(Replaced with a slightly rotated version.)

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 13-Aug-21 (DeNoiseAI).

 

This aircraft was delivered to Delta Air Lines as N189DN in Feb-97. It was fitted with blended winglets in Apr-14.

 

The aircraft was removed from service and stored at Birmingham, AL, USA in Mar-20 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and returned to service in Feb-21. Current, updated 13-Aug-21.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 19-Apr-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

Fleet No: '1201'. Named: "Alison Ann".

 

Originally to have been registered A4O-TA, that wasn't used and the aircraft was delivered to Gulf Air as N92TA in Dec-80. It was sold to Omani Aviation Services and leased back to Gulf Air in Jun-90 and re-registered A4O-TA.

 

It was sold back to Gulf Air in Jan-98 and sold to Interlease Aviation Investors LLC as N75AA on the same day. The aircraft was leased to Tradewinds Airlines in Mar-98. It was returned to the lessor in Apr-99 and stored at Greensboro, NC, USA until it was leased to Tradewinds again in Dec-99.

 

It was returned to the lessor in early 2000 and stored again at Greensboro. The aircraft was repossessed from the lessor by the American Trust and Savings Bank in May-01. It was sold to a 'Waldo I Morris' in Sep-01 and remained stored (I can hear everyone asking "Where's Waldo?"...).

 

Now it follows many other Tristar's with dubious registrations in Africa. It was 'exported to Swaziland' in Apr-04 and became 3D-AAB with AWA African West Air in Jul-04. In Nov-04 it went to The Democratic Republic of the Congo when it became 9Q-CVN with Aerolift Sierra Leone.

 

Next it was off to Uganda as 5X-AAL with Almiron Aviation in Mar-05. In Nov-08 it was the turn of Sao Tome to host the aircraft as S9-GAR with Goliaf Air. In Dec-09 it went to Sky Capital Airlines, Bangladesh as S2-AKB.

 

Then it was back to Uganda in Feb-12 as 5X-AAV with UPS Air Cargo (I have a feeling that this wasn't the American 'United Parcels Service'...). Finally it was registered 3C-MIA in May-12 with Deccan 360 in Equatorial Guinea. It was stored soon after, I have no idea where or when ... and frankly, I don't care !!!

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 28-Dec-25.

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to Air-Berlin as D-ABAX in Apr-00. It was fitted with Blended Winglets in May-01.

 

The aircraft was sold to Jackson Square Aviation in Nov-07 and leased to Shenzhen Airlines as B-5361 later the same month.

 

After 12 years with Shenzhen Airlines the aircraft was returned to the lessor in early Apr-19 and permanently retired at Castellon de la Plana - Costa Azahar, Spain. It was broken up there in Aug-19.

Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a Roman Catholic cathedral from around 1175 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it became an Anglican cathedral when King Henry VIII split from Rome. It is moderately sized for an English cathedral. Its broad west front and large central tower are dominant features. It has been called "unquestionably one of the most beautiful" and "most poetic" of English cathedrals.

 

Its Gothic architecture is mostly inspired from Early English style of the late 12th to early 13th centuries, lacking the Romanesque work that survives in many other cathedrals. Building began about 1175 at the east end with the choir. Historian John Harvey sees it as Europe's first truly Gothic structure, breaking the last constraints of Romanesque. The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers bears pronounced mouldings and carved capitals in a foliate, "stiff-leaf" style. Its Early English front with 300 sculpted figures is seen as a "supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England". The east end retains much ancient stained glass. Unlike many cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop's Palace and the 15th-century residential Vicars' Close It is a Grade I listed building.

 

The earliest remains of a building on the site are of a late-Roman mausoleum, identified during excavations in 1980. An abbey church was built in Wells in 705 by Aldhelm, first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Sherborne during the reign of King Ine of Wessex. It was dedicated to St Andrew and stood at the site of the cathedral's cloisters, where some excavated remains can be seen. The font in the cathedral's south transept is from this church and is the oldest part of the present building. In 766 Cynewulf, King of Wessex, signed a charter endowing the church with eleven hides of land. In 909 the seat of the diocese was moved from Sherborne to Wells.

 

The first bishop of Wells was Athelm (909), who crowned King Æthelstan. Athelm and his nephew Dunstan both became Archbishops of Canterbury. During this period a choir of boys was established to sing the liturgy. Wells Cathedral School, which was established to educate these choirboys, dates its foundation to this point. There is, however, some controversy over this. Following the Norman Conquest, John de Villula moved the seat of the bishop from Wells to Bath in 1090. The church at Wells, no longer a cathedral, had a college of secular clergy.

 

The cathedral is thought to have been conceived and commenced in about 1175 by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, who died in 1191. Although it is clear from its size that from the outset, the church was planned to be the cathedral of the diocese, the seat of the bishop moved between Wells and the abbeys of Glastonbury and Bath, before settling at Wells. In 1197 Reginald's successor, Savaric FitzGeldewin, with the approval of Pope Celestine III, officially moved his seat to Glastonbury Abbey. The title of Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonbury claim was abandoned in 1219.

 

Savaric's successor, Jocelin of Wells, again moved the bishop's seat to Bath Abbey, with the title Bishop of Bath. Jocelin was a brother of Hugh (II) of Lincoln and was present at the signing of the Magna Carta. Jocelin continued the building campaign begun by Reginald and was responsible for the Bishop's Palace, the choristers' school, a grammar school, a hospital for travellers and a chapel. He also had a manor house built at Wookey, near Wells. Jocelin saw the church dedicated in 1239 but, despite much lobbying of the Pope by Jocelin's representatives in Rome, did not live to see cathedral status granted. The delay may have been a result of inaction by Pandulf Verraccio, a Roman ecclesiastical politician, papal legate to England and Bishop of Norwich, who was asked by the Pope to investigate the situation but did not respond. Jocelin died at Wells on 19 November 1242 and was buried in the choir of the cathedral; the memorial brass on his tomb is one of the earliest brasses in England. Following his death the monks of Bath unsuccessfully attempted to regain authority over Wells.

 

In 1245 the ongoing dispute over the title of the bishop was resolved by a ruling of Pope Innocent IV, who established the title as the "Bishop of Bath and Wells", which it has remained until this day, with Wells as the principal seat of the bishop. Since the 11th century the church has had a chapter of secular clergy, like the cathedrals of Chichester, Hereford, Lincoln and York. The chapter was endowed with 22 prebends (lands from which finance was drawn) and a provost to manage them. On acquiring cathedral status, in common with other such cathedrals, it had four chief clergy, the dean, precentor, chancellor and sacristan, who were responsible for the spiritual and material care of the cathedral.

 

The building programme, begun by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, Bishop in the 12th century, continued under Jocelin of Wells, who was a canon from 1200, then bishop from 1206. Adam Locke was master mason from about 1192 until 1230. It was designed in the new style with pointed arches, later known as Gothic, which was introduced at about the same time at Canterbury Cathedral. Work was halted between 1209 and 1213 when King John was excommunicated and Jocelin was in exile, but the main parts of the church were complete by the time of the dedication by Jocelin in 1239.

 

By the time the cathedral, including the chapter house, was finished in 1306, it was already too small for the developing liturgy, and unable to accommodate increasingly grand processions of clergy. John Droxford initiated another phase of building under master mason Thomas of Whitney, during which the central tower was heightened and an eight-sided Lady chapel was added at the east end by 1326. Ralph of Shrewsbury followed, continuing the eastward extension of the choir and retrochoir beyond. He oversaw the building of Vicars' Close and the Vicars' Hall, to give the men who were employed to sing in the choir a secure place to live and dine, away from the town and its temptations. He had an uneasy relationship with the citizens of Wells, partly because of his imposition of taxes, and he surrounded his palace with crenellated walls, a moat and a drawbridge.

 

John Harewell raised money for the completion of the west front by William Wynford, who was appointed as master mason in 1365. One of the foremost master masons of his time, Wynford worked for the king at Windsor, Winchester Cathedral and New College, Oxford. At Wells, he designed the western towers of which north-west was not built until the following century. In the 14th century, the central piers of the crossing were found to be sinking under the weight of the crossing tower which had been damaged by an earthquake in the previous century. Strainer arches, sometimes described as scissor arches, were inserted by master mason William Joy to brace and stabilise the piers as a unit.

 

By the reign of Henry VII the cathedral was complete, appearing much as it does today (though the fittings have changed). From 1508 to 1546, the eminent Italian humanist scholar Polydore Vergil was active as the chapter's representative in London. He donated a set of hangings for the choir of the cathedral. While Wells survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries better than the cathedrals of monastic foundation, the abolition of chantries in 1547 resulted in a reduction in its income. Medieval brasses were sold, and a pulpit was placed in the nave for the first time. Between 1551 and 1568, in two periods as dean, William Turner established a herb garden, which was recreated between 2003 and 2010.

 

Elizabeth I gave the chapter and the Vicars Choral a new charter in 1591, creating a new governing body, consisting of a dean and eight residentiary canons with control over the church estates and authority over its affairs, but no longer entitled to elect the dean (that entitlement thenceforward belonged ultimately to the Crown). The stability brought by the new charter ended with the onset of the Civil War and the execution of Charles I. Local fighting damaged the cathedral's stonework, furniture and windows. The dean, Walter Raleigh, a nephew of the explorer Walter Raleigh, was placed under house arrest after the fall of Bridgwater to the Parliamentarians in 1645, first in the rectory at Chedzoy and then in the deanery at Wells. His jailor, the shoe maker and city constable, David Barrett, caught him writing a letter to his wife. When he refused to surrender it, Barrett ran him through with a sword and he died six weeks later, on 10 October 1646. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the choir before the dean's stall. During the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell no dean was appointed and the cathedral fell into disrepair. The bishop went into retirement and some of the clerics were reduced to performing menial tasks.

 

In 1661, after Charles II was restored to the throne, Robert Creighton, the king's chaplain in exile, was appointed dean and was bishop for two years before his death in 1672. His brass lectern, given in thanksgiving, can be seen in the cathedral. He donated the nave's great west window at a cost of £140. Following Creighton's appointment as bishop, the post of dean went to Ralph Bathurst, who had been chaplain to the king, president of Trinity College, Oxford and fellow of the Royal Society. During Bathurst's long tenure the cathedral was restored, but in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, Puritan soldiers damaged the west front, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave.

 

Restoration began again under Thomas Ken who was appointed by the Crown in 1685 and served until 1691. He was one of seven bishops imprisoned for refusing to sign King James II's "Declaration of Indulgence", which would have enabled Catholics to resume positions of political power, but popular support led to their acquittal. Ken refused to take the oath of allegiance to William III and Mary II because James II had not abdicated and with others, known as the Nonjurors, was put out of office. His successor, Richard Kidder, was killed in the Great Storm of 1703 when two chimney stacks on the palace fell on him and his wife, while they were asleep in bed.

 

By the middle of the 19th century, a major restoration programme was needed. Under Dean Goodenough, the monuments were moved to the cloisters and the remaining medieval paint and whitewash removed in an operation known as "the great scrape". Anthony Salvin took charge of the extensive restoration of the choir. Wooden galleries installed in the 16th century were removed and the stalls were given stone canopies and placed further back within the line of the arcade. The medieval stone pulpitum screen was extended in the centre to support a new organ.

 

In 1933 the Friends of Wells Cathedral were formed to support the cathedral's chapter in the maintenance of the fabric, life and work of the cathedral. The late 20th century saw an extensive restoration programme, particularly of the west front. The stained glass is currently under restoration, with a programme underway to conserve the large 14th-century Jesse Tree window at the eastern terminal of the choir.

 

In January 2014, as part of the Bath film festival, the cathedral hosted a special screening of Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. This provoked some controversy, but the church defended its decision to allow the screening.

 

In 2021, a contemporary sculpture by Anthony Gormley was unveiled on a temporary plinth outside the cathedral.

 

Since the 13th century, Wells Cathedral has been the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Its governing body, the chapter, is made up of five clerical canons (the dean, the precentor, the canon chancellor, the canon treasurer, and the archdeacon of Wells) and four lay members: the administrator (chief executive), Keeper of the Fabric, Overseer of the Estate and the chairman of the cathedral shop and catering boards. The current bishop of Bath and Wells is Peter Hancock, who was installed in a service in the cathedral on 7 June 2014. John Davies has been Dean of Wells since 2016.

 

Employed staff include the organist and master of choristers, head Verger archivist, librarian and the staff of the shop, café and restaurant. The chapter is advised by specialists such as architects, archaeologists and financial analysts.

 

More than a thousand services are held every year. There are daily services of Matins, Holy Communion and Choral Evensong, as well as major celebrations of Christian festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and saints' days. The cathedral is also used for the baptisms, weddings and funerals of those with close connections to it. In July 2009 the cathedral undertook the funeral of Harry Patch, the last British Army veteran of World War I, who died at the age of 111.

 

Three Sunday services are led by the resident choir in school terms and choral services are sung on weekdays. The cathedral hosts visiting choirs and does outreach work with local schools as part of its Chorister Outreach Project. It is also a venue for musical events such as an annual concert by the Somerset Chamber Choir.

 

Each year about 150,000 people attend services and another 300,000 visit as tourists. Entry is free, but visitors are encouraged to make a donation towards the annual running costs of around £1.5 million in 2015.

 

Construction of the cathedral began in about 1175, to the design of an unknown master-mason. Wells is the first cathedral in England to be built, from its foundation, in Gothic style. According to art historian John Harvey, it is the first truly Gothic cathedral in the world, its architects having entirely dispensed with all features that bound the contemporary east end of Canterbury Cathedral and the earlier buildings of France, such as the east end of the Abbey of Saint Denis, to the Romanesque. Unlike these churches, Wells has clustered piers rather than columns and has a gallery of identical pointed arches rather than the typically Romanesque form of paired openings. The style, with its simple lancet arches without tracery and convoluted mouldings, is known as Early English Gothic.

 

From about 1192 to 1230, Adam Lock, the earliest master-mason at Wells for whom a name is known, continued the transept and nave in the same manner as his predecessor. Lock was also the builder of the north porch, to his own design.

 

The Early English west front was commenced around 1230 by Thomas Norreys, with building and sculpture continuing for thirty years. Its south-west tower was begun 100 years later and constructed between 1365 and 1395, and the north-west tower between 1425 and 1435, both in the Perpendicular Gothic style to the design of William Wynford, who also filled many of the cathedral's early English lancet windows with delicate tracery.

 

The undercroft and chapter house were built by unknown architects between 1275 and 1310, the undercroft in the Early English and the chapter house in the Geometric style of Decorated Gothic architecture. In about 1310 work commenced on the Lady Chapel, to the design of Thomas Witney, who also built the central tower from 1315 to 1322 in the Decorated Gothic style. The tower was later braced internally with arches by William Joy. Concurrent with this work, in 1329–45 Joy made alterations and extensions to the choir, joining it to the Lady Chapel with the retrochoir, the latter in the Flowing Decorated style.

 

Later changes include the Perpendicular vault of the tower and construction of Sugar's Chapel, 1475–1490 by William Smyth. Also, Gothic Revival renovations were made to the choir and pulpitum by Benjamin Ferrey and Anthony Salvin, 1842–1857.

 

Wells has a total length of 415 feet (126 m). Like Canterbury, Lincoln and Salisbury cathedrals, it has the distinctly English arrangement of two transepts, with the body of the church divided into distinct parts: nave, choir, and retro-choir, beyond which extends the Lady Chapel. The façade is wide, with its towers extending beyond the transepts on either side. There is a large projecting porch on the north side of the nave forming an entry into the cathedral. To the north-east is the large octagonal chapter house, entered from the north choir aisle by a passage and staircase. To the south of the nave is a large cloister, unusual in that the northern range, that adjacent the cathedral, was never built.

 

In section, the cathedral has the usual arrangement of a large church: a central nave with an aisle on each side, separated by two arcades. The elevation is in three stages, arcade, triforium gallery and clerestory. The nave is 67 feet (20 m) in height, very low compared to the Gothic cathedrals of France. It has a markedly horizontal emphasis, caused by the triforium having a unique form, a series of identical narrow openings, lacking the usual definition of the bays. The triforium is separated from the arcade by a single horizontal string course that runs unbroken the length of the nave. There are no vertical lines linking the three stages, as the shafts supporting the vault rise above the triforium.

 

The exterior of Wells Cathedral presents a relatively tidy and harmonious appearance since the greater part of the building was executed in a single style, Early English Gothic. This is uncommon among English cathedrals where the exterior usually exhibits a plethora of styles. At Wells, later changes in the Perpendicular style were universally applied, such as filling the Early English lancet windows with simple tracery, the construction of a parapet that encircles the roof, and the addition of pinnacles framing each gable, similar to those around the chapter house and on the west front. At the eastern end there is a proliferation of tracery with repeated motifs in the Reticulated style, a stage between Geometric and Flowing Decorated tracery.

 

The west front is 100 feet (30 m) high and 147 feet (45 m) wide, and built of Inferior Oolite of the Middle Jurassic period, which came from the Doulting Stone Quarry, about 8 miles (13 km) to the east. According to the architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor, it is "one of the great sights of England".

 

West fronts in general take three distinct forms: those that follow the elevation of the nave and aisles, those that have paired towers at the end of each aisle, framing the nave, and those that screen the form of the building. The west front at Wells has the paired-tower form, unusual in that the towers do not indicate the location of the aisles, but extend well beyond them, screening the dimensions and profile of the building.

 

The west front rises in three distinct stages, each clearly defined by a horizontal course. This horizontal emphasis is counteracted by six strongly projecting buttresses defining the cross-sectional divisions of nave, aisles and towers, and are highly decorated, each having canopied niches containing the largest statues on the façade.

 

At the lowest level of the façade is a plain base, contrasting with and stabilising the ornate arcades that rise above it. The base is penetrated by three doors, which are in stark contrast to the often imposing portals of French Gothic cathedrals. The outer two are of domestic proportion and the central door is ornamented only by a central post, quatrefoil and the fine mouldings of the arch.

 

Above the basement rise two storeys, ornamented with quatrefoils and niches originally holding about four hundred statues, with three hundred surviving until the mid-20th century. Since then, some have been restored or replaced, including the ruined figure of Christ in the gable.

 

The third stages of the flanking towers were both built in the Perpendicular style of the late 14th century, to the design of William Wynford; that on the north-west was not begun until about 1425. The design maintains the general proportions, and continues the strong projection of the buttresses.

 

The finished product has been criticised for its lack of pinnacles, and it is probable that the towers were intended to carry spires which were never built. Despite its lack of spires or pinnacles, the architectural historian Banister Fletcher describes it as "the highest development in English Gothic of this type of façade."

 

The sculptures on the west front at Wells include standing figures, seated figures, half-length angels and narratives in high relief. Many of the figures are life-sized or larger. Together they constitute the finest display of medieval carving in England. The figures and many of the architectural details were painted in bright colours, and the colouring scheme has been deduced from flakes of paint still adhering to some surfaces. The sculptures occupy nine architectural zones stretching horizontally across the entire west front and around the sides and the eastern returns of the towers which extend beyond the aisles. The strongly projecting buttresses have tiers of niches which contain many of the largest figures. Other large figures, including that of Christ, occupy the gable. A single figure stands in one of two later niches high on the northern tower.

 

In 1851 the archaeologist Charles Robert Cockerell published his analysis of the iconography, numbering the nine sculptural divisions from the lowest to the highest. He defined the theme as "a calendar for unlearned men" illustrating the doctrines and history of the Christian faith, its introduction to Britain and its protection by princes and bishops. He likens the arrangement and iconography to the Te Deum.

 

According to Cockerell, the side of the façade that is to the south of the central door is the more sacred and the scheme is divided accordingly. The lowest range of niches each contained a standing figure, of which all but four figures on the west front, two on each side, have been destroyed. More have survived on the northern and eastern sides of the north tower. Cockerell speculates that those to the south of the portal represented prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament while those to the north represented early missionaries to Britain, of which Augustine of Canterbury, St Birinus, and Benedict Biscop are identifiable by their attributes. In the second zone, above each pair of standing figures, is a quatrefoil containing a half-length angel in relief, some of which have survived. Between the gables of the niches are quatrefoils that contain a series of narratives from the Bible, with the Old Testament stories to the south, above the prophets and patriarchs, and those from the New Testament to the north. A horizontal course runs around the west front dividing the architectural storeys at this point.

 

Above the course, zones four and five, as identified by Cockerell, contain figures which represent the Christian Church in Britain, with the spiritual lords such as bishops, abbots, abbesses and saintly founders of monasteries on the south, while kings, queens and princes occupy the north. Many of the figures survive and many have been identified in the light of their various attributes. There is a hierarchy of size, with the more significant figures larger and enthroned in their niches rather than standing. Immediately beneath the upper course are a series of small niches containing dynamic sculptures of the dead coming forth from their tombs on the Day of Judgement. Although naked, some of the dead are defined as royalty by their crowns and others as bishops by their mitres. Some emerge from their graves with joy and hope, and others with despair.

 

The niches in the lowest zone of the gable contain nine angels, of which Cockerell identifies Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. In the next zone are the taller figures of the twelve apostles, some, such as John, Andrew and Bartholomew, clearly identifiable by the attributes that they carry. The uppermost niches of the gable contained the figure of Christ the Judge at the centre, with the Virgin Mary on his right and John the Baptist on his left. The figures all suffered from iconoclasm. A new statue of Jesus was carved for the central niche, but the two side niches now contain cherubim. Christ and the Virgin Mary are also represented by now headless figures in a Coronation of the Virgin in a niche above the central portal. A damaged figure of the Virgin and Christ Child occupies a quatrefoil in the spandrel of the door.

 

The central tower appears to date from the early 13th century. It was substantially reconstructed in the early 14th century during the remodelling of the east end, necessitating the internal bracing of the piers a decade or so later. In the 14th century the tower was given a timber and lead spire which burnt down in 1439. The exterior was then reworked in the Perpendicular style and given the present parapet and pinnacles. Alec Clifton-Taylor describes it as "outstanding even in Somerset, a county famed for the splendour of its church towers".

 

The north porch is described by art historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "sumptuously decorated", and intended as the main entrance. Externally it is simple and rectangular with plain side walls. The entrance is a steeply arched portal framed by rich mouldings of eight shafts with stiff-leaf capitals each encircled by an annular moulding at middle height. Those on the left are figurative, containing images representing the martyrdom of St Edmund the Martyr. The walls are lined with deep niches framed by narrow shafts with capitals and annulets like those of the portal. The path to the north porch is lined by four sculptures in Purbeck stone, each by Mary Spencer Watson, representing the symbols of the Evangelists.

 

The cloisters were built in the late 13th century and largely rebuilt from 1430 to 1508 and have wide openings divided by mullions and transoms, and tracery in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The vault has lierne ribs that form octagons at the centre of each compartment, the joints of each rib having decorative bosses. The eastern range is of two storeys, of which the upper is the library built in the 15th century.

 

Because Wells Cathedral was secular rather than monastic, cloisters were not a practical necessity. They were omitted from several other secular cathedrals but were built here and at Chichester. Explanations for their construction at these two secular cathedrals range from the processional to the aesthetic. As at Chichester, there is no northern range to the cloisters. In monastic cloisters it was the north range, benefiting most from winter sunlight, that was often used as a scriptorium.

 

In 1969, when a large chunk of stone fell from a statue near the main door, it became apparent that there was an urgent need for restoration of the west front. Detailed studies of the stonework and of conservation practices were undertaken under the cathedral architect, Alban D. R. Caroe and a restoration committee formed. The methods selected were those devised by Eve and Robert Baker. W. A. (Bert) Wheeler, clerk of works to the cathedral 1935–1978, had previously experimented with washing and surface treatment of architectural carvings on the building and his techniques were among those tried on the statues.

 

The conservation was carried out between 1974 and 1986, wherever possible using non-invasive procedures such as washing with water and a solution of lime, filling gaps and damaged surfaces with soft mortar to prevent the ingress of water and stabilising statues that were fracturing through corrosion of metal dowels. The surfaces were finished by painting with a thin coat of mortar and silane to resist further erosion and attack by pollutants. The restoration of the façade revealed much paint adhering to the statues and their niches, indicating that it had once been brightly coloured.

 

The particular character of this Early English interior is dependent on the proportions of the simple lancet arches. It is also dependent on the refinement of the architectural details, in particular the mouldings.

 

The arcade, which takes the same form in the nave, choir and transepts, is distinguished by the richness of both mouldings and carvings. Each pier of the arcade has a surface enrichment of 24 slender shafts in eight groups of three, rising beyond the capitals to form the deeply undulating mouldings of the arches. The capitals themselves are remarkable for the vitality of the stylised foliage, in a style known as "stiff-leaf". The liveliness contrasts with the formality of the moulded shafts and the smooth unbroken areas of ashlar masonry in the spandrels. Each capital is different, and some contain small figures illustrating narratives.

 

The vault of the nave rises steeply in a simple quadripartite form, in harmony with the nave arcade. The eastern end of the choir was extended and the whole upper part elaborated in the second quarter of the 14th century by William Joy. The vault has a multiplicity of ribs in a net-like form, which is very different from that of the nave, and is perhaps a recreation in stone of a local type of compartmented wooden roof of which examples remain from the 15th century, including those at St Cuthbert's Church, Wells. The vaults of the aisles of the choir also have a unique pattern.

 

Until the early 14th century, the interior of the cathedral was in a unified style, but it was to undergo two significant changes, to the tower and to the eastern end. Between 1315 and 1322 the central tower was heightened and topped by a spire, which caused the piers that supported it to show signs of stress. In 1338 the mason William Joy employed an unorthodox solution by inserting low arches topped by inverted arches of similar dimensions, forming scissors-like structures. These arches brace the piers of the crossing on three sides, while the easternmost side is braced by a choir screen. The bracing arches are known as "St Andrew's Cross arches", in a reference to the patron saint of the cathedral. They have been described by Wim Swaan – rightly or wrongly – as "brutally massive" and intrusive in an otherwise restrained interior.

 

Wells Cathedral has a square east end to the choir, as is usual, and like several other cathedrals including Salisbury and Lichfield, has a lower Lady Chapel projecting at the eastern end, begun by Thomas Witney in about 1310, possibly before the chapter house was completed. The Lady Chapel seems to have begun as a free-standing structure in the form of an elongated octagon, but the plan changed and it was linked to the eastern end by extension of the choir and construction of a second transept or retrochoir east of the choir, probably by William Joy.

 

The Lady Chapel has a vault of complex and somewhat irregular pattern, as the chapel is not symmetrical about both axes. The main ribs are intersected by additional non-supporting, lierne ribs, which in this case form a star-shaped pattern at the apex of the vault. It is one of the earliest lierne vaults in England. There are five large windows, of which four are filled with fragments of medieval glass. The tracery of the windows is in the style known as Reticulated Gothic, having a pattern of a single repeated shape, in this case a trefoil, giving a "reticulate" or net-like appearance.

 

The retrochoir extends across the east end of the choir and into the east transepts. At its centre the vault is supported by a remarkable structure of angled piers. Two of these are placed as to complete the octagonal shape of the Lady Chapel, a solution described by Francis Bond as "an intuition of Genius". The piers have attached shafts of marble, and, with the vaults that they support, create a vista of great complexity from every angle. The windows of the retrochoir are in the Reticulated style like those of the Lady Chapel, but are fully Flowing Decorated in that the tracery mouldings form ogival curves.

 

The chapter house was begun in the late 13th century and built in two stages, completed about 1310. It is a two-storeyed structure with the main chamber raised on an undercroft. It is entered from a staircase which divides and turns, one branch leading through the upper storey of Chain Gate to Vicars' Close. The Decorated interior is described by Alec Clifton-Taylor as "architecturally the most beautiful in England". It is octagonal, with its ribbed vault supported on a central column. The column is surrounded by shafts of Purbeck Marble, rising to a single continuous rippling foliate capital of stylised oak leaves and acorns, quite different in character from the Early English stiff-leaf foliage. Above the moulding spring 32 ribs of strong profile, giving an effect generally likened to "a great palm tree". The windows are large with Geometric Decorated tracery that is beginning to show an elongation of form, and ogees in the lesser lights that are characteristic of Flowing Decorated tracery. The tracery lights still contain ancient glass. Beneath the windows are 51 stalls, the canopies of which are enlivened by carvings including many heads carved in a light-hearted manner.

 

Wells Cathedral contains one of the most substantial collections of medieval stained glass in England, despite damage by Parliamentary troops in 1642 and 1643. The oldest surviving glass dates from the late 13th century and is in two windows on the west side of the chapter-house staircase. Two windows in the south choir aisle are from 1310 to 1320.

 

The Lady Chapel has five windows, of which four date from 1325 to 1330 and include images of a local saint, Dunstan. The east window was restored to a semblance of its original appearance by Thomas Willement in 1845. The other windows have complete canopies, but the pictorial sections are fragmented.

 

The east window of the choir is a broad, seven-light window dating from 1340 to 1345. It depicts the Tree of Jesse (the genealogy of Christ) and demonstrates the use of silver staining, a new technique that allowed the artist to paint details on the glass in yellow, as well as black. The combination of yellow and green glass and the application of the bright yellow stain gives the window its popular name, the "Golden Window". It is flanked by two windows each side in the clerestory, with large figures of saints, also dated to 1340–45. In 2010 a major conservation programme was undertaken on the Jesse Tree window.

 

The panels in the chapel of St Katherine are attributed to Arnold of Nijmegen and date from about 1520. They were acquired from the destroyed church of Saint-Jean, Rouen, with the last panel having been purchased in 1953.

 

The large triple lancet to the nave west end was glazed at the expense of Dean Creighton at a cost of £140 in 1664. It was repaired in 1813, and the central light was largely replaced to a design by Archibald Keightley Nicholson between 1925 and 1931. The main north and south transept end windows by James Powell and Sons were erected in the early 20th century.

 

The greater part of the stone carving of Wells Cathedral comprises foliate capitals in the stiff-leaf style. They are found ornamenting the piers of the nave, choir and transepts. Stiff-leaf foliage is highly abstract. Though possibly influenced by carvings of acanthus leaves or vine leaves, it cannot be easily identified with any particular plant. Here the carving of the foliage is varied and vigorous, the springing leaves and deep undercuts casting shadows that contrast with the surface of the piers. In the transepts and towards the crossing in the nave the capitals have many small figurative carvings among the leaves. These include a man with toothache and a series of four scenes depicting the "Wages of Sin" in a narrative of fruit stealers who creep into an orchard and are then beaten by the farmer. Another well-known carving is in the north transept aisle: a foliate corbel, on which climbs a lizard, sometimes identified as a salamander, a symbol of eternal life.

 

Carvings in the Decorated Gothic style may be found in the eastern end of the buildings, where there are many carved bosses. In the chapter house, the carvings of the 51 stalls include numerous small heads of great variety, many of them smiling or laughing. A well-known figure is the corbel of the dragon-slaying monk in the chapter house stair. The large continuous capital that encircles the central pillar of the chapter house is markedly different in style to the stiff-leaf of the Early English period. In contrast to the bold projections and undercutting of the earlier work, it has a rippling form and is clearly identifiable as grapevine.

 

The 15th-century cloisters have many small bosses ornamenting the vault. Two in the west cloister, near the gift shop and café, have been called sheela na gigs, i. e. female figures displaying their genitals and variously judged to depict the sin of lust or stem from ancient fertility cults.

 

Wells Cathedral has one of the finest sets of misericords in Britain. Its clergy has a long tradition of singing or reciting from the Book of Psalms each day, along with the customary daily reading of the Holy Office. In medieval times the clergy assembled in the church eight times daily for the canonical hours. As the greater part of the services was recited while standing, many monastic or collegiate churches fitted stalls whose seats tipped up to provide a ledge for the monk or cleric to lean against. These were "misericords" because their installation was an act of mercy. Misericords typically have a carved figurative bracket beneath the ledge framed by two floral motifs known, in heraldic manner, as "supporters".

 

The misericords date from 1330 to 1340. They may have been carved under the direction of Master Carpenter John Strode, although his name is not recorded before 1341. He was assisted by Bartholomew Quarter, who is documented from 1343. They originally numbered 90, of which 65 have survived. Sixty-one are installed in the choir, three are displayed in the cathedral, and one is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum. New stalls were ordered when the eastern end of the choir was extended in the early 14th century. The canons complained that they had borne the cost of the rebuilding and ordered the prebendary clerics to pay for their own stalls. When the newly refurbished choir opened in 1339 many misericords were left unfinished, including one-fifth of the surviving 65. Many of the clerics had not paid, having been called to contribute a total sum of £200. The misericords survived better than the other sections of the stalls, which during the Protestant Reformation had their canopies chopped off and galleries inserted above them. One misericord, showing a boy pulling a thorn from his foot, dates from the 17th century. In 1848 came a complete rearrangement of the choir furniture, and 61 of the misericords were reused in the restructured stalls.

 

The subject matter of the carvings of the central brackets as misericords varies, but many themes recur in different churches. Typically the themes are less unified or directly related to the Bible and Christian theology than small sculptures seen elsewhere within churches, such as bosses. This applies at Wells, where none of the misericord carvings is directly based on a Bible story. The subjects, chosen either by the woodcarver, or perhaps by the one paying for the stall, have no overriding theme. The sole unifying elements are the roundels on each side of the pictorial subject, which all show elaborately carved foliage, in most cases formal and stylised in the later Decorated manner, but with several examples of naturalistic foliage, including roses and bindweed. Many of the subjects carry traditional interpretations. The image of the "Pelican in her Piety" (believed to feed her young on her own blood) is a recognised symbol for Christ's love for the Church. A cat playing with a mouse may represent the Devil snaring a human soul. Other subjects illustrate popular fables or sayings such as "When the fox preaches, look to your geese". Many depict animals, some of which may symbolise a human vice or virtue, or an aspect of faith.

 

Twenty-seven of the carvings depict animals: rabbits, dogs, a puppy biting a cat, a ewe feeding a lamb, monkeys, lions, bats, and the Early Christian motif of two doves drinking from a ewer. Eighteen have mythological subjects, including mermaids, dragons and wyverns. Five are clearly narrative, such as the Fox and the Geese, and the story of Alexander the Great being raised to Heaven by griffins. There are three heads: a bishop in a mitre, an angel, and a woman wearing a veil over hair arranged in coils over each ear. Eleven carvings show human figures, among which are several of remarkable design, conceived by the artist specifically for their purpose of supporting a shelf. One figure lies beneath the seat, supporting the shelf with a cheek, a hand and a foot. Another sits in a contorted manner supporting the weight on his elbow, while a further figure squats with his knees wide apart and a strained look on his face.

 

Some of the cathedral's fittings and monuments are hundreds of years old. The brass lectern in the Lady Chapel dates from 1661 and has a moulded stand and foliate crest. In the north transept chapel is a 17th-century oak screen with columns, formerly used in cow stalls, with artisan Ionic capitals and cornice, set forward over the chest tomb of John Godelee. There is a bound oak chest from the 14th century, which was used to store the chapter seal and key documents. The bishop's throne dates from 1340, and has a panelled, canted front and stone doorway, and a deep nodding cusped ogee canopy above it, with three-stepped statue niches and pinnacles. The throne was restored by Anthony Salvin around 1850. Opposite the throne is a 19th-century octagonal pulpit on a coved base with panelled sides, and steps up from the north aisle. The round font in the south transept is from the former Saxon cathedral and has an arcade of round-headed arches, on a round plinth. The font cover was made in 1635 and is decorated with the heads of putti. The Chapel of St Martin is a memorial to every Somerset man who fell in World War I.

 

The monuments and tombs include Gisa, bishop; † 1088; William of Bitton, bishop; † 1274; William of March, bishop; † 1302; John Droxford; † 1329; John Godelee; † 1333; John Middleton, died †1350; Ralph of Shrewsbury, died †; John Harewell, bishop; † 1386; William Bykonyll; † c. 1448; John Bernard; † 1459; Thomas Beckington; † died 1464; John Gunthorpe; † 1498; John Still; † 1607; Robert Creighton; † 1672; Richard Kidder, bishop; † 1703; George Hooper, bishop; † 1727 and Arthur Harvey, bishop; † 1894.

 

In the north transept is Wells Cathedral clock, an astronomical clock from about 1325 believed to be by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of Glastonbury. Its mechanism, dated between 1386 and 1392, was replaced in the 19th century and the original moved to the Science Museum in London, where it still operates. It is the second oldest surviving clock in England after the Salisbury Cathedral clock.

 

The clock has its original medieval face. Apart from the time on a 24-hour dial, it shows the motion of the Sun and Moon, the phases of the Moon, and the time since the last new Moon. The astronomical dial presents a geocentric or pre-Copernican view, with the Sun and Moon revolving round a central fixed Earth, like that of the clock at Ottery St Mary. The quarters are chimed by a quarter jack: a small automaton known as Jack Blandifers, who hits two bells with hammers and two with his heels. At the striking of the clock, jousting knights appear above the clock face.

 

On the outer wall of the transept, opposite Vicars' Hall, is a second clock face of the same clock, placed there just over seventy years after the interior clock and driven by the same mechanism. The second clock face has two quarter jacks (which strike on the quarter-hour) in the form of knights in armour.

 

In 2010 the official clock-winder retired and was replaced by an electric mechanism.

 

The first record of an organ at this church dates from 1310. A smaller organ, probably for the Lady Chapel, was installed in 1415. In 1620 an organ built by Thomas Dallam was installed at a cost of £398 1s 5d.

 

The 1620 organ was destroyed by parliamentary soldiers in 1643. An organ built in 1662 was enlarged in 1786 and again in 1855. In 1909–1910 an organ was built by Harrison & Harrison of Durham, with the best parts of the old organ retained. It has been serviced by the same company ever since.

 

Since November 1996 the cathedral has also had a portable chamber organ, by the Scottish makers, Lammermuir. It is used regularly to accompany performances of Tudor and baroque music.

 

The first recorded organist of Wells was Walter Bagele (or Vageler) in 1416. The post of organist or assistant organist has been held by more than 60 people since. Peter Stanley Lyons was Master of Choristers at Wells Cathedral, and Director of Music at Wells Cathedral School in 1954–1960. The choral conductor James William Webb-Jones, father of Lyons's wife Bridget (whom he married in the cathedral), was Headmaster of Wells Cathedral School in 1955–1960. Malcolm Archer was the appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers from 1996 to 2004. Matthew Owens was the appointed organist from 2005 to 2019.

 

There has been a choir of boy choristers at Wells since 909. Currently there are 18 boy choristers and a similar number of girl choristers, aged from eight to fourteen. The Vicars Choral was formed in the 12th century and the sung liturgy provided by a traditional cathedral choir of men and boys until the formation of an additional choir of girls in 1994. The boys and girls sing alternately with the Vicars Choral and are educated at Wells Cathedral School.

 

The Vicars Choral currently number twelve men, of whom three are choral scholars. Since 1348 the College of Vicars had its own accommodation in a quadrangle converted in the early 15th century to form Vicar's Close. The Vicars Choral generally perform with the choristers, except on Wednesdays, when they sing alone, allowing them to present a different repertoire, in particular plainsong.

 

In December 2010 Wells Cathedral Choir was rated by Gramophone magazine as "the highest ranking choir with children in the world". It continues to provide music for the liturgy at Sunday and weekday services. The choir has made many recordings and toured frequently, including performances in Beijing and Hong Kong in 2012. Its repertoire ranges from the choral music of the Renaissance to recently commissioned works.

 

The Wells Cathedral Chamber Choir is a mixed adult choir of 25 members, formed in 1986 to sing at the midnight service on Christmas Eve, and invited to sing at several other special services. It now sings for about 30 services a year, when the Cathedral Choir is in recess or on tour, and spends one week a year singing as the "choir in residence" at another cathedral. Although primarily liturgical, the choir's repertoire includes other forms of music, as well as performances at engagements such as weddings and funerals.

 

The cathedral is home to Wells Cathedral Oratorio Society (WCOS), founded in 1896. With around 160 voices, the society gives three concerts a year under the direction of Matthew Owens, Organist and Master of the Choristers at the cathedral. Concerts are normally in early November, December (an annual performance of Handel's Messiah) and late March. It performs with a number of specialist orchestras including: Music for Awhile, Chameleon Arts and La Folia.

 

The bells at Wells Cathedral are the heaviest ring of ten bells in the world, the tenor bell (the 10th and largest), known as Harewell, weighing 56.25 long hundredweight (2,858 kg). They are hung for full-circle ringing in the English style of change ringing. These bells are now hung in the south-west tower, although some were originally hung in the central tower.

 

The library above the eastern cloister was built between 1430 and 1508. Its collection is in three parts: early documents housed in the Muniment Room; the collection predating 1800 housed in the Chained Library; and the post-1800 collection housed in the Reading Room. The chapter's earlier collection was destroyed during the Reformation, so that the present library consists chiefly of early printed books, rather than medieval manuscripts. The earlier books in the Chained Library number 2,800 volumes and give an indication of the variety of interests of the members of the cathedral chapter from the Reformation until 1800. The focus of the collection is predominantly theology, but there are volumes on science, medicine, exploration, and languages. Books of particular interest include Pliny's Natural History printed in 1472, an Atlas of the World by Abraham Ortelius, printed in 1606, and a set of the works by Aristotle that once belonged to Erasmus. The library is open to the public at appointed times in the summer and presents a small exhibition of documents and books.

 

Three early registers of the Dean and Chapter edited by W. H. B. Bird for the Historical Manuscripts Commissioners – Liber Albus I (White Book; R I), Liber Albus II (R III) and Liber Ruber (Red Book; R II, section i) – were published in 1907. They contain with some repetition, a cartulary of possessions of the cathedral, with grants of land back to the 8th century, well before hereditary surnames developed in England, and acts of the Dean and Chapter and surveys of their estates, mostly in Somerset.

 

Adjacent to the cathedral is a large lawned area, Cathedral Green, with three ancient gateways: Brown's Gatehouse, Penniless Porch and Chain Gate. On the green is the 12th-century Old Deanery, largely rebuilt in the late 15th century by Dean Gunthorpe and remodelled by Dean Bathurst in the late 17th century. No longer the dean's residence, it is used as diocesan offices.

 

To the south of the cathedral is the moated Bishop's Palace, begun about 1210 by Jocelin of Wells but dating mostly from the 1230s. In the 15th century Thomas Beckington added a north wing, now the bishop's residence. It was restored and extended by Benjamin Ferrey between 1846 and 1854.

 

To the north of the cathedral and connected to it by the Chain Gate is Vicars' Close, a street planned in the 14th century and claimed to be the oldest purely residential street in Europe, with all but one of its original buildings intact. Buildings in the close include the Vicars Hall and gateway at the south end, and the Vicars Chapel and Library at the north end.

 

The Liberty of St Andrew was the historic liberty and parish that encompassed the cathedral and surrounding lands closely associated with it.

 

The English painter J. M. W. Turner visited Wells in 1795, making sketches of the precinct and a water colour of the west front, now in the Tate gallery. Other artists whose paintings of the cathedral are in national collections are Albert Goodwin, John Syer and Ken Howard.

 

The cathedral served to inspire Ken Follett's 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth and with a modified central tower, featured as the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral at the end of the 2010 television adaptation of that novel. The interior of the cathedral was used for a 2007 Doctor Who episode, "The Lazarus Experiment", while the exterior shots were filmed at Southwark Cathedral.

 

An account of the damage to the cathedral during the Monmouth Rebellion is included in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1889 historical novel Micah Clarke.

 

The cathedral provided scenes for the 2019–2020 television series The Spanish Princess.

 

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 27-Oct-17, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 30-May-23.

 

Fleet No: '5648'.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Northwest Airlines as N548US in Aug-96. Blended winglets were added in May-07. Northwest was merged into Delta Airlines in Oct-08.

 

After 29.5 years in service the aircraft was permanently retired at Victorville, CA, USA in Nov-25. Updated 18-Feb-26.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 10-Apr-24. Slightly blurred!

 

Named: "Luiz Vaz de Camoes".

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration D-AVZI, this aircraft was delivered to TAP Air Portugal as CS-TJF in Jan-01. Current, updated 10-Apr-24.

Replacing those very tired looking omnidekkas since brand new, a smarter looking Pink line takes place in the roads around Bilborough and the city centre. Think pink as you can guarantee a smooth ride with free wifi and USB onboard. And a perfect day to photograph these as they look super smart.

 

no. YN19 EFO

replacing my road bicycle bottom bracket

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 17-Sep-21 (DeNoise AI).

 

Sub-leased by AirWorld to Ryan International for the winter season in the USA, it was sub-sub-lsd back to AirWorld and operated by Ryan International during the 1998 summer months.

 

A lessor owned aircraft with a long history!

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWIX, this aircraft was delivered to GECAS and leased to Air World as G-BXKA in Nov-97. It was sub-leased to Ryan International Airlines as N714AW on delivery and operated for Apple Vacations (USA).

 

It returned to Air World in Apr-98, sub-sub-leased from and operated by Ryan International. Air World was merged into Flying Colours Airlines on 01-Nov-98 and the aircraft returned to Ryan International two weeks later for the winter season. It was returned to Flying Colours at in Apr-99 as G-BXKA.

 

It was sub-leased to Ryan International/Apple Vacations again in Nov-99, this time operated by Flying Colours. In Mar-00, Flying Colours was merged with Caledonian Airways to form jmc AIR and the aircraft returned to jmc Air in Apr-00.

 

It was sub-leased to Ryan International/Apple Vacations again between Dec-00/Apr-01 and again between Oct-01/Apr-02. It was leased to Ryan International again in Nov-02. jmc Air was renamed Thomas Cook Airlines UK at the end of Mar-03 and the aircraft returned to Thomas Cook at the end of Apr-03.

 

In Dec-03 It was leased to USA 3000 Airlines (Bredan Airways) and returned to Thomas Cook in Apr-04. It was leased to USA 3000 again between Dec-04/Apr-05. The aircraft returned to GECAS in Jan-08 and was immediately leased to Vladivostok Avia as VP-BFY.

 

In Feb-14 the aircraft was returned to GECAS and stored at Shannon, Ireland before being leased to Hamburg Airways as D-AHHH in Jun-14. In Dec-14 Hamburg Airways AOC was temporarily suspended by the German Authorities and the aircraft was returned to GECAS and again stored at Shannon, Ireland.

 

It was sold to Sunrise Asset Management and leased to Allegiant Air as N227NV in Apr-15. The aircraft was stored at Tampa, FL, USA on delivery. It was moved to Grissom AFB, Peru, IN, USA in Jul-15 (maintenance?) and back to Tampa in early Aug-15. It eventually entered service on 22-Oct-15.

 

The aircraft was permanently retired at Orlando-Sanford in Nov-20. It was sold to Alaris Aerospace in Apr-22 and broken up at Sanford in 2024. Updated 16-Aug-25.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 07-Sep-23

 

'Tipperary Crystal' logojet

 

This aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa as D-ABFW in Apr-81. It was sold to Jetz Ventures in Jun-97 and sold on to Ryanair the same day as EI-CNX.

 

In Nov-05 the aircraft was sold to AutoDirect Aviation LLC as N127AD and stored at Prestwick, Scotland, UK. It was transferred to ADL Leasing LLC in Dec-05 and was leased to LAN Airlines (Chile) as CC-CQS in Feb-06.

 

The aircraft returned to the lessor as N227AG in May-08 and was stored. In Nov-08 it was leased to RUTACA (Venezuela) as YV380T. Now 42 years old it's still in service. Current, updated 07-Sep-23.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 09-Mar-17.

 

JAA / Japan Asia Airways operated services from Japan to Taiwan, similar to KLM Asia, Swissair Asia and British Asia Airways.

 

This aircraft was delivered to JAL Japan Airlines as JA8987 in Feb-98. On delivery it was leased to JAA Japan Asia Airways. JAA was absorbed back into Japan Airlines International in Oct-06.

 

'International' was dropped from the titles in Apr-11 when the airline became Japan Airlines again. After 22 years in service the aircraft was stored at Tokyo-Haneda in Jan-20.

 

It was ferried to Victorville, CA, USA in Dec-20 and sold to the Jet Midwest Group LLC as N503KW. It was moved to Kansas City, Mo, USA in Jan-21. It was thought to be joining Eastern Airlines, however it was stored at Kansas City and will be used for spares.

 

The aircraft was sold to Alta Airlines Holdings (part of the Jet Midwest Grp) in May-21 and permanently retired. Updated 29-Dec-23.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 10-Jun-21, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 22-Sep-23.

 

'Blue Poole', England World Tail livery. The tail scheme appears to be a lighter blue compared to the same livery on other aircraft.

 

First flown in Oct-82, this was a very early B757 (c/n 9), it was British Airways first Boeing 757 (although it was the fourth to be delivered after G-BIKB/C/D) and was delivered as G-BIKA in Mar-83.

 

It was sold to DHL (Holdings) UK in Jul-00 and stored at Wichita, KS, USA until it was converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in Feb-01. It was leased to EAT European Air Transport as OO-DLN in Mar-01 and operated on behalf of DHL Europe.

 

The aircraft was transferred to EAT Leipzig GmbH (European Air Transport Germany) as D-ALEA in Mar-10 while operations for DHL Europe continued. In Mar-16 it was transferred to DHL (Holdings) UK as G-BIKA again and continued until it was permanently retired at Madrid, Spain, in Dec-16 after almost 34 years in service. The registration was cancelled in Aug-17.

Replace 13 descriptions

replaced the other sunset photo, i like this one better. i still have oodles of pictures to upload.

the last 6 days were the highlight of my summer.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 11-Sep-24.

 

Named: "Esra".

 

A late build MD-88, this aircraft was delivered to Onur Air as TC-ONP in May-97. It was sold to Bukovyna Aviation (Ukraine) in Apr-11 as UR-CIZ.

 

By the following month it had found it's way to Iran and was wet-leased to Taban Air. Taban Air bought it in Jun-12 and it was re-registered EP-TBB. Current, updated 11-Sep-24.

Trundling south through the greenery of Sutton Park with a late running intermodal service from Bescot to Wembley is DB Schenker Class 66, 66025.

 

One of Britain's, and indeed Europe's, most numerous diesel locomotives, the Class 66 has become the face of nearly every freight operating rail company on the UK network, a simple, utilitarian design with an enormous, powerful engine. But with it's popularity among rail companies came a price, as it is often listed as one of the most hated locomotives ever to hit the UK rails, largely because of the slew of older BR classic locomotives it replaced from the late 1990's onward.

 

But is it really deserving of such a bum rap?

 

By the mid-1990's it was apparent that a majority of the ex-British Rail locomotives were well beyond their bloom of youth. Aside from the Class 58's of 1983, the Class 60's of 1989, and the American built Class 59's of 1985, most locomotives in the service of freight companies were coming up to 30 or 40 years old, and reliability was a major issue. Years of under-investment in the BR freight sector Railfreight Distribution, had resulted in a fleet comprised of decrepit diesels such as the Class 37's and Class 47's, being worked into the ground to keep the company rolling. Although the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 was a catalyst to investments for freight trains working those particular trunk routes to the South East, with the construction of the Class 92's and the refurbishment of Wembley based Class 47's, the remainder of the freight operators, by this time led by shadow franchises Loadhaul, Transrail and Mainline, were left with a fleet that was slowly dying before their eyes. Class 47's, especially, needed a major overhaul every seven years, costing £400,000; yet had an average daily availability of less than 65% with only 16 days between major failures.

 

Enter Wisconsin Central, who, in 1996, bought the three franchises together with Railfreight Distribution and mail operator Rail Express Systems to create EWS, or English, Welsh & Scottish Railways. As part of the franchise commitment, the intention was to replace the ageing diesel fleet with a standard design that would reduce maintenance and operating costs substantially, with higher levels of reliability and efficiency. Looking at the fleet of diesels in general, it was noted that among the most reliable classes in the UK were the small fleet of 15 Class 59's, built by General Motors between 1985 and 1995 for private Aggregate operators such as Foster Yeoman and Hanson, as well as energy company National Power for the haulage of their coal trains between Collieries and Power Stations. These engines were, for the most part, substantially younger than the likes of the Class 20's, 31's, 37's and 47's, and more reliable than the early built Class 56's from Romania, which were infamous for their poor build quality.

 

Seeing their success, EWS placed an order in 1997 for 250 locomotives based on similar principles to that of the Class 59, often dubbed one of the biggest locomotive orders since the age of Steam. Locomotives were built at GM's factory in London, Ontario, and externally the bodyshell and design shared that with the Class 59. Internally though, the engines took many of GM's previous developments and updated the engine and traction motors to enable higher speeds. The new locomotive was fitted with the 20 year old design of the EMD 710 12-cylinder diesel engine, found originally in the GP60 freight locomotives of North America. However, some of GM's newer creations also made it into the mix, such as updated cab-control systems, the kind found in the Irish Railways Class 201 of 1994.

 

Originally designated Class 61, the first of these new locomotives arrived by boat at Immingham in June 1998, prior to proving tests at Derby. The locomotives then shipped at a rate of 11 per month into the UK via Newport Docks, until the order was completed in December 2001. After unloading, EWS engineers then simply took off the tarpaulin, unblocked the suspension, and finally as each was shipped with water and fuel, hooked up the batteries, before starting the engine and handing the locomotive into service. Almost immediately, other UK freight operators took interest in the Class, and companies such as Freightliner, GB Railfreight and Direct Rail Services also placed orders.

 

Upon their introduction, reliability levels for EWS's operations improved substantially. Each locomotive is specified and guaranteed to 95% availability, aiming for a minimum of 180 days mean time between failures. It is designed to cover 1·6million km between major rebuilds, equivalent to 18 years' service, with each major rebuild costed at £200,000. But with their success came the sad reality that the much loved classes of yesteryear were going to be given the push, and this is where a majority of the Class 66's unpopularity comes from. It could have been understood the replacement of the 40 year old Class 20's, 31's, 37's and 47's, as it was quite clear they were past their prime, the same could equally be said for some of the earlier Class 56's of the late 1970's. However, the line was stepped across with the withdrawal of the Class 58's and Class 60's, as the desire of EWS to have a standardised fleet, resulted in the removal of locomotives that were nowhere near life-expired. The large-scale retirement of these extremely reliable and powerful locomotives that weren't even 20 years old was seen as a travesty, and whilst some Class 60's have seen a revival with other operators as of late, the Class 58's are all but extinct, whilst many Class 60's continue to languish in yards across the UK, mostly at Toton in the East Midlands.

 

Nevertheless, the class continued to grow over the years, and, upon the conclusion of Class 66 production in the UK in 2014, 446 of the class were eventually built. But we can't forget also that the class has seen major success across Europe as well, with dozens of engines in operation in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, and Poland, with certification pending in the Czech Republic and Italy.

 

Today, a majority of the class is still in service with a variety of operators. DB Schenker, the successor to EWS, continues to operate the largest fleet of 249 locomotives. Freightliner operates 141, DRS operates 19, GBRf operates 72 and Colas Rail operates 5. Not all of the locomotives however remain with us, as three have been written off.

 

The first was 66521 on the 28th February, 2001, where after hitting a Land Rover that had fallen down an embankment from the M62 motorway, a southbound GNER InterCity 225 set led by lightweight Class 82 DVT, 82221, derailed and ran straight into the path of the oncoming Class 66 which was working a northbound coal train. With an estimated closing speed of 142mph, the DVT was obliterated upon hitting the Class 66, and the freight locomotive was mangled and distorted as it was crushed between its loaded coal train behind and the passenger coaches in front. In the disaster, 10 people were killed, including 66521's driver Stephen Dunn, although his instructor Andrew Hill, who was also riding in the cab, was able to survive. The locomotive however was for the most part destroyed, and scrapped later that year.

 

The second was on the 4th January, 2010 involving 66048, which derailed at Carrbridge in snowy weather. Coming down the Highland Mainline with a loaded container train, it passed a signal at danger and was derailed at trap points, subsequently falling down an embankment into trees and injuring the two crew members.

 

The third was on the 28th June 2012, where GBRf 66734 derailed at Loch Treig whilst working Alcan Tanks. The inability of recovery crews to access the highly remote and dangerous location resulted in the engine being cut-up on site.

 

Additionally, many Class 66's have suffered low-speed collisions and derailments, either through faults in the track, driver error, or faults with the rolling stock.

 

However, despite the criticism, and often being dubbed as bland and utilitarian, the Class 66 is still a major part of the UK freight network, working behind the scenes without need of major attention so as to get the job done. Indeed it may find a home among rail enthusiasts, and perhaps one day it'll be dubbed a classic like the Class 37's and 47's it replaced, but at the moment it's the UK networks humble hero, plying its trade the best way it knows how.

Distribution: Arunachal Pradesh to Thailand (40 ASS? EHM 41 MYA THA)

Lifeform: Epiphytic cham.

 

Basionym/Replaced Synonym:

Saccolabium curvifolium Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 222 (1833).

 

Homotypic Names:

Gastrochilus curvifolius (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 661 (1891).

Ascocentrum curvifolium (Lindl.) Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1: 975 (1913).

 

Heterotypic Synonyms:

Saccolabium miniatum Hook., Bot. Mag. 88: t. 5326 (1862), nom. illeg.

Saccolabium curvifolium var. luteum B.S.Williams, Orch.-Grow. Man., ed. 4: 258 (1871).

Ascocentrum curvifolium f. luteum (B.S.Williams) Christenson, Austral. Orchid Rev. 70(6): 15 (2005).

Replacing an earlier photo from Apr-15 with a better version.

 

This aircraft was delivered to American Airlines as N728AN in Apr-14. Current (Apr-17).

Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 12-May-15, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 03-Dec-23.

 

Built as a Beech AT-11 Kansan, this aircraft was delivered to the US Army Air Forces serialled 42-36966 in 1942 and used for aircrew basic training.

 

It was converted to Beech C-45H Expeditor standard in 1953 and re-serialled 52-10610. It was sold into the civil aviation market as N9597Z (date unknown),

 

The aircraft was sold to LAVCO, the Libyan Aviation Company as N176L around 1968 and operated on oil well support, based in Tripoli, Libya.

 

It was sold to ATC Inc (USA) in Mar-75. The registration was cancelled in Oct-86, presumably it was permanently retired.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 20-Sep-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

This aircraft was originally ordered by Presidential Airways as N415XV but the order was cancelled. It was first flown with the British Aerospace test registration G-BPBT in Jan-89.

 

It was converted to a B.Ae 146-200QC ('Quick Change') with a main deck cargo door in May-89 and could be used in either the passenger or cargo role.

 

It was leased to Ansett New Zealand in Oct-89 and re-registered ZK-NZC in Jan-90. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Christchurch, NZ in Jul-99. It was sold sold to Titan Airways (UK) as G-ZAPN in Sep-99.

 

It was wet-leased to British Airways Citiexpress between Aug/Dec-02. The aircraft was damaged at Manchester UK when it was hit by a set of steps during high winds on 15-Dec-02. It was repaired and returned to service on 13-Jan-03.

 

The aircraft continued in service with Titan Airways until it was withdrawn from use in Mar-13 and sold to Pionair Australia later the same month.

 

The aircraft was converted to a permanent cargo role and operated by Skyforce Aviation as VH-SIF in May-13. It returned to Pionair Australia in Aug-13.

 

It was noted still in service with Pionair in Jan-22, and still in its last Titan Airways basic livery (black rear fuselage/tail with the big sun and stars!). However, it's now shown in most databases as 'stored'. It's now 33 years old. Updated 20-Sep-22.

  

Blanchetown and Paisley.

This usually bypassed Murray River town is one of the oldest river towns in SA but with two modern bridges across the Murray few ever venture into the old town. It was named after Lady Blanche, wife of our 6th Governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell. Blanchetown replaced an earlier settlement a few kms south of this spot called Moorundie. More of that later. Blanchetown was a very isolated spot being the only settlement between Truro and Wentworth in NSW when it was established. The nearest settlement was Mannum established in 1856 and the earliest town along settled along the Murray was Wellington established in 1840. Blanchetown was surveyed as a government town and laid out in 1855 and like Wellington it had a police presence and a police station from 1859 as there were no other law officials between Wellington and Blanchetown. This was frontier country. The government had decided to act and create a town at this place because of the birth of the River Murray boat trade after 1854 (Captains Randell and Cadell had had their race up the Murray to Wellington with paddle steamers and the Governor of SA Sir Henry Fox in 1853). Suddenly this areas were more attractive to pastoralists and traders. And as noted above the government had commissioned a rail survey and feasibly plan in 1856 for the extension of the railway line from Kapunda to Blanchetown. This was a very preliminary study as the railway line from Adelaide did not reach Gawler until 1857 and although it had been planned earlier the railway did not reach Kapunda until 1860! Despite this drawback the town of Blanchetown progressed because of the river boat trade and the opening up of trade links to the pastoralists up the Darling River beyond the early settlement of Wentworth. But its dreams of being a rail terminus and major port along the Murray never eventuated. Morgan got that prize and consequential wealth in 1878.

 

Blanchetown was created out of Edward John Eyre’s 1839 Moorundie Special Survey of around 4,000 acres. Town lots were first sold in 1857 and the town soon had a hotel (1858), which was the license from Eardley Heywood’s Old Whipstick Inn which was first licensed in 1845 on his Portee Station. In Blanchetown it was named the Heywood arms which was later changed to the Blanchetown Hotel. Later came a Post Office and Telegraph Station (1865), a general store and Police Station. The current Police Station built in 1969 is not in the town but on the main highway near the roadhouse. A proposed Customs house for the river trade to NSW in 1856 never eventuated as it was later built in Morgan. Attempts were made to build paddle steamers in Blanchetown but only two ever completed. But the commercial ferry service across the river (from 1869) bought some business and trade to the town as did the mail and coach service from Truro to Wellington and sheep stations away from the riverbanks via Blanchetown. The government took over the punt service in 1879 as a sop to the town after the opening of the port of Morgan and the town losing its Sub Collector of Customs. In the same year 1879 the state school was built. No early churches were built here despite the growing size of the town. But like later Riverland towns Blanchetown would have been serviced the church paddle steamers. The Methodists had the paddle steamer Glad Tidings from 1894. This was a very appropriate name for a church boat. This was later replaced by the Endeavour in 1909. Once the Riverland towns were established between 1910 and 1920 the church paddle steamers were stopped. The Anglicans had the paddle steamer the Etona which operated up and down the river, including stops at Blanchetown, from 1891 to 1914 conducting baptisms, marriages, masses and even occasional funerals if they were in port when needed. Eventually Blanchetown got a church – the Paisley Lutheran Church on the eastern bank of the Murray which opened in 1903. Paisley was an early area for irrigated fruit orchards at Blanchetown. The Hundred of Paisley was declared in 1860 but it attracted few settlers until irrigation was possible after the completion of Lock One at Blanchetown in 1922. This new Lutheran church at Paisley had its own cemetery but the town cemetery of Blanchetown had opened in 1865. For many years Blanchetown was also serviced by the paddle steamer Pyap which was run by Eudunda Farmers a floating general store between 1908 and 1940.

 

The big event in the history of Blanchetown was the erection of this first lock, number one at Blanchetown from 1915. The Prime Minister of Australia and our state Premier attended, as did many other state and national politicians when the start of work on the lock commenced in 1915. Such was the national importance of this event for all states using the Murray River. But lock number one was not completed until 1922 as the first of around 30 locks to control the flows of the river to ensure it was always navigable for paddle steamers. Alas, by the time the lock at Blanchetown was completed the river boat trade was already dying as motor transport was taking over. But this lock and the others up to Albury all helped with flood control, except in the years of major floods such as 1956. The second bridge across the Murray in SA was opened at Blanchetown in 1963. Unfortunately it was built on unstable land and the pre-stressed concrete bridge began to sink into the river by the early 1990s. It was consequently replaced with the current and second Blanchetown bridge in 1998. South of the road bridge and east of the Lock are 19 recorded Aboriginal canoe trees indicative of the importance of this place to Aboriginal people.

 

Edward John Eyre and Moorundie and Portee Station.

The real importance of Blanchetown lies with the settlement at Moorundie just to its south which began with Edward John Eyre but has now all been swept away by time and Murray River floods. Just the memorial to Moorundie and Eyre remains in Blanchetown. In 1839 explorer Edward John Eyre took out a Special Survey of 4,000 acres of land for £4,000 with Osmond Gilles along the Murray at this spot. He got the money for this from his profit of overlanding cattle to SA in 1838. It was a narrow 12 mile stretch along the banks of the river in an area with substantial river flats. Eyre also took out another Special survey further south with Osmond Gilles at the spot where Mannum now stands along the Murray. Eyre established the first white settlement anywhere in Australia along the Murray in 1842 at Moorundie. A fine sketch of his station homestead, really just a good hut, was drawn by General Edward Frome, the third Survey General of SA from 1839 to 1849 and it is in the Art Gallery of SA. Eyre was out to make money in the colonies hence his decision to be the second person to overland cattle from NSW to SA in 1838 after Charles Bonney and Joseph Hawdon had done the inaugural run earlier in 1838. His overlanding of cattle had shown him the country along the Murray so he knew where he wanted to select his Special Survey. Eyre subdivided part of his land to create the tiny settlement of Sturt (named after his explorer friend who had also overlanded cattle in 1838 to SA) but only one person appears to have joined him there as a land owner! He was one of the Hawker brothers of Bungaree, James Hawker who visited Eyre in December 1842 and purchased one acre of land from him in early 1843 on which to raise pigs. Hawker did not stay for long.

 

After Eyre moved onto his 350 aces of freehold land in 1842 he planted lucerne, corn and wheat on irrigated river flats for fodder for his cattle. He built little weirs and channels to divert some of the river course. He also used a native grass which produced flowers heads similar to millet for his horses. It was this grass the pigs liked and partly explains why James Hawker wanted to raise pigs there. Eyre’s first crop of wheat grew to over six feet high. Eyre was respectful of the local Aboriginals but trouble had erupted with them by other white overlanders especially further up the Murray near the NSW border. Eyre was appointed a Sub Protector of Aborigines in 1841 and a small police presence and barracks were established at his Moorundie station. Eyre’s first houses was made of reeds but his £300 a year salary as Sub Protector of Aborigines allowed him to replace that with a stone house. The front rooms for the house were used as a Courthouse. He also had stone military barracks built. 13 soldiers and a Sergeant from the 96th Regiment were stationed at Moorundie and 3 policemen. With Eyre’s servants and workmen the settlement of Moorundie had 43 residents by October 1841. Eyre had some of his materials and supplies brought up the river from the Murray Mouth so that he would have a couple of boats to use on the Murray. Eyre resigned as Sub Protector of Aborigines in 1843 once white dominance and peace was restored along the Upper Murray. Eyre was restless and soon left his friend Edward Scott to look after Moorundie whilst Eyre went exploring again in 1844. Then a flood in late 1844 swept away Eyre’s small weirs, irrigation channels and the crops. At this point Eyre gave up on trying to farm at Moorundie and returned to England early in 1845. He then disposed of his lands in SA and in NSW where he had land near Queanbeyan. In 1846 he was sent to NZ as Lieutenant Governor with a large salary package before ending up as a very controversial Governor of Jamaica in the 1860s where he brutally suppressed a black rebellion. The ruins of the police barracks and his homestead at Moorundie were finally swept away by the great Murray flood of 1870 which was similar to the flood of 1956. But Eyre’s contribution to the exploration of SA is acknowledged by the many place names bearing his name. His farming efforts were not successful and did not bring him great wealth. Eyre’s friend and assistant E Scott who looked after Eyre’s Moorundie property when Eyre was away or exploring stayed on after Eyre left SA. Scott stayed at Moorundie until 1859 when he moved to property he had acquire at Nor West Bend- Morgan. Between 1854 and 1859 Scott ran a Post Office at Moorundie. A pound keeper operated at Moorundie for some year too and his name which is Nott was recorded in Notts Well near Blanchetown. The pound operated from 1856 to around 1861.

 

Next to Moorundie station J Henderson took out a large leasehold property in 1841 which he named Portee station. This was acquired in 1845 by Eardley Heywood who held Portee station until his death in 1877. After Eyre left Moorundie in 1845 Heywood acquired the land as leased land which he added to his adjacent Portee station. Heywood then controlled the land from Blanchetown to Swan Reach along the Murray. He built a solid stone homestead for Portee near the river but this was swept away in a flood of 1852 so he built another homestead further away from the river atop some cliffs in 1853. It is still the Portee station homestead. Portee grew to 110 square miles of pastoral lease. The old homestead and outbuildings buildings still remain in private hands. For some years in the 1850s a district pound for straying sheep and cattle was operated by William Nott at Moorundie which was by then part of Portee station. In 1845 some of Eyre’s Special Survey lands to the north of Blanchetown (and Portee station) at Roonka were acquired as lease land by Lachlan McBean of Baldon station back near Truro.

 

Heywood arrived in SA in 1842 at age 20 years but with considerable capital. He entered the pastoral industry with a cattle property at Beefacres near Adelaide in 1844 before taking up Portee. He also had houses in Adelaide, Gawler and Goolwa and his own paddle steamer for getting to Goolwa and back. Heywood’s properties were sold in 1879 two years after his death in 1877. His Portee station at that time covered 110 square miles; his Swan Reach and inland Murray Mallee runs covered 330 square miles; and he had 2,475 acres of freehold land at Portee. He also had stations both sides of the Victorian border north of Bordertown. Eardley had married but unfortunately his first wife and three of his five children all died of diphtheria within one week. Eardley Heywood died in North Adelaide and was buried at Gawler where he had donated generously to the St George’s Anglican Church organ fund. His land between Portee and Sandleton was resumed upon his death for closer settlement. Mainly German background settlers took up these marginal lands further north than Swan Reach.

 

This is meant to go with my Shelby Cobra when I'm finished :-)

 

I got the idea for doing the logos brick-built from Ryan Link

 

Thanks for rendering Blackout!

 

Looks best when either far away or small

Replaced the Photoshopped one with this one which I like more!

Built in 1929, this 17-story Art Deco-style former passenger railroad station was designed by Fellheimer & Wagner to replace the multiple previous train stations and termini in Buffalo, which were scattered throughout the city and belonged to different railroads. The structure stands on the site of the old Union Depot built in 1874, which closed in the early 1920s. The station began construction in 1925 when the New York Central Railroad settled on building their new union terminal in Buffalo at the site, with the station being built to accommodate the expected growth of Buffalo from a city of about 550,000 people to one with 1.5 million people, and to accommodate continued growth in passenger numbers. However, both of these projections never materialized, with the city’s population growth and the railroad’s passenger numbers growth, already slowing in the 1920s, slowing further due to the Great Depression during the 1930s, and then beginning a long, steady decline, only being briefly buoyed by World War II before falling out of favor as automobile travel proved more flexible and air travel more swift than train travel. Due to these circumstances, the terminal was overbuilt and never reached its full capacity during its operations, only coming close during World War II due to resource shortages and mass mobilization of the United States during wartime. The terminal was offered for sale by the New York Central Railroad for one million dollars in 1956, but found no buyers, with continuing declines in passenger numbers, coupled with the decline in the population of Buffalo itself, leading to several services being ended during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966, the railroad, in an effort to save costs and downsize their facilities, demolished several outbuildings in the complex, and in 1968, the once powerful New York Central Railroad, a husk of its former self, merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad in an attempt to consolidate their expenses and save both companies, but this merger proved unsuccessful, leading to their bankruptcy in 1976, with both railroads absorbed into the public-private partnership known as Conrail.

 

In the meantime, Amtrak was formed in 1971 to provide passenger rail service in the United States, operating out of the terminal until 1979, with the agency facing budgetary limitations that did not allow them to renovate the aging structure, which, when coupled with the massive expenses of keeping the building comfortable, dry, and well-lit, led to the agency building two smaller stations in Buffalo during the 1970s to replace it. The terminal was subsequently purchased by Anthony T. Fedele, whom managed to maintain the building in decent condition, but was unable to find any interested developers to reuse the building, and eventually fell behind on taxes, leading to the building being seized at foreclosure so the taxes could be recouped by the government. During the time it was owned by Fedele, the building was vacated by Conrail’s offices between 1980 and 1984, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, with the final operations at the terminal, the interlocking towers that once signaled trains arriving at the station, being shut down in 1985. In 1986, the building was purchased at auction by Thomas Telesco, whom did not maintain the building, selling off many artifacts and fixtures from its interior, and proposing grandiose and unrealistic schemes of what he would do with the building, including being a stop on a high-speed rail line between New York and Toronto. The building was then sold to Bernie Tuchman and Samuel Tuchman, with the building seeing further elements removed and sold, and the building continuing to decay.

 

In 1997, the terminal, then in poor condition, was purchased by Scott Field of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County, whom paid for the building’s back taxes, and shortly thereafter, formed the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation, transferring ownership of the building to the organization. The building was stabilized and secured under the stewardship of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation, which opened the building for public tours in 2003, and holds many fundraising events at the station every year. The building has been preserved, but a restoration or adaptive reuse of the structure has so far remained elusive.

 

The building features a brown brick exterior with an octagonal corner tower, with a large barrel-roofed main concourse structure wrapping around the tower to the south and east. The facade of the tower features multiple setbacks, chamfered corners, corner clock faces at the roofline above the twelfth floor, a rotunda with large archways and buttresses atop the tower with a decorative trim crown at the parapet, vertical window bays that stretch from the building’s base to the roofline, large entrances with metal canopies, large transoms, and stone surrounds, pilasters, and stone trim and caps atop the parapets. The main concourse portion of the building features large arched curtain walls at the ends of its barrel vaulted roof, a cavernous barrel vaulted interior, large metal canopies over the entrances, and a tunnel underneath that once allowed traffic on Curtiss Street to run beneath the building, though this has been closed since the 1980s due to the building’s decay, with a light court between the waiting room and a low-rise office block in the front, which sits just east of the tower and presents a similar facade treatment to that of the tower, with vertically accentuated window bays and pilasters. The rear of the building is more spartan in appearance, with a scar from the former location of the entrance to the train concourse to the rear, with the connecting structure having been removed following the discontinuation of railroad services at the building in 1979. The train concourse features multiple platforms with Art Deco-style aluminum canopies with sleek columns, thin-profile roofs, and rounded ends, with the train concourse featuring arched clerestory windows and a gabled roof, and being in a rather advanced state of deterioration with vegetation having grown throughout the structure and the surrounding abandoned tracks between the platforms. Attached to the southwest corner of the main building is the baggage building, a simpler six-story Art Deco-style structure with a buff brick exterior, a penthouse above the main entrance to the building, pilasters, vertically accentuated window bays, steel windows, stone spandrel panels, stone trim, and stone parapet caps, with long canopies along the base of the front and rear of the building that protected incoming and outgoing mail and baggage from inclement weather. To the west of the baggage building is the one-story mail processing building, which features a similar facade treatment, with the main difference besides height being the rooftop monitor windows in the middle of the building’s roof. Southwest of the baggage and mail processing building, sitting close to Memorial Drive, is a structure that formerly housed the Railway Express Agency, which is more utilitarian than the rest of the surviving complex, and is in an advanced state of decay, with the demolition of the structure being planned to take place sometime this decade. The structure features large window bays with steel windows, stucco cladding on the brick structure, and the remnants of canopies on the north and south facades of the first floor, with a long and low one-story wing to the rear.

 

The complex is one of the largest designed by Fellheimer & Wagner, and has maintained a remarkable state of preservation in its original form with few changes since its construction, besides some damage from the years of decay and neglect in the 1980s and 1990s. Another notable structure by the firm, and one of the most well-known railroad stations in the world, is Grand Central Terminal in New York City, which was also built for the New York Central Railroad. In addition to Grand Central Terminal, the firm also designed terminals that are more similar in appearance to the Buffalo Central Terminal, including Union Station in South Bend, Indiana, and Cincinnati Union Terminal, with Grand Central Terminal, Buffalo Central Terminal, and Cincinnati Union Terminal being among the largest, most impressive, and most significant railroad stations ever built in the United States. The station, though unrestored, is still impressive, and hopefully will be eventually adaptively reused for an economically sustainable function.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 08-Feb-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

Named: "Greta Garbo".

 

First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to the original version of Lauda Air in Jun-01. Lauda Air was merged into Austrian Airlines in Oct-04.

 

It was fitted with blended winglets in Oct-08 and remained in full Lauda Air livery until it was repainted into Austrian Airlines livery in Jan-10 and was re-named "Hochschwab" in May-10.

 

After only 11 years in service the aircraft was ferried to Kemble, UK in Jun-12 and permanently retired! Updated 08-Feb-22.

 

Note: The registration OE-LNO was re-used on a DHL Boeing 757-200F in Feb-22.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 01-Nov-22.

 

Shame about the fence, but worth it as they won't be seen again in this livery.

 

This aircraft was rolled out at Toulouse on 10-Apr-08 as F-WWTL in full Kingfisher Airlines (India) livery and was placed into storage. It had it's first flight 3 months later on 10-Jul-08. It should have become VT-VJE but Kingfisher were having financial problems and were unable to take delivery so it remained stored at Toulouse.

 

There had been a plan for it to be delivered to Air Deccan, a Kingfisher subsidiary, but this also fell through and the sale was cancelled in Sep-08.

 

In Oct-08 the aircraft was to be leased to Arik Air, Nigeria. It was delivered to Airbus Financial Services(?) in Oct-08 and re-registered F-WJKI. Flown to Paris-Orly, it was repainted in full Arik Air livery. It returned to Toulouse and was returned to storage as Arik Air didn't have the financing either.

 

In May-09 it was registered in Portugal as CS-TFX and leased to Hi Fly (a Portuguese airline operating ACMI [= Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance & Insurance] services for other airlines). It was then sub-leased to Arik Air operated by Hi Fly.

 

In Mar-12 it was to become Nigerian registered as 5N-JIA but the lessor was unhappy about that and so it remained with Hi Fly, registered in Portugal.

 

In Dec-14 this aircraft's sister-ship CS-TFW had an engine technical problem in Lagos, Nigeria, which needed spare parts which Arik Air didn't have and were unable to finance, so that aircraft was stored in Lagos (It was still there in Apr-16 and was eventually permanently retired).

 

Operations continued with CS-TFX until Jun-15 when it was returned to Hi Fly. The maroon/blue livery of Arik Air became grey/blue and Hi Fly now operate it themselves on Corporate and VIP charters and occasionally for other airlines.

 

For varying periods the aircraft was operated for Norwegian Air International, El Al Israel Airlines, TAP Air Portugal and a two month Haj Pilgrimage lease to Tunis Air between Jul / Sep-18. It was returned to the lessor in Oct-18 and permanently retired at Lourdes, France.

 

Note: I also have a photo of this aircraft in Nov-15 at Manchester, UK, as CS-TFX operated by Hi Fly. See www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding/22674376412

replaced the M9 with an M-P (240) :D

 

Having sold off a lot of old gear including most of my old Nikon kit, I also got hold of a 35mm 1.4 Summilux FLE

Replacing the 22

 

When eventually completed, the new tram extension will replace several Lothian Buses service. One of the routes impacted is the 22, on which 358 (SN11EBG) is seen here. The squiggle on the destination indicates a bus service that has to divert from it’s normal route due to roadworks.

 

The advert on the side of the bus may need reviewing in the current circumstances….:

The K50 is intended to replace the Tsar-class, as that design was found to be heavily flawed. However, the good features were borrowed from the Tsar-class, like its bridge that gave an excellent view on the battlespace.

 

The ship is based on the Pearl battlecruiser's hull, but modified to meet the needs of battleship. This class is supposed to fill out the gap between the said battlecruiser and The Divine superbattleship.

 

It utilizes many new features that makes it lighter and cheaper. Firtsly, it has only three turret versus the usual four of other nations' battleships while still having the same number of cannons. With one less turret a lot of weight was saved due to less machinery and a shorter citadel, this way more weight could be used for armor. At standard load it has a displacement of 38,230 t.

 

Armor

 

The ships' armor protection was designed to break up 16-inch (406 mm) shells from a distance of 15,000–20,000 meters and the primary armor plates made of Krupp cemented armor (which reduces spalling) are backed up by splinter bulkheads intended to contain any shell fragments.

The ship's waterline armor belt is 305 mm (12 in) thick and tapered to a thickness of 100 mm (3.9 in) at its bottom edge; above it is a strake of 229 mm (9.0 in) armor. The main deck armor is 104 mm (4 in). The turrets are protected with an armor thickness of 305 mm on the face, 230–190 mm (9.1–7.5 in) on the sides, and 152 mm on the roof. The barbettes of the second turret is protected by armor 305 mm thick, while the casemates of the 150 mm guns are protected by 37 mm armor plates. The sides of the conning tower are 369 mm (14.5 in) thick.

 

Propulsion

 

K50 is equipped with four steam turbines, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 91,000 shaft horsepower provided by oil-fueled boilers. The ship could carry 5,000 long tons of fuel oil, giving her a range of 10,200 km at a speed of 16 knots. The ship exceeded her designed speed of 26.5 knots during her sea trials, reaching 26.7 knots .

  

Armament

 

K50 class' eight 50-caliber 41-centimeter guns are mounted in three turrets, one twin and two triple superfiring turrets fore and aft. Numbered one through three from front to rear, the hydraulically powered turrets give the guns an elevation range of −2 to +35 degrees, giving them a maximum range of 30,200 m. The rate of fire for the guns is around two rounds per minute.

The ship's secondary armament of 18 150 mm guns is mounted in four twin turrets and the rmaining in casemates. These guns have a maximum range of 20,500 metres and fired at a rate of six to ten rounds per minute. The gun between the turrets might be replaced with a torpedo launcher from the Plunderer class to give the ship more versatility.

Anti-aircraft defense is provided by eight 84 mm high elevation guns, eight 40 mm guns in two quad turrets and eight 25mm guns, six in twin turrets and two as single mounts.

  

Replaced with:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/nolarisingproject/2807497005/

 

NoLA Rising salutes Banksy: nolarising.blogspot.com

Strolling through Old Aberdeen on my way to the University this beauty caught my eye, just had to capture the image to archive on Flickr.

 

Vehicle make: LAND ROVER

Date of first registration: October 2012

Year of manufacture: 2012

Cylinder capacity (cc): 2198 cc

CO₂Emissions: 266 g/km

Fuel type: DIESEL

Export marker: No

Vehicle status: Tax not due

Vehicle colour: BLUE

Vehicle type approval: N1

Wheelplan: 2 AXLE RIGID BODY

Revenue weight: 2505kg

 

The Land Rover Defender (initially called the Land Rover Ninety and Land Rover One Ten) is a British four-wheel-drive off-road SUV developed from the original Land Rover Series launched in June 1948.

 

In October 2013 Land Rover announced that production would end in December 2015 after a continuous run of 67 years.

 

Production finally ended on 29 January 2016 when the last Defender, H166 HUE, rolled off the production line at 9:22.

 

Jaguar Land Rover announced their intention to launch a replacement new Defender, which motoring journalists speculate will be different from the original version.

 

The model was introduced in 1983 as "Land Rover One Ten", and in 1984 the "Land Rover Ninety" was added - the numbers representing the respective wheelbases in inches. (In fact the Ninety was nearer 93 inches at 92.9".)

 

The number was spelled in full in advertising and in handbooks and manuals, and the vehicles also carried badges above the radiator grille which read "Land Rover 90" or "Land Rover 110", with the number rendered numerically.

 

The Ninety and One Ten replaced the earlier Land Rover Series, and at the time of launch, the only other Land Rover model in production was the Range Rover.

 

In 1989, a third model was brought out by Land Rover to be produced in parallel with the other two: the Land Rover Discovery.

 

To avoid possible confusion, from 1991 the Ninety and the One Ten were renamed the "Defender 90" and "Defender 110". These carried front badges that said "Defender", with a badge on the rear of the vehicle saying "Defender 90" or "Defender 110".

 

The most recent model, from 2007-2016, still featured the space above the radiator for the badge but was blank. Instead had "Land Rover" spelled across the leading edge of the bonnet in raised individual letters, in keeping with the Discovery and Freelander. At the rear was a new style of '"Defender" badge with an underlining "swoosh". On these last models there are no badges defining the wheelbase model of the vehicle.

 

The 127-inch (3,226 mm) wheelbase Land Rover 127, available from 1985, was always marketed with the name rendered numerically. Following the adoption of the Defender name, it became the "Defender 130", although the wheelbase remained unchanged.

 

The North American Specification (NAS) Defender 110 sold for the 1993 model year carried a badge above the radiator grille which read "Defender," whereas the NAS Defender 90 sold for the 1994 to 1997 model years had "Land Rover" spelled across the top of the radiator grille in individual letter decals. NAS Defenders also carried a cast plaque on the rear tub in the original style of the Series Station wagons with "Defender 110" or "Defender 90" below the Land Rover lozenge and the vehicle's unique limited edition production run number.

 

Production of the model now known as the Defender began in 1983 as the Land Rover 110, a name which reflected the 110-inch (2,800 mm) length of the wheelbase. The Land Rover 90, with 93-inch (2,362 mm) wheelbase, and Land Rover 127, with 127-inch (3,226 mm) wheelbase, soon followed.[4]

Outwardly, there is little to distinguish the post-1983 vehicles from the Series III Land Rover. A full-length bonnet, revised grille, plus the fitting of wheel arch extensions to cover wider-track axles are the most noticeable changes. Initially the Land Rover was also available with a part-time 4WD system familiar to all derivatives produced since 1949. The part-time system failed to sell and was quickly dropped from the options list by 1984. While the engine and other body panels carried over from the Series III, mechanically the 90 and 110 were modernized, including:

Coil springs, offering a more comfortable ride and improved axle articulation

A permanent four-wheel-drive system derived from the Range Rover, featuring a two-speed transfer gearbox with a lockable centre differential

A modernised interior

A taller one-piece windscreen

A new series of progressively more powerful and modern engines

The 110 was launched in 1983, and the 90 followed in 1984. From 1984, wind-up windows were fitted (Series models and very early 110s had sliding panels), and a 2.5-litre (153 cu in), 68 horsepower (51 kW) diesel engine was introduced. This was based on the earlier 2.3-litre (140 cu in) engine, but had a more modern fuel-injection system as well as increased capacity. A low compression version of the 3.5-litre (214 cu in) V8 Range Rover engine transformed performance. It was initially available in the 110 with a four-speed transmission with integral transfer case, then later in conjunction with a high strength "Santana" five-speed transmission.[5]

This period saw Land Rover market the utility Land Rover as a private recreational vehicle. While the basic pick-up, 4x4 and van versions were still working vehicles, the County 4x4s were sold as multi-purpose family vehicles, featuring improved interior trim and more comfortable seats. This change was reflected in Land Rover starting what had long been common practice in the car industry — detail changes and improvements to the County model from year to year in order to attract new buyers and to encourage existing owners to trade in for a new vehicle. These changes included different exterior styling graphics and colour options, and the introduction of new options, such as radio-cassette players, styled wheels, headlamp wash and wipe systems, as well as accessories such as surfboard carriers and bike racks. The switch from leaf spring to coil spring suspension was a key part of the new model's success. It offered improved off-road ability, load capacity, handling, and ride comfort.

 

The 127 (and 130)

 

From 1983, Land Rover introduced a third wheelbase to its utility line-up, a 127-inch (3,226 mm) wheelbase vehicle designed to accommodate larger, heavier loads than the 110. Called the "Land Rover 127", it was designed specifically with use by utility and electrical companies in mind, as well as military usage.

 

In its standard form, it is a four-door six-seater consisting of the front half of a 110 4x4, and the rear of a 110 high-capacity pick up (HCPU).

 

The logic was that this allowed a workcrew and their equipment to be carried in one vehicle at the same time. The 127 could carry up to a 1.4 tonnes (1.4 long tons; 1.5 short tons) payload, compared to the 1.03 tonnes (1.01 long tons; 1.14 short tons) payload of the 110 and the 0.6 tonnes (0.59 long tons; 0.66 short tons) of the 90

Land Rover 127s were built on a special production line, and all started life as 110 4x4 chassis (the model was initially marketed as the 110 crew cab, before the more logical 127 name was adopted). These were then cut in two and the 17 inches (432 mm) of extra chassis length welded on before the two original halves were reunited. These models did not receive their own dedicated badging like the other two models, instead they used the same metal grille badges as used on the Series III 109 V8 models, that simply said "Land-Rover".

 

Land Rover Defender 130; fully equipped car in the desert

Although the standard body-style was popular, the 127 was a common basis for conversion to specialist uses, such as mobile workshops, ambulances, fire engines and flatbed transports. In South Africa, the Land Rover assembly plant offered a 127 4x4 with seating for 15. Land Rover also offered the 127 as a bare chassis, with just front bodywork and bulkhead, for easy conversion.

 

127" chassis with double cab and bimobil camper module

Initially held back by the low power of the Land Rover engines (other than the thirsty petrol V8 engine), the 127 benefited from the improvements to the line-up, and by 1990 was only available with the two highest power engines, the 134 hp (100 kW) 3.5-litre V8 petrol, and the 85 hp (63 kW) 2.5-litre turbo diesel .

 

Engine development

 

The original 110 of 1983 was available with the same engine line-up as the Series III vehicles it replaced, namely 2.25-litre (137 cu in) petrol and diesel engines, and a 3.5-litre (210 cu in) V8 petrol unit, although a small number of 3.2-litre (200 cu in) V8s were produced.

 

In 1981 the 2.25 l engines were upgraded from three- to five-crankshaft bearings in preparation for the planned increases in capacity and power.

 

The 2.5-litre version of the diesel engine, displacing 2,495 cubic centimetres (152.3 cu in) and producing 68 hp (51 kW), was introduced in both the 110 and the newly arrived 90. This was a long-stroke version of the venerable 2.25-litre unit, fitted with updated fuel injection equipment and a revised cylinder head for quieter, smoother and more efficient running. A timing belt also replaced the older engine's chain.

 

In 1985 the petrol units were upgraded. An enlarged four-cylinder engine was introduced. This 83 hp (62 kW) engine shared the same block and cooling system (as well as other ancillary components) as the diesel unit. Unlike the diesel engine, this new 2.5-litre petrol engine retained the chain-driven camshaft of its 2.25-litre predecessor. At the same time, the 114 hp (85 kW) V8 was also made available in the 90- the first time a production short-wheelbase Land Rover had been given V8 power.

 

The V8 on both models was now mated to an all-new five-speed manual gearbox.

 

The year 1986 saw improvements in engines to match the more advanced offerings by Japanese competitors. The "Diesel Turbo" engine was introduced in September, a lightly turbocharged version of the existing 2.5-litre diesel, with several changes to suit the higher power output, including a re-designed crankshaft, teflon-coated pistons and nimonic steel exhaust valves to cope with the higher internal temperatures.[4][6] Similarly, an eight-bladed cooling fan was fitted, together with an oil cooler.

 

The changes for the turbo diesel were kept as slight as possible, in the aim of making the car saleable in Land Rover's traditional export markets across the globe.

 

The 2.5 diesel, 2.5 petrol and Diesel Turbo engines all shared the same block castings and other components such as valve-gear and cooling system parts, allowing them to be built on the same production line. The Diesel Turbo produced 85 hp (63 kW), a 13% increase over the naturally aspirated unit, and a 31.5% increase in torque to 150 lb·ft (203 N·m) at 1800 rpm.

 

Externally, turbo-diesel vehicles differed from other models only by having an air intake grille in the left-hand wing to supply cool air to the turbo. The engine was adopted as the standard engine for UK and European markets.

 

Early turbo-diesel engines gained a reputation for poor reliability, with major failures to the bottom-end and cracked pistons. A revised block and improved big end bearings were introduced in 1988, and a re-designed breather system in 1989. These largely solved the engine's problems, but it remained (like many early turbo-diesels) prone to failure if maintenance was neglected.

 

At the same time that the Diesel Turbo was introduced, the V8 engine was upgraded. Power was increased to 134 hp (100 kW), and SU carburettors replaced the Zenith models used on earlier V8s.

 

Sales turnaround

 

The new vehicles with their more modern engines, transmissions, and interiors reversed the huge decline in sales that took place in the 1980s (a 21% fall in a single year, 1980–1981). This growth was mainly in the domestic UK market and Europe. African, Australian and Middle-Eastern sales failed to recover significantly - Land Rover had not been immune to the poor reputation caused by poor build quality and unreliability which had afflicted the rest of British Leyland, of which Land Rover was still part. In these markets Japanese vehicles such as the Toyota Landcruiser and Nissan Patrol gradually took over what had been a lucrative export market for Land Rover for decades. Meanwhile, the company itself adopted more modern practices, such as using marketing campaigns to attract new buyers who would not previously have been expected to buy a Land Rover. The operation was streamlined, with most of the satellite factories in the West Midlands that built parts for the Land Rover being closed and production brought into the Solihull factory, which was expanded.

 

To maximise sales in Europe, Land Rover set up the Special Vehicles Division, which handled special low-number conversions and adaptations to the vehicles. The bulk of the division's work was the construction of stretched-wheelbase mobile workshops and crew carriers for British and European utility companies, often including six-wheel-drive conversions, but more unusual projects were undertaken, such as the construction of an amphibious Land Rover 90 used by the company as part of its sponsorship of Cowes Week from 1987 to 1990.

 

The Special Projects Division also handled specialised military contracts, such as the building of a fleet of 127-inch (3,226 mm)

V8-powered Rapier missile launchers for the British Army. The Rapier system actually consisted of three Land Rovers: a 127 which carried the launching and aiming equipment, and two 110s which carried the crew and additional equipment.

 

Land Rover Defender

 

The biggest change to the Land Rover came in late 1990, when it became the Land Rover Defender, instead of the Land Rover 90 or 110. This was because in 1989 the company had introduced the Discovery model, requiring the original Land Rover to acquire a name.

 

The Discovery also had a new turbodiesel engine, the 200TDi. This was also loosely based on the existing 2.5-litre turbo unit, and was built on the same production line, but had a modern alloy cylinder head, improved turbocharging, intercooling and direct injection.

 

It retained the block, crankshaft, main bearings, cambelt system, and other ancillaries as the Diesel Turbo. The breather system included an oil separator filter to remove oil from the air in the system, thus finally solving the Diesel Turbo's main weakness of re-breathing its own sump oil. The 200Tdi, produced 107 hp (80 kW) and 195 lb·ft (264 N·m) of torque, which was nearly a 25% improvement on the engine it replaced (although as installed in the Defender the engine was de-tuned slightly from its original Discovery 111 hp (83 kW) specification due to changes associated with the turbo position and exhaust routing).

 

This engine finally allowed the Defender to cruise comfortably at high speeds, as well as tow heavy loads speedily on hills while still being economical.

 

In theory it only replaced the older Diesel Turbo engine in the range, with the other four-cylinder engines (and the V8 petrol engine) still being available. However, the Tdi's combination of performance and economy meant that it took the vast majority of sales. Exceptions were the British Army and some commercial operators, who continued to buy vehicles with the 2.5-litre naturally aspirated diesel engine (in the army's case, this was because the Tdi was unable to be fitted with a 24 volt generator). Small numbers of V8-engined Defenders were sold to users in countries with low fuel costs or who required as much power as possible (such as in Defenders used as fire engines and ambulances).

 

Along with the 200Tdi engine, the 127's name was changed to the "Land Rover Defender 130". The wheelbase remained the same; the new figure was simply a tidying up exercise. More importantly, 130s were no longer built from "cut-and-shut" 110s, but had dedicated chassis built from scratch. The chassis retained the same basic structure as the 90 and 110 models, but with a longer wheelbase.

1994 saw another development of the Tdi engine, the 300Tdi. Although the 200Tdi had been a big step forward, it had been essentially a reworking of the old turbocharged diesel to accept a direct injection system. In contrast the 300Tdi was virtually new, despite the same capacity, and both the Defender and the Discovery had engines in the same state of tune, 111 bhp (83 kW), 195 lbf·ft (264 N·m).

 

Throughout the 1990s the vehicle attempted to climb more and more upmarket, while remaining true to its working roots. This trend was epitomised by limited-edition vehicles, such as the SV90 in 1992 with roll-over protection cage, alloy wheels and metallic paint and the 50th anniversary 90 in 1998, equipped with automatic transmission, air conditioning and Range Rover 4.0-litre V8 engine.

 

A new variant was the Defender 110 double cab, featuring a 4x4-style seating area, with an open pick up back. Although prototypes had been built in the Series days, it was not until the late 1990s that this vehicle finally reached production.

 

2012 updates

 

In August 2011, Land Rover announced an update of the Defender for the 2012 model year. By this time, Land Rover publicly acknowledged that it was working on a project to produce an all-new replacement for the Defender. This would lead to the unveiling of the first DC100 concept vehicle in September that year. While emissions and safety regulations have threatened the Defender since the early 2000s, these had either been avoided or Land Rover had found ways to modify the vehicle to economically meet the new requirements. However, safety regulations due for introduction in 2015 requiring minimum pedestrian safety standards and the fitment of airbags to commercial vehicles cannot be met without a wholesale redesign of the Defender.

 

The main change for the 2012 models was the installation of a different engine from the Ford Duratorq engine range. Ford decided, due to cost reasons, not to modify the 2.4-litre engine introduced in 2007 to meet the upcoming Euro V emissions standards and so the engine was replaced with the ZSD-422 engine, essentially a 2.2-litre variant of the same engine. Although smaller than the existing unit the power and torque outputs remained unchanged and the same six-speed gearbox was used as well.

 

The engine included a diesel particulate filter for the first time on a Defender. The only other change was the reintroduction of the soft top body style to the general market. This had been a popular option for the Land Rover Series but by the introduction of the Defender had been relegated to special order and military buyers only. Land Rover stated that the option was being brought back due to customer feedback.

 

The last Defender, a soft-top "90" rolled off the Solihull production line at 9:22 on Friday 29 January 2016. The BBC reports that the Defender's replacement is due to be launched in 2018/2019.

   

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 22-Oct-21 (DeNoise AI).

 

This aircraft was delivered to Linjeflyg (Sweden) as SE-DNI in Dec-91. It was wet-leased to LOT Polish Airlines in Apr-92. Linjeflyg was merged into SAS Scandinavian Airlines in Jan-93 and the aircraft was returned to SAS in Mar-93.

 

In Apr-93 it was leased to BMA British Midland Airways as G-OBMY, returning to SAS in Sep-98 it was immediately leased to Sterling European Airlines as OY-SEG. It returned to SAS in Apr-99 and was leased to Lithuanian Airlines as LY-BFV later the same month.

 

The aircraft was returned to SAS, sold to a lessor and stored in Feb-00. It was leased to British Airways as G-GFFD in Jun-00. It was returned to the lessor in Nov-08 and stored at Belgrade, Serbia. It was moved to Istanbul-SAW in Oct-11 prior to an expected leased to Aeroflot-Don.

 

The lease didn't take place and the aircraft remained stored at Istanbul until it was leased to Kyrgyzstan Aircompany as EK-37501 in Apr-12. The aircraft was permanently retired and stored in Oct-17.

 

I also have a photo of this aircraft with BMA British Midland Airways as G-OBMY at...

www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding/6315570370

 

and with Lithuanian Airlines as LY-BFV at...

www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding/6317952687

Replacing an earlier scanned phoro with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 30-Jul-24.

 

Taken into a low sun on a misty Manchester Morning.

 

First flown as G-PRIN in Nov-89 as a standard B.Ae 146-200, this aircraft was converted to a 'QC' version with a main-deck cargo door in May-90 and delivered to Princess Air in Jun-90.

 

It was repossessed by British Aerospace in Feb-91 and re-registered G-6-148. It was leased to Air UK as G-BTIA in Mar-91 for 2 months, returning to British Aerospace in May-91.

 

It was leased to BAF British Air Ferries the following month. They briefly sub-leased it British Airways in Jun-92 before returning it to B.Ae in Sep-92. It was leased to Safair (South Africa) as ZS-NCB in Oct-92 and returned to B.Ae Asset Management in Feb-95.

 

The aircraft was stored until it was leased to Titan Airways as G-ZAPK in Apr-96. It was sub-leased to Meridiana in May-96 for 1 month and Titan Airways bought it in Feb-97.

 

As well as being used on Titan's own charter services it was leased to Jersey European Airways (Mar/Jun-97), CityJet (Jan/Dec-01), British Airways Citiexpress (Jun/Aug-02) and Scot Airways (May-05/Aug-06). It was retired by Titan in Nov-13 and stored.

 

It was due to be sold in Australia to Skyforce Aviation as VH-SJF but that didn't happen (Skyforce Aviation ceased operations in May-15 but was later rebranded as Pionair).

 

It remained stored until it was sold to Pionair Australia as VH-SAZ in Nov-17. Still in Titan Airway black livery with the orange sun and Pionair titles. The aircraft seems to operate intermittently and was parked at Cairns, QLD, Australia in Nov-21. It was back in service by Aug-22. Stored again, date unknown. Updated 29-Jul-24.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 09-Feb-14.

 

The 2nd prototype Boeing 737-300 on display at the Farnborough Air Show in 1984. It later went on the fly with US Air and US Airways. It was re-registered N373US in Nov-88 and flew with US Airways for 20 years until Nov-05. In Jul-06 it was sold to Metro Batavia Air in Indonesia as PK-YVY. Metro Batavia ceased ops at the end of Jan-13 and I'm assuming it's stored somewhere in Indonesia and probably wont fly again.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 01-May-16.

 

Air France by ProteuS AirlineS.

 

First flown with the Dornier test registration D-CDXK, this aircraft was ordered by Tahiti Conquest Airlines but the order was cancelled. It was delivered to Proteus Air System as F-GNPA in Mar-96 and operated for a joint company Air France/Air Inter Express.

 

The product was renamed Air France by ProteuS AirlineS in 1998 after Air Inter had been merged into Air France. The aircraft was returned to Proteus and the lessor in May-00.

 

The following month it was leased to Air Alps Aviation as D-CALP and operated as KLM Alps under a franchise agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. It was returned to Air Alps Aviation in Apr-01 and was re-registered in Austria in May-03 as OE-LKE.

 

The aircraft was operated by Air Alps Aviation until it was sold to AeroCardal (Chile) as CC-ACG in Aug-10. In Sep-14 it was sold to TEC Aircraft Leasing and leased to Private Wings Flugcharter as D-CITO. Current, updated 07-Aug-24.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 14-Dec-16, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 23-Mar-24.

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWKL, this aircraft was delivered to Garuda Indonesia Airways as PK-GPG in Apr-97.

 

23 years later the aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Jakarta-CGK in Feb-20, probably because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, it never returned to service. Permanently retired. Updated 23-Mar-24.

Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 27-Mar-15, plus DeNoise AI 27-Jan-23.

 

Originally delivered to Pan-American World Airways as N732PA in Sep-56, it was re-registered N7326 in 1965 prior to being sold to Trans Europa as EC-BCH, however the deal fell through and it was sold to Intercontinental Air Inc in Jan-66.

 

They sold it on in Mar-66 as N7326A to the Aero Management Corporation. It was leased to Air Trans Africa the following month as VP-WAJ and returned to Aero Management in Aug-66.

 

It was re-registered N7368A in Jan-67. In May-67 it was finally sold to TECA Trans Europa Compania de Aviacion with the temporary registration EC-WJK, becoming EC-BJK the following month.

 

It was retired at Palma, Majorca, in 1970 and later ferried to Madrid, Spain, where it was broken up in Nov-74.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 29-Mar-21.

 

Fleet No: "703". 'Fisherman' tail livery.

 

First flown with the Short Brothers and Harland test registration G-14-3622 (3622 is also the c/n), this aircraft was delivered to Fischer Brothers Aviation (USA) as N622FB in Oct-83.

 

It was sold to Shorts Air Lease Inc in Nov-85 and leased back to Fischer Brothers. It was returned to the lessor in Nov-86. The aircraft was stored until it was leased to Westair Commuter Airlines in Sep-87.

 

The aircraft returned to the lessor in Feb-91 and was leased to Allegheny Commuter Airlines in May-91. It was returned to the lessor in Jul-94 and stored at Opa Locka, FL, USA.

 

It was sold to Pacific Coastal Airlines as C-GPCW in Jun-97. The aircraft was sub-leased to Ocean Air (Maldives) as 8Q-OCA in Jan-02 and returned to Pacific Coastal as C-GPCW in Apr-02.

 

The aircraft was retired from service in 2012 and stored at Vancouver, BC, Canada. It was sold to Air Cargo Carriers (USA) as N567AC in Aug-15. Now 27.5 years old the aircraft continues in service. Current, updated Mar-21.

 

Note: The registration C-GPCW was used later on a Pacific Coastal Beech 1900C between Apr-16/Jun-19.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 11-Feb-24.

 

Air France by Jersey European.

 

First flown with the British Aerospace test registration G-5-071, this aircraft was delivered to CAAC Civil Aviation Administration of China as B-2706 in Feb-87. It was transferred to China Eastern Airlines in May-88.

 

It was sold back to BAe (Operations) Ltd as G-BVUY in Nov-94. It was leased to Carib Express as J8-VBB (J8 = St. Vincent & the Grenadines) in Feb-95. The aircraft returned to BAe (Operations) Ltd in Apr-96.

 

In Jun-96 it was transferred to British Aerospace Holdings Inc as N171TR for lease to TriStar Airlines (USA) but the lease wasn't taken up.

 

It was leased to Jersey European Airways as G-JEAT in Oct-96 and JEA bought it in Sep-97. It was one of several BAe 146's that were operated on behalf of Air France in full Air France livery.

 

JEA was renamed FlyBe Airlines in Jul-02 and the aircraft was permanently retired at Exeter, UK, in Aug-04. It was used as a Fire Service training aircraft before being broken up.

Go Ahead WY have had this Procters branded Volvo B7RLE on the Leeds - Wetherby X98/99 over the last few days, seen here in Oakwood, Leeds. There is a wonderful recess mounted post box here at the junction with North Lane to the right of the bus.

Delusional Misidentification Syndrome - with Matilda (age 6)

 

Lightbox here : www.flickr.com/photos/brancusi/8133169625/in/photostream/...

Collaboration with Matilda H.

 

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 16-May-22 (DeNoise AI).

 

"Berlin Bearbus" logojet

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration D-AVWI, this aircraft was delivered to US Airways as N727UW in Dec-99. It was sold to a lessor and leased back in Mar-03. The lease was rejected and it returned to the lessor while in 'Chapter 11' bankruptcy protection in Mar-05.

 

The aircraft was leased to Germanwings in the 'Berlin Bearbus' special livery as D-AKNO in Jun-05. It was repainted in standard livery in Jan-11.

 

At midnight on 28-Oct-17, the day Air Berlin ceased operations, Germanwings quietly changed from being an operating airline to being an ACMI Operator (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance & Insurance) when all it's aircraft were wet-leased to Eurowings.

 

The same flights continued to operate as before, but now with a Eurowing flight prefix. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at Stuttgart, Germany in Mar-20 at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

The following month, Apr-20, Lufthansa closed Germanwings down and all the aircraft leases (and crew) were transferred to Eurowings. In Sep-20 the aircraft was ferried to Kaunas, Lithuania for long-term storage. It returned to Dusseldorf in Apr-22 and the ferried to St. Athan, Wales, UK in May-22 where it was permanently retired. Updated 16-May-22.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 19-Apr-24.

 

This aircraft was delivered to Aero Lloyd (Germany) as D-ALLF in Dec-87. It was sold to a lessor in Mar-95 and leased back to Aero Lloyd. It was withdrawn from service and stored at Frankfurt, Germany in Nov-01.

 

In Jan-02 the aircraft was returned to the lessor and ferried to Nimes-Garons, France for further storage. In May-02 it was leased to MD Airlines (Iceland) as TF-MDD.

 

It was wet-leased to Alisea Airlines (Italy) in Dec-02. In May-03 the aircraft was sold to GATX Third Aircraft Corporation as N491GX and leased direct to Alisea. It was returned to the lessor in Sep-03 and returned to storage at Nimes [Alisea ceased operations in Dec-03].

 

In Mar-05 the aircraft was leased to Dubrovnik Airlines (Croatia) as 9A-CDA. It was wet-leased to Kan Air (Afghanistan) in Nov-07 for a Haj Pilgrimage operation and returned to Dubrovnik Airlines in Dec-07.

 

It was wet-leased to AviaJet (Ireland) in Apr-06 and returned to Dubrovnik Airlines in Oct-06. It was wet-leased to MontAir (Bosnia/Herzegovina) in Mar-10. Return date unknown. Dubrovnik Airlines ceased operations on 23-Oct-11 and the aircraft was stored at Dubrovnik. It was 24 years old and was permanently retired.

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 06-Mar-24.

 

Named: "St. Secundinus / Sechniall".

 

First flown with the ATR test registration F-WWEC, this aircraft was delivered to GECAS and leased to Stobart Air as EI-FMK in Dec-15. It operated mainly on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional.

 

It was returned to Stobart Air in Oct-19 and returned to the lessor the following month when it was stored at Dublin (Ireland). It was leased to VoePass Linhas Aereas (Passaredo Linhas Aereas) as PR-PDO in Jan-20.

 

The aircraft was returned to AerCap as OE-IHG in Sep-22 and stored at Dinard, France. It was leased to Emerald Airlines in Feb-23 and ferried to Exeter, UK in early Mar-23 for maintenance.

 

The aircraft was transferred to Emerald Airlines UK as G-CMMK in late Mar-23 and is operated on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional in full Aer Lingus livery. Current, updated 18-Aug-23.

replacing my road bicycle bottom bracket

This guy replaces the Commissar from the Ghost Legion Company, just because I like Chubs more than Commissars.

 

He sports dual Plasma Lances which give him 2Rh+d8. He also sports a comms antenna for 1Y and high-mobility legs for 1G (plus free Gd8 for no ranged weapons).