.8 ft vertical clearance.

Rockingham, Vermont

Friday September 29, 2018

For Monochrome Monday here's anotner frame of this busy scene from the little capital city of the Green Mountain State.

After coming down the switchback route from the quarry in Websterville and stopping in Barre to pick up more cars Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew head into Montpelier with more than a dozen loads of granite armor rock from the Northeast Materials quarry. They set off their whole train on the old CV main, where they were temporarily left and are now running light engine down to Montpelier Junction to pull empties from the NECR interchange and make room for the outbound loads they'll bring down later.

A trainman flags the busy Main Street crossing in the center of the little capital city as red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38) and green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) roll over a short stretch of street running at about MP 1.4 on the Washington County Railroad's M&B Division.

These particular rails are ex CV, first laid in 1849 by CV predecessor Vermont Central. In 1958 Sam Pinsly's Montpelier & Barre purchased them and he quickly consolidated the parallel CV and old Montpelier & Wells River routes between this point and Barre. The state purchased these rails in 1980 when the M&B petitioned for abandonment, and they've had multiple contract operators over the years until finally settling on Vermont Rail System's Washington County Subsidiary about two decades ago.

The large square brick building at right which now serves as a bank was once the Montpelier & Wells River Railroad station and headquarters building. Built in 1876 as the Murray Block, it was purchased and refurbished by the M&WRR in 1881 for $8,000.

Montpelier, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

Loud, goofy-looking, flocking birds might not sound like the best backyard companion. Perched high in treetops, guinea fowl aren’t the classically handsome of the bird family, appearing more like mutated vultures than a downy chicken. With their featherless head and polka-dotted feathers, these fowl once roamed the central African plains and resent captivity to this day. But if you’re concerned with improving our food system's addiction to pesticides and looking for an alternative ‘jack of all trades’ barnyard animal, consider the often-overlooked guinea fowl.

Just don’t write them off because of their screeching.

Baby guineas, called keets, are about as adorable as they sound and easy to tend. But once they grow older they are worthy watchdogs, fighting off trespassers both human and animal alike.

Before the Vermont Rail System's interchange with Pan Am was shifted from Bellows Falls to North Bennington, trains on the Bennington & Rutland Sub only operated a few days a week for on-line customers, typically with only a handful of cars and one unit. Looking more like a move from those days rather than 2016, VRS' B&R job is seen heading south past the depot at Arlington, VT with 6 covered hoppers in tow. The single red GP40-2 (former B&M 314) provided a nice break from the rainbow consists of leasers and unpainted units that have become the new image of the railroad in recent years.

Tasmània, AUSTRÀLIA 2023

Port Arthur is one of Tasmania’s and Australia’s most significant historic sites. Located about two hours by car from Hobart, it was a British penal colony in the 19th century. The site features impressive ruins, including the prison, church, and hospital, set in a stunning natural landscape. Guided tours share stories of convict life and the penal system’s history. You can also take a boat trip to the Isle of the Dead, the convicts’ cemetery. At night, ghost tours offer a spine-chilling experience for the brave. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a place of deep cultural meaning. Port Arthur blends history, scenery, and emotion. A must-visit to understand Tasmania’s past.

Having safely descended the treacherous grade off Millstone Hill via the switchback Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad crew is headed west at MP 8.1 on the Montpelier and Barre Division. They are crossing South Main Street (VT Route 14) wirh seven loads of granite armor rock from the Northeast Materials quarry trailing green GMRC 804 (a GP9r blt. Oct. 1955 as NW 13) and red VTR 206 (a GP38-3 206 blt. Oct. 1969 as SOU 2718 and originally a high nosed straight GP38). At the small yard in downtown Barre they will pick up more loads then head into Montpelier where the whole string will temporarily be left while they run light down to Montpelier Junction to pull empties from the NECR interchange.

This is the historic Barre Railroad mainline opened in 1888 as the famed 'Sky Route' funded by local interests to reach the quarries. Here is a great historic article from 1889 about this railroad:

www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/stbarre.Html

Barre, Vermont

Friday August 1, 2025

The Canadian Pacific Railway had been operating in the state of Vermont for 115 years when they finally retrenched in 1996 and sold the Newport and Lyndonville Subs to Iron Roads Railways which created the new Northern Vermont Railway which took over on September 28th of that year. The Iron Roads system was bankrupt within a half dozen years and the NV ceased to exist with the Lyndonville Sub and the former Boston and Maine Conn River Mainline between Newport and White River Junction being purchased by the State of Vermont and contracted to Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad Subsidiary. The WACR is now at the two decade mark operating the 103 mile line while the Newport Sub north into Canada passed to succesors Montreal, Maine and Atlantic and then Central Maine and Quebec until remarkably returning to the CP fold in 2020 when they purchased the CMQ.

Recently VRS and CP have been pooling power, with one unit from each running thru between White River Junction, VT and Farnham, QC on an up and back every other day schedule. This harkens back to the B&M pool power days so with a bit of imagination one can pretend this is train 904 headed down from Newport to hand off to the B&M.

CPKC GP20C-ECO 2280 and VTR GP38-2 209 lead train NPWJ south past a young orchard near MP L47.4 south of the little village of Passumpsic as they follow the the river of the same name on this glorious summer afternoon.

Barnet, Vermont

Friday August 11, 2023

Here's another Station Saturday offering, the last one from this gloomy but fun summer Saturday chase. This line must have among the highest percentage of surviving passenger stations still in their as built locations as almost any line in New England. I should tally it up sometime as I can think of a few others that could be in the running (the New Haven Berkshire Line comes to mind) but the Conn River sure might take the prize.

Anyway a rain soaked afternoon Vermont Rail System's Washington County Railroad train NPWJ (Newport to White River Junction) is southbound with two cars and two company red EMD GP38-2s, CLP 204 (blt. Oct. 1973 as SCL 528) and VTR 201 (blt. Dec. 1972 new for the VTR) at MP L99 on WACR's Connecticut River Division Lyndonville Subdivision, the former Boston and Maine Conn River Line main which dates from 1848 when the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad built north from White River Junction.

They are passing the former Boston and Maine Hanover-Norwich Station which dates from 1884. It is so named because it sits right across the river from Hanover, NH and was the primary station serving students and faculty of Dartmouth College in Hanover. To learn more about this station and the historic but largely forgotten village of Lewiston check out this nice link:

oldroadsuppervalley.weebly.com/home/change-in-the-norwih-...

Norwich, Vermont

Saturday June 22, 2024

Fall foliage in the southwestern Green Mountains is at its peak as Vermont Rail System's B&R job pulls a cut of slurry tanks off the Bennington Branch at North Bennington, VT. A fisherman pays little attention enjoying the beautiful, unseasonably warm Columbus Day afternoon on Lake Paran. This is the job's termination point and southern tip of the VRS system where traffic is interchanged with Pan Am Southern.

Exercising Vermont Rail System's trackage rights over NECR from White River Jct to Bellows Falls, VTR extra 206 (AAPRCO's "Autumn Explorer") passes MP 5 on the Roxbury Sub at Hartland, VT.

On April 3, 2017, as Jupiter made its nearest approach to Earth in a year, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope viewed the solar system’s largest planet in all of its up-close glory. At a distance of 415 million miles (668 million kilometers) from Earth, Jupiter offered spectacular views of its colorful, roiling atmosphere, the legendary Great Red Spot, and it smaller companion at farther southern latitudes dubbed “Red Spot Jr.”

Read more: go.nasa.gov/2o7tOhH

Photo details: This dazzling Hubble Space Telescope photo of #Jupiter was taken when it was comparatively close to Earth, at a distance of 415 million miles. Hubble reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiter's clouds as arranged into bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. These bands are produced by air flowing in different directions at various latitudes. Lighter colored areas, called zones, are high-pressure where the atmosphere rises. Darker low-pressure regions where air falls are called belts. The planet's trademark, the Great Red Spot, is a long-lived storm roughly the diameter of Earth. Much smaller storms appear as white or brown-colored ovals. Such storms can last as little as a few hours or stretch on for centuries.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (NASA Goddard)

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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A green meteor probably contains a lot of magnesium. This means you may be seeing a fragment of a large planetary body—or even a failed planet—that broke apart early in the solar system's formation.

I'm re-publishing old lego creations on flickr.

Lugnet post.

This is Eiretech's Heavy lifting ship, Bison. It carries special or unique cargo within a star system.

This particular unit is carrying a living habitat for a monk.

The monk has just had all of his religion's holy texts uploaded directly into his brain. For the next century he will do nothing but meditate and sift through the terabites of sacred data in his head. To do this he must live alone in solitude. He is being taken to live on a sleeping comet deep inside the star system's Oort cloud.

This piece was inspired by a Youtube video a Deaf friend showed me.... the only clear sign in the video was "I love you"..she asked me to draw what i thought it was about.. I perceived it to be about a deaf child growing up to hearing parents, how the parents of an infant use great facial expressions to interact , and the parent child relationshipin takes place in a very visual way, but then as time passes the parents withdraw from using so much expression, expecting to transition over to an audio world ::hence the clock pulling the Alexander Graham Bell mask over the faces. But using Bell as this polarized icon through the dual view point of Deaf Culture, and Hearing Culture, the piece came to be about the relationship between Deaf culture and American society ... The plane image is the X1 rocket...it was the first plane to break the sound barrier. i thought it fitting since the hand shape in ASL for "i love you", and "plane" are the same.... the paper airplane image hints back at the rocket in the foreground, and means the American school system's many painful attempts to educate Deaf children... the parent figures are shown signing behind the back denoting the parents feelings towards Deafness, and reluctance to embrace Deaf culture. An alarming percentage of hearing parents who have Deaf children do not learn sign language ..and so i hope the drawing asks the question... "It it logical to strap an infant upon this plane as a method to break the sound barrier and launch the child into hearing culture without choice, when the parents could mearly learn to sign and become a part of Deaf culture with the child...?" the shadows of the parents and infant are connected, while actually the patents are shown not even touching the same ground as the child, emphasizing the ignorant concepts of a society that believes all Deaf learn to read lips perfectly and this makes them blend effortlessly into their hearing world.. the snail is a near identical image to the cochlea inside the human ear, so coming from the shadow of the x1 rocket it reminds that in reality, lip reading and the oral method are an enormously slow and grueling process...and also hints at the speed with which society has really taken the time to intelligently consider Deafness, and finally questions the latest modern scientific approach to Deafness the Cochlear implant..that the face of the snail hints at the "i love you" handshape, and is turning around suggests that a loving society might try a different approach. the ears of the parent figures are shown as closed eyes....meaning that from the deaf child's perspective, the parents hearing causes them to not pay attention with their eyes...the scuba divers show Deaf culture,, as the beautiful silent world it is.. since Deaf scuba divers can literally use sign language to communicate underwater, where hearing people just akwardly gesture, and have to wait to be above the surface to communicate.....i hope this image would be striking and urge hearing people to stop and think deeper about Deaf culture, and the many wonderful aspects of life hearing causes them to miss....