Nickel Plate Road No. 763 is a Class S-2, 2-8-4, Berkshire-type steam locomotive. Built in August 1944 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio, it's a high-powered, fast-freight locomotive that carried perishables between Chicago and Buffalo, New York. It was retired from NKP service and is currently in restoration at the Age of Steam Roundhouse, Sugarcreek, Ohio.

Carta (Sibiu County): Cistercian monastery

The city and monastery of Carta are located 43 km from Sibiu on the road to Brasov. Here are preserved the ruins of the Cistercian monastery, one of the oldest and most important monuments of the primitive Gothic church in Transylvania. The Cistercians are a monastic order originating in France and widespread in several countries.

The Carta Cistercian Abbey played a major role in the political, economic and cultural history of medieval Transylvania, as well as in the introduction but also in the dissemination of Gothic art in the inter-Carpathian space.

The monastery was founded in the years 1205-1206 by King Andrew II of Hungary.

The beginnings of the monastery are confirmed with the erection of its first buildings, used, as the Cistercians used it, from perishable materials, that is to say wood. These can be dated with relative certainty between the years 1205-1206.

The stone parts of the monastery will be erected between the years 1220 and the end of 1230. The construction of the monastery was carried out in two main phases of execution, chronologically interrupted by the great Tatar invasion of 1241.

In the first phase of construction, which has stylistic characteristics dependent on the late Romanesque, the general plan of the monastery was drawn, the walls delimiting its inner courtyard being raised to a height of 3-4m above the ground.

In 1260, after the assassination caused by the Mongol invasion in the spring of 1241, construction work will resume under the direction of a new architect, trained in the environment of mature Gothic, and with the contribution of a workshop of stone with an eclectic structure.

By 1300, the church and the eastern wing of the Charter Monastery were completed, with the completion and construction of the southern wing of the abbey continuing for approximately two decades.

The fierce struggles with the Ottomans from 1421 to 1432 and the decline of the order made the church and its monastery a ruin. This also led to its closure by King Mathias Corvin in 1474.

However, the west facade is still standing and above the Gothic portal is a large rose window. The tower attached to the facade was built later, in the middle of the 15th century, and its transformation into a bell tower took place later.

Currently, the monastery no longer has all the original buildings and annexes, many of which collapse. The vaults of the huge church have collapsed and there are only a few exterior walls and two interior beams (south and north). To the south, there is still a single Roman column, and the side ships, according to the Cistercian plan, end in a small square choir. The main ship no longer has a ceiling - in its place is a cemetery in memory of the German soldiers killed in the First World War.

The Reformed Church today occupies only the choir and the apse of the old basilica. The Gothic portal has probably been moved from a side entrance and its profile betrays Gothic influences.

Numerous examples of the tombs of the founders of Cistercian churches allow the existence of a royal necropolis under Carta.

Vergänglichkeit

*

..."It is our task to imprint this temporary, perishable earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully and passionately, that its essence can rise again “invisibly,” inside us. We are the bees of the invisible. We wildly collect the honey of the visible, to store it in the great golden hive of the invisible."..

Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (1875-1926) in "Letters Of Rainer Maria Rilke"

(C) 2016 Gerard Blacklock, all rights reserved

and why they are better than shopping trolleys

Where ever you drive in Norway there is always some form of water course and sure as another tunnel will come up in the drive there is always a boat moored in teh middle of nowhere. They seem to float about waiting for some to jump in and go somewhere, maybe here, across the fjord to the village...

So what does this have to do with trolleys? well these boats are everywhere, like trolleys at my local shopping centre - caution rant ahead - but unlike these nice little boats which seem to be moored anywhere, trolleys left anywhere (except in the designated trolley bay) at the shopping centre are a pita and those who can't be arsed pushing their trolley the 4 metres to the trolley bay deserved to have a thousand trolleys rain down in their front yard :) I do my shopping late on a week night, best time ever, no crowds, no queues and always specials on perishables :) the other night I noticed a couple push their trolley to their car, unload it, leave the trolley immediately behind the car and drive off - it was literally 5 metres to the trolley bay :-/ anyways, sure enough, 30 seconds after they drive off, it was like a magically trolley devil intervention, the trolley rolls back into the car on the other side of the carpark road :-/

So, if you go to a shopping centre, be sure to put your trolley in the bay and don't hesitate to put some other clowns incorrectly left trolley in the bay..even better take your kids for a spin in it on the way to the trolley bay (I can't confirm or deny doing circle work in a woolies trolley on the top level ;) )

Rant finished - onto the image - heres a nice picture of a fjord with one of the many little boats waiting for someone to go an explore the snowcapped hills. 5 shot panorama.

Jüdischer Friedhof, Hegenheim, Alsace/ France

in Angkor Wat, the outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres (203 acres), which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m (1,150 ft) causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure

As yet another winter storm moves across the Sierra, bringing with it several additional inches of Sierra cement, Union Pacific's eastbound 'salad shooter' roars across Lower Cascade Trestle with California perishable loads from the San Joaquin Valley.

UP 7710 ~ ZDLSKP ~ Troy, California

Union Pacific's Roseville Subdivision

12.13.2015

Season of Photographic Eye - picture 8

Week 48, Saturday

As I have already stated I'm not interested in commercial photography (but I want to learn to create as 'professional quality' as possible, whatever it means) or photography as an art (but I want to develop my aesthetic eye to bring artistic quality in my photography). So what do I want then? Why have picked up a camera and have used so much time and effort to shoot with it? To answer to this, I'm going to break it into two different posts. As the family photography is the most important thing to me in photography (even though I don't share it as much) I'm going to start with that and to explain myself I'm going to borrow something from Roland Barthes who was a French literary theorist, philosopher, semiotician and also fascinated about photography.

In his book Camera Lucida Barthes has come up with a great term for a specific photographic quality that describes a certain ideal what I'm trying to capture with my family photography. This term is punctum and it could perhaps be translated to sting, stab or bite. In Barthes's thinking punctum relates to essence of photography and to describe this term, I'm going to offer a very similar kind of example which Barthes gives in his book – it's pure coincidence is that I too happen to have a similar kind of picture which Barthes uses in his book to explain the punctum.

In my parents' home there is an old B&W picture of my mother where she is just three years old little girl and sits next to well on a sunny day. It's an old picture taken at backyard, sun shines right into her face so she has to squint her eyes, and while I can't quite make sense of her face, it still looks like she is looking into my eyes from that picture. To me this picture is special because it reflects my mother as a small girl before I existed myself. The world of that picture is now, of course, gone and so is that little girl as well, but the light from that very moment still travels into my eyes through the photograph. Looking at that specific picture makes me realize that it was I who became dictate the life and fate of my mother. The savaging weight of the photograph makes this suddenly very clear to me. Experiencing this temporal distance, my life and the fulfilled fate of my mother's life is the punctum – a stab or sting that I feel when looking at this photograph and it makes me feel a bit melancholic. Barthes claims that the punctum and the photographs ability to bond past and presence together through a material process related to photosensitive materials is what, in the end, separates photography from all other art forms. Right or wrong, I find punctum to be very useful term for describing the feelings some photographs have in our hearts.

When I take family photographs and look them afterwards, I'm always searching if I have captured any marks of life, do the images have potential for punctum, or am I just repeating conventional visual motifs, rules of thirds, leading lines, etc. With camera I want to capture the perishableness of life before it slips through my fingers and disappears – and because of this motivation there is always a shadow of death behind my eyes and in the way I look through the viewfinder. I'm particularly fascinated by the idea that with camera I responsible for creating imagery of Aura's early childhood (and imagery of our family in general). In this work the photographic eye is a visual and psychological tool which I use (or at least try to use) to imprint interpretation of our mutual time and life into material photographs. Ultimately it's a way of loving and nurturing something I feel precious – and also a way of realizing it to myself. I can't, of course, know if I have captured the punctum with any of my pictures, because the future and what will happen hasn't happened yet, and punctum is about bonding the past and present. I can just hope that it's there, in one of those shots I've taken of our time together.

But there are also the other pictures I take (like these that I share with this season), which cannot be categorized as family pictures. With those I have different approach and different reasons as well. Luckily the Barthes also has another point of view into punctum, which I'm going to tell you more about in the next post.

Year of the Alpha – 52 Weeks of Sony Alpha Photography: www.yearofthealpha.com

Talking Byzantine times: the corridor on Nicholas island was there to lead the pilgrims to the 3rd church (Church of St. Nicholas???)

IMO: 9196424

MMSI: 357676000

Call Sign: 3FQG9

Flag: Panama [PA]

AIS Vessel Type: Cargo

Gross Tonnage: 7355

Deadweight: 8753 t

Length Overall x Breadth Extreme: 136.42m × 20m

Year Built: 1999

Status: Active

*A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship; a type of ship typically used to transport perishable commodities which require temperature-controlled transportation, such as fruit, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products and other foods.

Please use red/cyan anaglyph goggles, for anaglyph glasses ask your local optician.

Angkor Thom"Great City", located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII.:378–382:170

It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the centre of the city isJayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.

Map of Central Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom was established as the capital of Jayavarman VII's empire, and was the centre of his massive building programme. One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavarman as the groom and the city as his bride.:121

Angkor Thom seems not to be the first Khmer capital on the site, however. Yasodharapura, dating from three centuries earlier, was centred slightly further northwest, and Angkor Thom overlapped parts of it. The most notable earlier temples within the city are the former state temple of Baphuon, and Phimeanakas, which was incorporated into the Royal Palace. The Khmers did not draw any clear distinctions between Angkor Thom and Yashodharapura: even in the fourteenth century an inscription used the earlier name.:138 The name of Angkor Thom—great city—was in use from the 16th century.

The last temple known to have been constructed in Angkor Thom was Mangalartha, which was dedicated in 1295. Thereafter the existing structures continued to be modified from time to time, but any new creations were in perishable materials and have not survived.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom, led by King Borommarachathirat II, sacked Angkor Thom, forcing the Khmers under Ponhea Yat to relocate their capital southeast.:29

Angkor Thom was abandoned some time prior to 1609, when an early western visitor wrote of an uninhabited city, "as fantastic as the Atlantis of Plato".:140 It is believed to have sustained a population of 80,000–150,000 people.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

1 Peter 1:18-19

After meeting the MWCRVC 18, BNSF's Modesto to Barstow priority manifest train begins what would be one of the loudest and smokiest hill restarts I've ever seen and heard. As it begins it's pull out of Bealville during sunset. With BNSF 8179 on the point of this massive 7,000 foot train loaded down with boxcars filled with perishables from the Central Valley heading to Barstow for reclassification.

This Friday, Lieutenant Jean-Louis-Francis from St-Étienne goes to the Louisbrick Icehouse near the Bastion du Roy. The Icehouse allowed perishable foods to be kept cold almost all year round.

Related FB post:

Louisbrick FB post

Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.

Today we are below stairs in the Wickham Place kitchen which is usually a place of happiness and harmony, but today Mrs. Bradley, known by most downstairs staff as Cook, is in a foul mood as she bangs her copper pots about on the kitchen range with a violence not often seen.

In the corridor outside the kitchen, Mr. Withers the Butler catches a couple of the Wickham Place housemaids skulking about doing nothing.

“What are you doing standing about here, cluttering the area?” he demands of them.

“We’re on a break, Mr. Withers, sir.” replies Sara unapologetically.

“Then why aren’t you in the servant’s hall, girl?” he asks sharply.

“Can’t get there, sir.” Sara replies with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Don’t be insolent girl!” Mr. Withers snaps. “What rubbish! Of course you can! It’s just on the other side of the kitchen.”

“I’m not game to go in there. Are you Tilly?” Sara asks her fellow housemaid.

“Not me, Sara!” she replies, shaking her head and putting up both her hands defensively.

It’s then that Mr. Withers hears for the first time the crash of metal against metal as pots and pans are bashed about with what appears to be some vehemence. Occasionally over the clattering noise, he thinks he hears the sob of a girl.

“Cook’s in a foul mood,” Tilly continues. “And we’ll not go in there, sir. Not for love, nor money!”

Sara nods in agreement.

“We’ll soon see about this.” Mr. Withers replies as he steels himself and marches through the kitchen door.

Cook is standing with her back to the room as she stirs something violently in a pot on the great black kitchen range, banging her wooden spoon angrily on its lip. Sitting as far from Cook as she can, Agnes the scullery maid is weeping over some big Seville oranges as she cuts them into thin slivers with a knife.

“Agnes.” Mr. Withers says when he sees her tears. “Whatever is wrong?”

“Oh,” she sobs. “Mrs. Bradley’s in a foul mood, and she set me to juicing and slicing oranges, and the juice is stinging my hands.” She holds out her careworn hands, the juice covering them and seeping into the cracks in the skin on her palms and fingers.

“Got time to gab have you, you ungrateful good-for-nothing?” Mrs. Bradly spins around with her hands on her hips, her ordinarily cheerful face as black as thunder as she glares at Agnes.

“Oh! Oh, I only meant…” but the words catch in her throat as Cook’s eyebrows arch ever so slightly higher over her angry eyes. “No, Mrs. Bradley.” She busies herself, head down, continuing to slice the oranges into thin slivers.

“Now! Now! What’s this Mrs. Bradley?” Mr. Withers asks. “This isn’t like you: upsetting a poor girl and banging the pots so loudly the Master and Mistress can hear you upstairs.”

“And a good thing too if Her High-and-Mightiness does hear me!”

“Mrs. Bradley!” Mr. Withers looks shocked.

“Well, here I am happily preparing the six course French dinner for His Lordship’s guests this evening when she summons me. ‘Just a small change, Cook’, she says all sweetness and light. ‘You’ll have to change the main course. Lord What’s-His-Face doesn’t eat red meat, but I’m sure you’ll come up with a suitable alternative in its place at such short notice. That will be all.’ And she dismisses me with a wave of her lily-white hand!”

“Well, you’re resourceful, Mrs. Bradley.”

“Have you looked at the time, Mr. Withers? His Lordship’s guests will be here in two hours, and I’ve been cooking bœuf à la Bourguignonne all afternoon!” She turns and opens the oven door and pulls out something from within its confines. “So we’ll be eating like kings for servant’s dinner shortly, and tonight they will be having chicken a l’orange instead!” She slams a partially cooked chicken on a tray on the deal table. “If I’d wanted to be a short-order cook, Mr. Withers, I’d have worked at the Café Royal! I’ve a right mind to hand in my notice!” She snatches up the jug of orange juice from in front of her, sloshing some on the table in her anger, and starts pouring it over the chicken.

“You aren’t going to though, are you Mrs. Bradley?” Mr. Withers asks with a worried look on his pale face.

“No, Mr. Withers. I’ve got too much respect for His Lordship than to walk out,” she assures him. “But her!” She raises her wooden spoon to the ceiling above her and shakes it.

“Shall I put the orange silvers on the chicken now, Mrs. Bradley?” Agnes asks meekly.

“Of course girl! I didn’t put it there for you to stare at! Get on with it, quick sticks, or His Lordship will be served a half cooked, inedible chicken, and you’ll be to blame!”

“Yes Mrs. Bradley!”

The Wickham Place kitchens are situated on the ground floor of Wickham Place, adjoining the Butler’s Pantry. It is dominated by big black leaded range, and next to it stands a heavy dark wood dresser that has been there for as long as anyone can remember. There is a white enamelled sink to one side with deep cupboards to house the necessary cleaning agents the scullery maid needs to keep the kitchen clean for the cook. In the middle of the kitchen stands Cook’s preserve, the pine deal table on which she does most of her preparation for both the meals served to the family upstairs and those for the downstairs staff.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “fruit” was chosen by Gary, Gazman_AU. This tableaux is made up of part of my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection. Some pieces come from my own childhood like the ladderback chair in the background. Other items I acquired as an adult through specialist online dealers and artists who specialise in 1:12 miniatures.

Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:

On Cook’s deal table, the Seville oranges, the orange slices, and the roast chicken all 1:12 artisan miniatures with amazing attention to detail. All three come from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering, England. The orange slices are so small and so fine. They are cut from long canes like some boiled sweets are but are much smaller in size!

Also, from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering is the jug of orange juice which is also a 1:12 artisan miniature. The jug is made of very fine glass, and is half filled with glossy resin that looks exactly like orange juice.

Opposite the jug of orange juice is a Cornishware white and blue cannister. Cornishware is a striped kitchenware brand trademarked to and manufactured by T.G. Green & Co Ltd. Originally introduced in the 1920s and manufactured in Church Gresley, Derbyshire, it was a huge success for the company and in the succeeding 30 years it was exported around the world. The company ceased production in June 2007 when the factory closed under the ownership of parent company, The Tableshop Group. The range was revived in 2009 after T.G. Green was bought by a trio of British investors.

Behind the roast chicken is a jar of Gale’s Honey and a jar of Golden Shred Orange Marmalade. Gale’s Honey has been in existence as a brand in England since the early 1900s, and it still exists to this day. Golden Shred orange marmalade too still exists today and is a common household brand both in Britain and Australia. It is produced by Robertson’s. Robertson\'s Golden Shred recipe perfected since 1874 is a clear and tangy orange marmalade, which according to their modern day jars is “perfect for Paddington’s marmalade sandwiches”. Robertson\'s marmalade dates back to 1874 when Mrs. Robertson started making marmalade in the family grocery shop in Paisley, Scotland.

The sink in the background is littered with interesting items. On the left stands an old fashioned draining board which could be removed so that the space could then be used for other purposes. It is stacked with copper pots and a blue pottery mixing bowl. Near the taps is a box of Sunlight soap and a can of Vim, both cleaning essentials in any Edwardian household. Vim scouring powder was created by William Hesketh Lever (1st Viscount Leverhulme) and introduced to the market in 1904. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Sunlight Soap was first introduced in 1884.

The ladderback chair I have had since I was around eight years old.

To the left of the sink is the food safe with a birchwood broom leaning against it. In the days before refrigeration, or when refrigeration was expensive, perishable foods such as meat, butter, milk and eggs were kept in a food safe. Winter was easier than summer to keep food fresh and butter coolers and shallow bowls of cold water were early ways to keep things like milk and butter cool. A food safe was a wooden cupboard with doors and sides open to the air apart from a covering of fine galvinised wire mesh. This allowed the air to circulate while keeping insects out. There was usually an upper and a lower compartment, normally lined with what was known as American cloth, a fabric with a glazed or varnished wipe-clean surface. Refrigerators, like washing machines were American inventions and were not commonplace in even wealthy upper-class households until well after the Second World War.

ODC-Tin Can

I have a small Pantry off my kitchen and one in the basement. This is the later. I keep a lot of non-perishables down there where it's cool and dark!

M40 near Bishops Tachbrook 15/10/2022

Astute tracing, planning and execution by Steven Welch provides this shot of the Z perishables descending the east slope of Donner Pass at Andover with Donner Lake in the background. Speedboats were already whizzing around the water even at this time of the morning and Truckee was a madhouse. But man is the weather better than winter!

Este collar de cuentas de mayólica es una versión duradera de los complejos collares perecederos de flores que usaban los invitados a un banquete. Dinastía 18, reinado de Akenatón, ca. 1353-1336 a.C.(Museo Metropolitano de Arte, New York).

This necklace of faience beads is a durable version of the elaborate perishable floral collars worn by banquet guests. Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1353-1336 B.C. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

Chiesa di San Pietro di Ponte (1280 - 1300).

Facciata della chiesa.

Archetti pensili di varia forma con peducci, bifora con colonna centrale sproporzionata e nidi per contenere piatti in ceramica decorata.

La pietra arenaria locale, materiale estremamente deperibile.

Church of San Pietro di Ponte (1280 - 1300).

Facade of the church.

Hanging arches of various shapes with corbels, mullioned window with disproportionate central column and nests to hold decorated ceramic plates.

Local sandstone, an extremely perishable material.

_MG_4984m

Until the early 2000s the railways of the west country were served by a variety of mail (and perishable) trains.

By 2003 perishable traffic had disappeared and the writing was on the wall for the surviving mail trains. Doing the job for which it was designed, on 17th September 2003 67003 has just exited Parsons Tunnel at Dawlish while working 5C43,a Bristol to Plymouth empty mail train.

(Explore #35)

Despite my fascination with long exposure landscapes, once in a while I diverge into still life. It's an entirely different discipline altogether - yes, you are still bound by the dictates of light, composition and subject matter - as with any photography, but a whole new set of rules come into play. In many ways it's much easier than, for example, taking a shot on some forlorn and desolate beach - there is no travel involved, no weather or tide to consider, no frustration at the quality of the light. With still life you can shoot from the comfort of your own home or studio, where you have (more or less) complete governance over the conditions. This manufactured predictability allows you to focus more on the intricacies of how you portray your subject, whether that be a calla lilly, items of cutlery or, as in this case, three pears.

For me, many of the decisions involved are a moot point - I don't have access to studio kit with associated lighting, softboxes, rolled backdrops and other paraphernalia. In fact I don't even own a flash unit. This means there's only one true option for me in terms of lighting, it has to be natural window light. I have experimented with various improvised reflective surfaces in the past (I admit I don't own a proper reflector either!) to best maximise the potential of any light/shadow play, and as far as composition goes my decisions are probably at best... amateur, even though I do give them a great deal of consideration. I find subject matter the easiest of the three mantras to deal with, if only perhaps because I just dabble in this type of shot and therefore the 'classic' subjects are still fresh and exciting to my lens.

With a long exposure landscape, I am well versed in the necessary disciplines to achieve a satisfactory result. I can gauge a wide array of potential issues that may affect the outcome and (to the untrained eye at least!) probably appear as if I know what I'm doing. However, this shot involved me raiding our airing cupboard for a white sheet, before deciding the textures were unsuitable. A further forray into the smallest room of the house yielded a voile curtain (we are not generally a net-curtain household!) with some interesting gossamer details. Next came various set up attempts (firstly outdoors but quickly relocated to inside) to assess different light, and the crucial decision of how many pears to use. I'd originally decided on five, in line with my 'Tomatoes' image earlier in my photostream, but this was quickly reduced to three (odds are better than evens) after my wife ate one - apparently they are food items and not just props... I eventually settled on this arrangement which I'd imagine has been done before, but which appeals to my design aesthetics.

The hardest part of the shot? Something I never encounter during landscape work - trying desperately to find a way to make each pear stand up in the position I wanted! Each time I thought I had them right one would fall over, aided in no small part by one or other of our cats attacking my hands beneath the chair I used as a base. I eventually settled on supporting them with small stones. Well, it seemed a better option than cutting the bottoms off... I am of course referring to the pears and not the cats.

So, which other fields do I eventually wish to experiment with? Well, I haven't explored portraiture, and would like to address that once I have a decent 50mm or macro lens. Come to think of it, I might even be able to use my ND filters - did anyone read the article on long exposure portraiture (typically 8 seconds) using orthochromatic film in the May issue of Black + White Photography? Brilliant!

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The concept translates into the archetypical lighthouse conical shape, reduced to its simplest expression and conformed to the lifeguard stand proportions and wrapped in aged wood. The Beacon will act as a temporary drop-off location for non-perishable items such as canned food or clothes.

Building upon last year’s participation from OCAD, Ryerson University and Laurentian University, 2017 sees teams from three schools submitting design concepts; University of Waterloo, University of Toronto and Humber College School of Media Studies & IT, School of Applied Technology. Source:https://www.canadianarchitect.com/exhibitions-installations/winter-stations-2017/1003737469/

M40 near Bishops Tachbrook 17/10/2022

www.facebook.com/truckingpix

we must fight to seize 20%

of the so called civilized world in food spoils,

so that the world will not go hungry

peregrino27

www.facebook.com/peregrino27

youtu.be/wDJjcL9Ya4c

www.wfp.org/

Wednesday was one of the slower days of my stay at home fall 'train-cation' and though it yielded only a few shots I do like the results.

I spent some time late morning on the east end of the old Boston and Albany and shot two trains at CP60 which I've already shared here. I had plans to meet up with two friends who were driving up from New Jersey to spend the night with me camped out in the Steaming Tender's Airbnb caboose in Palmer. On the way north they intercepted returning southbound New England Central Railroad train 608. So after wrapping up with CSXT I cut southwest into Connecticut to meet them here where they were set up and waiting at one of the signature shots between Palmer and Willimantic.

Leading the way is NECR 3317 a classic SD40T-2 'Tunnel Motor' blt. Apr. 1980 as SP 8526. The woods of Eastern Connecticut are a long way from Donner Pass, Pegra Pass, and the Siskiyous for which she was built to lug endless lumber and perishable drags east. Later this scarlet and grey beast burnished the rails of Soldier Summit and the mightiest grade of all...Tennessee Pass! As a lover of the Rio Grande just thinking of the places she's been in her more than four decade career brings a smile to my face.

But those legendary railroad locales aren't mentioned to dimish the beauty of this spot which is purely New England, a region second to none this time of year. This is about MP 36.3 on the New England Central's Palmer Sub, the ex Central Vermont, approaching the Stonehouse Road overpass. They are passing beside Eagleville Dam on the Willimantic River and according to a brochure for the town park: 'Cotton fabric was produced here from 1814 to 1931, and then shoe lasts were made until the mill was demolished in the 1950s.'

Sharp eyes will note that the trailing unit is NECR 3857 (EMD GP38AC blt. Apr. 1971 as Gulf, Mobile and Ohio 730) which is the last original blue and gold unit in service on the property dating from the road's 1995 startup.

Village of Eagleville

Mansfield, Connecticut

Wednesday October 19, 2022

... the perishable

December 14th 1967

Mirfield

This slighly blurred and grainy image shows a Peak on a perishables train - an unusual loco for this type of working at this time. D86 (later 45105) is seen heading for the Calder Valley mainline - the train may have been heading for Bradford. Holbeck Class 24s and 25s were the more usual power for these workings.

Re-scanned July 2020.

Ref B2-73

Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the center of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.

Angkor Thom was established as the capital of Jayavarman VII's empire, and was the centre of his massive building programme. One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavarman as the groom and the city as his bride.[4]:121

Angkor Thom seems not to be the first Khmer capital on the site, however. Yasodharapura, dating from three centuries earlier, was centred slightly further northwest, and Angkor Thom overlapped parts of it. The most notable earlier temples within the city are the former state temple of Baphuon, and Phimeanakas, which was incorporated into the Royal Palace. The Khmers did not draw any clear distinctions between Angkor Thom and Yashodharapura: even in the fourteenth century an inscription used the earlier name. The name of Angkor Thom—great city—was in use from the 16th century.

The last temple known to have been constructed in Angkor Thom was Mangalartha, which was dedicated in 1295. Thereafter the existing structures continued to be modified from time to time, but any new creations were in perishable materials and have not survived.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom, led by King Borommarachathirat II, sacked Angkor Thom, forcing the Khmers under Ponhea Yat to relocate their capital southeast.

Angkor Thom was abandoned some time prior to 1609, when an early western visitor wrote of an uninhabited city, "as fantastic as the Atlantis of Plato". It is believed to have sustained a population of 80,000–150,000 people.

In the mid 1960s, there was a daily morning drag freight between Fresno and Roseville that picked up perishable cars along the Stockton Subdivision. Here the train is starting up from a stop at West Modesto after picking up a single mechanical reefer. During this era, perishables were being transported in a mix of mechanical, iced reefers and refrigerated TOFC, and this train typifies that mix. The lead unit is ALCo DH643 9150, one of three hydraulic drive locomotives put together by ALCo with a pair of ALCo 251 engines each teamed with a Voith hydraulic transmission. The domestic traction experiment was offered as an alternative to the maintenance-intensive KM hydraulics, but it did not meet with success. Three of these units were built and they lasted a bit longer than the German-built units. The supporting and venerable B-unit had long ago proven it's worth.

PLEASE, NO invitations or self promotions, THEY WILL BE DELETED. My photos are FREE to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know, thanks.

This is built over the original well of the icehouse built about 1720. Filled in winter from the pond nearby, the straw insulation kept ice and perishable foods during the summer. By Royal edict, the doorways faced north and were opened only after sunset.

film taken on my canon ae-1 back during summer 2014

It's almost an hour after sunset at Yuba Gap on Union Pacific's Roseville Subdivision. Faint rays of light still illuminate the western horizon. What little light remains still highlights the slopes of Signal Peak, in the distance.

Signals herald the approach of an eastbound train. The dull sound of traffic on Interstate 80 becomes punctuated by the roar of two GE locomotives, quickly approaching the scene. Beams of light begin to dance through the trees. The roar becomes louder and louder.....then whoosh!

In less than 30 seconds, the ZDLSKP (Delano, CA to Selkirk, NY perishable train) passes through the scene, bracketed by an AC4400CW at each end. One minute later, quiet returns to this location on the mountain....for now.

© 2015 Patrick Dirden Photography

All Rights Reserved

Turner is located on the TS just east of Highway 99. In the summer of 1970, "new" power on the Tidewater, in the form of two RS-1's from the Spokane International, replaced aging 70 tonners and loaner WP switchers. The RS-1's expedited long perishable freights to the WP connection in Stockton. TS 746 is making a good 40 mph as it lugs a long train past Turner.

The Mundo Perdido is to the west of the Plaza of the Seven Temples. It is the largest ceremonial complex dating from the Preclassic period at Tikal.

The complex was organised as a large E-Group consisting of a pyramid aligned with a platform to the east that supported three temples.

The Mundo Perdido complex was rebuilt many times over the course of its history. By AD 250–300 its architectural style was influenced by the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, including the use of the talud-tablero form.During the Early Classic period (c. 250–600) the Mundo Perdido became one of the twin foci of the city, the other being the North Acropolis.From AD 250 to 378 it may have served as the royal necropolis. The Mundo Perdido complex was given its name by the archaeologists of the University of Pennsylvania; it is centred upon the Lost World Pyramid and a small platform to the west of it.

The Lost World Pyramid (Structure 5C-54) is the largest structure in the Mundo Perdido complex. It lies in the southwest portion of Tikal’s central core, south of Temple III and west of Temple V. It was decorated with stucco masks of the sun god and dates to the Late Preclassic; this pyramid is part of an enclosed complex of structures that remained intact and un-impacted by later building activity at Tikal. By the end of the Late Preclassic this pyramid was one of the largest structures in the Maya region. It attained its final form during the reign of Chak Tok Ich'aak in the 4th century AD, in the Early Classic, standing more than 30 metres high with stairways on all four sides and a flat top that possibly supported a superstructure built from perishable materials. Although the plaza later suffered significant alteration, the organization of a group of temples on the east side of this complex adheres to the layout that defines the so-called E-Groups, identified as solar observatories.

Angkor Wat or "Capital Temple" is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was first a Hindu and later a Buddhist temple. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, present-day Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.

Breaking from the Shiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple, based on early Dravidian architecture, with key features such as the Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas adorning its walls.

The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples" in Khmer; Angkor, meaning "city" or "capital city", is a vernacular form of the word nokor (នគរ), which comes from the Sanskrit word nagara (नगर). Wat is the Khmer word for "temple grounds" (Sanskrit: वाट vāṭa ""enclosure").

HISTORY

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres north of the modern town of Siem Reap, and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon. It is in an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures. It is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites.

According to one legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to act as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea.

According to the 13th century Chinese traveler Daguan Zhou, it was believed by some that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113-C. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as "Varah Vishnu-lok" after the presiding deity. Work seems to have ended shortly after the king's death, leaving some of the bas-relief decoration unfinished.

In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon respectively) a few kilometers to the north.

In the late 13th century, Angkor Wat gradually moved from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use, which continues to the present day. Angkor Wat is unusual among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it was never completely abandoned, its preservation being due in part to the fact that its moat also provided some protection from encroachment by the jungle.

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."

In the mid-19th century, the temple was visited by the French naturalist and explorer, Henri Mouhot, who popularised the site in the West through the publication of travel notes, in which he wrote:

"One of these temples - a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo - might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."

Mouhot, like other early Western visitors, found it difficult to believe that the Khmers could have built the temple, and mistakenly dated it to around the same era as Rome. The true history of Angkor Wat was pieced together only from stylistic and epigraphic evidence accumulated during the subsequent clearing and restoration work carried out across the whole Angkor site. There were no ordinary dwellings or houses or other signs of settlement including cooking utensils, weapons, or items of clothing usually found at ancient sites. Instead there is the evidence of the monuments themselves.

Angkor Wat required considerable restoration in the 20th century, mainly the removal of accumulated earth and vegetation. Work was interrupted by the civil war and Khmer Rouge control of the country during the 1970s and 1980s, but relatively little damage was done during this period other than the theft and destruction of mostly post-Angkorian statues. The temple is a powerful symbol of Cambodia, and is a source of great national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States and its neighbor Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863. From a larger historical and even transcultural perspective, however, the temple of Angkor Wat did not become a symbol of national pride sui generis but had been inscribed into a larger politico-cultural process of French-colonial heritage production in which the original temple site was presented in French colonial and universal exhibitions in Paris and Marseille between 1889 and 1937. Angkor Wat's aesthetics were also on display in the plaster cast museum of Louis Delaporte called musée Indo-chinois which existed in the Parisian Trocadero Palace from C. 1880 to the mid-1920s. The splendid artistic legacy of Angkor Wat and other Khmer monuments in the Angkor region led directly to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate on 11 August 1863 and invading Siam to take control of the ruins. This quickly led to Cambodia reclaiming lands in the northwestern corner of the country that had been under Siamese (Thai) control since 1351 AD (Manich Jumsai 2001), or by some accounts, 1431 AD. Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953 and has controlled Angkor Wat since that time.

ARCHITECTURE

SITE AND PLAN

Angkor Wat, located at 13°24′45″N 103°52′0″E, is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard design for the empire's state temples and the later plan of concentric galleries. The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the central quincunx of towers symbolises the five peaks of the mountain, and the walls and moat the surrounding mountain ranges and ocean. Access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level. Unlike most Khmer temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west rather than the east. This has led many (including Maurice Glaize and George Coedès) to conclude that Suryavarman intended it to serve as his funerary temple.Further evidence for this view is provided by the bas-reliefs, which proceed in a counter-clockwise direction - prasavya in Hindu terminology - as this is the reverse of the normal order. Rituals take place in reverse order during Brahminic funeral services. The archaeologist Charles Higham also describes a container which may have been a funerary jar which was recovered from the central tower. It has been nominated by some as the greatest expenditure of energy on the disposal of a corpse. Freeman and Jacques, however, note that several other temples of Angkor depart from the typical eastern orientation, and suggest that Angkor Wat's alignment was due to its dedication to Vishnu, who was associated with the west.

A further interpretation of Angkor Wat has been proposed by Eleanor Mannikka. Drawing on the temple's alignment and dimensions, and on the content and arrangement of the bas-reliefs, she argues that the structure represents a claimed new era of peace under King Suryavarman II: "as the measurements of solar and lunar time cycles were built into the sacred space of Angkor Wat, this divine mandate to rule was anchored to consecrated chambers and corridors meant to perpetuate the king's power and to honor and placate the deities manifest in the heavens above." Mannikka's suggestions have been received with a mixture of interest and scepticism in academic circles. She distances herself from the speculations of others, such as Graham Hancock, that Angkor Wat is part of a representation of the constellation Draco.

STYLE

Angkor Wat is the prime example of the classical style of Khmer architecture - the Angkor Wat style - to which it has given its name. By the 12th century Khmer architects had become skilled and confident in the use of sandstone (rather than brick or laterite) as the main building material. Most of the visible areas are of sandstone blocks, while laterite was used for the outer wall and for hidden structural parts. The binding agent used to join the blocks is yet to be identified, although natural resins or slaked lime has been suggested. The temple has drawn praise above all for the harmony of its design. According to Maurice Glaize, a mid-20th-century conservator of Angkor, the temple "attains a classic perfection by the restrained monumentality of its finely balanced elements and the precise arrangement of its proportions. It is a work of power, unity and style." Architecturally, the elements characteristic of the style include: the ogival, redented towers shaped like lotus buds; half-galleries to broaden passageways; axial galleries connecting enclosures; and the cruciform terraces which appear along the main axis of the temple. Typical decorative elements are devatas (or apsaras), bas-reliefs, and on pediments extensive garlands and narrative scenes. The statuary of Angkor Wat is considered conservative, being more static and less graceful than earlier work. Other elements of the design have been destroyed by looting and the passage of time, including gilded stucco on the towers, gilding on some figures on the bas-reliefs, and wooden ceiling panels and doors.

FEATURES

OUTER ENCLOSURE

The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide. Access to the temple is by an earth bank to the east and a sandstone causeway to the west; the latter, the main entrance, is a later addition, possibly replacing a wooden bridge. There are gopuras at each of the cardinal points; the western is by far the largest and has three ruined towers. Glaize notes that this gopura both hides and echoes the form of the temple proper. Under the southern tower is a statue of Vishnu, known as Ta Reach, which may originally have occupied the temple's central shrine. Galleries run between the towers and as far as two further entrances on either side of the gopura often referred to as "elephant gates", as they are large enough to admit those animals. These galleries have square pillars on the outer (west) side and a closed wall on the inner (east) side. The ceiling between the pillars is decorated with lotus rosettes; the west face of the wall with dancing figures; and the east face of the wall with balustered windows, dancing male figures on prancing animals, and devatas, including (south of the entrance) the only one in the temple to be showing her teeth. The outer wall encloses a space of 820,000 square metres, which besides the temple proper was originally occupied by the city and, to the north of the temple, the royal palace. Like all secular buildings of Angkor, these were built of perishable materials rather than of stone, so nothing remains of them except the outlines of some of the streets. Most of the area is now covered by forest. A 350 m causeway connects the western gopura to the temple proper, with naga balustrades and six sets of steps leading down to the city on either side. Each side also features a library with entrances at each cardinal point, in front of the third set of stairs from the entrance, and a pond between the library and the temple itself. The ponds are later additions to the design, as is the cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structure.

CENTRAL STRUCTURE

The temple stands on a terrace raised higher than the city. It is made of three rectangular galleries rising to a central tower, each level higher than the last. Mannikka interprets these galleries as being dedicated to the king, Brahma, the moon, and Vishnu.

Each gallery has a gopura at each of the points, and the two inner galleries each have towers at their corners, forming a quincunx with the central tower. Because the temple faces west, the features are all set back towards the east, leaving more space to be filled in each enclosure and gallery on the west side; for the same reason the west-facing steps are shallower than those on the other sides.

The outer gallery measures 187 by 215 m, with pavilions rather than towers at the corners. The gallery is open to the outside of the temple, with columned half-galleries extending and buttressing the structure. Connecting the outer gallery to the second enclosure on the west side is a cruciform cloister called Preah Poan (the "Hall of a Thousand Gods"). Buddha images were left in the cloister by pilgrims over the centuries, although most have now been removed. This area has many inscriptions relating the good deeds of pilgrims, most written in Khmer but others in Burmese and Japanese. The four small courtyards marked out by the cloister may originally have been filled with water.

North and south of the cloister are libraries.

Beyond, the second and inner galleries are connected to each other and to two flanking libraries by another cruciform terrace, again a later addition. From the second level upwards, devatas abound on the walls, singly or in groups of up to four. The second-level enclosure is 100 by 115 m, and may originally have been flooded to represent the ocean around Mount Meru.

Three sets of steps on each side lead up to the corner towers and gopuras of the inner gallery. The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods. This inner gallery, called the Bakan, is a 60 m square with axial galleries connecting each gopura with the central shrine, and subsidiary shrines located below the corner towers. The roofings of the galleries are decorated with the motif of the body of a snake ending in the heads of lions or garudas. Carved lintels and pediments decorate the entrances to the galleries and to the shrines. The tower above the central shrine rises 43 m to a height of 65 m above the ground; unlike those of previous temple mountains, the central tower is raised above the surrounding four. The shrine itself, originally occupied by a statue of Vishnu and open on each side, was walled in when the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism, the new walls featuring standing Buddhas. In 1934, the conservator George Trouvé excavated the pit beneath the central shrine: filled with sand and water it had already been robbed of its treasure, but he did find a sacred foundation deposit of gold leaf two metres above ground level.

DECORATION

Integrated with the architecture of the building, and one of the causes for its fame is Angkor Wat's extensive decoration, which predominantly takes the form of bas-relief friezes. The inner walls of the outer gallery bear a series of large-scale scenes mainly depicting episodes from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Higham has called these, "the greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving".

From the north-west corner anti-clockwise, the western gallery shows the Battle of Lanka (from the Ramayana, in which Rama defeats Ravana) and the Battle of Kurukshetra (from the Mahabharata, showing the mutual annihilation of the Kaurava and Pandava clans). On the southern gallery follow the only historical scene, a procession of Suryavarman II, then the 32 hells and 37 heavens of Hindu mythology.

On the eastern gallery is one of the most celebrated scenes, the Churning of the Sea of Milk, showing 92 asuras and 88 devas using the serpent Vasuki to churn the sea under Vishnu's direction (Mannikka counts only 91 asuras, and explains the asymmetrical numbers as representing the number of days from the winter solstice to the spring equinox, and from the equinox to the summer solstice). It is followed by Vishnu defeating asuras (a 16th-century addition). The northern gallery shows Krishna's victory over Bana (where according to Glaize, "The workmanship is at its worst"). and a battle between the Hindu gods and asuras. The north-west and south-west corner pavilions both feature much smaller-scale scenes, some unidentified but most from the Ramayana or the life of Krishna. Angkor Wat is decorated with depictions of apsaras and devata; there are more than 1,796 depictions of devata in the present research inventory. Angkor Wat architects employed small apsara images (30–40 cm) as decorative motifs on pillars and walls. They incorporated larger devata images (all full-body portraits measuring approximately 95–110 cm) more prominently at every level of the temple from the entry pavilion to the tops of the high towers. In 1927, Sappho Marchal published a study cataloging the remarkable diversity of their hair, headdresses, garments, stance, jewelry and decorative flowers, which Marchal concluded were based on actual practices of the Angkor period.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

The stones, as smooth as polished marble, were laid without mortar with very tight joints that are sometimes hard to find. The blocks were held together by mortise and tenon joints in some cases, while in others they used dovetails and gravity. The blocks were presumably put in place by a combination of elephants, coir ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding. Henri Mouhot noted that most of the blocks had holes 2.5 cm in diameter and 3 cm deep, with more holes on the larger blocks. Some scholars have suggested that these were used to join them together with iron rods, but others claim they were used to hold temporary pegs to help manoeuvre them into place. The monument was made out of millions of tonnes of sandstone and it has a greater volume as well as mass than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Angkor Wat Temple consumes about 6 million to 10 million blocks of sandstone with an average weight of 1.5 tons each. In fact, the entire city of Angkor used up far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined, and occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris. Moreover, unlike the Egyptian pyramids which use limestone quarried barely half a km away all the time, the entire city of Angkor was built with sandstone quarried 40 km (or more) away. This sandstone had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 km to the northeast. The route has been suggested to span 35 kilometres along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 kilometres crossing the lake, and finally 15 kilometres upstream and against the current along Siem Reap River, making a total journey of 90 kilometres. However, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan have discovered in 2012 a shorter 35-kilometre canal connecting Mount Kulen and Angkor Wat using satellite imagery. The two believe that the Khmer used this route instead.

Virtually all of its surfaces, columns, lintels even roofs are carved. There are miles of reliefs illustrating scenes from Indian literature including unicorns, griffins, winged dragons pulling chariots as well as warriors following an elephant-mounted leader and celestial dancing girls with elaborate hair styles. The gallery wall alone is decorated with almost 1000 square metres of bas reliefs. Holes on some of the Angkor walls indicate that they may have been decorated with bronze sheets. These were highly prized in ancient times and were a prime target for robbers. While excavating Khajuraho, Alex Evans, a stonemason and sculptor, recreated a stone sculpture under 1.2 m, this took about 60 days to carve. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. The labor force to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone must have run into the thousands including many highly skilled artisans. The skills required to carve these sculptures were developed hundreds of years earlier, as demonstrated by some artifacts that have been dated to the seventh century, before the Khmer came to power.

ANGKOR WAT TODAY

The Archaeological Survey of India carried out restoration work on the temple between 1986 and 1992. Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has seen continued conservation efforts and a massive increase in tourism. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992, which has provided some funding and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site. The German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP) is working to protect the devatas and other bas-reliefs which decorate the temple from damage. The organisation's survey found that around 20% of the devatas were in very poor condition, mainly because of natural erosion and deterioration of the stone but in part also due to earlier restoration efforts. Other work involves the repair of collapsed sections of the structure, and prevention of further collapse: the west facade of the upper level, for example, has been buttressed by scaffolding since 2002, while a Japanese team completed restoration of the north library of the outer enclosure in 2005. World Monuments Fund began conservation work on the Churning of the Sea of Milk Gallery in 2008 after several years of conditions studies. The project restored the traditional Khmer roofing system and removed cement used in earlier restoration attempts that had resulted in salts entering the structure behind the bas-relief, discoloring and damaging the sculpted surfaces. The main phase of work ended in 2012, and the final component will be the installation of finials on the roof of the gallery in 2013. Microbial biofilms have been found degrading sandstone at Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, and the Bayon and West Prasat in Angkor. The dehydration and radiation resistant filamentous cyanobacteria can produce organic acids that degrade the stone. A dark filamentous fungus was found in internal and external Preah Khan samples, while the alga Trentepohlia was found only in samples taken from external, pink-stained stone at Preah Khan. Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 2004 and 2005, government figures suggest that, respectively, 561.000 and 677.000 foreign visitors arrived in Siem Reap province, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia for both years. The site has been managed by the private SOKIMEX group since 1990, which rented it from the Cambodian government. The influx of tourists has so far caused relatively little damage, other than some graffiti; ropes and wooden steps have been introduced to protect the bas-reliefs and floors, respectively. Tourism has also provided some additional funds for maintenance - as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole Angkor site was spent on the temples - although most work is carried out by foreign government-sponsored teams rather than by the Cambodian authorities. Since Angkor Wat has seen significant growth in tourism throughout the years UNESCO and its International Co-ordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC), in association with representatives from the Royal Government and APSARA, organized seminars to discuss the concept of "cultural tourism". Wanting to avoid commercial and mass tourism, the seminars emphasized the importance of providing high quality accommodation and services in order for the Cambodian government to benefit economically, while also incorporating the richness of Cambodian culture. In 2001, this incentive resulted in the concept of the "Angkor Tourist City" which would be developed with regard to traditional Khmer architecture, contain leisure and tourist facilities, and provide luxurious hotels capable of accommodating large amounts of tourists. The prospect of developing such large tourist accommodations has encountered concerns from both APSARA and the ICC, claiming that previous tourism developments in the area have neglected construction regulations and more of these projects have the potential to damage landscape features. Also, the large scale of these projects have begun to threaten the quality of the nearby town's water, sewage, and electricity systems. It has been noted that such high frequency of tourism and growing demand for quality accommodations in the area, such as the development of a large highway, has had a direct effect on the underground water table, subsequently straining the structural stability of the temples at Angkor Wat. Locals of Siem Reap have also voiced concern over the charming nature and atmosphere of their town being compromised in order to entertain tourism. Since this charming local atmosphere is the key component to projects like Angkor Tourist City, local officials continue to discuss how to successfully incorporate future tourism without sacrificing local values and culture. At the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012, both parties have agreed Borobudur and Angkor Wat to become sister sites and the provinces will become sister provinces. Two Indonesian airlines are considering the opportunity to open a direct flight from Yogyakarta, Indonesia to Siem Reap.

WIKIPEDIA

Plain of Jars, Site 1 near Phonsovan in Laos.

The Plain of Jars (near Phonsovan) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. Scattered in the landscape of the Xieng Khouang plateau, Xieng Khouang, Lao PDR, are thousands of megalithic jars. These stone jars appear in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars at lower foothills surrounding the central plain and upland valleys.

The Xieng Khouang Plateau is located at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. Initial research of the Plain of Jars in the early 1930s claimed that the stone jars are associated with prehistoric burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the stone jars. The Plain of Jars is dated to the Iron Age (500 BC to AD 500) and is one of the most important sites for studying Southeast Asian prehistory. The Plain of Jars has the potential to shed light on the relationship between increasingly complex societies and megalithic structures and provide insight into social organisation of Iron Age Southeast Asia’s communities.

More than 90 sites are known within the province of Xieng Khouang. Each site ranges from 1 up to 400 stone jars. The jars vary in height and diameter between 1 and 3 metres and are all without exception hewn out of rock. The shape is cylindrical with the bottom always wider than the top. The stone jars are undecorated with the exception of a single jar at Site 1. This jar has a human bas-relief carved on the exterior. Parallels between this ‘frogman’ at Site 1 and the rock painting at Huashan in Guangxi, China have been drawn. The paintings, which depict large full-frontal humans with arms raised and knees bent, are dated to 500 BC - 200 AD .

From the fact that most of the jars have lip rims, it is presumed that all stone jars supported lids, although few stone lids have been recorded; this may suggest that the bulk of lids were fashioned from perishable materials. Stone lids with animal representations have been noticed at few sites such as Ban Phakeo (Site 52). The bas-relief animals are thought to be monkeys, tigers and frogs. No in situ lid has ever been found.

Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

Lettice has spent the evening at one of London’s most exclusive and glamorous nightclubs, the Embassy Club on Bond Street: dining with friends the Honourable Gerald Bruton, Celia Beauchamp, Peter Bradley, Marguerite de Virre and Lettice’s older brother and heir to the pater’s title, lands and fortune, Leslie Chetwynd. After dinner, they danced into the wee hours of the morning to the wonderful music of Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra.

Letting herself in through the front door with her latch key, Lettice still tiptoes about like she did when she was younger and sneaking home to her parents’ Sloane Square terrace. She deposits her cape, gloves, compact and bandeau on one of her tub chairs in the drawing room before slipping quietly through the green baize door into the servant’s part of her flat. Now in lisle clad feet only, there is no need to tiptoe past Edith’s room, but old habits die hard as she trips lighly across the black and white cheque linoleum floor. However, once in the kitchen, Lettice throws on the lights and makes a clattering noise as she goes looking about for a milk pan, a teacup, saucer, plate, the Huntley and Palmer’s Empire Assorted, and her decadent nightcap, the Bournville Cocoa.

“Can I be of any help, Miss?” Edith yawns as she steps bleary eyed into the kitchen in her dressing gown with her hair in Kirby grips.

“Oh, I shouldn’t think so Edith,” Lettice replies nonchalantly, gasping with delight as she finds the milk bottle in the food safe in the corner of the kitchen. “Nanny Webster always said that making cocoa was an art.” Giggling she continues. “Wouldn’t pampered Marguerite and Celia die if they saw me trying to make my own cocoa!”

“Have you ever made cocoa before, Miss?” Edith asks, watching her mistress with her arms akimbo.

“Well… not exactly, Edith, but it can’t be that hard.” Lettice replies as she looks in a rather perplexed fashion at the pan, the canister of cocoa and the milk.

“Well, I’m up now Miss, so shall I make it for you?”

“Oh! Oh, would you Edith?” Lettice gasps in delight. Turning around she throws her arms around Edith’s neck, much to the other woman’s consternation, and beams one of her winning smiles. “Oh you are a brick! There’s nothing quite like a hot cocoa after a night out dancing to help settle one down.”

“And whilst I make it, you can tell me what you and your friends got up to tonight, Miss.”

Edith busies herself pouring the milk into the pan and setting it on the stove whilst Lettice sinks into the ladderback chair, the only chair, in the small kitchen.

“Well, darling Marguerite almost got to dance with the Prince of Wales tonight… almost,” Lettice begins as she nibbles delicately on a Huntley and Palmer’s Bourbon biscuit.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “drinks” was chosen by Di, PhotosbyDi.

As adults, when we think of drinks, alcohol often comes to mind first. However, when it’s bedtime, Lettice is right, a cup of rich chocolaty Bourneville cocoa is a decadent nightcap. Lettice’s well set out ingredient selection is a little different to what you might think, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures from my miniatures collection, some of which come from my own childhood.

Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:

The canister of Bournville Cocoa, which is a 1:12 artisan miniature from Small Wonders suppliers in England. Bournville is a brand of dark chocolate produced by Cadbury. It is named after the model village of the same name in Birmingham, England and was first sold in 1908. Bournville Cocoa was one of the products sold by Cadbury. The label on the canister is a transitional one used after the First World War and shared both the old fashioned Edwardian letter B and more modern 1920s lettering for the remainder of the name. The red of the lettering is pre-war whilst the orange and white a post-war change.

The Huntley and Palmer’s biscuit tin and Bourbon biscuits are also 1:12 artisan pieces. Huntley & Palmers is a British firm of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. The company created one of the world\'s first global brands and ran what was once the world\'s largest biscuit factory. Over the years, the company was also known as J. Huntley & Son and Huntley & Palmer. The Huntley and Palmer’s Empire Assorted tin featuring Boudicca upon it was first used during the Great War to stimulate nationalist fervour both in the trenches and on the home front. The design was so popular that it carried on through the 1920s.

Lettice’s cup, saucer and plate are from a beautiful artisan tea set featuring a rather avant-garde Art Deco Royal Doulton design from the Edwardian era.

The milk bottle, copper milk pan and spoon are also 1:12 size miniatures. The copper pan is made of real copper and is very heavy for its size!

The sink in the background has some interesting items on it. On the left hand draining board stands a box of Sunlight soap and a can of Vim, both cleaning essentials in any 1920s household. Vim scouring powder was created by William Hesketh Lever (1st Viscount Leverhulme) and introduced to the market in 1904. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Sunlight Soap was first introduced in 1884.

To the left of the sink is the food safe with a mop leaning against it. In the days before refrigeration, or when refrigeration was expensive, perishable foods such as meat, butter, milk and eggs were kept in a food safe. Winter was easier than summer to keep food fresh and butter coolers and shallow bowls of cold water were early ways to keep things like milk and butter cool. A food safe was a wooden cupboard with doors and sides open to the air apart from a covering of fine galvinised wire mesh. This allowed the air to circulate while keeping insects out. There was usually an upper and a lower compartment, normally lined with what was known as American cloth, a fabric with a glazed or varnished wipe-clean surface. Refrigerators, like washing machines were American inventions and were not commonplace in even wealthy upper-class households until well after the Second World War.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)

I fell in love with that bible verse. I feel that it portrays what our family has been going through in the last 9 years. I am thinking to even getting a tattoo based on that verse. :)

Happy Sunday....

Textures by Flypaper and Les Brumes.

Plain of Jars, Site 1 near Phonsovan in Laos.

The Plain of Jars (near Phonsovan) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. Scattered in the landscape of the Xieng Khouang plateau, Xieng Khouang, Lao PDR, are thousands of megalithic jars. These stone jars appear in clusters, ranging from a single or a few to several hundred jars at lower foothills surrounding the central plain and upland valleys.

The Xieng Khouang Plateau is located at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. Initial research of the Plain of Jars in the early 1930s claimed that the stone jars are associated with prehistoric burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the stone jars. The Plain of Jars is dated to the Iron Age (500 BC to AD 500) and is one of the most important sites for studying Southeast Asian prehistory. The Plain of Jars has the potential to shed light on the relationship between increasingly complex societies and megalithic structures and provide insight into social organisation of Iron Age Southeast Asia’s communities.

More than 90 sites are known within the province of Xieng Khouang. Each site ranges from 1 up to 400 stone jars. The jars vary in height and diameter between 1 and 3 metres and are all without exception hewn out of rock. The shape is cylindrical with the bottom always wider than the top.[1] The stone jars are undecorated with the exception of a single jar at Site 1. This jar has a human bas-relief carved on the exterior. Parallels between this ‘frogman’ at Site 1 and the rock painting at Huashan in Guangxi, China have been drawn. The paintings, which depict large full-frontal humans with arms raised and knees bent, are dated to 500 BC - 200 AD .

From the fact that most of the jars have lip rims, it is presumed that all stone jars supported lids, although few stone lids have been recorded; this may suggest that the bulk of lids were fashioned from perishable materials. Stone lids with animal representations have been noticed at few sites such as Ban Phakeo (Site 52). The bas-relief animals are thought to be monkeys, tigers and frogs. No in situ lid has ever been found.

'Don't You Want Me' by The Human League was top of the charts when I took this picture of 50010 arriving at Plymouth with the 3S15 12.12 Penzance - Glasgow perishables usually consisting of cauliflowers, cabbages, potatoes plus some parcels. I must have been bored this day as I took four photos at the station with my cheapy Ektachrome camera using 110 film. Although there had been no snow in Devon, British Rail Western Region was still in chaos caused by deep snowfalls and freezing temperatures around Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, South Wales and the Midlands. Trains from London and the North were arriving over two hours late. With 46037 appearing on the 1M74 16.18 Plymouth - Birmingham I had a run off that to Exeter.

I was hoping to upload photos of tours operating this week of 50050 at Totnes and 50007 & 50049 at Teignmouth as I was scheduled to be working in these towns. Alas I've been re-allocated elsewhere to my annoyance so a grainy 50 photo from over forty years ago will have to suffice.

Pentax MZ-5n 6.8.16Film3 (5)