Haskoning Delft Office

 

In 2025, Haskoning relocated to the former Mining Engineering Faculty on the campus of Delft University of Technology. 1,000 employees from The Hague and Rotterdam will find their new workplace here, as well as the Board of the company. Situated on the border between the city and the TU Delft campus, the new head office connects to Delft's ecosystem of knowledge, innovation, and technology. The national monument has been transformed into a contemporary, sustainable workplace – Paris-proof. The original courtyards have been transformed into bright atriums: the spatial heart of the building and anchor points in the daily dynamics. With this, Haskoning demonstrates the role heritage can play in the debate about the future of the built environment. The project was developed in co-creation between engineers and architects from Haskoning and Braaksma & Roos. Interior design by Fokkema & Partners.

 

The Mining Engineering Faculty, designed in 1912 by Johannes Vrijman, is characterized by a functional layout and technical soundness, resulting in a vibrant and eclectic Neo-Renaissance building. The focus is on the center of the main wing, where the main entrance was located. From the main entrance, corridors run around the two open spaces, which provide abundant natural light, good ventilation through the windows, and excellent orientation within the complex. Inside, the finishes of the teaching spaces and laboratories were kept simple. However, color research revealed decorative, colorful painted finishes and oak paneling.

 

To meet Haskoning's desire to create a modern, inspiring environment with ample work and meeting space for all employees, the two courtyards were roofed, transforming them into usable atriums. Due to the irregular shape of the roofs, the solution was a single, large, spacious canopy at the attic level, separate from the building, with light and a view of the walls and roofs. The existing structure offered many opportunities for incorporating a suitable workspace program. The old laboratories were designed as open workspaces, while private rooms served as quiet workspaces. Characteristic spaces, such as the lecture hall, have been preserved, restored, and put back into use. Initially, the building had an energy label G. After the renovation, it achieved an A++++ rating. "This was achieved with roof and floor insulation, vacuum glazing, and smart building services. The building is now Paris-proof with a maximum annual energy consumption of 70 kWh/m².

 

Huntsman Spider that I removed from inside the house.

Relocated to Southside Park in Brickell

Covering two floors of this office building in Fleet Place, London, Mansfield Monk designed a fresh working environment that consolidated the two businesses who were relocating to the new offices. The design reflects the individuality, creativity and passion of both parts of the business.

 

www.mansfieldmonk.co.uk

Relocated to a larger and more prominent space at Sunvalley to make way for a significantly larger H&M store.

The currents of Thruscross Reservoir all flow towards this shore. Walkers who choose to stroll along the waterside in this area may be struck with the sad realisation that they are treading not upon naturally shaped rocks; but the carved and sculpted masonry of West End village which lies deep under these waters and is gradually being torn apart by the currents.

 

Look, for example, at the beautiful old lump of stone at the bottom left of this shot. If it could talk; you'd hear a fascinating story. It was most likely quarried in the early 1800s and saw the rise and fall of West End as the industrial textile centre of the Washburn area. It would have seen the gradual exodus of the village population as that industry declined and they moved further afield to find work in other rural industries. It would finally have experienced the enforced relocation of the remaining villagers as the authorities decided to create a reservoir here and the floodwaters began to envelop the buildings, finally committing them to a watery grave.

 

The bastion of the flood, the foreboding concrete giant of Thruscross Dam, can just be seen off to the right in the distant background. As an industrial village, West End might have seen better days, but for a while it still had a community significant enough to warrant its own inn, school and church. When the valley was flooded in 1966, a new burial ground was consecrated above the valley and many bodies were exhumed and moved to the site along with their headstones and monuments before work on the dam began.

Nikon AF3, Ferrania Solaris 400. 27 June 2011.

 

abandoned outside a railroad station.

 

scanned from negative.

Professional Packers Movers Gurgaon 9810053907

 

www.professionalpackersindia.com/packers-movers-gurgaon.html

 

Professional Movers and Packers is that the the foremost reliable and trusty name in packers & Movers trade. we tend to area unit committed to produce comprehensive resolution for packing and moving services for home goods, business merchandise, offices, machinery, workplace equipments cars, two-wheeler etc. If you're searching for a accredited insured and skilled removal firm able to handle any move kind shifting, house moving, workplace moving, businesses moving than we are able to facilitate in Your transfer.

 

Professional Packers Movers Gurgaon 9810053907

 

www.professionalpackersindia.com/packers-movers-gurgaon.html

 

Professional Movers and Packers is that the the foremost reliable and trusty name in packers & Movers trade. we tend to area unit committed to produce comprehensive resolution for packing and moving services for home goods, business merchandise, offices, machinery, workplace equipments cars, two-wheeler etc. If you're searching for a accredited insured and skilled removal firm able to handle any move kind shifting, house moving, workplace moving, businesses moving than we are able to facilitate in Your transfer.

 

Freightliner

relocating to toronto!

By accident it seems that I have started a new initiative - a Mouse Relocation Program. At the same time I have invented, again by accident, a new "mouse friendly" mouse trap.

 

Twice this week a mouse has fallen into a plastic tub which sides are too high and too slippery for the mouse to escape.

 

Twice this week I have taken the mouse (should be mice) to a nearby scrub and let them go and they quickly scamper off to a new life and freedom.

T39 aka Noor at Zone 1 Ranthambhore national park. Companion of T24 Ustad who has been relocated to an enclosure after being framed a man eater.

The move ran smoothing where we arranged for personal belongings and furniture to be relocated and also prepared the offices for the company with organisation including a searing plan for 100+ staff, welfare facilities, signage and more.

Had to re-locate some of my girls for a few days, while I get some plastering done in my dolly room. Most of the others will be boxed for safety so I can stack them.

 

Don't trust the workmen with my treasures, plus it gave me a good excuse to take brighter pics of them. LOL

Lucy Jackson (Oct.11, 1867-after 1923)

Known as: Princesse Lucie, La Belle Jackson, Bella Jackson

 

African-American Singer & Dancer

 

Lucy Thomas, born c. October 1867 (or 1869) in Charleston, South Carolina had no known relatives besides an uncle Richard Brown from Virginia. At some point in the 1880's, young Lucy Thomas relocated to Savannah, Georgia where she met and married Gilbert Jackson on April 19th, 1886 in a ceremony conducted by the Rev. Harry B. Hamilton. Strangely, the couple doesn't appear in the 1890 US Census, in fact neither of them appear in any records except during their wedding.

 

In the spring of 1895, talent scout and stage manager Billy McClain, with the financial backing of Nate Salsbury (formerly of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show), thought of the idea of exploiting America's slave heritage by romanticizing it into a sort of human zoo. Over 300-400 African-Americans from Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas were hired and transported up to New York (a young Lucy Jackson amongst them) for this massive production. On May 11th, South Brooklyn's Ambrose Park was completely renovated for the show's production, erecting nearly 100 log cabins to accommodate the cast of 400 negroes. A cotton gin was also constructed, bales of cotton, cotton bushes, poultry and livestock were scattered throughout the park.

 

Opening May 25th, 1895, "Black America" was promoted as outdoor theme-park extravaganza showcasing the American Negro, "from the jungles of Africa to the civilization of America." For six weeks, the production showcased a Baltimore brass band, jubilee singers, acrobats, foot races, buck and wing dances as well as performances from the star of the entire production, Miss Flowers. On July 15th, the show moved up to Boston, performing in a huge tent along Huntington Avenue and performing in parades on major Boston streets for eight successful weeks. Returning to New York on September 16th, the show performed for the remainder of the month at the Winter Garden Theater. The show later moved on to Philadelphia's Grand Opera Theater (Oct.4-Nov.30) and Washington DC's Convention Hall (Oct.22) before finally falling apart. Unfortunately, the show wasn't financially successful and left the directors in debt. The proposed plan to take the show to London was promptly cancelled and Nate Salsbury moved on to produce his latest venture, "Darkest America".

 

On April 15th, 1896, the remnants of "Black America" (now composed of 25 members) boarded the Erie 8 train from Marion, Ohio heading east to New York, where a ship awaited to take them to Europe. At some point, Bavarian theater director Ludwig Anwander from Schliersee had taken over the show. In September 1895, during his first trip to America, he witnessed the production and offered to take the production to Europe. Arriving in Berlin by May 25th, the show performed throughout the month at a German Exposition. The following month, the show appeared at Leipzig's Theater Hotel Stadt Nurnberg (Jun.1, 1896) possibly for another month's engagement. On July 1st, the show was back in Berlin at the Theater Neu-Berlin before disappearing. It seems they left for Chemnitz, as Lucy files for a passport at the American Consulate on July 8th, presenting her 1886 marriage certificate to the consul as proof of her American origins. Another detail on this passport was inability to sign her name, signing two X's as her signature. Afterwards, the show returned to Berlin, where it played a week at the Belle-Alliance Gardens. In August, for a week, the troupe performed in the port city of Stettin at the Elysium Theater (this time with only 12 members). Around this point, Herr Anwander sold the show to a Russian Impresario before he returned home to Southern Germany.

 

Crossing into the Russian frontier during the late summer of 1896, the show's new manager arranged two lengthy engagements in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where the show became a popular novelty act before eventually dissolving. Lucy remained in Russia for the next three years.

 

On January 10th, 1899, after possibly touring around the Russian Empire, Lucy arrived at the American Consulate to apply for a new passport in preparations for a solo European tour. Ten months later, she appeared at Prague's Olympia Theater (Nov.1-15) for two weeks, where she was billed as the Schwarze Schonheit (Black Beauty) from South Africa's Transvaal. Nearby, the young Arabella Fields was appearing at the Etablissement Sykora. The following year, she returned to Prague, appearing as Princess Lucie Jackson at the K.u.K. Hofbrauhaus (May 16-19).

 

In April 1901, Lucy was in Berlin engaged at the famous Passage-Theater performing German lieder to enthusiastic audiences.

 

In December 1903, she was performing at Hamburg's Sagbiel Etablissement (Dec.5-23). On December 18th, during this engagement, she visited the American Consulate for a new passport before crossing the border the following month back home into Russia. Strangely, she listed Montreal as her birthplace.

 

After a possible St. Petersburg engagement, Lucy (now billed as La Belle Jackson) performed the Cake-Walk at Helsinki's Societethuset, also known as the illustrious Seurahuone Hotel (Feb.21-Mar.18, 1904). This was followed by a lengthy Scandinavian tour. In April, she had a month's engagement in Stockholm's Svea Salen Theater (Apr.9-22). In August, she could be seen at Copenhagen's Vennelyst Variete (Aug.24-Sep.9). Established in 1892, the Vennelyst was a large alloment garden in central Copenhagen, dotted with numerous small allotments and cottages, where the Danish working-class could unwind. On August 28th, after a performance, a Danish man, Mr. Woller attempted to grab and kiss Lucy in the streets, which resulted in her beating the man severely according to local newspapers. The duo were seized and taken to the nearest police station before being promptly released. On September 14th, Lucy moved over to the Apollo Teatret (Sep.14-25) beside the Tivoli Gardens on the Vesterbrogade, where she was billed as the Sorte Nattergal (Black Nightingale) for two weeks.

 

Late-1905, while Russia suffered from the Russo-Japanese War and the 1905 Revolution, Lucy travelled to Austria, appearing at Vienna's Joh. Weigl's Variete (Jul.1, 1905) and Lemberg's Colosseum Hermanow (Nov.8-15) before disappearing altogether.

 

On December 16th, 1906, Lucy resurfaced in Switzerland, performing as a member of the "Smith and Bella Jackson" duo at Basel's Cardinal Theater. Her new partner, William Henry Smith (Apr.21, 1879) from Philadelphia. Arrived in Europe in 1903 with the "12 Georgia Piccaninnies", Mr. Smith eventually abandoned the troupe sometime in 1906 to join Lucy.

 

Early 1907, the couple traveled east to Budapest, where they were engaged for a month and a half at the Nemzetkozi Orfeum (Feb.16-Mar.19). On February 16th, they also secured a new passport from the American Legation. On May 18th, they moved over to the Szinhaz Variete. On July 21st, the couple arrived in the Hungarian city of Szeged (near the Romanian border), appearing at the Tarka Szinpadon.

 

Early 1908, the duo traveled southeast to Romania, applying for a passport at Bucharest's American Embassy on April 22nd. Interestingly, Lucy had began learning how to sign her name (possibly due to the aid of Smith), as noted by her poorly written signature on the passport application. That summer, Smith and Jackson returned to Russia, appearing in the "Grand Concert Divertissement Cosmopolite" at St. Petersburg's Bouffe Gardens (Jul.4-Aug.11).

 

In March 1910, the duo were at Hamburg's Flora Theater, where interestingly enough, Bella Jackson was praised for her performance of Tyrolean folk songs. Two months later, they were thrilling audiences in Budapest's Karolyi Gardens (May 26-Jun.1). Throughout the year, they were bombarded with numerous engagements across the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In August, they were at Teplitz's Cursaale Theater (Aug.5), the following month at Budapest's Feher Cabaret (Sep.29-Oct.1). In October, they traveled north to Lemberg's Casino de Paris (Oct.8-15) before heading east to Czernowitz (along the Russian-Romanian border) to perform at the Variete Bellevue (Oct.16-30) for two weeks. In December, they were in Vienna, where they applied on December 29th for a new passport to travel into Romania.

 

Throughout 1911-1912, the duo toured across Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. During the course of this tour, they became acquainted with the Cousins (an American duo composed of Afro-American singer, Sam Cousins and his Austrian-American wife Bertha). In May 1912, Smith and Jackson were back in Europe, performing at Vienna's Café Trianon (May 1-13). Four months later, they were at Budapest's Kabaret Pannoniaban (Sep.29-Oct.6) and later Kabaret Magyar Kiralyban (Oct.22-31).

 

Early 1913, the couple found themselves in northern Austria (Bohemia), appearing in Reichenburg's Meiningers Variete (Mar.1-6) and later Prague's Kabarett Wespe (Jul.20). That winter, while engaged in Hamburg, the pair applied for a passport on December 23rd for their plans to return east to Romania and Russia.

 

During the spring of 1914, the couple were back in Prague, residing at 47 Wenzelsplatz. While there, the couple joined African-American artist Mose Harris, forming the "Philadelphia Trio". The trio spent two weeks at the Alhambra Palais de Danse (Apr.16-30). In June, the trio crossed into the Russian Empire, performing for two weeks at the Majorenhof Sea Pavillon in Riga (Jun.1-15). On June 28, 1914, during their Baltic tour, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, setting in motion the events leading to the outbreak of World War I. On August 4, after Germany invaded Belgium, while simultaneously attacking France, Great Britain declared war on Germany. The Philadelphia Trio arrived in Petrograd on September 17th.

 

By October 1915, they had relocated to Moscow, settling in the Hotel Boston as noted by their passport application on November 24th. For three months, the Philadelphia trio were among the leading attractions at the Maxim Cabaret (owned by famous African-American businessman Frederick B. Thomas). By the fall of 1916, the Philadelphia Trio had seperated and Smith & Jackson relocated to Petrograd, appearing at the Sirene Cinema (Sep.15-16).

 

Early 1917, they were performing at the Kino-Palace (Jan.17-22) and later the Kino-Olympia (Apr.18-21). The duo briefly returned to Moscow on April 19th to obtain new passports before returning to the Russian capital.

 

On March 8, 1917, over seven thousand female textile workers from St. Petersburg's Vyborg district, marched through the streets crying for bread. The shortages had left the lower class starving, cold and desperate. From March 9-15, Cossacks patrolled the streets and machine guns were positioned everywhere. Protesters filled the streets only to be met by gunfire. All the blood spilling in the streets caused many soldiers to mutiny and join the mobs. Prisoners across the city were released into the streets, gendarmes were murdered, courthouses, arsenals, shops, private homes and the Ministry of the Interior were looted and ransacked. Mobs killed any respectable looking men, causing many gendarmes to strip their uniforms and flee the city. On March 16, Tsar Nikolai II abdicated and many aristocrats fled to the countryside. The old order evaporated and anarchy spread.

 

In August, they were back in Moscow, making sure to renew their passports again on August 21st with fellow entertainer, Peter C. Johnson. Smith and Jackson were last seen in Russia on October 6th, registering with the consulate and preparing to board the Trans-Siberian train east towards Harbin.

 

Early 1918, after a brief engagement in Harbin, the duo continued south through Peking towards Shanghai, arriving in the Republic of China's largest city by July. After a four month engagement in Shanghai, on October 15th, the pair applied for new American passports before packing up for the Philippines. The duo were engaged for six successful months in Manila, due to the popularity of American Ragtime in Southeast Asia at the time.

 

On April 25th, 1919, Smith and Jackson boarded the SS Suwa Maru heading towards an engagement in Hong Kong. The following month, they were found in Malaya, at Singapore's Palladium Theatre (May 26-31) and later the Gaiety Theatre (Jun.3-9). That winter, they were engaged in British India, performing in the bustling city of Calcutta. On December 9th, while applying at the American Consulate-General, Smith and Jackson both listed that they were now married. In 1920, the couple appeared across Burma, the Dutch East Indies, Sumatra, Siam and French Indochina before returning home to China.

 

On January 29, 1923, William H. Smith died at Shanghai's General Hospital and later buried at the Bubbling Wells Cemetery. Lucy, who was residing at the Continental Hotel, cancelled their upcoming appearance at Singapore's Stadium and disappeared completely.

 

Wat Phra Kaew (Thai: วัดพระแก้ว, rtgs: Wat Phra Kaeo, IPA: [wát pʰráʔ kɛ̂ːw], Pronunciation, English: Temple of the Emerald Buddha; full official name Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, Thai: วัดพระศรีรัตนศาสดาราม, IPA: [wát pʰráʔ sǐː rát.ta.náʔ sàːt.sa.daː.raːm]) is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple (wat) in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha housed in the temple is a potent religio-political symbol and the palladium (protective image) of Thai society. It is located in Phra Nakhon District, the historic centre of Bangkok, within the precincts of the Grand Palace.

 

The main building is the central phra ubosot, which houses the statue of the Emerald Buddha. According to legend, this Buddha image originated in India where the sage Nagasena prophesized that the Emerald Buddha would bring "prosperity and pre-eminence to each country in which it resides", the Emerald Buddha deified in the Wat Phra Kaew is therefore deeply revered and venerated in Thailand as the protector of the country. Historical records however dates its finding to Chiang Rai in the 15th century where, after it was relocated a number of times, it was finally taken to Thailand in the 18th century. It was enshrined in Bangkok at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in 1782 during the reign of Phutthayotfa Chulalok, King Rama I (1782–1809). This marked the beginning of the Chakri Dynasty of Thailand, whose present sovereign is Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX.

 

The Emerald Buddha, a dark green statue, is in a standing form, about 66 centimetres tall, carved from a single jade stone ("emerald" in Thai means deep green colour and not the specific stone). It is carved in the meditating posture in the style of the Lanna school of the northern Thailand. Except for the Thai King and, in his stead, the Crown Prince, no other persons are allowed to touch the statue. The King changes the cloak around the statue three times a year, corresponding to the summer, winter, and rainy seasons, an important ritual performed to usher good fortune to the country during each season.

 

HISTORY

In 1767, the Kingdom of Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese, and King Taksin then moved the capital to Thonburi where he built the old palace beside Wat Arun on the west bank of Chao Phraya River. In 1778, Taksin's army under the command of Chao Phraya Chakri (who later became Rama I) captured Vientiane and took the Emerald Buddha back to Thonburi.

 

In 1782, King Rama I succeeded to the throne and founded the Chakri Dynasty, and he decided to move the capital across the river to Bangkok as it would be better protected from attack. The site chosen for the palace is situated between two old wats, Wat Pho and Wat Mahathat, an area inhabited by Chinese residents who were then moved to the present Chinatown. He started the construction of the Grand Palace so that the palace may be ready for his coronation in 1785. Wat Phra Kaew, which has its own compound within the precinct of the palace, was built to house the Emerald Buddha, which is considered a sacred object that provides protection for the kingdom. Wat Phra Kaew was completed in 1784. The formal name of Wat Phra Kaeo is Phra Sri Rattana Satsadaram, which means "the residence of the Holy Jewel Buddha."

 

Wat Phra Kaew has undergone a number of renovations, restoration and additions in its history, particularly during the reign of King Rama III and Rama IV. Rama III started the renovations and rebuilding in 1831 for the 50th Anniversary of BangkoK of 1832, while Rama IV's restoration was completed by Rama V in time for the Bangkok Centennial celebrations in 1882. Further restoration was undertaken by Rama VII on Bangkok's 150th Anniversary in 1932, and by Rama IX for the 200th Anniversary in 1982.

 

EMERALD BUDDHA

It is not known when the statue of the Emerald Buddha was made, but it is generally believed that it was crafted in 14th-century Thailand. However, there are also claims that the statue originated in India or Sri Lanka. None of these theories can be firmly established as none of the historians could get a close look at the statue.

 

According to one account, the Emerald Buddha was found in Chiang Rai, Lanna in 1434, after a lightning storm struck a temple. The Buddha statue fell down and later became chipped, and the monks, after removing the stucco around the statue, discovered that the image was a perfectly made Buddha image from a solid piece of green jade. The image was moved a few time to various temples, first to Lampang, then to Chiang Mai, from where it was removed by prince Chao Chaiyasetthathirat to Luang Prabang, when his father died and he ascended the throne of both Lanna and Lan Xang, in 1551. The statue remained the it to his new capital of Lan Xang in Vientiane in the 1560s. The statue remained there for twelve years. King Chaiyasetthathirat then shifted it to his new capital of Lan Xang in Vientiane in the 1560s. He took the Emerald Buddha with him and the image remained in Vientiane for 214 years until 1778.

 

In the reign of King Taksin, Chao Phya Chakri (who later became Rama I) defeated Vientiane and moved the Emerald Buddha from Vientiane to Thonburi where it was installed in a shrine close to Wat Arun. When Chao Phra Chakri took over the throne and founded the Chakri Dynasty of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, he shifted his capital across the river to its present location in Bangkok. The Emerald Buddha was also moved across the river with pomp and pageantry and installed in the temple of Wat Phra Keaw.

 

LEGENDS

There a number of legends associated with the Emerald Buddha. It was said the iconic image of the Emerald Buddha was made by Nagasena, a saint in Pataliputra (present day Patna), India, who, with the help of Hindu god Vishnu and demigod Indra, had the Emerald Buddha image made. Nagasena predicted that:

 

The image of the Buddha is assuredly going to give to religion the most brilliant importance in five lands, that is in Lankadvipa (Sri Lanka), Ramalakka, Dvaravati, Chieng Mai and Lan Chang (Laos).

 

The Emerald Buddha image was taken to Sri Lanka after three hundred years in Pataliputra to save it during a civil war. In 457, King Anuruth of Burma sent a mission to Ceylon with a request for Buddhist scriptures and the Emerald Buddha, in order to promote Buddhism in his country. These requests were granted, but the ship lost its way in a storm during the return voyage and landed in Cambodia. When the Thais captured Angkor Wat in 1432 (following the ravage of the bubonic plague), the Emerald Buddha was taken to Ayutthaya, Kamphaeng Phet, Laos and finally Chiang Rai, where the ruler of the city hid it, and was later found.

 

ARCHITECTURE

Wat Phra Kaeo has a plethora of buildings within the precincts of the Grand Palace, which covers a total area of over 94.5 hectares. It has over 100 buildings with “200 years royal history and architectural experimentation” linked to it. The architectural style is named as Rattanakosin style (old Bangkok style). The main temple of the Emerald Buddha is very elegantly decorated and similar to the temple in ancient capital of Ayudhya. The roof is embellished with polished orange and green tiles, the pillars are inlaid in mosaic and the pediments are made of rich marble, installed around 18th century. The Emerald Buddha is deified over an elevated altar surrounded by large gilded decorations. While the upper part of this altar was part of the original construction, the base was added by King Rama III. Two images of the Buddha, which represent the first two kings of the Chakri dynasty, flank the main image. Over the years, the temple has retained its original design. However, minor improvements have been effected after its first erection during Rama I's reign; wood-work of the temple was replaced by King Rama III and King Chulalongkorn; during King Mongkut's reign, the elegant doors and windows and the copper plates on the floor were additions, Rama III refurbished the wall painting (indicative of the universe according to Buddhist cosmology) and several frescoes that display the various stages of the Buddha's life; three chambers were added on the western side by King Mongkut; in the chamber known as 'Phra Kromanusorn' at the northern end, images of Buddha have been installed in honour of the kings of Ayutthaya; and in the 19th century, In Khong, a famous painter executed the wall murals. The entry to the temple is from the third gate from the river pier.The entrance is guarded by a pair of yakshis (mythical giants – 5 metres high statues). The eponymous image Buddha in brilliant green colour is 66 centimetres (26 in) in height with a lap width of 48.3 centimetres. It is carved in a yogic position, known as Virasana (a meditation pose commonly seen in images in Thailand and also in South India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia). The pedestal on which the Emerald Buddha deified is decorated with Garuda (the mythical half-man half-bird form, a steed of Rama, who holds his mortal enemy Naga the serpent in his legs) motifs It is central to Thai Buddhism. The image made with a circular base has a smooth top-knot that is finished with a "dulled point marking at the top of the image". A third eye made in gold is inset over the elevated eyebrows of the image. The image appears divine and composed, with the eyes cast downward. The image has a small nose and mouth (mouth closed) and elongated ears. The hands are seen on the lap with palms facing upwards.

 

The entire complex, including the temples, is bounded by a compound wall which is one of the most prominent part of the wat is about 2 kilometres length. The compound walls are decorated with typically Thai murals, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. In Thai language these murals are known to form the Ramakian, the Thai national epic, which was written during the reign of Rama I. The epic stories formed the basic information to draw the paintings during the reign of King Rama I (1782–1809). These paintings are refurbished regularly. The murals, in 178 scenes, starting with the north gate of the temple illustrates the complete epic story of Ramayana sequentially, in a clockwise direction covering the entire compound wall. The murals serve to emphasise human values of honesty, faith, and devotion.

 

There are twelve salas that were built by Rama I, around the temple. They house interesting artefacts of regions such as Cambodia and Java. One of these salas had an inscription of Ramkamhaeng, which was shifted, in 1924, to the National Library. During the reign of King Mongkut, the Phra Gandharara – small chapel on the southwest corner – and a tall belfry were new additions.

 

WORSHIP AND CEREMONIES

Early in the Bangkok period, the Emerald Buddha used to be taken out of its temple and paraded in the streets to relieve the city and countryside of various calamities (such as plague and cholera). However, this practice was discontinued during Rama IV's reign as it was feared that the image could get damaged during the procession and also a practical line of thinking that Rama IV held "that diseases are caused by germs, not by evil spirits or the displeasure of the Buddha". The image also marks the changing of the seasons in Thailand, with the king presiding over the seasonal ceremonies.

 

Like many other Buddha statues in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha is dressed in a seasonal costume. It is a significant ritual held at this temple. In this ritual, dress of the deity is changed three times a year to correspond to the seasons. In summer it is a pointed crown of gold and jewels, and a set of jewelled ornaments that adorns the image from the shoulders to the ankles. In winter, a meshed dressing gown or drapery made of gold beads, which covered from the neck down like a poncho is used. During the rainy months, a top-knot headdress studded with gold, enamel and sapphires; the gold attire in the rainy season is draped over the left shoulder of the deity, only with the right shoulder left bare while gold ornaments embellish the image up to the ankles. The astrological dates for the ritual ceremonies, at the changing of the seasons, followed are in the 1st Waning Moon of Lunar Months 4, 8 and 12 (around March, July and November). The costume change ritual is performed by the Thai king who is the highest master of ceremonies for all Buddhist rites. On each occasion, the king himself "cleans the image by wiping away any dust that has collected and changing the headdress of the image". Then a king's royal attendant climbs up and performs the elaborate ritual of changing garments of the image as the king is chanting prayers to the deity. On this occasion, the king sprinkles water over the monks and the faithful who have assembled to witness the unique ritual and seeks blessings of the deity for good fortune during the upcoming season. The two sets of clothing not in use at any given time are kept on display in the nearby Pavilion of Regalia, Royal Decorations and Coins in the precincts of the Grand Palace. While Rama I initiated this ritual for the hot season and the rainy season, Rama III introduced the ritual for the winter season. The robes, which the image adorns, represents that of monks and King's depending on the season, a clear indication of highlighting its symbolic role "as Buddha and the King", which role is also enjoined on the Thai King who formally dresses the Emerald Buddha image.

 

A ceremony that is observed in the wat is the Chakri Day (begun on April 6, 1782), a national holiday to honour founding of the Chakri dynasty. On this day, the king attends the ceremony. The present king Rama IX, with his Queen, and entourage of the royal family, the Prime Minister, officials in the Ministry of Defence, and other government departments, first offer prayers at the Emerald Buddha temple. This is followed by visit to the pantheon to pay homage to the images of past Chakri rulers that are installed there.

 

The coronation ceremony, which marks the crowning of the king, is an important event of the Chakri dynasty. One such recent event took place when the present Rama IX was crowned the King. On this occasion, the King came to the Chapel Royal- the Wat Phra Keo – in a procession wearing a 'Great Crown'. After entering the chapel, the king made offerings of gold and silver flowers to the deity and also lighted candles. He also paid homage to the images of Buddha that represented the past kings of the dynasty. In the presence of assembled elite clergy of the kingdom, he took a formal vow of his religion and his steadfastness to 'Defend the Faith'.

 

RULES OF ENTRY AND CONDUCT

The sacred temples in Thailand follow a dress code, which is strictly followed. Men must wear long pants and sleeved shirts and shoes; women must wear long skirts. Visitors who arrive dressed otherwise may rent appropriate clothing items at the entry area of the temple. It is compulsory to remove the shoes before entering the temple, as a sign of respect of the Buddha, as is the practice in all other temples in Thailand. While offering prayers before the Buddha image, the sitting posture should avoid any offensive stretching of feet towards the deity; the feet should be tucked in towards the back.

 

OTHER MONUMENTS

While the surrounding portico of the shrine is an example of Thai craftsmanship, the perimeter of the temple complex has 12 open pavilions. These were built during the reign of Rama I. There is plethora of monuments in the temple complex. These are:Grand PalaceThe former residence of the King, the Grand Palace, adjoins the temple. The King makes use of this Grand Palace for ceremonial functions such as the Coronation Day. The King’s present residence is to the north of this Grand Palace and is known as the Chitlada Palace. The four structures surrounding the temple have history of their own. At the eastern end is the Borombhiman Hall (built in French architectural design), which was the residence of King Rama VI, now used as guest house for visiting foreign dignitaries. It has the dubious distinction of having been used as the operational headquarters and residence of General Chitpatima who attempted a coup, in 1981. The building to the west is the Amarindra hall, earlier a hall of Justice, now used for formal ceremonies. The Chakri Mahaprasat is the largest hall in the Grand Palace, built in 1882 by British architects, the architecture of which is fusion of Italian renaissance and Traditional Thai architecture. This style is called farang sai chada, (meaning: "Westerner wearing a Thai crown") as each wing has a shrine (mandap) crowned by a spire. Ashes of the Chakri kings (five ancestors) are enshrined in the largest of these shrines, also known as the pantheons, that were rebuilt after a fire in 1903 during Rama IV's reign. Ashes of the Chakri princess who could not become kings are enshrined in an adjoining hall. The throne room and the reception hall are on the first floor, while the ground floor houses a collection of weapons. The inner palace had the King’s harem (the practice was discontinued during King Rama VI's time who decreed the one wife rule), which was guarded by well trained female guards. Another hall in the palace is the 'Dusit hall' in Ratanokosin-style, which runs from east to west, which was initially an audience hall but now converted into a funerary hall for the Royal family. Royal family corpses are kept here for one year before they are cremated in a nearby field. There is also a garden which was laid during rama IV's reign. The garden depicts a "Thai mountain-and-woods-fable" mountain scenes where the coming of age ritual of shaving the topknot of the Prince is performed.PagodasThe temple grounds also depict three pagodas to its immediate north, which represent the changing centres of Buddhist influence. One such shrine to the west of the temple is the Phra Si Ratana Chedi, a 19th-century stupa built in Sri Lankan style enshrining ashes of the Buddha.Library

 

Rama I also built a library in Thai style, in the middle of the complex, known as the "Phra Mondop". The library houses an elegantly carved Ayutthaya-style mother-of-pearl doors, bookcases with the Tripitaka (sacred Buddhist manuscripts), human-and dragon-headed nagas (snakes), and images of Chakri kings.

 

During the 19th century, the Royal Pantheon was built in Khmer style to the east of the temple, which is kept open for only one day in year, in the month of October to commemorate the founding of the Chakri dynasty.

Model of Angkor WatThe temple complex also contains a model of Angkor Wat (the most sacred of all Cambodian shrines). In 1860, King Mongkut ordered his generals to lead 2,000 men to dismantle Angkor Wat and take it to Bangkok. Modern scholars suggested that the king wanted to show that Siam was still in control of Cambodia, as France was seeking to colonise Cambodia at that time. However, the king's order could not be fulfilled. A royal chronicle written by Lord Thiphakorawong (Kham Bunnag), then foreign minister, recorded that many Thai men fell ill after entering Cambodian wilderness. The chronicle also stated that forest-dwelling Khmer people ambushed the Thai army, killing many leading generals. King Mongkut then ordered the construction of the model within Wat Phra Kaew, instead of the real Angkor Wat that could not be brought to Bangkok. Mongkut died before he could see the model. Its construction was completed in the reign of his son, Chulalongkorn.Hermit statue

 

A hermit's bronze image, which is believed to have healing powers, is installed in a sala on the western side of the temple. It is near the entry gate. It is a black stone statue, considered a patron of medicine, before which relatives of the sick and infirm pay respects and make offerings of joss sticks, fruit, flowers, and candles.

 

EIGHT TOWERS

On the eastern side of the temple premises there are eight towers or prangs, each of a different colour. They were erected during the reign of Rama I and represent eight elements of Buddhism.

 

ELEPHANT STATUES

Statues of elephants, which symbolize independence and power, are seen all around the complex. As Thai kings fought wars mounted on elephants, it has become customary for parents to make their children circumambulate the elephant three times with the belief that that it would bring them strength. The head of an elephant statue is also rubbed for good luck; this act of the people is reflected in the smoothness of the surface of elephant statues here.

 

WIKIPEDIA

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Sondergerät SG104 "Münchhausen" was a German airborne recoillless 355.6 mm (14-inch) caliber gun, intended to engage even the roughest enemy battleships, primarily those of the Royal Navy. The design of this unusual and massive weapon began in 1939. The rationale behind it was that a battleship’s most vulnerable part was the deck – a flat surface, with relatively thin armor (as typical hits were expected on the flanks) and ideally with vital targets underneath, so that a single, good hit would cripple of even destroy a ship. The purpose of such a high angle of attack was likely to allow the projectile to penetrate the target ship's deck, where the ship's armor, if there was any, would have been much thinner than the armor on its sidesHowever, hitting the deck properly with another ship’s main gun was not easy, since it could only be affected through indirect hits and the typical angle of the attack from aballistic shot would not necessarily be ideal for deep penetration, esp. at long range.

The solution to this problem: ensure that the heavy projectile would hit its target directly from above, ideally at a very steep angle. To achieve this, the gun with battleship caliber was “relocated” from a carrier ship or a coastal battery onto an aircraft – specifically to a type that was capable of dive-bombing, a feature that almost any German bomber model of the time offered.

 

Firing such a heavy weapon caused a lot fo problems, which were severe even if the gun was mounted on a ship or on land. To compensate for such a large-caliber gun’s recoil and to make firing a 14 in shell (which alone weighed around almost 700 kg/1.550 lb, plus the charge) from a relatively light airframe feasible, the respective gun had to be as light as possible and avoid any recoil, which would easily tear an aircraft – even a bomber – apart upon firing. Therefore, the Gerät 104 was designed as a recoilless cannon. Its firing system involved venting the same amount of the weapon's propellant gas for its round to the rear of the launch tube (which was open at both ends), in the same fashion as a rocket launcher. This created a forward directed momentum which was nearly equal to the rearward momentum (recoil) imparted to the system by accelerating the projectile itself. The balance thus created did not leave much net momentum to be imparted to the weapon's mounting or the carrying airframe in the form of felt recoil. A further share of the recoil induced by the moving round itself could be compensated by a muzzle brake which re-directed a part of the firing gases backwards. Since recoil had been mostly negated, a heavy and complex recoil damping mechanism was not necessary – even though the weapon itself was huge and heavy.

 

Work on the "Münchhausen" device (a secret project handle after a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in the late 18th century who reputedly had ridden on a cannonball between enemy frontlines), was done by Rheinmetall-Borsig and lasted until 1941. The first test of a prototype weapon was conducted on 9th of September 1940 in Unterlüss with a satisfactory result, even though the weapon was only mounted onto an open rack and not integrated into an airframe yet. At that time, potential carriers were the Ju 88, the Dornier Do 217 and the new Junkers Ju 288. Even though the system’s efficacy was doubted, the prospect of delivering a single, fatal blow to an important , armored arget superseded any doubts at the RLM, and the project was greenlit in early 1942 for the next stage: the integration of the Sondergerät 104 into an existing airframe. The Ju 88 and its successor, the Ju 188, turned out to be too light and lacked carrying capacity for the complete, loaded weapon, and the favored Ju 288 was never produced, so that only the Dornier Do 217 or the bigger He 177 remained as a suitable carriers. The Do 217 was eventually chosen because it had the biggest payload and the airframe was proven and readily available.

 

After calculations had verified that the designed 14 in rifle would have effectively no recoil, preliminary tests with dumm airframes were carried out. After ground trials with a Do 217 E day bomber to check recoil and blast effects on the airframe, the development and production of a limited Nullserie (pre-production series) of the dedicated Do 217 F variant for field tests and eventual operational use against British sea and land targets was ordered in April 1942.

 

The resulting Do 217 F-0 was based on the late “E” bomber variant and powered by a pair of BMW 801 radial engines. It was, however, heavily modified for its unique weapon and the highly specialized mission profile: upon arriving at the zone of operation at high altitude, the aircraft would initiate a dive with an angle of attack between 50° and 80° from the horizontal, firing the SG 104 at an altitude between 6,000 and 2,000 meters. The flight time of the projectile could range from 16.0 seconds for a shot from an altitude of 6,000 meters at a 50° angle to just 4.4 seconds for a shot from 2.000 meters at an almost vertical 80° angle. Muzzle velocity of the SG 104 was only 300 m/s, but, prior to impact, the effective velocity of the projectile was projected to range between 449 and 468 m/s (1,616 to 1,674 km/h). Together with the round's weight of roughly 700 kg (1.550 lb) and a hardened tip, this would still ensure a high penetration potential.

 

The operational Sondergerät 104 had an empty mass of 2.780 kg (6,123 lb) and its complete 14 inch double cartridge weighed around 1.600 kg (3,525 lb). The loaded mass of the weapon was 4,237 kg, stretching the limits of the Do 217’s load capacity to the maximum, so that some armor and less vital pieces of equipment were deleted. Crew and defensive armament were reduced to a minimum.

Even though there had been plans to integrate the wepaon into the airframe (on the Ju 288), the Gerät 104 was on the Do 217 F-0 mounted externally and occupied the whole space under the aircraft, precluding any use of the bomb bay. The latter was occupied by the Gerät 104’s complex mount, which extended to the outside under a streamlined fairing and held the weapon at a distance from the airframe. Between the mount’s struts inside of the fuselage, an additional fuel tank for balance reasons was added, too.

The gun’s center, where the heavy round was carried, was positioned under the aircraft’s center of gravity, so that the gun barrel markedly protruded from under the aircraft’s nose. To make enough space, the Do 217 Es bomb aimer’s ventral gondola and his rearward-facing defensive position under the cockpit were omitted and faired over. The nose section was also totally different: the original extensive glazing (the so-called “Kampfkopf”) was replaced by a smaller, conventional canopy, similar to the later Do 217 J and N night fighter versions, together with a solid nose - the original glass panels would have easily shattered upon firing the gun, esp. in a steep high-speed dive. A "Lotfernrohr" bomb aiming device was still installed in a streamlined and protected fairing, though, so that the navigator could guide the pilot during the approach to the target and during the attack run.

To stabilize the heavy aircraft during its attack and to time- and safely pull out of the dive, a massive mechanical dive brake was mounted at the extended tail tip, which unfolded with four "petals". A charecteristic stabilizing dorsal strake was added between the twin fins, too.

 

The ventral area behind the gun’s rear-facing muzzle received additional metal plating and blast guiding vanes, after trials in late 1940 had revealed that firing the SG 104 could easily damage the Do 217’s tail structure, esp. all of the tail surfaces’ rudders and the fins’ lower ends in particular. Due to all this extra weight, the Do 217 F-0’s defensive armament consisted only of a single 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in a manually operated dorsal position behind the cockpit cabin, which offered space for a crew of three. A fixed 15 mm MG 151 autocannon was mounted in the nose, too, a weapon with a long barrel for extended range and accuracy. It was not an offensive weapon, though, rather intended as an aiming aid for the SG 104 because it was loaded with tracer bullets: during the final phase of the attack dive, the pilot kept firing the MG 151, and the bullet trail showed if he was on target to fire the SG 104 when the right altitude/range had been reached.

 

The first Do 217 F-0 was flown and tested in late 1943, and after some detail changes the type was cleared for a limited production run of ten aircraft in January 1944. The first operational machine was delivered to a dedicated testing commando, the Erprobungskommando 104 “Münchhausen”, also known as “Sonderkommando Münchhausen” or simply “E-Staffel 104”. The unit was based at Bordeaux/Merignac and directly attached to the KG 40's as a staff flight. At that time, KG 40 operated Do 217 and He 177 bombers and frequently flew reconnaissance and anti-shipping missions over the Atlantic west of France, up to the British west and southern coast, equipped with experimental Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs.

 

Initial flights confirmed that the Do 217 airframe was burdened with the SG 104 to its limits, the already rather sluggish aircraft (the Do 217 had generally a high wing loading and was not easy to fly) lost anything that was left of what could be called agility. It needed an experienced pilot to handle it safely, esp. during start and landing. It is no wonder that two Do 217 F-0s suffered ground accidents during the first two weeks of operations, but the machines could be repaired, resume the test program and carry out attack missions.

However, during one of the first test shots with the weapon, one Do 217 F-0 lost its complete tail section though the gun blast, and the aircraft crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing the complete crew.

 

On 4th or April 1944 the first "hot" attack against an enemy ship was executed in the Celtic Sea off of Brest, against a convoy of 20 ships homeward bound from Gibraltar. The attack was not successful, though, the shot missing its target, and the German bomber was attacked and heavily damaged by British Bristol Beaufighters that had been deployed to protect the ships. The Do 217F-0 eventually crashed and sank into the Atlantic before it could reach land again.

 

A couple of days later, on 10th of April, the first attempt to attack and destroy a land target was undertaken: two Do 217 F-0s took off to attack Bouldnor Battery, an armored British artillery position located on the Isle of Wight. One machine had to abort the attack due to oil leakages, the second Do 217 F-0 eventually reached its target and made a shallow attack run, but heavy fog obscured the location and the otherwise successful shot missed the fortification. Upon return to its home base the aircraft was intercepted by RAF fighters over the Channel and heavily damaged, even though German fighters deployed from France came to the rescue, fought the British attackers off and escorted the limping Do 217 F-0 back to its home base.

 

These events revealed that the overall SG 104 concept was generally feasible, but also showed that the Do 217 F-0 was very vulnerable without air superiority or a suitable escort, so that new tactics had to be developed. One consequence was that further Do 217 F-0 deployments were now supported by V/KG 40, the Luftwaffe's only long range maritime fighter unit. These escorts consisted of Junkers Ju 88C-6s, which were capable of keeping up with the Do 217 F-0 and fend of intercepting RAF Coastal Command’s Beaufighters and later also Mosquitos.

 

In the meantime, tests with the SG 104 progressed and several modifications were tested on different EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s. One major upgrade was a further strengthening of the tail section, which added another 200 kg (440 lb) to the aircraft's dry weight. Furthermore, at least three aircraft were outfitted with additional dive brakes under the outer wings, so that the dive could be better controlled and intercepted. these aircraft, however, lost their plumbed underwing hardpoints, but these were only ever used for drop tanks during transfer flights - a loaded SG 104 precluded any other ordnance. On two other aircraft the SG 104 was modified to test different muzzle brakes and deflectors for the rear-facing opening, so that the gun blast was more effectively guided away from the airframe to prevent instability and structural damage. For instance, one machine was equipped with a bifurcated blast deflector that directed the rearward gasses partly sideways, away from the fuselage.

 

These tests did not last long, though. During the Allied Normandy landings in June 1944 E-Staffel 104 was hastily thrown into action and made several poorly-prepared attack runs against Allied support ships. The biggest success was a full hit and the resulting sinking of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner (G03) by "1A+BA" at dawn on 6th of June, off Sword, one of the Allied landing zones. Other targets were engaged, too, but only with little effect. This involvement, however, led to the loss of three Do 217 F-0s within just two days and four more heavily damaged aircraft – leaving only two of EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s operational.

 

With the Allied invasion of France and a worsening war condition, the SG 104 program was stopped in August 1944 and the idea of an airborne anti-ship gun axed in favor of more flexible guided weapons like the Hs 293 missile and the Fritz-X glide bomb. Plans for a further developed weapon with a three-round drum magazine were immediately stopped, also because there was no carrier aircraft in sight that could carry and deploy this complex 6.5 tons weapon. However, work on the SG 104 and the experience gained from EKdo 104's field tests were not in vain. The knowledge gathered from the Münchhausen program was directly used for the design of a wide range of other, smaller recoilless aircraft weapons, including the magnetically-triggered SG 113 "Förstersonde" anti-tank weapon or the lightweight SG 118 "Rohrblock" unguided air-to-air missile battery for the Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger".

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 3 (pilot, navigator, radio operator/gunner)

Length: 20,73 m (67 ft 11 in) overall

18,93 m (62 ft 3/4 in) hull only

Wingspan: 19 m (62 ft 4 in)

Height: 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)

Wing area: 57 m² (610 sq ft)

Empty weight: 9,065 kg (19,985 lb)

Empty equipped weight:10,950 kg (24,140 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 16,700 kg (36,817 lb)

Fuel capacity: 2,960 l (780 US gal; 650 imp gal) in fuselage tank and four wing tanks

 

Powerplant:

2× BMW 801D-2 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, delivering

1,300 kW (1,700 hp) each for take-off and 1,070 kW (1,440 hp) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft),

driving 3-bladed VDM constant-speed propellers

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 475 km/h (295 mph, 256 kn) at sea level

560 km/h (350 mph; 300 kn) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft)

Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) with loaded Gerät 104 at optimum altitude

Range: 2,180 km (1,350 mi, 1,180 nmi) with maximum internal fuel

Ferry range: 2,500 km (1,600 mi, 1,300 nmi); unarmed, with auxiliary fuel tanks

Service ceiling: 7,370 m (24,180 ft) with loaded Gerät 104,

9,500 m (31,200 ft) after firing

Rate of climb: 3.5 m/s (690 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 4 minutes 10 seconds

2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 8 minutes 20 seconds

6,100 m (20,000 ft) in 24 minutes 40 seconds

 

Armament:

1x 355.6 mm (14-inch) Sondergerät 104 recoilless gun with a single round in ventral position

1x 15 mm (0.787 in) MG 151 machine cannon with 200 rounds, fixed in the nose

1x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine gun with 500 rounds, movable in dorsal position

Two underwing hardpoints for a 900 l drop tank each, but only used during unarmed ferry flights

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the "Gunships" group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021, and inspiration struck when I realized that I had two Italeri Do 217 in The Stash - a bomber and a night fighter - that could be combined into a suitable (fictional) carrier for a Sondergerät 104. This mighty weapon actually existed and even reached the hardware/test stage - but it was never integrated into an airframe and tested in flight. But that's what this model is supposed to depict.

 

On the Do 217, the Sg 104 would have been carried externally under the fuselage, even though there had been plans to integrate this recoilless rifle into airframes, esp. into the Ju 288. Since the latter never made it into production, the Do 217 would have been the most logical alternative, also because it had the highest payload of all German bombers during WWII and probably the only aircraft capable of carrying and deploying the Münchhausen device, as the SG 104 was also known.

 

The fictional Do 217 F-0 is a kitbashing, using a Do 217 N fuselage, combined with the wings from a Do 217 K bomber, plus some modifications. What initially sounded like a simple plan soon turned into a improvisation mess: it took some time to realize that I had already donated the Do 217 K's BMW 801 engines to another project, an upgraded He 115... I did not want to use the nightfighter's more powerful DB 603s, and I was lucky to have an Italeri Ju 188 kit at hand which comes with optional BMW 801s and Jumo 211s. Transplanting these engines onto the Do 217's wings took some tailoring of the adapter plates, but was feasible. However, the BMW 801s from the Ju 188 kit have a flaw: they lack the engine's characteristic cooling fans... Another lucky find: I found two such parts in the scrap box, even though from different kits - one left over from another Italeri Do 217 K, the other one from what I assume is/was an Italeri 1:72 Fw 190 A/F. To make matters worse, one propeller from the Ju 188 kit was missing, so that I had to find a(nother) replacement. :-/

I eventually used something that looked like an 1:72 F6F Hellcat propeller, but I an not certain about this because I have never built this model...? With some trimming on the blades' trailing edges and other mods, the donor's overall look could be adapted to the Ju 188 benchmark. Both propellers were mounted on metal axis' so that they could also carry the cooling fans. Lots of work, but the result looks quite good.

 

The Do 217 N's hull lost the lower rear gunner position and its ventral gondola, which was faired over with a piece of styrene sheet. The pilot was taken OOB, the gunner in the rear position was replaced by a more blob-like crew member from the scrap box. The plan to add a navigator in the seat to the lower right of the pilot did not work out due to space shortage, but this figure would probably have been invisble, anyway.

All gun openings in the nose were filled and PSRed away, and a fairing for a bomb aiming device and a single gun (the barrel is a hollow steel needle) were added.

 

The SG 104 was scratched. Starting point was a white metal replacement barrel for an 1:35 ISU-152 SPG with a brass muzzle brake. However, after dry-fitting the barrel under the hull the barrel turned out to be much too wide, so that only the muzzal brake survived and the rest of the weapon was created from a buddy refueling pod (from an Italeri 1:72 Luftwaffe Tornado, because of its two conical ends) and protective plastic caps from medical canulas. To attach this creation to the hull I abused a conformal belly tank from a Matchbox Gloster Meteor night fighter and tailored it into a streamlined fairing. While this quite a Frankenstein creation, the overall dimensions match the real SG 104 prototype and its look well.

 

Other cosmetic modifications include a pair of underwing dive brakes, translanted from an Italeri 1:72 Ju 88 A-4 kit, an extended (scratched) tail "stinger" which resembles the real dive brake arrangement that was installed on some Do 217 E bombers, and I added blast deflector vanes and a dorsal stabilizer fin.

In order to provide the aircraft with enough ground clearance, the tail wheel was slightly extended. Thanks to the long tail stinger, this is not blatantly obvious.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not an easy choice, but as a kind of prototype I decided that the paint scheme should be rather conservative. However, German aircraft operating over the Atlantic tended to carry rather pale schemes, so that the standard pattern of RLM 70/71/65 (Dunkelgrün, Schwarzgrün and Hellblau) with a low waterline - typical for experimental types - would hardly be appropriate.

I eventually found a compromise on a He 177 bomber (coded 6N+BN) from 1944 that was operated by KG 100: this particular aircraft had a lightened upper camouflage - still a standard splinter scheme but consisting of RLM 71 and 02 (Dunkelgrün and Grau; I used Modelmaster 2081 and Humbrol 240), a combination that had been used on German fighters during the Battle of Britain when the standard colors turned out to be too dark for operations over the Channel. The aircraft also carried standard RLM 65 (or maybe the new RLM76) underneath (Humbrol 65) and on the fin, but with a very high and slightly wavy waterline. As a rather unusual feature, no typical camouflage mottles were carried on the flanks or the fin, giving the aircraft a very bleak and simple look.

 

Despite my fears that this might look rather boring I adapted this scheme for the Do 217 F-0, and once basic painting was completed I was rather pleased by the aircraft's look! As an aircraft operated at the Western front, no additional markings like fuselage bands were carried.

To set the SG 104 apart from the airframe, I painted the weapon's visible parts in RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67), because this tone was frequently used for machinery (including the interior surfaces of aircraft towards 1945).

RLM 02 was also used for the interior surfaces and the landing gear, even though I used a slightly different, lighter shade in form of Revell 45 (Helloliv).

 

A light black ink washing was applied and post-shading to emphasize panel lines. Most markings/decals came from a Begemot 1:72 He 11 sheet, including the unusual green tactical code - it belongs to a staff unit, a suitable marking for such an experimental aircraft. The green (Humbrol 2) was carried over to the tips of the propeller spinners. The unit's code "1A" is fictional, AFAIK this combination had never been used by the Luftwaffe.

The small unit badge was alucky find: it actually depicts the fictional Baron von Münchhausen riding on a cannonball, and it comes from an Academy 1:72 Me 163 kit and its respective sheet. The mission markings underneath, depicting two anti-ship missions plus a successful sinking, came from a TL Modellbau 1:72 scale sheet with generic German WWII victory markings.

 

After some soot stains around the engine exhaust and weapon muzzles had been added with graphite, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and final details like position lights and wire antennae (from heated black plastic sprue material) were added.

  

Well, what started as a combination of two kits of the same kind with a simple huge pipe underneath turned out to be more demanding than expected. The (incomplete) replacement engines were quite a challenge, and body work on the hull (tail stinger, fairing for the SG 104 as well as the weapon itself) turned out to be more complex and extensive than initially thought of. The result looks quite convincing, also supported by the rather simple paint scheme which IMHO just "looks right" and very convincing. And the whole thing is probably the most direct representation of the inspiring "Gunship" theme!

 

packing, boxes, moving, relocating, packing boxes, household goods,

Professional Packers Movers In Faridabad 9311166155

 

www.professionalpackersindia.com/packers-movers-faridabad...

 

Professional Relocation offers reliable and economical services to each sort of client for packers and movers Faridabad services. Its storage facilities ar distinctive and also the team is actuated towards taking care of products of shoppers with utmost care. The transportation facilities ar accessible around the clock and 100% client satisfaction is that the mission of the Team at the tip of the day.

 

Photo by Lee Bennett

Covering two floors of this office building in Fleet Place, London, Mansfield Monk designed a fresh working environment that consolidated the two businesses who were relocating to the new offices. The design reflects the individuality, creativity and passion of both parts of the business.

 

www.mansfieldmonk.co.uk

Glenn Shorrock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Glenn Barrie Shorrock (born 30 June 1944) is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of pop groups The Twilights, Axiom and Little River Band as well as being a solo performer.

The Twilights had eight consecutive national hit singles including "Needle in a Haystack" and "What's Wrong with the Way I Live". Axiom's top 10 hits were "Arkansas Grass", "Little Ray of Sunshine" and "My Baby's Gone". Little River Band had national and international chart success, including the Shorrock-penned "Emma", "Help Is on Its Way" and "Cool Change".

Shorrock was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 1991 and as a member of Little River Band in 2004. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Cool Change" as one of the APRA Top 30 Australian songs of all time.

Twighlights

Glenn Barrie Shorrock was born on 30 June 1944 in Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom. His family migrated to Adelaide, South Australia in August 1954 when he was ten.[1] His father was a Yorkshire-born fitter and turner at the Weapons Research Establishment in Salisbury.[2] The 1954–55 summer had days of 42 °C (108 °F) and Black Sunday bushfires ravaged the Adelaide Hills in January 1955.[3] His London-born mother was not impressed with Australia, and she took Shorrock and his younger sister back to UK, only to return to Australia for a second attempt in 1956.[2] The family settled in Elizabeth 20 km (12 mi) north of Adelaide.[4]

Shorrock's first public performance took place in 1958 in a Lutheran church hall—he was miming to Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" on a gramophone and strumming on a cardboard guitar when the player stopped—he was forced to continue singing by himself and realised he had a good voice.[1][5]

In 1962, Shorrock formed his first band, The Checkmates, with Clem McCartney, Mike Sykes and Billy Volraat.[6] They were a doo wop harmony group covering The Platters and The Crew Cuts material.[7] Sometimes teaming up with instrumental groups, The Vector Men or The Hurricanes, The Checkmates performed in Adelaide cafes and folk clubs.[8] As a result of The Beatles' popularity, members of The Checkmates and The Hurricanes merged to form The Twilights in 1964.[7][8]

Main article: The Twilights

In 1964 Shorrock, with McCartney as co-lead vocalist, formed The Twilights by merging with The Hurricanes' Frank Barnard on drums, Peter Brideoak on guitar, Terry Britten on guitar and John Bywaters on bass guitar.[7][8] Their debut single, "I'll Be Where You Are", co-written by Shorrock and Britten,[9] was released in June 1965.[8] The band had eight consecutive hit singles including covers of The Velvelettes' "Needle in a Haystack" and The Hollies' "What's Wrong with the Way I Live" (recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London).[8] With two lead singers, two guitarists and five vocalists, the Twilights performed note-perfect covers of pop-rock songs and were famed for their live prowess.[8] They relocated to Melbourne late in 1965 and were popular with teenage audiences and respected by fellow musicians. In July 1966, they won Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds with the prize including a trip to London.[8] In 1967, shortly after returning from London, the group regularly performed the entire Sgt Pepper's album live in sequence, weeks before it was released in Australia.[8] Shorrock married his first wife, Sue, while he was a member of The Twilights.[1] The Twilights disbanded in January 1969 and Shorrock became band manager for Brisbane pop group, The Avengers.[4]

Axiom

In May 1969 in Melbourne, Shorrock formed an early Australian 'supergroup', Axiom, with Brian Cadd on keyboards and vocals, Don Mudie on lead guitar (both ex-The Groop), Doug Lavery (The Valentines) on drums and Chris Stockley (Cam-Pact) on guitar.[10] They recorded two highly acclaimed albums, Fool's Gold and If Only...; and had three top 10 singles, "Arkansas Grass", "Little Ray of Sunshine" and "My Baby's Gone" on the Go-Set national charts.[10] Axiom travelled to UK but disbanded there in March 1971, Shorrock had also parted with his first wife of four years, Sue.[2][3]

Shorrock remained in the UK to pursue his solo career, he signed with MAM Records and released the self-penned "Let's Get the Band Together" single in October 1971.[4] This was followed by a cover of "Rock'n'Roll Lullaby" (written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) in March 1972.[4] As Andre L'Escargot and His Society Syncopaters, he released "Purple Umbrella" with his backing band being Quartet members Britten, Kevin Peek, Trevor Spencer and Alan Tarney.[4] He joined the multinational progressive rock band Esperanto, which released their debut album Esperanto Rock Orchestra in 1973 with the Shorrock written track "Statue of Liberty".[4] He left Esperanto before their third album was released in 1974 and performed backing vocals for Cliff Richard.[1][4]

Little River Band

Mississippi was an Australian rock band which was working in UK with Beeb Birtles on vocals and guitar, Graham Goble (later Graeham Goble) on guitar and vocals and Derek Pellicci on drums. They contacted Glenn Wheatley (former bass guitarist for The Masters Apprentices) to become their manager. Birtles, previously in Adelaide band Zoot, called Shorrock to take part in the line up. Shorrock returned to Australia in October 1974 and joined Mississippi in January 1975 in Melbourne.[11] They were soon renamed as Little River Band with the original line up of Birtles, Goble, Pellicci, Shorrock and lead guitarist Ric Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan.[2] The group went on to become one of the most successful bands ever to come out of Australia, and the first to achieve major commercial success in the United States.[3] For Little River Band, Shorrock wrote the hits "Emma", "Help Is on Its Way" (Australian No. 1) and "Cool Change".[4]

While still a member of Little River Band, Shorrock released a solo single, a cover of Bobby Darin's 1959 hit "Dream Lover" in April 1979 on EMI, which peaked at No. 8 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[6][12] In February 1982, Shorrock left Little River Band and was replaced by former 1960s pop singer, John Farnham who was managed by Wheatley.[8] Shorrock returned to Little River Band in 1988 but, despite several quality albums, they did not regain the earlier stellar recognition. He left again in 1991 leaving the naming rights with guitarist Stephen Housden.[3] In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Cool Change", as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.[13]

Later solo career

In 1982 Shorrock released a solo album Villain of the Peace and a single, "Rock and Roll Soldier" on Capitol Records recorded in Los Angeles with John Boylan (Charlie Daniels, Little River Band) producing. "Rock and Roll Soldier" reached the Australian top 40 in November but he did not achieve the international success attained with Little River Band. Late in 1982 he toured Australia and then teamed with Renée Geyer to release a duet, "Goin' Back" on Mushroom Records in February 1983. One of his backing singers was Wendy Matthews who had been a session singer in Los Angeles.[14] "We're Coming to Get You", which peaked at No. 6 in October, was recorded with folk group, The Bushwackers it was the theme for the film, We're Coming to Get You. He released "Don't Girls Get Lonely?" in November. In 1984, he recorded "Restless" for the documentary World Safari II: The Final Adventure.[4]

In 1985, Shorrock released The First Twenty Years, which was a double-LP album compilation of his career work with tracks by The Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and solo work.[15] He was compere of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) TV music series, Rock Arena in 1986 and as a breakfast announcer for radio station Magic 11 in Sydney.[16] His solo single, "American Flyers" appeared in July. He performed on the tour of stage show One for the Money in 1986–87.[16] He appeared in other stage shows including his own showcase productions Go Cat Go (1990–91) and Two Up (1996).

On 25 March 1991, Shorrock was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame, alongside contemporary rocker Billy Thorpe, bass-baritone Peter Dawson and jazz musician Don Burrows.[17] In 1993, he re-joined with Axiom band mate, Brian Cadd, to record Blazing Salads and three singles for Blue Martin Records, and a subsequent two-year tour.[18] On tour Shorrock played his hit songs, along with those of Axiom accompanied by Cadd and a backing band of Rex Goh on guitar (ex-Air Supply), Kirk Lorange on guitar (Richard Clapton Band) and Mark Kennedy on drums (Spectrum, Ayers Rock, Marcia Hines Band).[4][18]

Long Way to the Top was a 2001 ABC TV six-part documentary on the history of Australian rock and roll from 1956 to the modern era.[19] Shorrock provided interviews, "In Awe of The Beatles", "Being Pop Stars" and "Coming from the UK", on his early years with The Twilights.[20] Long Way to the Top Tour followed in August–September 2002 with Shorrock appearing with The Twilights in the first set performing "What's Wrong with the Way I Live?" and "Needle in a Haystack"; he returned in the second set with Axiom to perform "Arkansas Grass" and "Little Ray of Sunshine".[16][21]

In 2002 Shorrock reunited with other Little River Band founders Beeb Birtles and Graeham Goble to form Birtles Shorrock Goble.[16] On 17 October 2004, the 1970s members of Little River Band: Birtles, David Briggs, Goble, George McArdle, Derek Pellicci and Shorrock, were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.[22] The later members including fellow Australian, John Farnham, and US-based musicians, were not included in this induction.[22] Due to a 2002 legal ruling on their right to use the band's name—two US-based members held the trademark—they performed "Help Is on the Way" as Classic Lineup of the Little River Band or Little River Band – Classic Lineup (sources vary).[22] Birtles Shorrock Goble recorded a successful DVD and CD, Full Circle (2005) and toured until 2007. In August–September, the trio played a medley of Little River Band hits at the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series.

In 2005 Shorrock also undertook his career-spanning The Reminiscing Tour – Glenn Shorrock & Friends with invited guest singers including Doug Parkinson and Wendy Matthews.[16] In May–June 2006, he partnered actress Judy Nunn on the first season of reality TV singing competition, It Takes Two, they were voted off after week three.[23] His first solo CD for seven years, Meanwhile, which contains acoustic versions of his career hits was released in 2007 on the Liberation Blue label. He performed The Beatles tribute show Let It Be with Parkinson, Sharon O'Neill and Mark Williams.[24]

In 2008 Shorrock toured with the musical Shout! The Legend of the Wild One, based on the life of Australian rocker Johnny O'Keefe.[24][25] In July 2010, Shorrock performed a retrospective of his 45 years in the music industry.[2][5] Currently Glenn Shorrock continues to tour Australia performing for public and private events in Australia and promotes new local music artists. In early 2013 Glenn and his band were headlining performers in Macau, New York and London for the media launch of the Titanic II project. This was at the personal invitation of Australian entrepreneur Clive Palmer.

 

This is the Jackson County Courthouse and Public Library complex that stands prominently atop a hill at the end of Main Street in my hometown of Sylva, North Carolina. Constructed in 1913-14, the courthouse was built as a copy of the Madison County Courthouse in nearby Marshall, North Carolina, and was designed by the firm of Smith and Carrier and built with funds from local industrialist and philanthropist C.J. Harris. The third courthouse to serve Jackson County, it was the first of the courthouses to be located in Sylva, with the previous 1851 and 1888 courthouses being located in nearby Webster, which died after the courthouse was moved. The building had some renovations circa 1950, and had a large jail addition added to the rear in 1963. In 1969, the building received substantial renovations and was painted white, with a large clock added to the front of the cupola and pine trees along the steps were removed. In 1994, owing to the deteriorating condition of the building and the growing size of county government, the court facilities and county government relocated to a new Justice Center atop a hill next to US Highway 74, and the old courthouse had the cupola removed to stabilize the building, in order to ensure it would not collapse. The County Sheriff’s Office, the last remaining government tenant in the building, moved out circa 2002, and the building housed the local arts council and community theatre until 2007, when it was selected as the site of the new Jackson County Public Library, replacing the old Main Street facility that dated to 1970, and the jail was demolished later that year in preparation for construction. The new Library was constructed from 2009 to 2011, and opened to great fanfare, and received an award for its design as being the best new mid-sized Library facility in the state, drawing many of its elements and motifs from the old building and harmonizing with the old building, rather than trying to differentiate itself and stand out. Today, the building houses the local Genealogical Society, Art Council, History Museum, Community Theatre, and Public Library, and has been renovated and restored.

 

On the grounds of the courthouse are a confederate soldier’s memorial, dedicated on September 18, 1915, with several Confederate veterans present. The concrete steps were built around the statue in 1915-16, and it has been present almost as long as the courthouse, and I view it as an important part of the grounds. There is large public opposition in the area to the removal of the monument, as, though it is more liberal than most small Southern or Appalachian towns, there still is a resistance to change, which is a deep-seated cultural phenomenon across the region. The county government, which owns the building and site, has stated their intention to make a compromise between those who want to keep the monument and those who want it destroyed, by removing all Confederate imagery and references from the statue and its base, and remaking it as a generic Civil War Monument, which, though not seen as good enough by those who wish to see it removed, will make sure that it no longer symbolizes what is considered, by today's standards, a distateful bit of Southern history. Additionally, on the grounds, there is a writing cabin, moved to the location from the Burningtown area of nearby Macon County in the 1950s or 1960s, that formerly belonged to John Parris, a local writer whom once lived in a now-demolished mid-20th Century house that sat next to the courthouse. It was the home of his grandfather when it was located in Burningtown, and has been stabilized, but currently is not occupied, with the local government uncertain of how to use the structure.

Adolphus Hotel / Dallas, Texas

 

*** Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch ***

 

Adolphus Busch aimed to grow his Missouri brewing company to Texas and Dallas would be the Texas hub. He and St Louis business partners already owned the Oriental Hotel on the SE corner of Commerce and Akard. For years, The Oriental Hotel was considered the finest hotel in Dallas. It was torn down in 1924 to make way for the Baker Hotel. Dallas Mayor Stephen Hay and other city officials traveled to St. Louis in May 1910 to lobby Adolphus Busch to build a huge additon to the Oriental hotel. Busch agreed, but he desired the site opposite the Oriental Hotel - which was the Dallas City Hall. The committee agreed to the sell the lot on the spot to Busch. City offices were relocated to 411 Commerce Street. Demolition began and the site for the "New Oriental Hotel," as it was first named, was ready by January 1911. The Dallas chamber of commerce telegrahed Busch in March 1911 suggesting that the new hotel be named the Adolphus in his honor. Busch responded "I shall cheerfully acquiesce and be proud of it".

 

The hotel was designed by the St. Louis architect Tom P. Barnett, of the firm Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett. The architects used a strong familiarity with the design of the Astor Hotel in New York City which had elaborately decorated public rooms, a roof garden, an exterior faced with a combination of stone and brick and capped with a Mansard roof. The architects previously designed the 425-room Hotel Jefferson (1904) in St. Louis. Construction began in 1911 on the site by Louis J. Haenni of the Gilsonite Construction Company. Busch would spent $1.8 million (about $45 million today) to build a 20 story hotel befitting Dallas’ aspirations, aiming for world-class status. Adolphus Busch died in 1913, but members of the family, including his son August, continued the hotel operation.

 

The New Oriental's monumental facade is of the Louis XIV period. The buildings architectural ornamentation was unheard of this side of the Mississippi. Its exterior was Parisian Beaux Arts style, with a tapestry of red velvet brick, trimmed with Bedford stone, and gargoyles flanked by the colossal, helmeted heads of Greek gods. The building is topped with a handcrafted Turret in the shape of a beer bottle. The exterior included stone figures of Apollo, Ceres and Mercury. The gargoyles symbolized barley, malt, hops and other brewing motifs. The opulent interior was unlike anything Dallas had ever known — vaulted ceilings, sculptured panels in bas-relief, fixtures of brass, ormolu (gilding with gold paste), alabaster carved ornaments decorated with silk and velvet draperies. Busch commissioned two identical Chandeliers. One hangs in the hotel lobby. It is a gilded chandelier, with eagles hovering wingtip to wingtip. The other hangs at the Clydesdale stables in St. Louis.

 

In 1917, the Busch heirs elected to enlarge the hotel with the West Annex, which brought the total number of rooms to 482 when the new section opened in January 1918. The architects Otto Lang and Frank Witchell designed the West Annex, called the "Junior Aolphus", which added 229 hotel rooms. With a roof top restaurant the Adolphus was a hot spot during the Roaring '20s. A third addition was made in 1926.

 

Otto Schubert was the Adolphus general manager from 1922 to 1946. National Hotel Management, headed by Ralph Hitz, served as the hotel management company. NHM also managed the New Yorker, the Lexington and the Belmont Plaza hotels (New York); the Congress Hotel(Chicago); the Netherland Plaza(Cincinnati) and the Book-Cadillac (Detroit).

 

The Century Room on the 19th floor, was the hotel's popular and classy nightclub. It even went Hawaiian for a brief period in 1938 to help showcase a Hawaiian band that was in town. But the Century Room's big attraction was the ice shows. The Century Room had a retractable 20’ X 24’ ice rink used for touring ice revues. When not in use it was retracted and the area used as a dance floor. In the early ’40s, retired speedskater and Olympic gold medalist Dot Graney brought her Broadway-on-ice show to Dallas for a month. Franey ended up staying at the Adolphus for 14 years, where she directed, produced, and choreographed her own shows in the Century Room. Century Room Entertainment included the likes of Phil Harris and Orchestra, Bill Bardo's Band, Art Jarrett and Orchestra with singer Eleanor Holm, Fiddler Joe Venuti, Andrews Sisters, Rudy Vallee, Ben Berne, Ozzie Nelson and Harriett Hilliard, Jack Benny and Phyllis Diller. During the 1950's Liberace broke all Century Room attendance records. In the 1970's The Century Room went Tiki Hawaiian for awhile with such acts as singer "Meteliko" accompanied by five Hula Girls, and fire/knife drummer named Enoka Fetui with the Johnny Scat Davis Band.

 

The Busch family owned the Adolphus hotel for 37 years until 1949 when Dallas investor Leo F. Corrigan Sr purchased the 825 room property for $2,977,000. Under Corrigan's ownership the facility was again expanded to include an additional hotel tower (the Adolphus Tower), an adjoining office tower, and parking garage. Corrigan claims the 1,350 room Adolphus was the largest totaly air conditioned hotel in the world. Corrigan's hotel portfolio included the Biltmore in Los Angeles and Emerald Beach in Nassau. Corrigan made unsuccesful attempts to buy the Empire State Building in NYC and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In Dallas Corrigan had previously bought the Stoneleigh Hotel (owned for over 50 years) and Maple Terrace hotel. H.H. Andy Anerson was Managing Director from 1956 to 1967 and again in 1977.

 

In 1980 the Adolphus had its third owner - a California investment group lead by Patrick R. Colee, president of the Westgroup Parnters. With finacning from New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, Colee purchased the commercial block of improved real estate in downtown Dallas which consisted of office buildings and the well-known but poorly maintained hotel known as the Adolphus Hotel. In disrepair and subjected to mismanagement for years, the Adolphus was initially considered a liability to the viability of the purchased block. Colee lead a charge to fully renovate the hotel and create his own hotel ownership and management organization. For the next twenty-five years under the auspices of Colee, the Adolphus thrived in its tradition of elegance, charm and excellence. On February 3, 1980 after 68 years of continuous service, Westgroup closed The Adolphus for restoration and refurnishing.

 

By 1981 the Adolphus re-opened after a $45 million facelift. The hotel was again a showplace, with $25 million in "new" antiques and art. The work on the original structure was confined to restoration of existing elements on the exterior, with a major redecorating campaign on the interior. The room count was reduced from 850 to 437 - creating one guest room from two. The hotel received new plumbing and individually controlled air conditionand heating and an advanced emergency alert system. Rooms and halls have sprinklers and smoke alarms. The stairways have been pressurized to prevent the entrance of smoke. The French Room opened as the finest restaurant in Dallas. In the early 80's Jean Banchet, the owner and chef of Le Francais in Wheeling IL. was rated as the America's best restaurant, was the food consultant for the French Room. Westgroup selected Amfac, the Hawaiian sugar, real estate and resort company, to manage the hotel. John Kirk was Amfac's first general manager at the Adolphus. After the $45 million renovation the once great but greatly deteriorated property staged a comeback as one of the world's finest hotels and in a short time earned the AAA Five Diamond Rating. Amfac's 1981 annual meeting was held at the Adolphus. Westgroup also bought in 1985 the Biltmore in Los Angeles for $45 million and the Newporter Resort for $25 million.

 

In 2012 Adolphus Associates/Met Life sold the Adolphus to a company set up by RockBridge Cabital for $33.5 million. Cresent Hotels was retained as manager. Rockbridge is a Columbus Ohio based private equity firm.

 

Rockbridge and Crescent Hotels & Resorts commenced a multi-million dollar renovation to Dallas’ historic Adolphus Hotel in 2013. The legendary hotel (currently at 407 rooms) will receive a comprehensive, property-wide renovation that will modernize and vitalize the property while preserving its history, elegance and charm. The scope of the renovation includes the complete refurbishment of all guest rooms, public spaces and meeting spaces; the addition of a new 19th floor ballroom; construction of a 7th floor rooftop pool and bar; introduction of a new luxury spa and fitness center; refreshment of the acclaimed French Room Restaurant (restored the ceiling of the storied French Room to its original white, a move that pained fans of the rococo cherub frescoes, a relic of eighties excess); and the development of new dining and retails outlets. Rockbridge President and CEO Jim Merkel said the renovation is led by RB Hotel Development and design firm Duncan Miller Ullmann. Merkel is the co-founder of Rockbridge and helped grow it to over $2.0 billion in managed assets. The Adolphus remained open throughout the project. Other Rockbridge properties include Cliff House in Cape Neddick, ME and The Lay Low, Honolulu (formerly the Coral Reef Hotel). Merkel says "We fix broken hotels. We reinvent them and make them relevant to the market and to today's customers".

 

With renovations completed in 2017, The Adolphus, shed its independence and become part of the Marriott brand's "Autograph Collection" of hotels.

 

Compiled by Dick Johnson / October, 2018

 

Nature never ceases to amaze me - how did the couple communicate this move. First he had a mouthful of grasses that he took to the old home - I assume to keep the babies busy eating while he moved them one by one. When he returned - his wife was following (not carrying a baby) and he had the first baby. She stayed on the new nest in the marsh while he retrieved the rest of their family. It was a lot of fun to watch and we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

 

2 1/2 hours later he had moved 5 babies and must have been exhausted - he went back to the old home, but hadn't returned within 45 minutes so we left. He was aware of me, even though I was at a respectable distance and he would swim by quickly - changed my camera body to the 7D for a faster shutter speed with the available evening light. Some babies were moved upside down, others with their bum toward me so it was nice that this one's head was facing my way. The marsh is surrounded by trees as you can see reflected in the water. He was moving them from one pond to another and had to dive under a culvert with the baby in his mouth - this is just as they are breaking the surface of the water.

 

Dropping in to say hello - I was hoping to be back on flickr more regularly but it hasn't worked out - hopefully I'll be back soon. Miss you all and want you to know that I check your images every chance I get. Will catch up on your latest tonight.

 

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright © 2012 Barb D'Arpino/naturethroughmyeyes.com

This image is protected under the Canadian and International Copyright laws. These images are presented here for viewing purposes only. They are NOT stock images or royalty free. They may not be used for commercial or private use. They are copyrighted by me. Any such use whatsoever of these images is strictly prohibited. They may not be copied, downloaded, manipulated, blogged, deep-linked, tweeted, pinned, Stumbled, tumbled or reproduced by any other means or sold without my prior written consent. Linking back to me does not substitute for written permission.

 

Dog and Partridge War Mem, Hot Lane Cobridge, Staffs

 

Dog and Partridge War Memorial, Hot Lane Cobridge

  

Some of the names on this memorial are the same as those on the Bennett's Tavern War Memorial, which has be relocated to Christ Church, Cobridge, Stoke on Trent

  

Compiled with additional information from Ancestry.Com and with permission of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

  

All effort have been made to establish that the correct has been found. For some, no information could be found that could have been used.

  

In memory and honour of the men from Hot Lane and Elder Road, who fell in the Great War 1914-1919

  

ROWLEY, Ralph, Private 9295, 1st King's Liverpool Regiment died 27th October 1914. He was the son of Ellen. (widowed 1901) at 11, Wellington Street, Tunstall, Stoke on Trent. The 1911 census shows him with 2nd Kings Regiment (Liverpool) stationed in India

He is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium

  

BROOKES, William, Private 16197, 7th North Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action at Mesopotamia 5th April 1916 aged 26. Husband of Minnie, (remarried to Mr Litherland), of 71, Church Street, Burslem, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire

  

SUTTON, James, Lance Corporal 11165, 13th Royal Fusiliers killed in action 11th April 1917. He was the son Thomas and Sarah Ann Sutton and husband of Winifred Sutton, of 36, Enoch Street, Burslem, Staffs. Commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

  

HYDE J It may be the following soldier. Private John Hyde, 37097, 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers formerly 3/23329, North Staffordshire Regiment killed in action 11th October 1916. He was the husband of Annie nee Hulme who he married in 1912 at Christ Church, Cobridge now remarried to Samuel Jones of 23 Hot Lane, Burslem, Stoke on Trent. The 1911 census shows a John Hyde with his parents, James and Ruth at 4, Sandbach Road, Cobridge, Stoke on Trent and he as a Colliery Hewer. He is buried at Bancourt British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

  

HARDING, Thomas, Private 16070, 18th Lancashire Fusiliers died of wounds 7th November 1916, He was born in Hanley and lived in Burslem, Stoke on Trent. He may have been the son of Thomas and Elizabeth who in 1901 the family were residing at 52, Price Street, Burslem and in 1911 same address with his widowed mother and siblings. Buried in Habarcq Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France

  

MAHON, Owen, Private 9237, 9th Royal Fusiliers , killed in action 7th July 1916 aged 24.. Born and lived at Burslem, Stoke on Trent. he was the son of Owen and Hannah of 48 Hot Lane, Burslem.

Found a few pages of his army record showing him with the North Staffordshire Regiment. He enlisted 19th August 1914 in Stoke on Trent, and his occupation as a Pit Surfaceman. His mother Hannah was next of kin and she was living at 48, Hot Lane, Burslem. He was the brother of James who also fell. No record survives of him transferring to the Royal Fusiliers and when he was killed.

  

MAHON, James, Private 44455, 2nd Suffolk Regiment, formerly 48543, South Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action 27th September 1918. he was the son of Owen and Hannah formerly of 48, Hot Lane, Burslem and now of 9. Moss Street, Burslem, Stoke on Trent.

The 1911 census shows James and Owen as brothers at 48 Hot Lane. (They may not be of the same family, but no other James can be found in the Burslem area.

He is buried at Lowrie Cemetery, Havrincourt, Pas de Calais, France

  

ROBERTS, Philip, Private 201054, D. Company 1/6th North Staffordshire Regiment, formerly 4301, North Staffordshire Regiment died of wounds 6th October 1918.

He was the son of Robert and Sarah nee Plant.

Some notes from what is left of his army record.

He enlisted 5th April 1915 aged 27. Home address was 24. Hot Lane, Burslem.

His next of kin was his wife Emily nee Barlow whom he married in 1912 at St John the Baptist, Longton, Stoke on Trent and resided 54 Hot Lane, Burslem. His mother had remarried by 1901 to a Joseph Parker and he and his siblings were residing with their mother and stepfather at 25, Greeting Street, Burslem

On the 28th September 1918 he was shot in the head in the field in France and was taken to No11 Stationary Hospital, Rouen France

4th October 1918 he was reported that he was dangerously ill

6th October 1918 he died of wounds

He is buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France,

  

HULSON, Samuel , Private 40741, 6th Lincolnshire Regiment died 16th August 1917 aged 31. he was the son of William and Sarah of 66 Hot Lane, Burslem and husband of Elizabeth of Rose vale, Chesterton, Stoke on Trent. he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  

KERRIGAN, J. Unable to find the correct record listed with the CWGC any personal information would be very much appreciated

The 1911 census shows a John Kerrigan aged 15 living with his aunt Eliza at 75 Hot Lane, Burslem.

  

WARDLE, Albert, (memorial has Wardles) Private 50539, 7th Lincolnshire Regiment killed in action 19th September 1918 aged 20. He was the son of John and Jane (Stepmother) of 91, Hot Lane, Burslem, Stoke on Trent. Commemorated on the Vis-En-Artois Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

 

ARTAUD, John William, Memorial has J) Lance Corporal 17286, 2nd Grenadier Guards who was killed in action 15th September 1916 aged 22. he was the son of Charles William, and Annie who in 1911 was residing with his sister, Emily at 124, Leek New Road, Cobridge. His occupation was a driver at a coal mine and was born in Smallthorne in 1894. He medal card shows the surname as Artland. He is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial, Somme, France

  

BAMFORD, S. It may be this soldier. Private 11895, Samuel Bamford 1st Sherwood Foresters died of wounds 16th March 1915. He was born in Newcastle under Lyme, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire He was the son of William Thomas Warren and Annie of Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire. Buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery, Pad de Calais, France The Bennett's Tavern War Memorial which has been relocated to Christ Church, Cobridge has W Bamford)

  

STEVENSON, Isaiah, Private 7801, 7th North Staffordshire Regiment killed in action in Gallipoli 7th January 1916. Born in Burslem and lived in Cobridge, Stoke on Trent. He was the son of William Henry and Maria Mary nee Williams of 16, Abbey Street, Cobridge Commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey

  

HULME, H There are two listed with the CWGC both from Stoke on Trent region

Rifleman B/203515 Henry Hulme (SDGW have Harry) 1st Rifle Brigade, formerly C/8086, King's Royal Rifle Corps, died of wounds 10th May 1917 aged 24. He was born in Burslem And resided in Doncaster he was the son of Jeremiah and Louisa Hulme, of 45th Street, and Avenue C., Rockmoor, Lemon City, Florida, U.S.A. Native of Burslem, Staffs, England. He is buried in St. Nicolas British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

Private 13692, Harry Hulme, 7th North Staffordshire Regiment killed in action 26th January 1917 at Mesopotamia. He was born and lived in Tunstall, Stoke on Trent and he is buried in Amara War Cemetery, Iraq

  

BARKER, J. It may be James Barker, Private 9099, 7th North Staffordshire Regiment who died on the 19th December 1916 at Mesopotamia. He was born in Fenton, Stoke on Trent and is buried in Amara War Cemetery, Iraq.

  

LEWIS, Thomas, Sapper 136454, 171st Tunnelling Coy, Royal Engineers, killed in action 17th October 1917 aged 26. Born in Burslem and lived in Cobridge both of Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. He was the husband of Hannah of 4, Hale's Square, Cobrodge, Stoke on Trent. Commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

  

LOVATT, Frank, Private 14168, 8th North Staffordshire Regiment died of wounds 26th August 1915. He was born in Cobridge Staffordshire and was the son of Benjamin and Mary Ann of 65, North Road, Burslem, Staffs and brother of Thomas who also fell. He is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery, Nord France

1911 Census shows another Frank Lovatt born in 1899 and living with his parents William and Olive of 215, Hot Lane, Burslem, Stoke on Trent ( William and Olive do not appear in any other census) help is needed to sort out this family.

  

BOULTON, Ellis, Sergeant 18591, 9th Cheshire Regiment, died 4th July 1916. Native of Burslem. He is buried in Gordon Dump Cemetery, Ovillers-La Boisselle, Somme, France

  

BOULTON, Percy , Private 10658, 2nd Irish Guards, died 27th November 1917 aged 18. He was the son of Joseph of 1, Leveson Street, Hanley, Staffordshire. He was native of Burslem, Staffs. Commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France

  

MILLWARD, Ernest, Private 38266, B Coy, 4th North Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action 12th September 1918. Born at Burslem and resided at Wolstanton, Stoke on Trent. He enlisted on the 1st December 1915 aged 28yrs and 10 months, occupation was given as Potters Turner. He was mobilized 2nd December 1917 and was sent to France where he recived a gunshot wound on the 27th March 1918 (no further information was found about this injury) On the 29th September 1912 he married Sarah Ellen nee Cope at Smallthorne Church, Stoke on Trent and they lived at 6. Peel Street, Longbridge Hayes, Stoke on Trent

Buried at Hagle Dump Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  

STANDEVEN, John, Private 27102, 8th Welsh Regiment, formerly 10451, North Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action 8th August 1915 aged 24 at Gallipoli. He was the son of Elizabeth Ford (formerly Standeven), of 98, Hot Lane, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, and the late George Standeven.

Commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey

  

HANCOCK, T. Unable to find the correct record listed with the CWGC any personal information would be very much appreciated

  

TURNER, William, Private 46131, , 9th Labourer Corp, Formerly Lincolnshire Regiment died 10th April 1917 aged 34. He was the son of William and Maria who 1901 were all living at 13 Hot Lane Burslem, Stoke on Trent. Buried St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France

  

TUDOR, Henry Thomas, Private 8661, 1st North Staffordshire Regiment, died 31st August 1916 aged 34. Son of Richard and Mary Tudor and husband of the late Laura nee Swingewood. Buried at Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France

Some notes from parts of his surviving army record

He enlisted at Burslem on the 26th August 1914 aged 30yrs and 6 months His wife Laura of 3 Elder Road, Cobridge.

he was the son of Richard and Mary and in 1911 his mother who was widowed about 1891 was residing at 11, Elder Road, Cobridge

25th April 1915 he was declared a deserter

29th June 1915 he was in civil custody (police)

30th June 1915 he rejoined his unit for desertion

Await trial 3rd July 1915 to 12th July 1915

15th July 1915, tried by District Court Martial. Sentenced to 1 year in prison from when on

active service deserting His Majesty's Service.

8th December 1915 he was released and posted with the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment to France

1st May 1916 he was gassed but survived

31st August 1916 killed in action in the field.

  

WELLINGS, John, Private 16836, 7th North Staffordshire regiment died in Mesopotamia 27th July 1917 aged 34. He was born in Burslem and lived in Cobridge He was the son of Samuel and Hannah who in 1901 residing at 5, Lovatt Street, Cobridge with his siblings, one being Samuel who also fell. John was a Potters handler Buried in Basra War cemetery, Iraq

Some notes from his army record.

He enlisted 10th February 1915 aged 33yrs and he lived at with his wife Emma, nee Harratt (whom he married 26th November 1900 at St Pauls, Burslem) at 11 Elder Road, Cobridge. She had several addresses after the death of her husband, 37a Moor Street, Cobridge and 5, Derby Street, Cobridge. She remarried to Thomas Williamson of Leek Road, Cobridge.

The cause of death of John Wellings was the following which is an extract from a copy of a typed letter dated 28th July 1917 by M.E.Willards, Capt, R.A.M.C.

He died in Base Isolation Hospital Basra from the disease Myocarditis following Small Pox.

Patient had been in hospital with small pox since 4.5.17. he had not been vaccinated since childhood. he was very dangerously ill and the rash became confluent. When the acute stage of the disease was over, patient improved slowly but steadily. he was able to digest his food well and had begun to take a little exercise. he had shown signs of Myocarditis previously and been treated with digitalis. He improved steadily while the heat was not excessive, but when about a fortnight ago the heat suddenly became much greater it affected him considerably. He had to be confined to bed. his appetite failed, and he would take practically nothing except milk. On examination his pulse was seen to be rapid and irregular. There was some dilation of the right side of the heart Cyanosis and weak impulse. Unfortunately he could not be transferred for invaliding at that time as he was not quite free from infection. On the 20th July 1917, patient began to vomit, the vomiting became more and more persistent until practically no food was retained in his stomach. Digitalin was given hypodermically and stimulants administered at regular intervals, food was given in small quantities at frequent intervals. On 25.7.17 and 27.7.17 the patient was a good deal troubled with hiccough and the vomiting was worse. The shortness of breath too was now much more increased. On the afternoon of 27.7.17 he suddenly changed very definately for the worse - his pulse was imperceptible at the wrist. Cyanosis and shortness of breath were very prominent. Stimulants were at once administered but without effect and the patient died at 4.24 pm 27.7.17

Death due to heart failure following small pox brought on by climate and service

  

LIGHTFOOT D. His correct name is Daniel Thomas born 1884. and he was the brother of above John William Lightfoot. No record can be found for him as being killed in action or dieing from wounds received. I have found a medal card for a Daniel T Lightfoot Private S/220580, Royal Army Service Corps. which may be him. Any help with this person would be very much appreciated

  

LIGHTFOOT, John William, (Memorial has J T) Private 38532, 4th North Staffordshire Regiment died in England 17th August 1918 aged 38, He was the son of James and Elizabeth, who in 1901 were all including Daniel Thomas, residing at 14, Elder Road and in 1911 his parents were at 10. Hot Lane both of Burslem, Stoke on Trent.

Some notes from what is left of his army record

He enlisted 4th December 1915 and was mobilized in 1917 and posted to France. He gave his age as 34yrs and 9 months occupation Potters Handler and his next of kin his wife, Hannah Gertrude, widow, formerly Copeland at Snyde parish church Stoke on Trent, Staffs on the 26th November 1909.

He had previously served 6yrs with the North Midland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.

On the 1st August 1918 he was shot, and died in hospital 17th August 1918 from gun shot wound to his left thigh and pneumonia. he is buried in Burslem Cemetery as J W Lightfoot

  

FORD, Samuel, Private 23252, 3rd Worcestershire Regiment killed in action 28th April 1916 aged 21. He was the sone of Frederick and Martha of 21, Elm Street, Cobridge, Stoke on Trent. Commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

  

CAVENOR, Frank Edward (Memorial has F) Gunner 75840, 27th Battery, 32nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery killed in action 10th April 1917. Lived in Burslem and was the husband of Eliza Sherratt formerly Cavenor nee Donnally of 55, Mars Street, Smallthorne, Stoke on Trent. In 1911 he his wife and children were living at 3, Lower Street, Burslem, Stoke on Trent. He stated that he was born in Burslem, Commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

  

YATES, Thomas, Private 8182, 7th North Staffordshire died of wounds 2nd May 1916 in Mesopotamia. Born in Tunstall and lived in Burslem, both of Stoke on Trent. Buried at Amara War Cemetery, Iraq

  

FOSTER, R. Unable to find the correct record listed with the CWGC any personal information would be very much appreciated

  

VAUGHAN, William, Private 19069, 6th East Lancashire Regiment killed in action in Mesopotamia 9th April 1916. He was born and lived in Burslem, Stoke on Trent. and may have been the son of William and Mary Commemorated on the Basra Memorial, Iraq

  

PLATT, Joseph, Private 6078, 7th North Staffordshire Regiment killed in action at Mesopotamia 25th January 1917. Born in Burslem, Stoke on Trent. Buried in Amara War cemetery, Iraq

  

DONALLY, William, Private 8671, 7th North Staffordshire Regiment. died in Gallipoli 31st October 1915. He was the son of Edward and Lucy Donally of 37, Moore Street, Burslem, Stoke on Trent. His was born in Burslem and lived in Cobridge, Buried in Portianos Military Cemetery, Greece.

   

Since it relocated to the new building in Hillcrest back in May 2021, it had been trashed due to the lack of security measures i.e. fencing and plywood sheets to cover every window and door.

This one was considered to be the second one to open in South Australia 50 years ago after the one in Everard Park.

Some background:

The idea for a heavy infantry support vehicle capable of demolishing heavily defended buildings or fortified areas with a single shot came out of the experiences of the heavy urban fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. At the time, the Wehrmacht had only the Sturm-Infanteriegeschütz 33B available for destroying buildings, a Sturmgeschütz III variant armed with a 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun. Twelve of them were lost in the fighting at Stalingrad. Its successor, the Sturmpanzer IV, also known by Allies as Brummbär, was in production from early 1943. This was essentially an improved version of the earlier design, mounting the same gun on the Panzer IV chassis with greatly improved armour protection.

 

While greatly improved compared to the earlier models, by this time infantry anti-tank weapons were improving dramatically, too, and the Wehrmacht still saw a need for a similar, but more heavily armoured and armed vehicle. Therefore, a decision was made to create a new vehicle based on the Tiger tank and arm it with a 210 mm howitzer. However, this weapon turned out not to be available at the time and was therefore replaced by a 380 mm rocket launcher, which was adapted from a Kriegsmarine depth charge launcher.

 

The 380 mm Raketen-Werfer 61 L/5.4 was a breech-loading barrel, which fired a short-range, rocket-propelled projectile roughly 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) long. The gun itself existed in two iterations at the time. One, the RaG 43 (Raketenabschuss-Gerät 43), was a ship-mounted anti-aircraft weapon used for firing a cable-spooled parachute-anchor creating a hazard for aircraft. The second, the RTG 38 (Raketen Tauch-Geschoss 38), was a land-based system, originally planned for use in coastal installations by the Kriegsmarine firing depth-charges against submarines with a range of about 3.000 m. For use in a vehicle, the RTG 38 was to find use as a demolition gun and had to be modified for that role. This modification work was carried out by Rheinmetall at their Sommerda works.

 

The design of the rocket system caused some problems. Modified for use in a vehicle, the recoil from the modified rocket-mortar was enormous, about 40-tonnes, and this meant that only a heavy chassis could be used to mount the gun. The hot rocket exhaust could not be vented into the fighting compartment nor could the barrel withstand the pressure if the gasses were not vented. Therefore, a ring of ventilation shafts was put around the barrel which channeled the exhaust and gave the weapon something of a pepperbox appearance.

 

The shells for the weapon were extremely heavy, far too heavy for a man to load manually. As a result, each of them had to be carried by means of a ceiling-mounted trolley from their rack to a roller-mounted tray at the breech. Once on the tray, four soldiers could then push it into the breech to load it. The whole process took 10 minutes per shot from loading, aiming, elevating and, finally, to firing.

There were a variety of rocket-assisted round types with a weight of up to 376 kg (829 lb), and a maximum range of up to 6,000 m (20,000 ft), which either contained a high explosive charge of 125 kg (276 lb) or a shaped charge for use against fortifications, which could penetrate up to 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) of reinforced concrete. The stated range of the former was 5,650 m (6,180 yd). A normal charge first accelerated the projectile to 45 m/s (150 ft/s) to leave the short, rifled barrel, the 40 kg (88 lb) rocket charge then boosted this to about 250 m/s (820 ft/s).

 

In September 1943 plans were made for Krupp to fabricate new Tiger I armored hulls for the Sturmtiger. The Tiger I hulls were to be sent to Henschel for chassis assembly and then to Alkett, where the superstructures would be mounted. The first prototype was ready and presented in October 1943. By May 1944, the Sturmtiger prototype had been kept busy with trials and firing tests for the development of range tables, but production had still not started yet and the concept was likely to be scrapped. Rather than ditch the idea though, orders were given that, instead of interrupting the production of the Tiger I, the Sturmtigers would be built on the chassis of Tiger I tanks which had already been in action and suffered serious damage. Twelve superstructures and RW 61 weapons were prepared and mounted on rebuilt Tiger I chassis. However, by August 1944 the dire need for this kind of vehicle led to the adaptation of another chassis to the 380 mm Sturmmörser: the SdKfz. 184, better known as “Ferdinand” (after its designer’s forename) and later, in an upgraded version, “Elefant”.

 

The Elefant (German for "elephant") was actually a heavy tank destroyer and the result of mismanagement and poor planning: Porsche GmbH had manufactured about 100 chassis for their unsuccessful proposal for the Tiger I tank, the so-called "Porsche Tiger". Both the successful Henschel proposal and the Porsche design used the same Krupp-designed turret—the Henschel design had its turret more-or-less centrally located on its hull, while the Porsche design placed the turret much closer to the front of the superstructure. Since the competing Henschel Tiger design was chosen for production, the Porsche chassis were no longer required for the Tiger tank project, and Porsche was left with 100 unfinished heavy tank hulls.

It was therefore decided that the Porsche chassis were to be used as the basis of a new heavy tank hunter, the Ferdinand, mounting Krupp's newly developed 88 mm (3.5 in) Panzerjägerkanone 43/2 (PaK 43) anti-tank gun with a new, long L71 barrel. This precise long-range weapon was intended to destroy enemy tanks before they came within their own range of effective fire, but in order to mount the very long and heavy weapon on the Porsche hull, its layout had to be completely redesigned.

 

Porsche’s SdKfz. 184’s unusual petrol-electric transmission made it much easier to relocate the engines than would be the case on a mechanical-transmission vehicle, since the engines could be mounted anywhere, and only the length of the power cables needed to be altered, as opposed to re-designing the driveshafts and locating the engines for the easiest routing of power shafts to the gearbox. Without the forward-mounted turret of the Porsche Tiger prototype, the twin engines were relocated to the front, where the turret had been, leaving room ahead of them for the driver and radio operator. As the engines were placed in the middle, the driver and the radio operator were isolated from the rest of the crew and could be addressed only by intercom. The now empty rear half of the hull was covered with a heavily armored, full five-sided casemate with slightly sloped upper faces and armored solid roof, and turned into a crew compartment, mounting a single 8.8 cm Pak 43 cannon in the forward face of the casemate.

 

From this readily available basis, the SdKfz. 184/1 was hurriedly developed. It differed from the tank hunter primarily through its new casemate that held the 380 mm Raketenwerfer. Since the SdKfz. 184/1 was intended for use in urban areas in close range street fighting, it needed to be heavily armoured to survive. Its front plate had a greater slope than the Ferdinand while the sides were more vertical and the roof was flat. Its sloped (at 47° from vertical) frontal casemate armor was 150 mm (5.9 in) thick, while its superstructure side and rear plates had a strength of 82 mm (3.2 in). The SdKfz.184/1 also received add-on armor of 100 mm thickness, bolted to the hull’s original vertical front plates, increasing the thickness to 200 mm but adding 5 tons of weight. All these measures pushed the weight of the vehicle up from the Ferdinand’s already bulky 65 t to 75 t, limiting the vehicle’s manoeuvrability even further. Located at the rear of the loading hatch was a Nahverteidigungswaffe launcher which was used for close defense against infantry with SMi 35 anti-personnel mines, even though smoke grenades or signal flares could be fired with the device in all directions, too. For close-range defense, a 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun was carried in a ball mount in the front plate, an addition that was introduced to the Elefant tank hunters, too, after the SdKfz. 184 had during its initial deployments turned out to be very vulnerable to infantry attacks.

 

Due to the size of the RW 61 and the bulkiness of the ammunition, only fourteen rounds could be carried internally, of which one was already loaded, with another stored in the loading tray, and the rest were carried in two storage racks, leaving only little space for the crew of four in the rear compartment. To help with the loading of ammunition into the vehicle, a loading crane was fitted at the rear of the superstructure next to the loading hatch on the roof.

Due to the internal limits and the tactical nature of the vehicle, it was intended that each SdKfz. 184/1 (as well as each Sturmtiger) would be accompanied by an ammunition carrier, typically based on the Panzer IV chassis, but the lack of resources did not make this possible. There were even plans to build a dedicated, heavily armored ammunition carrier on the Tiger I chassis, but only one such carrier was completed and tested, it never reached production status.

 

By the time the first RW 61 carriers had become available, Germany had lost the initiative, with the Wehrmacht being almost exclusively on the defensive rather than the offensive, and this new tactical situation significantly weakened the value of both Sturmtiger and Sturmelefant, how the SdKfz 184/1 was semi-officially baptized. Nevertheless, three new Panzer companies were raised to operate the Sturmpanzer types: Panzer Sturmmörser Kompanien (PzStuMrKp) ("Armored Assault Mortar Company") 1000, 1001 and 1002. These originally were supposed to be equipped with fourteen vehicles each, but this figure was later reduced to four each, divided into two platoons, consisting of mixed vehicle types – whatever was available and operational.

 

PzStuMrKp 1000 was raised on 13 August 1944 and fought during the Warsaw Uprising with two vehicles, as did the prototype in a separate action, which may have been the only time the Sturmtiger was used in its intended role. PzStuMrKp 1001 and 1002 followed in September and October. Both PzStuMrKp 1000 and 1001 served during the Ardennes Offensive, with a total of four Sturmtiger and three Sturmelefanten.

After this offensive, the Sturmpanzer were used in the defence of Germany, mainly on the Western Front. During the battle for the bridge at Remagen, German forces mobilized Sturmmörserkompanie 1000 and 1001 (with a total of 7 vehicles, five Sturmtiger and two Sturmelefanten) to take part in the battle. The tanks were originally tasked with using their mortars against the bridge itself, though it was discovered that they lacked the accuracy needed to hit the bridge and cause significant damage with precise hits to vital structures. During this action, one of the Sturmtigers in Sturmmörserkompanie 1001 near Düren and Euskirchen allegedly hit a group of stationary Shermans tanks in a village with a 380mm round, resulting in nearly all the Shermans being put out of action and their crews killed or wounded - the only recorded tank-on-tank combat a Sturmtiger was ever engaged in. After the bridge fell to the Allies, Sturmmörserkompanie 1000 and 1001 were tasked with bombardment of Allied forces to cover the German retreat, as opposed to the bunker busting for which they had originally been designed for. None was actually destroyed through enemy fire, but many vehicles had to be given up due to mechanical failures or the lack of fuel. Most were blown up by their crews, but a few fell into allied hands in an operational state.

 

Total production numbers of the SdKfz. 184/1 are uncertain but, being an emergency product and based on a limited chassis supply, the number of vehicles that left the Nibelungenwerke in Austria was no more than ten – also because the tank hunter conversion had top priority and the exotic RW 61 launcher was in very limited supply. As a consequence, only a total of 18 Sturmtiger had been finished by December 1945 and put into service, too. However, the 380 mm Raketen-Werfer 61 remained in production and was in early 1946 adapted to the new Einheitspanzer E-50/75 chassis.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Six (driver, radio operator/machine gunner in the front cabin,

commander, gunner, 2× loader in the casemate section)

Weight: 75 tons

Length: 7,05 m (23 ft 1½ in)

Width: 3,38 m (11 ft 1 in)

Height w/o crane: 3,02 m (9 ft 10¾ in)

Ground clearance: 1ft 6¾ in (48 cm)

Climbing: 2 ft 6½ in (78 cm)

Fording depth: 3 ft 3¼ (1m)

Trench crossing: 8 ft 7 ¾ in (2,64 m)

Suspension: Longitudinal torsion-bar

Fuel capacity: 1.050 liters

 

Armour:

62 to 200 mm (2.44 to 7.87 in)

 

Performance:

30 km/h (19 mph) on road

15 km/h (10 miles per hour () off road

Operational range: 150 km (93 mi) on road

90 km (56 mi) cross-country

Power/weight: 8 hp/ton

 

Engine:

2× Maybach HL120 TRM petrol engines with 300 PS (246 hp, 221 kW) each, powering…

2× Siemens-Schuckert D1495a 500 Volt electric engines with 320 PS (316 hp, 230 kW) each

 

Transmission:

Electric

 

Armament:

1x 380 mm RW 61 rocket launcher L/5.4 with 14 rounds

1x 7.92 mm (0.312 in) MG 34 machine gun with 600 rounds

1x 100 mm grenade launcher (firing anti-personnel mines, smoke grenades or signal flares)

  

The kit and its assembly:.

This fictional tank model is not my own idea, it is rather based on a picture of a similar kitbashing of an Elefant with a Sturmtiger casemate and its massive missile launcher – even though it was a rather crude model, with a casemate created from cardboard. However, I found the idea charming, even more so because the Ferdinand/Elefant was rather a rolling bunker than an agile tank hunter, despite its powerful weapon. Why not use the same chassis as a carrier for the Sturmtiger’s huge mortar as an assault SPG?

 

The resulting Sturmelefant was created as a kitbashing: the chassis is an early boxing of the Trumpeter Elefant, which comes not only with IP track segments but also alternative vinyl tracks (later boxing do not feature them), and casemate parts come from a Trumpeter Sturmtiger.

While one would think that switching the casemate would be straightforward affair, the conversion turned out to be more complex than expected. Both Elefant and Sturmtiger come with separate casemate pieces, but they are not compatible. The Sturmtiger casemate is 2mm wider than the Elefant’s hull, and its glacis plate is deeper than the Elefant’s, leaving 4mm wide gaps at the sides and the rear. One option could have been to trim down the glacis plate, but I found the roofline to become much too low – and the casemate’s length would have been reduced.

 

So, I used the Sturmtiger casemate “as is” and filled the gaps with styrene sheet strips. This worked, but the casemate’s width created now inward-bent sections that looked unplausible. Nobody, even grazed German engineers, would not have neglected the laws of structural integrity. What to do? Tailoring the casemate’s sides down would have been one route, but this would have had created a strange shape. The alternative I chose was to widen the flanks of the Elefant’s hull underneath the casemate, which was achieved with tailored 0.5 mm styrene sheet panels and some PSR – possible through the Elefant’s simple shape and the mudguards that run along the vehicle’s flanks.

Some more PSR was necessary to blend the rear into a coherent shape and to fill a small gap at the glacis plate’s base. Putty was also used to fill/hide almost all openings on the glacis plate, since no driver sight or ball mount for a machine gun was necessary anymore. New bolts between hull and casemate were created with small drops of white glue. The rest of the surface details were taken from the respective donor kits.

  

Painting and markings:

This was not an easy choice. A classic Hinterhalt scheme would have been a natural choice, but since the Sturmelefant would have been converted from existing hulls with new parts, I decided to emphasize this heritage through a simple, uniform livery: all Ferdinand elements would be painted/left in a uniform Dunkelgelb (RAL, 7028, Humbrol 83), while the new casemate as well as the bolted-on front armor were left in a red primer livery, in two different shades (Humbrol 70 and 113). This looked a little too simple for my taste, so that I eventually added snaky lines in Dunkelgelb onto the primer-painted sections, blurring the contrast between the two tones.

 

Markings remained minimal, just three German crosses on the flanks and at the rear and a tactical code on the casemate – the latter in black and in a hand-written style, as if the vehicle had been rushed into frontline service.

 

After the decals had been secured under sone varnish the model received an overall washing with dark brown, highly thinned acrylic paint, some dry-brushing with light grey and some rust traces, before it was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish and received some dirt stains with mixed watercolors and finally, after the tracks had been mounted, some artist pigments as physical dust on the lower areas.

  

Again a project that appeared simple but turned out to be more demanding because the parts would not fit as well as expected. The resulting bunker breaker looks plausible, less massive than the real Sturmtiger but still a menacing sight.

 

PPL relocating powerlines for a road widening project in Hazleton, PA

I had an appointment downtown, and arriving a bit early (I'd allowed time for traffic) I grabbed the chance to relax with a spot of photography. It wasn't as relaxing as I'd hoped, as a security guard came out and told me that I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the building without written permission. When I went into the bulding to inquire how I could get that permission, the officers on duty told that I had every right to take pictures outside. From their expressions when I told them about the security guard, I suspect I'm not the first photographer who's been handed a line.

 

According to the official web site:

 

Osgoode Hall is a heritage building located at 130 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. This historic site is the focus

for legal activity in Ontario and has garnered attention for over 170 years. Osgoode Hall occupies six acres and was acquired by the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1829. The name Osgoode Hall honours William Osgoode the first Chief Justice of the province. Osgoode Hall withstood more than ten major restorations. The front facade maintained its originality and is basically unaltered to reflect the 1860 design.

 

The interior of Osgoode Hall possesses unique architectural achievements. The heritage courtrooms are from the late 1800's. Convocation Hall boasts ten gorgeous stained glass heraldic windows covering 4,000 years of law. The Great Library touted as the most beautiful room in Canada has an intricate ceiling, cork floors and triple cube design. The rotunda is spectacular from the original tiling on the floor to the elegant arched pillars surrounded by elaborate oil paintings of former Chief Justices of the Province.

 

Since 1840 Osgoode Hall has been co-owned by the Ontario Government and the Law Society. The Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Superior Court Of Justice and the Law Society of Upper Canada currently reside at Osgoode Hall.

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto constructed between 1829 and 1832 in the late Georgian Palladian and Neoclassical styles. It houses the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada. The portico of Osgoode Hall's east wing was built at the head of Toronto's York Street to serve as a terminating vista, though it is now obscured by trees planted on the building's lawn.

 

Osgoode Hall was named in honour of the province's first chief justice, William Osgoode.[1] The building housed Osgoode Hall Law School until 1969 when the faculty was relocated to the campus of York University in the North York community of Toronto. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1979.[2][3] It was also designated by the City of Toronto under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1990.

 

The six-acre (24,000 m²) site at the corner of Lot Street (Queen Street West today) and College Avenue (University Avenue today) was acquired by the Law Society in 1828. At the time, the location was on the northwest edge of the city, which has since grown around the building. It was originally bounded on its north side by Osgoode Street, and on its east side by a street that would eventually be known as Chestnut Street. The former no longer exists, and the latter now stops at Armoury Street as Nathan Philips Square now lies to the east. The original 2 1⁄2-storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and W. W. Baldwin. The structure was named after William Osgoode, the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada (what is now the Canadian province of Ontario).

 

Between 1838 and 1843, the hall was turned into troop barracks.[5] When the Law Society regained possession in 1844, an expansion was designed by Henry Bowyer Lane; the West Wing and Library were built, with two domes (later removed) over the library to connect the two wings.[5] In 1846 the Law Society entered into an agreement with the government to house the province's Superior Court at the hall.[citation needed] Today, the building is jointly owned by the Law Society and the Government of Ontario.

 

From 1855 to 1857 the building was refurbished and enlarged again, according to a design by the firm Cumberland and Storm, to accommodate courts with the original 1829 building becoming the east wing. From 1880 to 1891 the building was again expanded twice in order to accommodate the law school.

 

Despite the expansions, the hall presents a unified design in the late Palladian style. The iron fence surrounding the lawns of Osgoode Hall has become a landmark in itself. Its distinctive iron gates are narrow and restrictive; it is a long-standing myth that they were designed to keep livestock out of the grounds of the hall and in the 1950s, students did attempt to pass a cow through one of the gates (they failed). The gates were likely due to Victorian architectural fashion, rather than wandering cattle.

 

Two libraries are housed within Osgoode Hall: the Great Library of the Law Society of Upper Canada and a smaller library for judges. The Great Library was designed by Cumberland and Storm (1857–1860) and features an ornate plaster ceiling, cork floors, and etched glass windows. A War Memorial by Frances Norma Loring (1887–1968), sculpted in 1928, was added to the Library in honor of Ontario lawyers and law students killed during the First World War. Behind the Great Library (and accessible through it) is the American Room, designed by Burke and Horwood in 1895, a more intimate room with a spiral staircase. The courthouse at 361 University Avenue directly to the north is accessible through a connecting tunnel.

 

This High Dynamic Range 360° panorama was stitched from 54 RAW photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, and touched up in Aperture.

 

It's not as sharp as I'd like, as when I went inside to inquire about permission I accidentally changed my aperture, and didn't notice when I went pack out to photograph. The sky is also a bit off — adjusting the white balance so the shadows weren't blue made the sky greenish, and I can't figure out a way to adjuste the colour all the way back.

 

Original size: 13000 × 13000 (169.0 MP; 175 MB).

 

Location: Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Bright sunshine on a beautiful Autumn day persuaded me to drive to Fraserburgh and re visit its magnificent fishing harbour for the first time in a few months, hence today Tuesday 13th November 2018 I visited and captured as many trawlers and scenes that I could, I had a great couple of hours.

 

Fraserburgh Harbour is situated in Aberdeenshire in the North East corner of Scotland and is ideally positioned for the fishing grounds of the North and East of Scotland, as well as being in close proximity to the North Sea oil and gas fields and the emerging offshore renewables market. The location also makes it well placed for trade with Scandinavia and the Baltic sea ports.

 

The Port caters and provides facilities for:

 

Safe Berthing with a 24 hour advisory service

 

Fishing, Cargo, Oil Related, Offshore Renewables and Ship Repair

 

Fuel, water, electricity, Stevedores available as required

 

Extensive local supply chain

Haulage - UK and Worldwide

 

Fraserburgh Harbour Commissioners are committed to providing first class services to the fishing fleet. This commitment has been demonstrated over the years through deepening projects which have provided safe berthing facilities and two of the most up to date fish markets in the UK. Both markets, which are completely chilled, are capable of maintaining a temperature of +1ºC allowing landings of fish and nephrops over a 24 hour period, five days per week with the fish being kept in prime condition for the sales that take place at a later period. The markets cover 3100 square metres and can handle 6,000 boxes of fish daily. The very successful summer and autumn squid fishery takes place a few miles from the port and vessels often choose to land through Fraserburgh Fishmarket. A Wi-Fi internet connection was recently installed in the market and is available for all users.

 

The harbour houses a number of full time crab fishermen who operate throughout the year. The vast majority of crab landed is trucked to markets in England with the balance processed locally. Many of these smaller vessels also take part in the seasonal mackerel fishery with line mackerel also being landed and sold through the Fishmarket.

 

Fraserburgh Harbour is also home to a number of the large pelagic fishing vessels who class Fraserburgh Harbour as their “home” port. These vessels can be seen moored in the Balaclava basin between fishing seasons for mackerel, herring, blue whiting etc. The harbour and bay are designated and approved pelagic landing areas seeing large quantities of herring and mackerel landed during the season with demand coming from local processors as well as continental buyers. Catches can be landed direct into the Lunar Freezing factory, one of the most up to date and modernised processing factory in the country, which is located alongside the pier in the Balaclava Harbour. These catches can be landed either by lorry or by pipeline on specific berths straight into the factory.

 

The Harbour offers fresh water, shore power, waste disposal, oil reception facilities, etc all essential services for the fishing fleet.

 

Information on these can be obtained from the Harbour Office or from the Marine Watchtower.

 

Google and Wiki have the folowing info on this fine town.

 

Fraserburgh (/ˈfreɪzərbrə/; Scots: The Broch or Faithlie, Scottish Gaelic: A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2001 Census at 12,454 and estimated at 12,630 in 2006.

 

It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Aberdeen, and 17 miles (27 km) north of Peterhead. It is the biggest shellfish port in Europe, landing over 12,000 tonnes in 2008, and is also a major white fish port and busy commercial harbour.

 

History

The name of the town means, literally, 'burgh of Fraser', after the Fraser family that bought the lands of Philorth in 1504 and thereafter brought about major improvement due to investment over the next century. Fraserburgh became a burgh of barony in 1546. By 1570, the Fraser family had built a castle (Fraserburgh Castle) at Kinnaird's Head and within a year the area church was built. By the 1590s the area known as Faithlie was developing a small harbour.

 

In 1592, Faithlie was renamed Fraserburgh by a charter of the Crown under King James VI. Sir Alexander Fraser was given permission to improve and govern the town as Lord Saltoun. At present this title is still in existence and is held by Flora Fraser, 20th Lady Saltoun and head of Clan Fraser. The Royal Charter also gave permission to build a college and university in Fraserburgh allowing the Lord Saltoun to appoint a rector, a principal, a sub-principal, and all the professors for teaching the different sciences.

 

A grant from the Scottish Parliament in 1595 allowed the first college building to be erected by Alexander Fraser, and in 1597 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland recommended the Rev. Charles Ferme, then minister at the Old Parish, to be its first (and only) principal.

 

In 1601, Fraserburgh became a burgh of regality. The college, however, closed only a decade or so after Ferme's arrest on the orders of James VI for taking part in the 1605 General Assembly, being used again only for a short time in 1647 when King's College, Aberdeen temporarily relocated owing to an outbreak of plague. A plaque commemorating its existence may be seen on the exterior wall of the remains of the Alexandra Hotel in College Bounds.

 

Fraserburgh thereafter remained relatively quiet until 1787 when Fraserburgh Castle was converted to Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, Scotland's first mainland lighthouse. In 1803, the original 1571 church building was replaced and enlarged to seat 1000 people. The Auld Kirk was to be the standing authority in the town up until the 1840s.

 

The Statistical Account on the Parish of Fraserburgh, written between 1791–1799 (probably 1791) by Rev. Alexander Simpson of the Old Parish Church, shows that the population of Fraserburgh was growing with peaks due to seasonal employment. He records a population of about 2000 in 1780 of whom only 1000 resided in the town.

 

There was an additional population of 200 in the village of Broadsea. He makes a point of the arrival of Dr. Webster in Fraserburgh in 1755 claiming that the population then only stood at 1682. By the time the account was written the population had increased by 518 souls since 1755. Rev. Simpson also gives accounts of deaths, births and marriages. Between 1784-1791, he claims to have an average of 37 baptisms, 14 marriages and 19 deaths per year. The statistical account mentions activities with the harbour. He describes the harbour as small but good, telling that it had the capability to take vessels with '200 tons burden' at the time the account was written.

 

The account also mentions that Fraserburgh had tried and succeeded in shipbuilding especially after 1784. His account finishes speaking of a proposed enlargement of the harbour. He claims that the local people would willingly donate what they could afford but only if additional funding was provided by the Government and Royal Burghs.

 

The second statistical account, written as a follow up to the first of the 1790s, was written in January 1840 by Rev. John Cumming. He records population in 1791 as 2215 growing to only 2271 by 1811, but increasing massively to 2954 by 1831. He considered the herring fishing, which intensified in 1815, to be the most important reason for this population boom. By 1840 he writes that seamen were marrying early with 86 marriages and 60 births in the parish in the space of one year. On top of this increased population, he explains that the herring season seen an additional 1200 people working in the Parish. There is also mention of the prosperity of this trade bringing about an increase in general wealth with a change in both dress and diet. Cumming also records 37 illegitimate children from 1837–1840 although he keeps no record of death.

 

The prosperity of the economy also brought about improvement within the town with a considerable amount of new houses being built in the town. The people were gaining from the herring industry as in real terms rent fell by 6% from 1815 to 1840. Lord Saltoun was described as the predominant land owner earning £2266,13s,4d in rents.

 

This period also saw the extension of the harbour with a northern pier of 300 yards built between 1807–1812 and, in 1818, a southern pier built by Act of Parliament. Cumming states that no less than £30,000 was spent developing the harbour between 1807 and 1840 by which time the harbour held eight vessels of 45–155 tons and 220 boats of the herring fishery.

 

A railway station opened in 1865 and trains operated to Aberdeen via Maud and Dyce, as well as a short branch line to St. Combs. It was, however, closed to passengers in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts, though freight trains continued to operate until 1979, after which the station site was redeveloped. Currently, the closest operating station is Inverurie, 56 km (35 miles) away.

 

Climate[

Fraserburgh has a marine climate heavily influenced by its proximity to the sea. As such summer highs and winter lows are heavily moderated, with very mild winter temperatures for a location so far north. The differences between seasons are very narrow as a result, with February averaging highs of 6.7 °C (44.1 °F) and August 17.2 °C (63.0 °F).[6] As a result of its marine influence, there is significant seasonal lag, with September being milder than June and October has slightly milder nights than May, in spite of a massive difference of daylight. The climate is overcast and wet with 1351.8 hours of sunshine. Temperature extremes have ranged from 26.6.C (July 1995) down to -14.4.C (February 1991) 747.7 millimetres (29.44 in) of precipitation per annum.

. . . 10. 3. 2007 - this is the fourth day of a funeral ceremony in Bori for a High Class Woman. She died on 18. 1. 2007 at the age of 85 years. The ceremony will last for one week. Today we will see buffalo fighting, cock fighting, the killing of the buffalos, the horse and the deer. The photos of the killing might look strange to you, to the torajian they are common. The souls of the killed buffalos are the servants of the deads. The more buffalos are killed the better life for the dead.

 

If you wonder why the quality of the pictures is a little less: these are no photographs - it all are snapshots of my videos! So sorry for the less resolution, but I think, they are worth to be shown.

_____________________________________

 

The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").

 

The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.

 

Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.

 

ETHNIC IDENTITY

The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).

 

HISTORY

From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.

 

Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.

 

In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to

 

CHRISTIANITY

Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.

 

SOCIETY

There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.

 

FAMILY AFFILIATION

Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.

 

Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.

 

Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.

 

CLASS AFFILIATION

In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.

 

Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.

 

Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.

 

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.

 

The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.

 

CULTURE

TONGKONAN

Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").

 

Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.

 

The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.

 

WOOD CARVINGS

To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.

 

Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.

 

Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.

 

FUNERAL RITES

In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.

 

The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.

 

Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.

 

There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.

 

In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.

 

DANCE AND MUSIC

Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.

 

As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.

 

A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.

 

LANGUAGE

The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.

 

ECONOMY

Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .

 

With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.

 

Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.

 

TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE

Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.

 

In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.

 

Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.

 

A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.

 

Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Professional Packers Movers Gurgaon 9810053907

 

www.professionalpackersindia.com/packers-movers-gurgaon.html

 

Professional Movers and Packers is that the the foremost reliable and trusty name in packers & Movers trade. we tend to area unit committed to produce comprehensive resolution for packing and moving services for home goods, business merchandise, offices, machinery, workplace equipments cars, two-wheeler etc. If you're searching for a accredited insured and skilled removal firm able to handle any move kind shifting, house moving, workplace moving, businesses moving than we are able to facilitate in Your transfer.

 

The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a World War II Japanese American concentration camp located in the Delta region of rural southeastern Arkansas, in Desha County. It was in operation from September 18, 1942 to November 30, 1945, and held as many as 8,475 Japanese Americans forcibly evacuated from California. Among the inmates, the notation "朗和 (Rōwa)" was sometimes applied.

 

The Rohwer War Relocation Center Cemetery is located here. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, and was declared a National Historic Landmark quickly thereafter.

 

The Rohwer War Relocation Center site is now an Arkansas State University Heritage Site, and features a memorial, the camp cemetery, interpretive panels, and audio kiosks.

 

The Japanese American Internment Museum opened in the former Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot in the nearby town of McGehee in 2013. It serves as the history museum and unofficial visitor center for the Rohwer War Relocation Center. Exhibits include a film, oral histories, photographs and personal artifacts of the internees.

 

The dedication ceremony for the museum featured the actor, activist, and former camp incarceree George Takei giving a speech. His narration is also featured on a number of the audio displays.

 

Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohwer_War_Relocation_Center

Adolphus Hotel / Dallas, Texas

 

*** Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch ***

 

Adolphus Busch aimed to grow his Missouri brewing company to Texas and Dallas would be the Texas hub. He and St Louis business partners already owned the Oriental Hotel on the SE corner of Commerce and Akard. For years, The Oriental Hotel was considered the finest hotel in Dallas. It was torn down in 1924 to make way for the Baker Hotel. Dallas Mayor Stephen Hay and other city officials traveled to St. Louis in May 1910 to lobby Adolphus Busch to build a huge additon to the Oriental hotel. Busch agreed, but he desired the site opposite the Oriental Hotel - which was the Dallas City Hall. The committee agreed to the sell the lot on the spot to Busch. City offices were relocated to 411 Commerce Street. Demolition began and the site for the "New Oriental Hotel," as it was first named, was ready by January 1911. The Dallas chamber of commerce telegrahed Busch in March 1911 suggesting that the new hotel be named the Adolphus in his honor. Busch responded "I shall cheerfully acquiesce and be proud of it".

 

The hotel was designed by the St. Louis architect Tom P. Barnett, of the firm Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett. The architects used a strong familiarity with the design of the Astor Hotel in New York City which had elaborately decorated public rooms, a roof garden, an exterior faced with a combination of stone and brick and capped with a Mansard roof. The architects previously designed the 425-room Hotel Jefferson (1904) in St. Louis. Construction began in 1911 on the site by Louis J. Haenni of the Gilsonite Construction Company. Busch would spent $1.8 million (about $45 million today) to build a 20 story hotel befitting Dallas’ aspirations, aiming for world-class status. Adolphus Busch died in 1913, but members of the family, including his son August, continued the hotel operation.

 

The New Oriental's monumental facade is of the Louis XIV period. The buildings architectural ornamentation was unheard of this side of the Mississippi. Its exterior was Parisian Beaux Arts style, with a tapestry of red velvet brick, trimmed with Bedford stone, and gargoyles flanked by the colossal, helmeted heads of Greek gods. The building is topped with a handcrafted Turret in the shape of a beer bottle. The exterior included stone figures of Apollo, Ceres and Mercury. The gargoyles symbolized barley, malt, hops and other brewing motifs. The opulent interior was unlike anything Dallas had ever known — vaulted ceilings, sculptured panels in bas-relief, fixtures of brass, ormolu (gilding with gold paste), alabaster carved ornaments decorated with silk and velvet draperies. Busch commissioned two identical Chandeliers. One hangs in the hotel lobby. It is a gilded chandelier, with eagles hovering wingtip to wingtip. The other hangs at the Clydesdale stables in St. Louis.

 

In 1917, the Busch heirs elected to enlarge the hotel with the West Annex, which brought the total number of rooms to 482 when the new section opened in January 1918. The architects Otto Lang and Frank Witchell designed the West Annex, called the "Junior Aolphus", which added 229 hotel rooms. With a roof top restaurant the Adolphus was a hot spot during the Roaring '20s. A third addition was made in 1926.

 

Otto Schubert was the Adolphus general manager from 1922 to 1946. National Hotel Management, headed by Ralph Hitz, served as the hotel management company. NHM also managed the New Yorker, the Lexington and the Belmont Plaza hotels (New York); the Congress Hotel(Chicago); the Netherland Plaza(Cincinnati) and the Book-Cadillac (Detroit).

 

The Century Room on the 19th floor, was the hotel's popular and classy nightclub. It even went Hawaiian for a brief period in 1938 to help showcase a Hawaiian band that was in town. But the Century Room's big attraction was the ice shows. The Century Room had a retractable 20’ X 24’ ice rink used for touring ice revues. When not in use it was retracted and the area used as a dance floor. In the early ’40s, retired speedskater and Olympic gold medalist Dot Graney brought her Broadway-on-ice show to Dallas for a month. Franey ended up staying at the Adolphus for 14 years, where she directed, produced, and choreographed her own shows in the Century Room. Century Room Entertainment included the likes of Phil Harris and Orchestra, Bill Bardo's Band, Art Jarrett and Orchestra with singer Eleanor Holm, Fiddler Joe Venuti, Andrews Sisters, Rudy Vallee, Ben Berne, Ozzie Nelson and Harriett Hilliard, Jack Benny and Phyllis Diller. During the 1950's Liberace broke all Century Room attendance records. In the 1970's The Century Room went Tiki Hawaiian for awhile with such acts as singer "Meteliko" accompanied by five Hula Girls, and fire/knife drummer named Enoka Fetui with the Johnny Scat Davis Band.

 

The Busch family owned the Adolphus hotel for 37 years until 1949 when Dallas investor Leo F. Corrigan Sr purchased the 825 room property for $2,977,000. Under Corrigan's ownership the facility was again expanded to include an additional hotel tower (the Adolphus Tower), an adjoining office tower, and parking garage. Corrigan claims the 1,350 room Adolphus was the largest totaly air conditioned hotel in the world. Corrigan's hotel portfolio included the Biltmore in Los Angeles and Emerald Beach in Nassau. Corrigan made unsuccesful attempts to buy the Empire State Building in NYC and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In Dallas Corrigan had previously bought the Stoneleigh Hotel (owned for over 50 years) and Maple Terrace hotel. H.H. Andy Anerson was Managing Director from 1956 to 1967 and again in 1977.

 

In 1980 the Adolphus had its third owner - a California investment group lead by Patrick R. Colee, president of the Westgroup Parnters. With finacning from New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, Colee purchased the commercial block of improved real estate in downtown Dallas which consisted of office buildings and the well-known but poorly maintained hotel known as the Adolphus Hotel. In disrepair and subjected to mismanagement for years, the Adolphus was initially considered a liability to the viability of the purchased block. Colee lead a charge to fully renovate the hotel and create his own hotel ownership and management organization. For the next twenty-five years under the auspices of Colee, the Adolphus thrived in its tradition of elegance, charm and excellence. On February 3, 1980 after 68 years of continuous service, Westgroup closed The Adolphus for restoration and refurnishing.

 

By 1981 the Adolphus re-opened after a $45 million facelift. The hotel was again a showplace, with $25 million in "new" antiques and art. The work on the original structure was confined to restoration of existing elements on the exterior, with a major redecorating campaign on the interior. The room count was reduced from 850 to 437 - creating one guest room from two. The hotel received new plumbing and individually controlled air conditionand heating and an advanced emergency alert system. Rooms and halls have sprinklers and smoke alarms. The stairways have been pressurized to prevent the entrance of smoke. The French Room opened as the finest restaurant in Dallas. In the early 80's Jean Banchet, the owner and chef of Le Francais in Wheeling IL. was rated as the America's best restaurant, was the food consultant for the French Room. Westgroup selected Amfac, the Hawaiian sugar, real estate and resort company, to manage the hotel. John Kirk was Amfac's first general manager at the Adolphus. After the $45 million renovation the once great but greatly deteriorated property staged a comeback as one of the world's finest hotels and in a short time earned the AAA Five Diamond Rating. Amfac's 1981 annual meeting was held at the Adolphus. Westgroup also bought in 1985 the Biltmore in Los Angeles for $45 million and the Newporter Resort for $25 million.

 

In 2012 Adolphus Associates/Met Life sold the Adolphus to a company set up by RockBridge Cabital for $33.5 million. Cresent Hotels was retained as manager. Rockbridge is a Columbus Ohio based private equity firm.

 

Rockbridge and Crescent Hotels & Resorts commenced a multi-million dollar renovation to Dallas’ historic Adolphus Hotel in 2013. The legendary hotel (currently at 407 rooms) will receive a comprehensive, property-wide renovation that will modernize and vitalize the property while preserving its history, elegance and charm. The scope of the renovation includes the complete refurbishment of all guest rooms, public spaces and meeting spaces; the addition of a new 19th floor ballroom; construction of a 7th floor rooftop pool and bar; introduction of a new luxury spa and fitness center; refreshment of the acclaimed French Room Restaurant (restored the ceiling of the storied French Room to its original white, a move that pained fans of the rococo cherub frescoes, a relic of eighties excess); and the development of new dining and retails outlets. Rockbridge President and CEO Jim Merkel said the renovation is led by RB Hotel Development and design firm Duncan Miller Ullmann. Merkel is the co-founder of Rockbridge and helped grow it to over $2.0 billion in managed assets. The Adolphus remained open throughout the project. Other Rockbridge properties include Cliff House in Cape Neddick, ME and The Lay Low, Honolulu (formerly the Coral Reef Hotel). Merkel says "We fix broken hotels. We reinvent them and make them relevant to the market and to today's customers".

 

With renovations completed in 2017, The Adolphus, shed its independence and become part of the Marriott brand's "Autograph Collection" of hotels.

 

Compiled by Dick Johnson / October, 2018

 

Kitchen II

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

 

Some background:

The Heinkel He 276 was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. Its inception dated back to June 1942 when the RLM requested a multi-purpose combat aircraft, the so-called "Arbeitsflugzeug", that could be adapted to various roles and would replace the Bf 110, Ju 88/188 and Do 217.

 

Heinkel responded with a multitude of designs under the project number P.1065, all of them capable of a speed between 600-700 km/h (373-435 mph) and a ragne form 400-1.000km (248-621 miles) and all driven by piston engines. None of them would enter the hardware stage, though.

 

In parallel, Heinkel also worked on the fast He 219 "Uhu" night fighter, also a psiton-engined design which was a direct response to the RAF's fast Mosquito night bombers which flew so high and fast that they could operate almost unmolested over Germany. Additionally, the Luftwaffe had to cope with more and intense night bomber raids - it became clear that the number of night fighters was not big enough to cope with this threat, let alone the aircraft's capabilities.

 

The He 219 was introduced with high hopes, but the advent of the jet age already signalled that the piston-engined fighetr would become obsolete in a matter of months. As stopgap solutions, 1st generation jet aircraft like the Me 262 or the Ar 234 were in hurry converted to night fighters, but this could not hide that fact that a more potent solution was needed - concerning almost any aspect like range, speed, firepower and radar capability.

 

Plans to augment the He 219 were dropped after intial trials, so that Heinkel decided in September 1944 to develop a completely new aircraft, dedicated to the long range night fighter role. The design team did not start from scratch, though, as the He 219 was already a very good basis to start from, with jigs and tools available for quick production start.

 

The He 276 A-0 was consequently designed around the He 219 structure, even though all wing surfaces were new. The main wings had a laminar profile for higher speeds in excess of 800km/h, the aircraft was to be powered by two Heinkel-Hirth S011 jet engines in nacelles under the wings.

In order to keep the tail surfcaes free from the jet efflux, the He 219's twin fin arrangement was replaced by a single fin with a cruciform stabilizer above the fuselage level. Since the engine nacelles could not take the landing gear anymore, a new arrangement with wells in the lower fuselage waas introduced - overall the He 276 resembled a lot the much smaller Ar 234.

 

The radar system was to be the FuG 240 'Berlin', which was still under development, with a (draggy) "antler" antenna arrangement on the nose plus a rearward-facing warning radar. The rarar was operated by a second crew member who's also control the defensive armament, a tail-mounted FDL 131Z barbette. Main armament were four 30mm MK103 machine cannons in the lower fuselage, each with a muzzle velocity of 860 m/s (2,822 ft/s) and firing HE/M rounds at 380 RPM. Like the He 219 the He 276 was equipped with ejection seats.

 

The first prototype was assembled in record time, and the first flight of the He 276 A-0 took place in August 1945 - only to reveal several shortcomings. One issue was poor directional handling, which could quickly be mended through an enlarged fin surface and a fin fillet, the bigger problem was the unavailability of the HeS011 engine for serial production, and its priority allocation to light fighters.

 

As a consequence, the engine arrangement was literally revised over night - the He 276 was direly needed in frontline service and no more delays were accepted. This lead to the He 276 B series, which would become the production type.

This version was powered by four of the proven Junkers Jumo 109-004D, an uprated version of the Me 262's engine. The engines were mounted in separate nacelles under the wings, even though these were so close to each other that they looked like a double nacelle.

 

A further innovation of the B-series was the introduction of the first radar-guided weapons station - the FDL 131ZR was not visually guided (a task that proved to be almost impossible during night sorties), but rather slaved to the radar system which would automatically align and fire the guns. The radar operator could still override the autamatic guidance, but the system was deemed reliable enough for front line use and it effectively relieved the radar operator.

 

The first production series (B-1) only comprised 10 aircraft, and it was almost immediately replaced by the B-2 which introduced another novelty: the parabolic antenna for the FuG 242 'Schwerin' radar, an improved version of the FuG 240 with longer range and higher sensitivity.

The He 276 B-2 arrived at the Nachtjagdgeschwader in early 1946 and was immediately thrown against Allied bombers and fared surprisingly well.

 

The He 276 was a simple aircraft, which made production and maintenance relatively easy. It also offered enough development and modification potential - many machines received augmented armament and equipment in form of so-called Rüstsätze, which were later integrated into production and earned the aircraft additional 'U-X' suffixes. These included racks for unguided R4M or RZ 65 rockets under the wings, or several 'Schräge Musik' cannon arrangements, which featured two or four oblique-mounted guns in the fuselage, partly coupled with an optical or radar trigger to fire them automatically when flying under a target.

 

The He 276 B-2 was the only version to enter service, though - a planned B-3 upgrade with four reheated Jumo 109s (rated at 1.200 kp each) remained on the drawing board.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length (incl. rear antenna): 14.97 m (49 ft 2 in)

Wingspan: 16.56 m (54 ft 3 in)

Height: 5.14 m (16 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 44.4 m² (478 ft²)

Max. takeoff weight: 13,580 kg (29,900 lb)

 

Powerplant:

4× Junkers Jumo 109-004D jet engines, each rated at 1.015 kp

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 916 km/h (494 kn, 568 mph)

Range: 1,540 km (831 nmi, 960 mi)

Ferry range: 2,148 km (1,160 nmi, 1,335 mi)

Service ceiling: 13.300 m (43.564 ft)

 

Armament:

4 × 30 mm MK 103 cannons in a detachable fairing under the fuselage, 220 RPG;

2× 13 mm MG 131 in an FDL 131ZR tail barbette, 450 RPG;

Factory Rüstsatz "U1" with 4× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons, mounted dorsally as

Schräge Musik (oriented 65° above horizontal), 100 RPG

 

Two hardpoints under the outer wings, capable of carrying 500 kg each

(normally occupied by 300l drop tanks).

 

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy Luft ’46 aircraft model had two inspirational roots. One was the question what could a jet-powered He 219 night fighter have looked like, the other was the real Heinkel P.1065 ‘Arbeitsflugzeug’ project(s), following the idea what that aircraft might have looked like if it had been ushered into production and service?

It would certainly have relied upon existing components – so the concept for this jet-propelled, dedicated night fighter design was born.

 

The model is a wild kitbash, welded together from the following main ingredients:

• Fuselage of a 1:72 Frog He 219 (Matchbox re-boxing)

• Wings from a 1:100 VEB Plasticart An-24 (NuBee re-boxing)

• Two pairs of 1:72 Revell Me 262 engine nacelles

• Fin and stabilizer from an 1:72 Matchbox Douglas F3D Skyknight

  

Sounds odd? Yes, and it took some surgical work to get these pieces together. The He 219 fuselage was shortened, a 1” plug taken out at the wings’ trailing edge, thereby shortening the wing roots to the An-24’s dimensions, and the tail section cut off. The tail gap was replaced by a scratched FDL 131Z barbette, and new stabilizers from a Matchbox F3D placed on top of the fuselage, far away from the jet efflux.

 

I did not want to open the cockpit, but the canopy offers good visibility into the interior, so I scratched something together - the Frog kit has literally nothing of value to offer, so I added a new floor (also acting as front wheel well), new Me 262 seats, dashboards, an IR sight and something that looks like the upper side of a fuselage tank, plus two crew figures.

 

The wings were clipped, too, and the original An-24 turboprops replaced by two pairs of Me 262 engines in the same place, mounted closely together.

 

This meant that the landing gear had to go elsewhere, so I relocated the main landing gear wells into the lower fuselage, changing it into a narrow Ar 234 or B-66 style arrangement - from AH-64, F-86 and Bv 155 parts.

For this new arrangement the belly was cut open and a Fiat G.91 part from a Revell kit integrated. The covers for the main landing gear were scratched from sytrene sheet.

 

The front wheel strut is OOB, but shortened, and instead of a single, big wheel I used smaller twin wheels, from a Matchbox Canberra PR.9. After 25 years these parts finally found a new destination. ^^

 

The thimble radome is a Pavla resin piece, it actually belongs to a Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk. X, but perfectly fits ins shape and size - and the new nose dramatically changes the He 219 lines!

 

On the fuselage, I finally added four vertical guns as a "Schräge Musik" installation, adding some more purpose to the rather ugly aircraft. A pair of drop tanks (from two Academy Fw 190 kits) and their respective hardpoints (from a Me 262) complete the ordnance.

 

I must admit that the thing is ugly as hell, but on the other side looks very German and purposeful - and the new nose section recalls some similarity with a CF-100 or even a B-57a C-130 or a Transall?

  

Painting and markings:

As a late war German night fighter, almost anything goes. I went for a personal mix of two real night fighter schemes, blended into one: the basis comes from a Me 262 two seater which was finished in an unusual scheme for night duties: upper surfaces in RLM 81 & 83 (Braunviolett and Dunkelgrün), with black (RLM 22) undersides.

 

Since many night fighters received field modifications, and in patricular much lighter upper surfaces, I added an individual RLM 76 treatment (maybe whitewash, though - not certain if it was intended as winter or night cammo) that comes from a Ju 188 night reconnaissance aircraft and which can only be described as original.

 

In an initial step the model received its normal paint scheme (using Humbrol 116 and 155, plus flat black from Modelmaster), the RLM 76 additions (with Modelmaster Authentic enamel paint and some Humbrol 127) were then added, so that the original paint could shine through. Everything done with a soft brush, and the result is IMHO very good.

 

All interior surfaces and the landing gear were painted in dark grey (Humbrol 67) and later slightly dry-painted with medium grey (Humbrol 176) in order to point out details.

 

Decals were puzzled together from various sources, and I kept everything very simple and minimal - just some German insignia, a tactical code and the last digits of the airframe's serial number at the top of the fin.

 

Finally, some soot stains were added with grinded graphite and everything sealed under matt acrylic varnish (Revell).

  

I will admit that the He 276 is an ugly aircraft, with a rather utilarian design. But this actually adds a very German touch to it - and how else could a successos to the He 219 or Ju 88 C look like? ;)

Use the right size boxes

Put heavy items, like books, in small boxes; light items, like linens and pillows, in bigger ones. (Large boxes packed with heavy items are a common complaint of professional movers. They not only make the job harder but also have a better chance of breaking.)

 

Put heavier items on the bottoms of boxes, lighter items on top

And if you’re loading the truck yourself, pack heavier boxes first, toward the front of the truck, for balance.

 

Don’t leave empty spaces in the boxes

Fill in gaps with proper shipping supplies. Movers often won’t move boxes that feel loosely packed or unbalanced.

 

Avoid mixing items from different rooms in the same box

It will make your packing quicker and your unpacking a lot easier, too.

 

Label each box with the room it’s destined for and a description of its contents

This will help you and your movers know where every box belongs in your new place. Numbering each box and keeping an inventory list in a small notebook is a good way to keep track of what you’ve packed―and to make sure you still have everything when you unpack.

 

Tape boxes well

Use a couple of pieces of tape to close the bottom and top seams, then use one of the movers’ techniques―making a couple of wraps all the way around the box’s top and bottom edges, where stress is concentrated.

 

If you’re moving expensive art, ask your mover about special crating

Never wrap oil paintings in regular paper; it will stick. For pictures framed behind glass, make an X with masking tape across the glass to strengthen it and to hold it together if it shatters. Then wrap the pictures in paper or bubble wrap and put them in a frame box, with a piece of cardboard between each framed piece for protection.

 

Bundle breakables

As you pack your dishes, put packing paper around each one, then wrap bundles of five or six together with more paper. Pack dishes on their sides, never flat. And use plenty of bunched-up paper as padding above and below. Cups and bowls can be placed inside one another, with paper in between, and wrapped three or four in a bundle. Pack them all in dish-barrel boxes.

 

Consider other items that will need special treatment

Vansant says his movers treat TVs like any other piece of furniture, wrapping them in quilted furniture pads. He points out, however, that plasma TVs require special wooden crates for shipping if you don’t have the original box and can be ruined if you lay them flat. If you’re packing yourself, double-box your TV, setting the box containing the TV into another box that you’ve padded with packing paper.

Upstairs. Look at the awful colors!

Fresh Drinking Water tanks are scattered across the desert, while Peabody Coal company drains the land of natural water sources. Many must drive several miles to the tanks to fill and haul water back to their homes.

In the months following the 1955 flood a number of houses were relocated to a new subdivision at Telarah, enabling people to be free from the recurring fear of floods.

This relocation effort was made possible by the work and generosity The Lions Club of Maitland and with the assistance of other Lions Club nearby.

 

Image courtesy of John Fraser

 

This image can be used for study and personal research purposes. Please observe copyright and acknowledge source of all photos. If you wish to reproduce this image for any other purpose you must obtain permission by contacting Maitland City Library

If you have any further information about the image, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.

The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located inside the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Heroes & Legends building on Merritt Island, Florida, honors American astronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memorabilia, focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into the Hall. Exhibits include Wally Schirra's Sigma 7 space capsule from the fifth crewed Mercury mission and the Gemini IX spacecraft flown by Gene Cernan and Thomas P. Stafford in 1966.

 

In the 1980s, the six then-surviving Mercury Seven astronauts conceived of establishing a place where US space travelers could be remembered and honored, along the lines of halls of fame for other fields. The Mercury Seven Foundation and Astronaut Scholarship Foundation were formed, and have a role in the ongoing operations of the Hall of Fame. The foundation's first executive director was former Associated Press space reporter Howard Benedict.

 

The Astronaut Hall of Fame was opened on October 29, 1990, by the U.S. Space Camp Foundation, which was the first owner of the facility. It was located next to the Florida branch of Space Camp.

 

The Hall of Fame closed for several months in 2002 when U.S. Space Camp Foundation's creditors foreclosed on the property due to low attendance and mounting debt. That September, an auction was held and the property was purchased by Delaware North Park Services on behalf of NASA and the property was added to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The Hall of Fame re-opened December 14, 2002.

 

The Hall of Fame, which was originally located just west of the NASA Causeway, closed to the public on November 2, 2015, in preparation for its relocation to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east on Merritt Island. Outside of the original building was a full-scale replica of a Space Shuttle orbiter named Inspiration (originally named "Shuttle To Tomorrow" where visitors could enter and view a program). Inspiration served only as an outdoor, full scale, static display which visitors could not enter. After the Hall of Fame was transferred to the KSC Visitor Complex, Inspiration was acquired by LVX System and was placed in storage at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center; in 2016, the shuttle was loaded on to a barge to be taken for refurbishment before going on an educational tour.

 

The building was purchased at auction by visitor complex operator Delaware North and renamed the ATX Center, and for a time housed educational programs including Camp Kennedy Space Center and the Astronaut Training Experience. Those programs have since been moved to the KSC Visitor Complex, and as of December 2019, the structure was being offered for lease. In July 2020, Lockheed Martin announced it would lease the building to support work on the NASA Orion crew capsule.

 

Inductees into the Hall of Fame are selected by a blue ribbon committee of former NASA officials and flight controllers, historians, journalists, and other space authorities (including former astronauts) based on their accomplishments in space or their contributions to the advancement of space exploration. Except for 2002, inductions have been held every year since 2001.

 

As its inaugural class in 1990, the Hall of Fame inducted the United States' original group of astronauts: the Mercury Seven. In addition to being the first American astronauts, they set several firsts in American spaceflight, both auspicious and tragic. Alan Shepard was the first American in space and later became one of the twelve people to walk on the Moon. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth and after his induction went on, in 1998, to become the oldest man to fly in space, aged 77. Gus Grissom was the first American to fly in space twice and was the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 1, which resulted in the first astronaut deaths directly related to preparation for spaceflight.

 

Thirteen astronauts from the Gemini and Apollo programs were inducted in the second class of 1993. This class included the first and last humans to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan; Ed White, the first American to walk in space (also killed in the Apollo 1 accident); Jim Lovell, commander of the famously near-tragic Apollo 13; and John Young, whose six flights included a moonwalk and command of the first Space Shuttle mission.

 

The third class was inducted in 1997 and consisted of the 24 additional Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP astronauts. Notable members of the class were Roger Chaffee, the third astronaut killed in the Apollo 1 fire and the only unflown astronaut in the Hall; Harrison Schmitt, the first scientist and next-to-last person to walk on the Moon; and Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, the Apollo 13 crewmembers not previously inducted.

 

The philosophy regarding the first three groups of inductees was that all astronauts who flew in NASA's "pioneering" programs (which would include Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo Applications Program (Skylab), and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) would be included simply by virtue of their participation in a spaceflight in these early programs. The first group (the inaugural class of 1990) would only include the original Mercury astronauts (most of whom would go on to fly in later programs). The second group of inductees would include those astronauts who began their spaceflight careers during Gemini (all of whom would go on to fly in later programs). The third group of inductees would include those astronauts who began their spaceflight careers during Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP (some of whom would go on to fly in the Space Shuttle program). Since it would not be practical (or meaningful) to induct all astronauts who ever flew in space, all subsequent inductees (Space Shuttle program and beyond) are considered based on their accomplishments and contributions to the human spaceflight endeavor which would set them apart from their peers.

 

Over four dozen astronauts from the Space Shuttle program have been inducted since 2001. Among these are Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Story Musgrave, who flew six missions in the 1980s and 90s; and Francis Scobee, commander of the ill-fated final Challenger mission.

 

The 2010 class consisted of Guion Bluford Jr., Kenneth Bowersox, Frank Culbertson and Kathryn Thornton. The 2011 inductees were Karol Bobko and Susan Helms. The 2012 inductees were Franklin Chang-Diaz, Kevin Chilton and Charles Precourt. Bonnie Dunbar, Curt Brown and Eileen Collins were inducted in 2013, and Shannon Lucid and Jerry Ross comprised the 2014 class.

 

Those inducted in 2015 were John Grunsfeld, Steven Lindsey, Kent Rominger, and Rhea Seddon. In 2016, inductees included Brian Duffy and Scott E. Parazynski. Ellen Ochoa and Michael Foale were announced as the 2017 class of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. Scott Altman and Thomas Jones followed in 2018. The 2019 inductees were James Buchli and Janet L. Kavandi.

 

Michael López-Alegría, Scott Kelly and Pamela Melroy were the 2020 inductees, inducted in a November 2021 ceremony. The 2022 inductees were Christopher Ferguson, David Leestma, and Sandra Magnus. Roy Bridges Jr. and Mark Kelly were the 2023 inductees.

 

The Hall of Heroes is composed of tributes to the inductees. Among the Hall of Fame's displays is Sigma 7, the Mercury spacecraft piloted by Wally Schirra which orbited the Earth six times in 1962, and the Gemini 9A capsule flown by Gene Cernan and Thomas P. Stafford in 1966. An Astronaut Adventure room includes simulators for use by children.

 

The spacesuit worn by Gus Grissom during his 1961 Liberty Bell 7 Mercury flight is on display and has been the subject of a dispute between NASA and Grissom's heirs and supporters since 2002. The spacesuit, along with other Grissom artifacts, were loaned to the original owners of the Hall of Fame by the Grissom family when it opened. After the Hall of Fame went into bankruptcy and was taken over by a NASA contractor in 2002, the family requested that all their items be returned. All of the items were returned to Grissom's family except the spacesuit, because both NASA and the Grissoms claim ownership of it. NASA claims Grissom checked out the spacesuit for a show and tell at his son's school, and then never returned it, while the Grissoms claim Gus rescued the spacesuit from a scrap heap.

 

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of human spaceflight. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC.[4] Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.

 

Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.

 

Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and In-Situ Resource Utilization for off-Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.

 

There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped across the center's 144,000 acres (580 km2). Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA's largest rockets, the Launch Control Center, which conducts space launches at KSC, the Operations and Checkout Building, which houses the astronauts dormitories and suit-up area, a Space Station factory, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex open to the public on site.

 

Since 1949, the military had been performing launch operations at what would become Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In December 1959, the Department of Defense transferred 5,000 personnel and the Missile Firing Laboratory to NASA to become the Launch Operations Directorate under NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of a crewed lunar landing by 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1, 1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the Launch Operations Center (LOC). Also, Cape Canaveral was inadequate to host the new launch facility design required for the mammoth 363-foot (111 m) tall, 7,500,000-pound-force (33,000 kN) thrust Saturn V rocket, which would be assembled vertically in a large hangar and transported on a mobile platform to one of several launch pads. Therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island.

 

NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to 131 square miles (340 km2) and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). The major buildings in KSC's Industrial Area were designed by architect Charles Luckman. Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, and again just a week before his assassination on November 22, 1963.

 

On November 29, 1963, the facility was given its current name by President Lyndon B. Johnson under Executive Order 11129. Johnson's order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station ("the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range") under the designation "John F. Kennedy Space Center", spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. NASA Administrator James E. Webb clarified this by issuing a directive stating the Kennedy Space Center name applied only to the LOC, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the military launch site Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

 

Located on Merritt Island, Florida, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Miami and Jacksonville on Florida's Space Coast, due east of Orlando. It is 34 miles (55 km) long and roughly six miles (9.7 km) wide, covering 219 square miles (570 km2). KSC is a major central Florida tourist destination and is approximately one hour's drive from the Orlando area. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers public tours of the center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

 

The KSC Industrial Area, where many of the center's support facilities are located, is 5 miles (8 km) south of LC-39. It includes the Headquarters Building, the Operations and Checkout Building and the Central Instrumentation Facility. The astronaut crew quarters are in the O&C; before it was completed, the astronaut crew quarters were located in Hangar S[39] at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station). Located at KSC was the Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station (MILA), a key radio communications and spacecraft tracking complex.

 

Facilities at the Kennedy Space Center are directly related to its mission to launch and recover missions. Facilities are available to prepare and maintain spacecraft and payloads for flight. The Headquarters (HQ) Building houses offices for the Center Director, library, film and photo archives, a print shop and security. When the KSC Library first opened, it was part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. However, in 1965, the library moved into three separate sections in the newly opened NASA headquarters before eventually becoming a single unit in 1970. The library contains over four million items related to the history and the work at Kennedy. As one of ten NASA center libraries in the country, their collection focuses on engineering, science, and technology. The archives contain planning documents, film reels, and original photographs covering the history of KSC. The library is not open to the public but is available for KSC, Space Force, and Navy employees who work on site. Many of the media items from the collection are digitized and available through NASA's KSC Media Gallery or through their more up-to-date Flickr gallery.

 

A new Headquarters Building was completed in 2019 as part of the Central Campus consolidation. Groundbreaking began in 2014.

 

The center operated its own 17-mile (27 km) short-line railroad. This operation was discontinued in 2015, with the sale of its final two locomotives. A third had already been donated to a museum. The line was costing $1.3 million annually to maintain.

 

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, operated by Delaware North since 1995, has a variety of exhibits, artifacts, displays and attractions on the history and future of human and robotic spaceflight. Bus tours of KSC originate from here. The complex also includes the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center, north of the VAB and the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, six miles west near Titusville. There were 1.5 million visitors in 2009. It had some 700 employees.

 

It was announced on May 29, 2015, that the Astronaut Hall of Fame exhibit would be moved from its current location to another location within the Visitor Complex to make room for an upcoming high-tech attraction entitled "Heroes and Legends". The attraction, designed by Orlando-based design firm Falcon's Treehouse, opened November 11, 2016.

 

In March 2016, the visitor center unveiled the new location of the iconic countdown clock at the complex's entrance; previously, the clock was located with a flagpole at the press site. The clock was originally built and installed in 1969 and listed with the flagpole in the National Register of Historic Places in January 2000. In 2019, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program, and the launch of Apollo 10 on May 18. In summer of 2019, Lunar Module 9 (LM-9) was relocated to the Apollo/Saturn V Center as part of an initiative to rededicate the center and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program.

 

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.

 

Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.

 

Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and in-situ resource utilization for off-Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.

 

There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped throughout the center's 144,000 acres (580 km2). Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA's largest rockets, the Launch Control Center, which conducts space launches at KSC, the Operations and Checkout Building, which houses the astronauts dormitories and suit-up area, a Space Station factory, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex on site that is open to the public.

 

Since 1949, the military had been performing launch operations at what would become Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. In December 1959, the Department of Defense transferred 5,000 personnel and the Missile Firing Laboratory to NASA to become the Launch Operations Directorate under NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

 

President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of a crewed lunar landing by 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1, 1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the Launch Operations Center (LOC). Also, Cape Canaveral was inadequate to host the new launch facility design required for the mammoth 363-foot (111 m) tall, 7,500,000-pound-force (33,000 kN) thrust Saturn V rocket, which would be assembled vertically in a large hangar and transported on a mobile platform to one of several launch pads. Therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island.

 

NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to 131 square miles (340 km2) and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 square miles (230 km2). The major buildings in KSC's Industrial Area were designed by architect Charles Luckman. Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, and again just a week before his assassination on November 22, 1963.

 

On November 29, 1963, the facility was named by President Lyndon B. Johnson under Executive Order 11129. Johnson's order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station ("the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range") under the designation "John F. Kennedy Space Center", spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. NASA Administrator James E. Webb clarified this by issuing a directive stating the Kennedy Space Center name applied only to the LOC, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the military launch site Cape Kennedy Air Force Station.

 

Located on Merritt Island, Florida, the center is north-northwest of Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Miami and Jacksonville on Florida's Space Coast, due east of Orlando. It is 34 miles (55 km) long and roughly six miles (9.7 km) wide, covering 219 square miles (570 km2). KSC is a major central Florida tourist destination and is approximately one hour's drive from the Orlando area. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers public tours of the center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

 

From 1967 through 1973, there were 13 Saturn V launches, including the ten remaining Apollo missions after Apollo 7. The first of two uncrewed flights, Apollo 4 (Apollo-Saturn 501) on November 9, 1967, was also the first rocket launch from KSC. The Saturn V's first crewed launch on December 21, 1968, was Apollo 8's lunar orbiting mission. The next two missions tested the Lunar Module: Apollo 9 (Earth orbit) and Apollo 10 (lunar orbit). Apollo 11, launched from Pad A on July 16, 1969, made the first Moon landing on July 20. The Apollo 11 launch included crewmembers Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, and attracted a record-breaking 650 million television viewers. Apollo 12 followed four months later. From 1970 to 1972, the Apollo program concluded at KSC with the launches of missions 13 through 17.

 

On May 14, 1973, the last Saturn V launch put the Skylab space station in orbit from Pad 39A. By this time, the Cape Kennedy pads 34 and 37 used for the Saturn IB were decommissioned, so Pad 39B was modified to accommodate the Saturn IB, and used to launch three crewed missions to Skylab that year, as well as the final Apollo spacecraft for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

 

As the Space Shuttle was being designed, NASA received proposals for building alternative launch-and-landing sites at locations other than KSC, which demanded study. KSC had important advantages, including its existing facilities; location on the Intracoastal Waterway; and its southern latitude, which gives a velocity advantage to missions launched in easterly near-equatorial orbits. Disadvantages included: its inability to safely launch military missions into polar orbit, since spent boosters would be likely to fall on the Carolinas or Cuba; corrosion from the salt air; and frequent cloudy or stormy weather. Although building a new site at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico was seriously considered, NASA announced its decision in April 1972 to use KSC for the shuttle. Since the Shuttle could not be landed automatically or by remote control, the launch of Columbia on April 12, 1981 for its first orbital mission STS-1, was NASA's first crewed launch of a vehicle that had not been tested in prior uncrewed launches.

 

In 1976, the VAB's south parking area was the site of Third Century America, a science and technology display commemorating the U.S. Bicentennial. Concurrent with this event, the U.S. flag was painted on the south side of the VAB. During the late 1970s, LC-39 was reconfigured to support the Space Shuttle. Two Orbiter Processing Facilities were built near the VAB as hangars with a third added in the 1980s.

 

KSC's 2.9-mile (4.7 km) Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) was the orbiters' primary end-of-mission landing site, although the first KSC landing did not take place until the tenth flight, when Challenger completed STS-41-B on February 11, 1984; the primary landing site until then was Edwards Air Force Base in California, subsequently used as a backup landing site. The SLF also provided a return-to-launch-site (RTLS) abort option, which was not utilized. The SLF is among the longest runways in the world.

 

On October 28, 2009, the Ares I-X launch from Pad 39B was the first uncrewed launch from KSC since the Skylab workshop in 1973.

 

Beginning in 1958, NASA and military worked side by side on robotic mission launches (previously referred to as unmanned), cooperating as they broke ground in the field. In the early 1960s, NASA had as many as two robotic mission launches a month. The frequent number of flights allowed for quick evolution of the vehicles, as engineers gathered data, learned from anomalies and implemented upgrades. In 1963, with the intent of KSC ELV work focusing on the ground support equipment and facilities, a separate Atlas/Centaur organization was formed under NASA's Lewis Center (now Glenn Research Center (GRC)), taking that responsibility from the Launch Operations Center (aka KSC).

 

Though almost all robotics missions launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), KSC "oversaw the final assembly and testing of rockets as they arrived at the Cape." In 1965, KSC's Unmanned Launch Operations directorate became responsible for all NASA uncrewed launch operations, including those at Vandenberg Space Force Base. From the 1950s to 1978, KSC chose the rocket and payload processing facilities for all robotic missions launching in the U.S., overseeing their near launch processing and checkout. In addition to government missions, KSC performed this service for commercial and foreign missions also, though non-U.S. government entities provided reimbursement. NASA also funded Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launch pad maintenance and launch vehicle improvements.

 

All this changed with the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, after which NASA only coordinated its own and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ELV launches. Companies were able to "operate their own launch vehicles" and utilize NASA's launch facilities. Payload processing handled by private firms also started to occur outside of KSC. Reagan's 1988 space policy furthered the movement of this work from KSC to commercial companies. That same year, launch complexes on Cape Canaveral Air Force Force Station started transferring from NASA to Air Force Space Command management.

 

In the 1990s, though KSC was not performing the hands-on ELV work, engineers still maintained an understanding of ELVs and had contracts allowing them insight into the vehicles so they could provide knowledgeable oversight. KSC also worked on ELV research and analysis and the contractors were able to utilize KSC personnel as a resource for technical issues. KSC, with the payload and launch vehicle industries, developed advances in automation of the ELV launch and ground operations to enable competitiveness of U.S. rockets against the global market.

 

In 1998, the Launch Services Program (LSP) formed at KSC, pulling together programs (and personnel) that already existed at KSC, GRC, Goddard Space Flight Center, and more to manage the launch of NASA and NOAA robotic missions. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and VAFB are the primary launch sites for LSP missions, though other sites are occasionally used. LSP payloads such as the Mars Science Laboratory have been processed at KSC before being transferred to a launch pad on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

 

On 16 November 2022, at 06:47:44 UTC the Space Launch System (SLS) was launched from Complex 39B as part of the Artemis 1 mission.

 

As the International Space Station modules design began in the early 1990s, KSC began to work with other NASA centers and international partners to prepare for processing before launch onboard the Space Shuttles. KSC utilized its hands-on experience processing the 22 Spacelab missions in the Operations and Checkout Building to gather expectations of ISS processing. These experiences were incorporated into the design of the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), which began construction in 1991. The Space Station Directorate formed in 1996. KSC personnel were embedded at station module factories for insight into their processes.

 

From 1997 to 2007, KSC planned and performed on the ground integration tests and checkouts of station modules: three Multi-Element Integration Testing (MEIT) sessions and the Integration Systems Test (IST). Numerous issues were found and corrected that would have been difficult to nearly impossible to do on-orbit.

 

Today KSC continues to process ISS payloads from across the world before launch along with developing its experiments for on orbit. The proposed Lunar Gateway would be manufactured and processed at the Space Station Processing Facility.

 

The following are current programs and initiatives at Kennedy Space Center:

Commercial Crew Program

Exploration Ground Systems Program

NASA is currently designing the next heavy launch vehicle known as the Space Launch System (SLS) for continuation of human spaceflight.

On December 5, 2014, NASA launched the first uncrewed flight test of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), currently under development to facilitate human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Launch Services Program

Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)

Research and Technology

Artemis program

Lunar Gateway

International Space Station Payloads

Camp KSC: educational camps for schoolchildren in spring and summer, with a focus on space, aviation and robotics.

 

The KSC Industrial Area, where many of the center's support facilities are located, is 5 miles (8 km) south of LC-39. It includes the Headquarters Building, the Operations and Checkout Building and the Central Instrumentation Facility. The astronaut crew quarters are in the O&C; before it was completed, the astronaut crew quarters were located in Hangar S at the Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex (now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station). Located at KSC was the Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station (MILA), a key radio communications and spacecraft tracking complex.

 

Facilities at the Kennedy Space Center are directly related to its mission to launch and recover missions. Facilities are available to prepare and maintain spacecraft and payloads for flight. The Headquarters (HQ) Building houses offices for the Center Director, library, film and photo archives, a print shop and security. When the KSC Library first opened, it was part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. However, in 1965, the library moved into three separate sections in the newly opened NASA headquarters before eventually becoming a single unit in 1970. The library contains over four million items related to the history and the work at Kennedy. As one of ten NASA center libraries in the country, their collection focuses on engineering, science, and technology. The archives contain planning documents, film reels, and original photographs covering the history of KSC. The library is not open to the public but is available for KSC, Space Force, and Navy employees who work on site. Many of the media items from the collection are digitized and available through NASA's KSC Media Gallery Archived December 6, 2020, at the Wayback Machine or through their more up-to-date Flickr gallery.

 

A new Headquarters Building was completed in 2019 as part of the Central Campus consolidation. Groundbreaking began in 2014.

 

The center operated its own 17-mile (27 km) short-line railroad. This operation was discontinued in 2015, with the sale of its final two locomotives. A third had already been donated to a museum. The line was costing $1.3 million annually to maintain.

 

The Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) (previously known as the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building) is a historic site on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places dating back to the 1960s and was used to receive, process, and integrate payloads for the Gemini and Apollo programs, the Skylab program in the 1970s, and for initial segments of the International Space Station through the 1990s. The Apollo and Space Shuttle astronauts would board the astronaut transfer van to launch complex 39 from the O&C building.

The three-story, 457,000-square-foot (42,500 m2) Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) consists of two enormous processing bays, an airlock, operational control rooms, laboratories, logistics areas and office space for support of non-hazardous Space Station and Shuttle payloads to ISO 14644-1 class 5 standards. Opened in 1994, it is the largest factory building in the KSC industrial area.

The Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) features a 71-by-38-foot (22 by 12 m) door where payloads that are processed in the vertical position are brought in and manipulated with two overhead cranes and a hoist capable of lifting up to 35 short tons (32 t).

The Hypergolic Maintenance and Checkout Area (HMCA) comprises three buildings that are isolated from the rest of the industrial area because of the hazardous materials handled there. Hypergolic-fueled modules that made up the Space Shuttle Orbiter's reaction control system, orbital maneuvering system and auxiliary power units were stored and serviced in the HMCF.

The Multi-Payload Processing Facility is a 19,647 square feet (1,825.3 m2) building used for Orion spacecraft and payload processing.

The Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) contains a 70-by-110-foot (21 by 34 m) service bay, with a 100,000-pound (45,000 kg), 85-foot (26 m) hook height. It also contains a 58-by-80-foot (18 by 24 m) payload airlock. Its temperature is maintained at 70 °F (21 °C).[55]

The Blue Origin rocket manufacturing facility is located immediately south of the KSC visitor complex. Completed in 2019, it serves as the company's factory for the manufacture of New Glenn orbital rockets.

 

Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) was originally built for the Saturn V, the largest and most powerful operational launch vehicle until the Space Launch System, for the Apollo crewed Moon landing program. Since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, LC-39 has been used to launch every NASA human space flight, including Skylab (1973), the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (1975), and the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011).

 

Since December 1968, all launch operations have been conducted from launch pads A and B at LC-39. Both pads are on the ocean, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the VAB. From 1969 to 1972, LC-39 was the "Moonport" for all six Apollo crewed Moon landing missions using the Saturn V, and was used from 1981 to 2011 for all Space Shuttle launches.

 

Human missions to the Moon required the large three-stage Saturn V rocket, which was 363 feet (111 meters) tall and 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter. At KSC, Launch Complex 39 was built on Merritt Island to accommodate the new rocket. Construction of the $800 million project began in November 1962. LC-39 pads A and B were completed by October 1965 (planned Pads C, D and E were canceled), the VAB was completed in June 1965, and the infrastructure by late 1966.

 

The complex includes: the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a 130,000,000 cubic feet (3,700,000 m3) hangar capable of holding four Saturn Vs. The VAB was the largest structure in the world by volume when completed in 1965.

a transporter capable of carrying 5,440 tons along a crawlerway to either of two launch pads;

a 446-foot (136 m) mobile service structure, with three Mobile Launcher Platforms, each containing a fixed launch umbilical tower;

the Launch Control Center; and

a news media facility.

 

Launch Complex 48 (LC-48) is a multi-user launch site under construction for small launchers and spacecraft. It will be located between Launch Complex 39A and Space Launch Complex 41, with LC-39A to the north and SLC-41 to the south. LC-48 will be constructed as a "clean pad" to support multiple launch systems with differing propellant needs. While initially only planned to have a single pad, the complex is capable of being expanded to two at a later date.

 

As a part of promoting commercial space industry growth in the area and the overall center as a multi-user spaceport, KSC leases some of its properties. Here are some major examples:

 

Exploration Park to multiple users (partnership with Space Florida)

Shuttle Landing Facility to Space Florida (who contracts use to private companies)

Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF)-3 to Boeing (for CST-100 Starliner)

Launch Complex 39A, Launch Control Center Firing Room 4 and land for SpaceX's Roberts Road facility (Hanger X) to SpaceX

O&C High Bay to Lockheed Martin (for Orion processing)

Land for FPL's Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center to Florida Power and Light (FPL)

Hypergolic Maintenance Facility (HMF) to United Paradyne Corporation (UPC)

 

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, operated by Delaware North since 1995, has a variety of exhibits, artifacts, displays and attractions on the history and future of human and robotic spaceflight. Bus tours of KSC originate from here. The complex also includes the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center, north of the VAB and the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, six miles west near Titusville. There were 1.5 million visitors in 2009. It had some 700 employees.

 

It was announced on May 29, 2015, that the Astronaut Hall of Fame exhibit would be moved from its current location to another location within the Visitor Complex to make room for an upcoming high-tech attraction entitled "Heroes and Legends". The attraction, designed by Orlando-based design firm Falcon's Treehouse, opened November 11, 2016.

 

In March 2016, the visitor center unveiled the new location of the iconic countdown clock at the complex's entrance; previously, the clock was located with a flagpole at the press site. The clock was originally built and installed in 1969 and listed with the flagpole in the National Register of Historic Places in January 2000. In 2019, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program, and the launch of Apollo 10 on May 18. In summer of 2019, Lunar Module 9 (LM-9) was relocated to the Apollo/Saturn V Center as part of an initiative to rededicate the center and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program.

 

Historic locations

NASA lists the following Historic Districts at KSC; each district has multiple associated facilities:

 

Launch Complex 39: Pad A Historic District

Launch Complex 39: Pad B Historic District

Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) Area Historic District

Orbiter Processing Historic District

Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Disassembly and Refurbishment Complex Historic District

NASA KSC Railroad System Historic District

NASA-owned Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Industrial Area Historic District

There are 24 historic properties outside of these historic districts, including the Space Shuttle Atlantis, Vehicle Assembly Building, Crawlerway, and Operations and Checkout Building.[71] KSC has one National Historic Landmark, 78 National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) listed or eligible sites, and 100 Archaeological Sites.

 

Further information: John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS

Other facilities

The Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) is responsible for the preparation of solid rocket booster segments for transportation to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The RPSF was built in 1984 to perform SRB operations that had previously been conducted in high bays 2 and 4 of the VAB at the beginning of the Space Shuttle program. It was used until the Space Shuttle's retirement, and will be used in the future by the Space Launch System[75] (SLS) and OmegA rockets.

Title: Washington Park: Rehabilitation and Relocation

Creator: Boston Redevelopment Authority

Date: 1965 October 14

Source: Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection #4010.001

File name: 4010_001_A274_002

Rights: In Copyright - Non commercial use permitted

Citation: Boston Redevelopment Authority photographs, Collection #4010.001, City of Boston Archives, Boston

Lindi Ortega

OCA Spazio Ansaldo (MI)

19 Marzo 2013

 

© Mairo Cinquetti

 

© All rights reserved. Do not use my photos without my written permission. If you would like to buy or use this photo PLEASE message me or email me at mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com

 

Immagine protetta da copyright © Mairo Cinquetti.

Tutti i diritti sono riservati.

L'immagine non può essere usata in nessun caso senza autorizzazione scritta dell'autore.

Per contatti: mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com

  

Nashville beckoned, and Lindi Ortega answered the call.

 

Armed with an inimitable, irresistible singing voice The Independent hails as “a truly magnificent instrument,” and a heart bursting with creative ambition, the Canadian songstress whom American Songwriter calls “the love child of Johnny Cash and Nancy Sinatra” decided to relocate to Music City from her

native Toronto to birth her brand new musical offspring, Cigarettes & Truckstops.

 

A logical follow-up to her 2011 critically acclaimed alt-country masterpiece Little Red Boots, the 10-song Cigarettes & Truckstops further flaunts Ortega’s distinctive vision; one that embraces the oft-neglected, politically incorrect realism of traditional country and frames it in a charmingly, and sometimes darkly humourous contemporary context.

 

Bookended by a couple of romantic road ballads in the title track and the reflective “Every Mile Of The Ride,” Cigarettes & Truckstops further evolves the promise foreshadowed by the JUNO-Award nominated-and-Polaris-Music-Prize-long-listed Little Red Boots.

 

The writing is stellar, her musical discipline undoubtedly galvanized by a fearless 2010-2012 tour schedule that saw Lindi open for a variety of acts, from punk vets Social Distortion; pop icon Burton Cummings; country fave Dierks Bentley; folk outfit Noah & The Whale and Academy Award winner Kevin Costner with attention-grabbing finesse, making serious inroads with North American and European audiences, and prompting Exclaim! to declare Ortega an “electrifying” performer.

 

Whether it’s the plucky shuffle of the hilarious “The Day You Die;” the angry harrumph of “Don’t Wanna Hear It;” the high lonesome feel of “Heaven Has No Vacancy” or the haunting twang of guilt that is “Murder of Crows,” Ortega continues to deliver a refreshing twist that walks vintage and contemporary lines in imaginative and inventive manners.

 

But in order to realize this next step of her artistic fruition, the two-time JUNO Award nominee (Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards) had to pull up her Canadian stakes and come to the well.

 

“I was really inspired by being here in Nashville,” explains Ortega, the daughter of a Northern Irish mother and Mexican father who has been performing since she picked up a guitar at age 16.

 

“I wanted the authenticity of my influences to shine through on this record. I knew I liked country and I think moving here, I wanted to delve into those influences more genuinely.

 

“To be able to read a Hank Williams biography and then go to where his house was, or the places that they talk about, and absorb that was invaluable.”

 

As Ortega is the first to admit, she’s anything but a “straight-up country artist,” so other elements played into the equation.

 

“I found that I was really inspired by going to New Orleans, after I shot that music video for (Little Red Boots’) “Black Fly” – and the Deep South.

 

“After Little Red Boots I read the Hank Williams biography and I learned that he was very highly influenced by a man named “Tee-Tot.” (Rufus Payne). Tee-Tot was a blues guy, and I discovered that a lot of early country drew influence from early blues. So I really started getting into listening to blues.”

 

She recruited a sympathetic visionary to produce the album in fellow Canadian Colin Linden, (O Brother Where Art Thou, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Bruce Cockburn, The Band), who also happens to reside in Nashville.

 

“When it was time to start working with producers, Colin’s name was thrown in the hat,” recalls Ortega. “I looked him up on YouTube,and the first thing I saw him perform was this crazy awesome Dobro solo.

 

“I realized that I loved that instrument, and I needed to have it all over my record,” she laughs.

 

“There was something about the sound of it that resonated so much with me. Colin was very influenced by the blues and had a lot of knowledge about its background and history, and I thought it would be cool to bring that into the record.”

 

The blues touch is a subtle one, a seasoning of sorts on this album of longing and vulnerability; travel and romance; of anger and passion; of fact and fiction.

 

A big breakthrough was Ortega’s topical candour.

 

“I was sort of delving into the darker corners of my mind with some things, which was interesting for me, and not being afraid to put some other things out there,” she reveals. “The song from my first record, “All My Friends,” alludes to certain things in a metaphorical way, where on this album, I’m a little more straight up about it. I’m not trying to hide.

 

“I guess that I’m just willing to take that risk. I’m just being honest and talking about my experiences, and by doing that, I’m not advocating anything and I’m not telling anybody they need to do anything: I’m just writing about my life and the experiences that I go through.”

 

But it’s not all autobiographical: “Murder of Crows,’ co-authored by Matt Nolan and one of three co-writes on Cigarettes & Truckstops, is pure Man In Black-inspired fiction.

 

“I was actually thinking of Johnny Cash’s Murder album when I wrote that,” Ortega chuckles. “I just wanted to delve into fictitious territory, and not write from experience – sort of make up stories.

 

“In a lot of old Cash songs, there’s a lot that didn’t come from his experience: he made them up. It’s cool to be able to make up crazy stories like that.”

 

One of the album’s real kickers is the Bruce Wallace co-write “The Day You Die,” a humorous look at love’s clichés, a future classic that begins with the opening stanza,

 

“You said you’d love me ‘til the cows comes home/Well I’m hoping that they all go blind.”

 

“That’s why I love writing with Bruce, because we never set out to write,” Ortega admits. “We just get together as friends and pick up guitars and it just happens naturally. He’s a quirky guy, because he totally gets where I’m coming from in that respect.

 

“We pick up the guitar and make up joke songs. We thought it would be cool if all these cliché things that people say to people, things like ‘Love you ‘til this, love you ‘til that’,” were taken literally, what would they have to do to keep the love going?”

 

There are more gems on Cigarettes & Truckstops that are ripe for personal discovery, a riveting tour-de-force of an album that will open up more ears and hearts to the scintillating sounds of Lindi Ortega and an appreciation of the unique perspective she brings to her craft.

 

Two trademarks impel her artistry: sincerity and honesty.

 

“I’m not going to deny it because I can’t,” Ortega admits. “It just comes out. I owe it to the song and to myself to expel that expression, put it into music and be very honest and forthright about the good, the bad and the ugly of Lindi Ortega.”