I saw a picture of this ex Australian Army Scammell Contractor tank transporter that'd been converted to a tipper here on Flickr around 2011, and when I was on holiday there in 2018 I decided to see if the 1971 built machine was still around.

With not much time or information I managed to track it down even though it'd moved location to a coal mine which was impossible to access without induction training!

Never mind, at least the old girl was parked fairly near the fence!

Mack

Prescott, AZ

September 28, 2020

A95 Ballindalloch

A young Mt Goat kid negotiates a model contract with the photographer, Dennis E Kirkland. I have had many people ask me if I had ever had close encounters with the wildlife I have photographed. The answer is yes, but I usually don't have someone (in this case, my wife) photographing me while I have these encounters...they are great fun! Best viewed large. All rights reserved.

Ivan Drackoff - Leader of the Shazir Cell in Bandaud. Wanted in connection with a bombing in Plighia last year. Wanted Alive

(for a contract build in Eurobrick's GREAT BRICK WAR)

Bombay Truckshow, 21.1.23

Here we have D.L.W Coaches Volvo B10M Plaxton Premiere (110) W301 GCW seen leaving the newly styled depot to start operating a school contract on a nice Wednesday morning. 18/1/17.

With a hint of overnight dew and the rising sun just piercing the morning mist, DB Schenker 66111 rumbles through Cummersdale on the outskirts of Carlisle on 23 May 2015 heading the 6C33 05:22 Carlisle Yard to Dalston loaded bogie fuel tankers as some of the Blackwell Hall pedigree herd remain unperturbed by the train (but one with interest in the photographer behind a hedge I might add!). I was unaware at the time that this long-running BP contract with EWS/DBS would soon pass over to Colas Rail Freight.

© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission

M40 Bucknell 16/07/2019

Whitney quickly found Elizabeth and Adele in the coffeeshop. Whitney read through the provisions in the renter's agreement, taking her time to scroll through the agreement on Adele's notepad.

Adele: "As you'll see, this is a standard renter's agreement for six months. Elizabeth as the landlord reserves the right to inspect the property, and --"

Whitney: "I don't see anything about adding a wall so cars don't drive through my living room or a railing so I don't fall out of my bed. Either I wait to sign the agreement until these items are addressed, or the rent is too expensive."

Elizabeth was visibly getting irritated: "I said Bobby and his crew will inspect the property and repair any safety hazards for you."

Whitney: "Including adding a wall so Don Buzzle doesn't mow us down with his car in our own living room?"

Elizabeth: [sternly] "Of course."

Whitney: "Great! Just notify me when the lease is ready to be signed. I'm now going to go tell my cousin the good news. We're moving!"

Whitney left.....

Elizabeth: "This is going to be a nightmare, isn't it?"

Adele: "Being a landlord isn't for everyone. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just sell her the property?"

Elizabeth:"No, that's not an option. That's my home."

Adele excuses herself to begin amending the lease, remarking to herself, great -- stubborn client, stubborn renter.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

During the 1950s Douglas Aircraft studied a short- to medium-range airliner to complement their higher capacity, long range DC-8 (DC stands for “Douglas Commercial”). A medium-range four-engine Model 2067 was studied, but it did not receive enough interest from airlines and was subsequently abandoned. The idea was not dead, though, and, in 1960, Douglas signed a two-year contract with Sud Aviation for technical cooperation. Douglas would market and support the Sud Aviation Caravelle and produce a licensed version if airlines ordered large numbers. None were ordered and Douglas returned to its own design studies after the cooperation deal expired.

Another blow against the aircraft came in the early 1970s: legislation for aircraft noise standards was being introduced in many countries. This seriously affected the Dash Two with its relatively loud JT3D engines, too, and several airlines approached Douglas (by then merged with McDonnell into McDonnell Douglas) for noise reduction modifications, but nothing was done. Third parties had developed aftermarket hushkits for the Dash Two, actually adapted from DC-8 upgrades, but beyond this measure there was no real move to keep the relatively small DC-8/2 fleet in service. In consequence, Dash Two production was stopped in 1974, with 77 aircraft having been ordered, but only 66 were ever delivered (most open orders were switched to DC-9s). By 1984 all machines had been retired.

General characteristics:

Crew: 3 (+ 3 flight attendants)

Length: 125 ft (38.16 m)

Wingspan: 105 ft 5 in (32.18 m)

Height: 42 ft 4 in (12.92 m)

Wing area: 1,970 sq ft (183 m2), 30° sweep

Empty weight: 96,562 lb (43,800 kg)

Gross weight: 172,181 lb (78,100 kg)

Fuel capacity: 46,297 lb (21,000 kg) normal; 58,422 lb (26,500 kg) maximum

Cabin width: 138.25 in (351.2 cm)

Two-class seats: 100 (12F@38" + 88Y@34")

Single-class seats: 128@34", maximum of 148 in pure economy setup

Powerplant:

2× Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1 turbofan engines, delivering 17,000 lb (76.1 kN) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 590 mph (950 km/h; 510 kn)

Cruising speed: 470–530 mph (750–850 km/h; 400–460 kn) at 32,808–39,370 ft (10,000–12,000 m)

Range: 1,320 mi (2,120 km; 1,140 nmi) with 26,455 lb (12,000 kg) payload

and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve

1,709 mi (2,750 km) with 17,968 lb (8,150 kg) payload

and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve

Service ceiling: 39,000 ft (12,000 m)

Rate of climb: 2,000 ft/min (10 m/s)

Take-off run at MTOW: 7,218 ft (2,200 m)

Landing run at normal landing weight: 4,757–6,070 ft (1,450–1,850 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This model was originally intended to be my final contribution to the “More or less engines” group build at whatifmodelers.com in October 2019, but procurement problems and general lack of time towards the GB’s deadline made me postpone the build, so that I could take more time for a proper build and paintjob.

The idea behind it was simple: since the original DC-8 was stretched (considerably) in order to expand its passenger capacity from 177 to 289(!) passengers, why not go the other way around and reduce its dimensions for a short/medium range airliner with just two engines, as a kind of alternative to the Boeing 737?

The basis is the Minicraft 1:144 DC-8 kit, in this case the late release which comes only in a bag without a box or any decals and which depicts a late -60/70 series aircraft with the maximum fuselage length. Inside of the fuselage halves, markings show where these parts should be cut in order to take the plugs out for shorter, earlier variants. However, my plan would be more radical!

Shortening the fuselage sound simple, but several indirect aspects have to be taken into account. For instance, wingspan has to be reduced accordingly and the aircraft’s overall proportions as well as its potential center of gravity have to be plausible, too. Furthermore, landing gear and engines will have to be modified, too.

Several measures were taken in order to find good points where the fuselage could be cut for a maximum length reduction - after all, a LOT of material had to disappear for the twin-engine variant!

First, the fuselage was completed for a solid cutting base. I decided to take out a total of three plugs, with the plan to achieve a length somewhere near a late Boeing 737, even though this turned out to be more complicated and challenging than expected. All in all, the fuselage length was reduced from ~39cm to ~26.5cm. Less than I hoped for, but anything more would have ended in a total reconstruction of the wing root sections.

Two plugs are logical, the third one in the middle, only 1.5cm long, is less obvious. But since the wing span would be reduced, too, the wings' depth at the (new) roots was also reduced, so that the original DC-8 wing roots/fuselage intersections would not match anymore. The wings themselves were, also based on late Boeing 737 and Dassault Mercure measures, were cut at a position slightly inside of the inner engine pylon positions.

Re-construction started with the rear fuselage; I initially worked separately on the cockpit section, because I filled it with as much lead as possible, and it was connected with the rest of the hull when its three segments were already completed.

The Minicraft DC-8 is basically nice and has good fit, but I found a weak spot: the fin's leading edge. Like on Minicarft’s 727's wings, which I recently built, it's virtually flat. It just looks weird if not awful, so I sculpted a more rounded edge with putty. Since the small air intakes under the radome are open, I added an internal visual block in the form of black foamed styrene.

The JT3D nacelles were taken OOB from the Minicraft kit, I used the inner pair because of the shorter pylons. They were attached under the wings in a new position, slightly outside of the original inner engine pair and of the main landing gear. The latter was modified, too: instead of the DC-8’s four-wheel bogies I used a pair of Boeing 727 struts and twin wheels, left over from the recent build. These were attached to 1.5 mm high consoles, so that the stance on the ground became level and mounted into newly cut well openings in the inner wings. The front wheel was taken OOB from the DC-8. I was a little skeptical concerning the main landing gear’s relative position (due to the wing sweep, it might have ended up too far forward), but IMHO the new arrangement looks quite fine, esp. with the engines in place, which visually shift the model’s center of gravity forward. I just had to shorten the engine pylons by maybe 2mm, because the lack of dihedral on the DC-8’s outer wing sections considerably reduce ground clearance for the engines, despite the added consoles to the landing gear. However, all in all the arrangement looks acceptable.

For the model’s in-flight pics, and also for the application of the final varnish coat, I added a ventral, vertical styrene tube in the model’s center of gravity as a display holder/adapter. Due to the massive lead weight in the nose, the adapter’s position ended up in front of the wing roots!

Painting and markings:

I usually do not build civil airliners, so I took the occasion to represent a design icon: the “flying Colors” livery of Braniff International Airlines from the early Seventies. Braniff featured several bright liveries, but my personal favorite is the simple one with uniform fuselages in varying bold colors, mated with simple, white fins, engine nacelles and wing areas.

This choice was also influenced by the fact that 26decals offers a 1:144 sheet for Braniff DC-8s of this era (remember: the bagged Minicraft kit comes without any decal sheet at all). Choosing a color was a long process. Bright red or orange were initial favorites, but the recent 727 already had orange markings, so I rather favored blue, green or even purple. I eventually settled on a light lime green, which has a high shock value and also offers a good contrast to the Braniff markings and the windows. A tone called “Lime Green” was actually an official Braniff tone (check this great overview: web.archive.org/web/20050711080200/http://www.geocities.c..., a great source provided by 26decals in the context oft he decal sheet I used, see below). But my intention was not to authentically replicate it – I rather just wanted a bright color for the model, and I like green.

The basic color I used is simple Humbrol 38 (Lime), which was applied with a brush after the wing areas had been painted in white (Humbrol 22) and aluminum (various shades, including Humbrol 11 and Revell 99). The characteristic black area around the cockpit glazing was created with mix of decals and paint, the silver ventral areas were painted with Humbrol’s Polished Aluminum Metallizer. The fin’s and the stabilizers’ leading edges were created with silver decal sheet material (TL Modellbau), grey and silver bits of similar material were used for some small details on the wings.

As already mentioned, the decals, including all windows, come from a 26decals sheet. Due to the reduced length, the windows’ and doors’ position and numbers had to be improvised. But thanks to the relatively simple livery design without cheatlines or other decorative elements, this was an easy task. Finally, the model received an overall coat of gloss acrylic varnish from the rattle can.

Just like my recent Boeing 727 with four engines, this conversion appears simple at first sight, but the execution caused some headaches. The biggest problem was the reduced depth of the shortened wings and how to mount then to the fuselage – but the attempt to take an additional fuselage plug away was an effective move that also helped to reduce overall length.

I am astonished how modern and plausible this shortened DC-8 looks. While building, the aircraft constantly reminded me of the Tupolev Tu-104 airliner, until the engines were added and it now resembled an Airbus A320!

Your time is UP !

British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 10. Photo: M.G.M. Caption: Norma Shearer started acting in school plays at 14, and went to New York in 1920. After several small parts, obtained feminine leads which brought her a Hollywood contract with M.G.M. In Hollywood she met her husband, Irving G. Thalberg, now head of production of M.G.M. Her performance in Divorcee won her the award of the year's best performance by an actress.

American actress Norma Shearer (1902-1983) was the 'First Lady of MGM'. She often played spunky, sexually liberated ingenues, and was the first person to be nominated five times for an Academy Award for acting. Shearer won the Best Actress Oscar for The Divorcee (1930).

Norma Shearer was born in 1902 in Montréal in Canada. In 1931, she would become a naturalised United States citizen. Her childhood was spent in Montreal, where her father had a construction business. Norma was educated at Montreal High School for Girls and Westmount High School. At age fourteen, she won a beauty contest. In 1918, her father's company collapsed, and her older sister, Athole Shearer (later Mrs. Howard Hawks) suffered her first serious mental breakdown. Forced to move into a small, dreary house in a 'modest' Montreal suburb, the sudden plunge into poverty only strengthened Shearer's determined attitude. In 1920 her mother, Edith Shearer, took Norma and her sister to New York. Florenz Ziegfeld rejected her for his Follies, but she got work as an extra at Universal. Other extra parts followed, including one in Way Down East (D. W. Griffith, 1920). She spent much money on eye doctor's services trying to correct her cross-eyed stare caused by muscle weakness. A year after her arrival in New York, she received a break in film: fourth billing in the B-movie The Stealers (Christy Cabanne, 1921). Irving Thalberg had seen her early acting efforts and, when he joined Louis B. Mayer in 1923, gave her a five-year contract. Shearer was cast with Lon Chaney and John Gilbert in the MGM's first official production, He Who Gets Slapped (Victor Sjöström, 1924). The film was a conspicuous success and contributed to the meteoric rise of the new company, and to Shearer's visibility. By late 1925, Norma Shearer was carrying her own films, and was one of MGM's biggest attractions, a bona fide star. She signed a new contract; it paid $1,000 a week and would rise to $5,000 over the next five years. By 1927, Shearer had made a total of 13 silent films for MGM. Each had been produced for under $200,000, and had, without fail, been a substantial box-office hit, often making a $200,000+ profit for the studio. She was rewarded for this consistent success by being cast in Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), her first prestige production, with a budget over $1,000,000. Privately, Thalberg was very impressed by Shearer. On 29 September 1927, they were married in the Hollywood wedding of the year. Thalberg thought she should retire after their marriage, but she wanted bigger parts. One week after the marriage, The Jazz Singer was released. Norma's brother, Douglas Shearer, was instrumental in the development of sound at MGM, and every care was taken to prepare her for the microphone.

Norma Shearer's first talkie was The Trial of Mary Dugan (Bayard Veiller, 1929) with Lewis Stone. Four films later, she won an Oscar in The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard, 1930). She intentionally cut down film exposure during the 1930s, relying on major roles in Thalberg's prestige projects: The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) and Romeo and Juliet (1936) (her fifth Oscar nomination). Thalberg died of a second heart attack in September 1936, at age 37. Norma wanted to retire, but MGM more-or-less forced her into a six-picture contract. David O. Selznick offered her the part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), but the public objection to her cross-eyed stare killed the deal. She starred in The Women (1939), turned down the starring role in Mrs. Miniver (1942), and retired in 1942. Later that year she married Sun Valley ski instructor Martin Arrouge, eleven years younger than she (he waived community property rights). From then on, she shunned the limelight. Norma Shearer passed away in 1983 in Woodland Hills, California. She was 80 and had been in very poor health in the last decade of her life. Shearer is interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction, alongside her first husband Irving Thalberg. Shearer had two children with Thalberg. Her son Irving Thalberg Jr (1930) died in 1988 of cancer. He was a philosophy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her daughter Katherine Thalberg (1935) died in 2006 of cancer. A vegan, she headed the Society for Animal Rights in Aspen, Colorado, from 1989.

Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

Please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

etymologically, a contract is a meeting of minds...

Flux Dev

Don::"Just snap the coat around my neck. Good enough. Hope that tree was worth it, buddy!"

--the end -- (for now). :)

On a sidenote: Does anyone know where Don's coat comes from? I inherited it from my sister when I was about four or five. We can't recall if it's Mattel and if so, what fashion it came from....It's Don's favorite coat -- or what remains of it! :)

Atlantikwall Regelbau S174 is a Heavy Ammunition depot Bunker for 38/40,6cm battery also known as Ammunition Bunker (Unterstände für Munition).

youtu.be/5prGnx4nW1s

This bunker Type was designed by the Kriegsmarine for 'German Navy'.

This bunker Type is part of the Regelbau program in the second world war.

how is a Regelbau

Before and during World War II, the Wehrmacht built several standardised bunkers and weapon positions in Germany and German-occupied countries. These buildings were called Regelbau, i.e. standardised buildings.

The Regelbau (German for "standard design") were a series of standardised bunker designs built in large numbers by the Germans in the Siegfried Line (German: Westwall) and the Atlantic Wall as part of their defensive fortifications prior to and during the Second World War.

Following the occupation of German territories west of the Rhine, fortress engineers began the construction of the Siegfried Line in 1936. In doing so they were able to benefit from their earlier experience of bunker construction. In compliance with the Versailles Treaty, they had already built the Wetterau-Main-Tauber position and Neckar-Enz position before 1936. When, in 1936, construction started on the Siegfried Line itself, they were able at the outset to utilize designs from the two earlier fortifications. From these existing plans, fortress pioneers rapidly developed improved bunkers that were built from 1937. This building phase was named the Engineer Construction Programme and was characterized by bunkers built to B1 standard thicknesses (see above). Since the thickness of these structures was soon considered to be too weak and because there was a large number Regelbau designs (and hence confusion), new types were developed and implemented from 1938. These new designs were achieved largely by simplifying and reducing the number of Regelbau types. This new building phase was called the Limes Programme.

Development of Regelbau designs from 1936 to 1940

The fortress engineers were no longer in charge of construction; instead Organization Todt (OT) took over, promising Hitler it would deliver the number of structures he wanted. Plans for the Limes Programme did not envisage the inclusion of the cities of Aachen and Saarbrücken and they therefore ended up in front of the planned line of fortifications. That changed in 1939 with the Aachen-Saar Programme. From 1939, yet more new Regelbau bunkers were designed for the construction programme that saw increases in the construction thicknesses. From then on, only bunkers that met the in "B new" and "A" standards were to be built. With the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, priorities for the construction of the Siegfried Line changed. The renewed shortage of raw materials led to the development of a new series of Regelbau designs, the so-called wartime standard designs or Kriegsregelbauten. After the "lavish" Regelbauten of the Aachen-Saar Programme, the final construction phase was dominated by massive financial constraints. For example, observation cupolas and flank firing positions were no longer provided and the rooms were smaller.

Expansion of construction projects from 1941 to 1944

In 1940 work was ordered on a number of construction projects in Western Europe. Amongst the first were the Dover Strait guns begun in July 1940 and included Todt Battery. Building began in February 1941 on the Saint-Nazaire submarine base Following the first effective commando raid in March 1941 Operation Claymore and with the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler decided in June 1941 to strengthen the west against possible attacks. The Channel Islands were chosen to become major fortifications, followed in 1942 with the order to build the Atlantic Wall.

A mass of equipment was needed, cement, sand, gravel and steel to construct the concrete fortifications, weapons and armour plate for defence and hundreds of thousands of workers. To offset shortages, equipment from French and other occupied armies were incorporated in the defences, casemates designed for non-german artillery, anti tank and machine guns and the use of turrets from obsolete tanks in tobrukstand pill boxes (tobruk pits).

The labour came from an expansion of the Organisation Todt, who contracted with building construction companies from Germany and occupied countries to undertake the work. The OT provided them with equipment, supervisors and labour. Labour comprised skilled volunteers, engineers, designers and supervisors, who were paid and treated well, second came volunteer workers, often skilled technicians, such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians and metal workers, again these workers were paid, took holidays and were well treated. Next came unskilled forced labour, paid very little and treated quite harshly, lastly came effective slave labour, paid so little, badly fed and treated very harshly.

#Atlantikwall #Regelbau #Bunker

SK07HMD was an ADL Enviro 200 DP29F purchased new by West Coast Motors in July 2007, then ran for their Glasgow Citybus subsidiary. It latterly carried Scotrail livery. This view sees it working on the ex John Morrow bingo contract in Clydebank.

Contract Air Cargo N391FL Convair CV-580F

Alderbaran Contracting's Titan. May 2022.

Second image for my class I contracted on self-portraiture and anxiety.

When I become anxious, it over takes my body with its tendrils snaking through my every fiber. I become paralyzed and self-contained.

My mind battles with itself.

I seek questions, I seek answers, I seek resolution, but all that I say is administered through a clouded mind full of static, rolling lines of color, and grain images that I can only see vague shapes in. In truth, I am probably best alone when my anxiety is amplified – it never ends well and only a pixelated, fragmented version of my self is available to those around me.

I never really stop to ask – how is this affecting others in the immediate area? Those who are there for me, those who are not, those who are present, those who are absent? This piece is my attempt at understanding that. By placing myself in front of a TV what was originally projecting the color bars ranging from white to yellow to cyan to green to magenta to red to blue to black, I became a static figure in front of a static unmoving object symbolizing a seemingly infinite symbol of colors. By turning them black and white, though, the figures are presented in front of a mostly white screen and are silhouetted and they become faceless.

These two characters showcase my intent to become both the victim of anxiety and the person attempting to console. In doing so, I believe that a sense of hopelessness occurs because it is up to the viewer to discern between the figure who is anxious and the one who is not. When I originally was creating the image, I had a clear idea, having been the model and on body language, of which was which, but upon piecing it all together, I believe it can be interpreted either way.

My anxiety is debilitating, but it will hopefully be through this project that maybe I can become better. To know. To understand. And to live again

Facebook page . There is a before there.

Vintage postcard. Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959).

American singer Ricky Nelson (1940-1985) was one of the first teenage stars in America. He started his career in his parents' television series The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. In the late 1950s, he had such hits as 'Hello Mary Lou' and he starred in the Western Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne.

Eric Hilliard 'Ricky' Nelson was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1940. His father, Ozzie Nelson, was a bandleader, and his mother, Harriet Hilliard, was a singer in his father's band. As a child, Ricky and his older brother David performed in their parents' radio show (1940-1952), in the film Here Come the Nelsons (Frederick De Cordova, 1959), and in the television series 'The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet' (1952-1966). All episodes of the series were written by Ozzie Nelson, who also directed and often incorporated Ricky's actual songs into the shows. Ricky became one of the first teenage stars in America when his rock and roll career took off in 1957. His first single, which he wanted to impress his girlfriend with, was released in April 1957 by the Verve record company and had 'I'm Walkin' (originally by Fats Domino) as its B-side. Nelson's cover version rose to #4 on the best-selling charts and reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The A-side, featuring the song 'Teenager's Romance', was even more successful and rose to #2 on the best-selling charts and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His appearance with the songs on his parents' television show played no small part in the rapid success of his first record. In the following years, he became extremely popular with well-known hits like 'Hello Mary Lou', 'Travelin' Man' and 'Poor Little Fool'. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had 29 Top 40 hits, and only Elvis Presley and Pat Boone sold more records in the United States. Compared to his success in the US, his international success remained rather modest. His most successful song in Europe was 'Hello Mary Lou'(1961). Ricky Nelson also worked as an actor. In 1959, he starred in the film Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, and he performed the songs 'My Rifle, My Pony and Me' and 'Cindy, Cindy'. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer for his performance in the film. Alongside Jack Lemmon, Nelson starred in the comedy The Wackiest Ship In The Army (Richard Murphy, 1960),

With the release of the LP 'Rick is 21', Nelson dropped the "y" from his name and released under the name 'Rick Nelson' from September 1961. He made a promo clip for the hit 'Travelin' Man' (1961), which is considered the first video clip ever made. The promo clip consists of images of places that are sung about in the song. In 1963 he signed a 20-year contract with Decca Records, but after 'For You' (1964) he had no more major hits. The 'British Invasion' of the English beat groups also meant a career break for him, as for many other teenage idols. In 1966, the last episode of the TV series 'The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet' ran, leaving him without an important mainstay of his success. Nelson changed his musical style and went from Rock and Roll more into country music. His fans did not appreciate this very much. He took on two more roles in TV Westerns also starring his wife Kristin Harmon, The Over-The-Hill-Gang (Richard Murphy, 1969) starring Walter Brennan, and The Resurrection of Bronco Billy (James R. Rokos, 1970) starring Johnny Crawford. Nelson wrote the song 'Garden Party' (1972), in response to the unwillingness of the public to grant him a new repertoire. The song promptly became a hit, Two years later, another modest success followed with 'Windfall'. In the 1970s and 1980s, he fell into oblivion, until 1985, when he successfully participated in a series of golden oldie concerts in England. This led to a similar tour in the southern United States. During this tour, on New Year's Eve 1985, he died in a plane crash in Texas. His girlfriend Helen Blair and all the members of the Stone Canyon Band died with him. He was 45 years old. From 1963 to 1981, Nelson was married to Kristin Harmon, the older sister of actor Mark Harmon. Their twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew, later formed the pop group Nelson, which had a number one hit in America in 1990 with '(Can't live without your) love and affection'. Their daughter, Tracy Nelson, starred in the series 'Father Dowling Mysteries'. Ricky Nelson was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine new as London Central NV36.

It later worked for First Manchester as 34260, before being sold to Stagecoach, becoming 16197 in the Merseyside & South Lancs fleet at Chester. It now works for E&M Horsburgh of Pumpherston on Lothian school contracts.

For many years independent operators have taken school children to the swimming baths providing a useful source of off peak income. The firm with whom I started my working life in the bus industry was no exception and Stoniers of Goldenhill ... later Tunstall, had several such contracts. Here 'our' penultimate new Leyland Leopard TVT 863R awaits the returning rabble outside Tunstall's elderly Public Baths in Greengate Street circa 1980. Bodywork was by Plaxton to their Supreme III 'Express' design seating 53.

I gather Tunstall's baths are now earmarked for closure along with several other council run facilities as the authority strives to make cuts. I'm not sure how or where the kids will learn to swim if it is indeed still a legal requirement (?)

Greenethorpe. The village was built in 1908 to house share farmers contracted to work 640 acre blocks on Iandra castle estate. Two style of houses are clear- those for share farmers and those for labourers. The Anglican Church and the first Methodist churches were built in 1910 with the current Methodist in 1928 and the Catholic in 1933. The original railway siding of 1887 called Iandra was changed to Greenethorpe in 1908. The Greenethorpe School was established in 1903 and the Post Office started in 1908. The town survives with 120 residents and the Shamrock Hotel, the local hall, a state school (23 students), Post Office and general store/café in the old 1935 bank building. From 1991 the rail service to Grenfell terminated at Greenethorpe but it has closed. The town alive it began house rental scheme with weekly rental was set at $1 for disused houses

Iandra Castle. George and Elizabeth Greene were settlers with a difference when they purchased their 32,000 acre property in 1878. They built their first homestead named Mount Oriel House in 1880. Greene was a NSW politician and a man with ideas. By the time he died in 1911 his Mount Oriel estate had over 20,000 acres sown in crop. His obituary said he came to a landscape of bush and transformed it into a granary. His estate used 700 horses and employed over 600 people plus various chaffcutters, thrashers etc and the woolshed sheared 30,000 sheep. He came to NSW in 1847 with his parents and spent most of his life on pastoral properties before he purchased Iandra. He dreamed of a medieval feudal system to grow vast areas of crop with little labour. He was regarded as the most important wheat farmer in Australia along with William Farrer who developed his rust resistant wheat type. Greene claims to have introduced the concept of share farming to Australia. He provided the land and took half of the value of the crop but the share farmer bought the seed, fertiliser and provided the labour to sow and reap the crop. But did he? Share cropping was common in the American south after the Civil War and Elizabeth Onlsow (nee MacArthur of Camden Park NSW) introduced share farming on their dairy property in 1887. Greene established his village with houses for the fifty sharefarmers contracted to work his lands. He started with one share farmer in 1891 and gradually expanded the system. His estate manager, named Leonard l’Anson came from Waterloo in South Australia and members of the Freebairn family from Alma in SA also moved to Iandra to be share farmers. George Greene wanted a medieval castle like a medieval lord. Iandra castle was built in 1908 with 57 rooms, castellations and towers but the construction was decidedly modern with reinforced concrete walls. The style was slightly Gothic but the interior was very Edwardian with wood panelling and Art Nouveau stained glass panels etc. The external concrete was rendered to appear like stone. It cost around £63,000 to build. The property included stables, a manager’s residence, outbuildings, blacksmith shop, sheds etc. Near the house was a chapel built in 1886 and a cemetery. When George Greene died in 1911 he was buried there. The estate was partially broken up in 1914 and most share farmers were able to buy their 640 acre blocks. I’Anson continued as manager for Elizabeth Greene until her death in 1927. He was then able to buy 2,500 acres and the castle. Later Iandra castle was used as the Methodist Boys Home from 1954 to 1974. The Methodist Boys Farm School was for 15 to 18 year old first time offenders. They were taught farming skills. The Methodist Church sold the centre in 1974.

Despite the new contract now being underway for the SL7, no electric order has been announced as of yet, so the WVL’s continue on for now! Metrobus Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2 WVL484 (LJ12CHG) is pictured at Cromwell Road Bus Station, Kingston on Route SL7

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I was originally enrolled into the GETTY IMAGES collection as a contributor on April 9th 2012, and when links with FLICKR were terminated in March 2014, I was retained and fortunate enough to be signed up via a second contract, both of which have proved to be successful with sales of my photographs all over the world now handled exclusively by them.

On November 12th 2015 GETTY IMAGES unveiled plans for a new stills upload platform called ESP (Enterprise Submission Platform), to replace the existing 'Moment portal', and on November 13th I was invited to Beta test the new system prior to it being officially rolled out in December. (ESP went live on Tuesday December 15th 2015 and has smoothed out the upload process considerably).

With visits now in excess of 17.661 Million to my FLICKR site, used primarily these days as a fun platform to reach friends and family as I have now sold my professional gear and now take a more leisurely approach to my photographic exploits, I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to FLICKR, GETTY IMAGES and everyone who drops by.

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on November 28th 2016

CREATIVE RF gty.im/620515000 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**

This photograph became my 2,327th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Fourteen metres at 12:29pm on Saturday 23rd May 2015 off the A835, then A832 on the shoreline of Loch Maree, between Taagan and Talladale in the Northwest highlands of Scotland.

Loch Maree lies in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is Twenty Kilometres long and has a maximum width of Four Kilometres, it is the fourth largest freshwater loch in Scotland and the largest north of Loch Ness.

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Nikon D800 24mm 1/1000s f/2.8 iso100 Hand held. RAW (14-bit) AF-S single point focus. manual exposure. matrix metering. Auto white balance.

Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF. Jessops 77mm UV filter. Nikon MB-D12 battery grip. Two Nikon EN-EL15 batteries. Digi-Chip Speed Pro 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 SDXC card. Nikon DK-17a magnifying eyepiece. Hoodman HGEC soft eyepiece cup. Optech Tripod Strap. Lowepro Transporter camera strap. Lowepro Vertex 200 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS unit.

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LATITUDE: N 57d 37m 52.30s

LONGITUDE: W 5d 20m 57.70s

ALTITUDE: 14.0m

RAW (TIFF) FILE SIZE: 103.00MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) SIZE: 37.58MB

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PROCESSING POWER:

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU processor. AMD Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 8.1. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon VIEWNX2 Version 2.10.3 64bit. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit

made with cellphone, Maarssen april 2023

"The X-20 Dyna-Soar design contract was awarded to Boeing on Nov. 9, 1959. The Dyna-Soar, designed to be a 35.5-foot piloted reusable space vehicle, had a sharply swept delta 20.4-foot-span wing and a graphite and zirconia composite nose cap and used three retractable struts for landing. Eleven manned flights were to be launched from Cape Canaveral Fla., starting in November 1964. Dyna-Soar's first orbital flight was tentatively scheduled for early 1965. The X-20 reached the mockup stage, however, the U.S. government canceled the program on Dec. 10, 1963, because Dyna-Soar had no viable military mission and was too expensive for a research vehicle. The partially completed prototype and the mockup were scrapped, as well as initial tooling set up for a production line for 10 space planes."

The USAF caption:

“An artist’s rendering of the flight of a U.S. Air Force DYNASOAR. A specially adapted TITAN ICBM boosts the DYNASOAR glider toward space. The booster drops away leaving the glider in piloted near-orbital, flight and, later, to glide to a conventional landing at an Air Force base. In the planning stage are more powerful boosters which vill permit orbital flights for the glider. Under supervision of the U.S. Air Force, the Boeing Airplane Company is the prime contractor for the DYNASOAR system and glider and the Martin Company for the TITAN booster. DYNASOAR is lifted toward space.”

A stunning depiction by Boeing artist Fred Takasumi.

Gorgeous in color:

www.boeingimages.com/archive/X-20-Dyna-Soar-on-Launch-Pla...

All above credit: Boeing Images website

Check out the official kick-ass poster of it!!!:

Flickr: Explore!

Credit: MOONBASE CENTRAL website

See also:

www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/DYNASOAR.html

Credit: The Living Moon website

Creator(s): General Services Administration. National Archives and Records Service. Office of the National Archives. (9/19/1966 - 4/1/1985)

Series: Construction of the National Archives Building, 1932 - 1942

Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789 - ca. 2007

Production Date: 1932 - 1942

Access Restriction(s): Unrestricted

Use Restriction(s): Unrestricted

Scope & Content: This photograph is part of the George Fuller Co. Contract for the construction of the National Archives Building.

Contact(s): National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS)

National Archives at College Park

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

Phone: 301-837-0561

Fax: 301-837-3621

Email: stillpix@nara.gov

National Archives Identifier: 26326875

Local Identifier: 64-NAC-194

Persistent URL: catalog.archives.gov/id/26326875

Contract Mission: Ivan Drackoff - Leader of the Shazir Cell in Bandaud

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Right after he grab a syringe and inject Drackoff

"Dagger clear"

Seen on the first week of new Kent County Council (KCC) contracted route R, which runs between Ashford town centre and Eureka Park via Repton Park.

This one-vehicle route replaces a part of route 666, which only recently replaced part of route E. Following the end in July 2018 of the Little&Often trial scheme using Mercedes minibuses, there were some cutbacks, and the KCC route 666 was diverted to cover the E. However, at the request of KCC, the 666 reverted back to its original routing, and the new R route was awarded to Chalkwell to operate the Eureka Place - Eureka Park - Repton Park - International Station - Park Street route, roughly every hour on Mon-Sat. It does not run on Sundays like the 666. There are gaps in the R timetable, as the bus is used for the WS5 school route between Ashford and Wye Free School.

The vehicle was new to Stagecoach East Kent (25242) in 2009, but owned by KCC. It operated mostly around Ashford with sister vehicle 24243, on KCC route E (which was then the route to Eureka Park), and later route G. As these routes became the 'Little&Often' trial routes with minibuses, the Versas transferred to Thanet to run on Stagecoach-operated KCC routes there. However, they operated sporadically and were then returned to KCC. It has now passed to Chalkwell, where it still operates on a similar route to what it was new to.

Today's story and sketch "by me" the intergalactic RV

being piloted by Danny (the Dude) Bindik and his

wife Ezmi, she is quite upset, realizing they just

exited worm hole nines portal E443 here in the Mohave

desert, which puts her twenty light years from where

she had made reservations at a retirement home on

the tropical moon Luanki.

But Ezmi will be more upset when she finds out that

Bindik has signed a contract to play cricket for the

the new Earth Cricket team the Desert Thunderballs.

"The Dude" was his nickname on the professional

cricket team the Nastybunch, Dude was the teams top

scoring batman, and wicket-keeper on planet Assgasi.

Ezmi's was also expecting to be in Luanki's beautiful

twenty seven hour days, with it's constant 78 degree

tropical breeze, not today's one hundred thirty degree

temperature when she steps out of their climate

controlled RV.

But that is a story for another time until then

taa ta the Rod Blog.

Vanquish Contracting Corp Demolition Specialist Mack RD/Leach 2rll

twitter.com/prichards1995/status/1101452418695479296

March 1st can only mean one thing... three brand new trucks have arrived and are out on the road! #Prichards #growingfleet #19plates #scania #suppliedbykeltruck

ESA signed contracts for the development of the Ariane 6 new‑generation launcher, its launch base and the Vega C evolution of the current ESA small launcher, on 12 August 2015.

From left to right: Alain Charmeau, CEO/President of ASL; Pierluigi Pirrelli, CEO of ELV; Jan Woerner, ESA Director General; Gaele Winters, ESA’s Director of Launchers; and Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of CNES.

The contracts, signed at ESA’s Paris Head Office with Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL), France’s CNES space agency and ELV, respectively, cover all development work on Ariane 6 and its launch base for a maiden flight in 2020, and on Vega C for its 2018 debut.

ESA is overseeing procurement and the architecture of the overall launch systems, while industry is developing the rockets, with ASL as prime contractor and design authority for Ariane 6, and ELV for Vega C.

ASL and ELV are working closely together on the P120C solid-propellant motor that will form Vega C’s first stage and Ariane’s strap-on boosters.

Ariane’s modular approach will offer either two boosters (Ariane 62) or four boosters (Ariane 64), depending on the required performance.

The site of the launch pad for Ariane 6 at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana has been chosen, and prime contractor CNES is already excavating the site. The new complex will also include facilities for preparing the launcher.

The three contracts follow the decision taken at the ESA Council meeting at Ministerial level held in Luxemburg in December 2014 to maintain Europe’s leadership in the fast-changing commercial launch service market while responding to the needs of European institutional missions.

The contract amounts are: €2400 million for Ariane 6 (ASL), €600 million for the launch base (CNES) and €395 million for Vega C (ELV).

Credit: ESA–N. Imbert-Vier, 2015

Ousted by the low-floor revolution, a brace of new to Manchester Volvo B10s await their fates at Lillyhall.

Heading south, between Brunswick Jcn and Roelands, on South Western Highway.

Although not loaded with any plant machinery, still had a escort pilot up front, as being overlength.