Of the 25 massive, 4-8-8-4, "Big Boy" Locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company for Union Pacific, eight survive in preservation. The only one in the eastern portion of the US is this one, #4012, which is now in the collection of the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA. Like most of the extant Big Boys, the 4012 is displayed outdoors, as she's far too big for any of the park's indoor facilities. Built in 1941, this locomotive pulled long, heavy freights on the UP System for almost 20 years. Even when she was retired, she was held as reserve power by UP for another couple of years. In 1962, she was donated to the original Steamtown USA collection of F. Nelson Blount, where she was displayed at the roundhouse in North Walpole, NH until 1984. She came to Scranton later that year when the collection was moved there, and shortly thereafter came into the custody of the National Park Service. Fortunately, for the 4012, the NPS has given her some periodic spruce-ups, the most recent and comprehensive of which was completed in 2021. Today, she sits on a display track, looking almost serviceable, as she greets visitors on the access road to the main parking lot.

All 4 serviceable Great Western M420's head south on the Vanguard sub near the branch's namesake of Vanguard Saskatchewan

ONE OF THE WORKINGS OF 1998 WAS THE USE OF FREIGHTLINER CANS 86623 & 86615 WORKING 1O16 1230 GLASGOW CENTRAL- POOLE CROSS COUNTRY SERVICE AS FAR AS PRESTON ON 10/01/98.THE CLASS 86 WERE HIRED IN DUE TO A LACK OF SERVICEABLE ELECTRIC LOCOS IN THE GLASGOW AREA , IN RAPIDLY FAILING WINTER LIGHT DUE TO LATE RUNNING DUE TO 75 MPH MAXIMUM THE PAIR APPROACH THE LENS AT BADGER BRIDGE BROCK, ON ARRIVAL AT PRESTON THE PAIR RETURNED LIGHT ENGINE FOR THEIR NEXT DUTY , THIS IMAGE FEATURED IN A NATIONAL RAILWAY MAGAZINE AT THE TIME.

With the final class 60 delivered to BR in December 1992 major inroads into the class 20 fleet had already started a couple of years earlier as the new class 60's caused the cascade of class 56's and 58's down to replace pairs of 20's. Falkland Yard thus became one of many gathering points for withdrawn class 20's on route to the breakers. In this case the final resting place would be M.C. Metals Ltd at Springburn in Glasgow.

20 196 was last allocated to Toton Depot and stored serviceable on 21/1/92 but never worked again being formerly withdrawn just over a year later on 28/4/93.

On this date Falkland Up Yard held five other dumped class 20's (010,013,019,058,185) but the down yard or freight terminal sidings had this forlorn example. 20 196 is sitting on a wheel skate with I suspect a ceased traction motor or axle bearing. The fact it was separated from the others in the down yard freight terminal where there is road access suggests to me it was removed by road for the final leg of its journey but this isn't recorded anywhere. However two weeks later after taking this picture it arrived at MC Metals and was cut up by 30/9/93.

Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:

 

Mercedes-Benz O530 WEB628 /

Mercedes-Benz Citaro (12.0m)

N38F - 07/2012

 

Ex-Arriva Southern Counties South Disposal (GLw-3908) (12/08/2020)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (SH-3908) (12/2017)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (ME-3908) (06/2017)

Ex-T-GM (Heathrow) (09/2012)

New to the T-GM Group (Heathrow) for 2012 Olympic Game shuttle duties.

 

A bit of a proud moment for us at Arriva Tunbridge Wells, as the first of 2 Citaro's were made serviceable having been VOR at another garage for 2-and-a-half years! Our coachmaker, Wayne, has done outstanding work on them both, which has certainly given them a fresh new lease of life, something they truly deserve! MOT passed on Friday 4th September, taxed early Saturday morning.

 

Seen here at Beckenham Junction, performing duty 108 for Croydon Tramlink replacement between here and Elmer's End, via Beckenham Road and Birkbeck.

  

Beckenham Junction Railway Station (BKJ), Rectory Road, Beckenham, London

 

Saturday 5th September 2020

NJ Transit's last two F40s (known to some as "The Twins") that haven't been retired from service spend some time in the MMC Loco Yard stored serviceable. The pair of engines may be reactivated for the winter as NJ Transit utilizes the larger plows for snow removal but for now their futures remain uncertain.

 

NJTR F40PH-2CAT 4120

NJTR F40PH-2CAT 4119

On this final weekday of day of ME operations Friday December 10th 2021 ME1503 1505 1511 1528 1529 1533 and 1536 were in service with ME 1522 held with carriages to cover breakdowns and ME1517 and 1506 available for service if required in the sidings for serviceable locos On Saturday 11th ME1536 worked an early hours duty while ME 1503 and 1511 worked evening trains to mark 40 years DSB service retirement. Run home final order ME1529 1505 1528 1533 1536 (1522) 1503 1511

Usually tucked away at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, these two early diesel switchers show off similar body designs despite being from two different builders. Both locomotives were positioned outside for roster shots during a Railfan Weekend event on September 8, 2002.

 

Oliver Iron Mining Alco HH1000 was built in 1940 and has the distinction of being the first diesel to work on the Mesabi Range and is the only surviving HH1000 (it was also delivered a year before DM&IR's first Yellowstone 2-8-8-4 monsters arrived).

 

Sharing the limelight with 900 on this fine day is Hallett Dock Fairbanks-Morse H-10-44 HD11, built in 1946 for Minnesota Western as their 51 and then becoming MN&S No. 11 before being sold to Hallett in 1976.

 

Both units are not currently part of the museum's operating collection but could be made serviceable.

Venedig - Markusturm

 

seen from Dorsoduro / Punta della Dogana

 

gesehen von Dorsoduro / Punta della Dogana

 

St Mark's Campanile (Italian: Campanile di San Marco, Venetian: Canpanièl de San Marco) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. The current campanile is a reconstruction completed in 1912, the previous tower having collapsed in 1902. At 98.6 metres (323 ft) in height, it is the tallest structure in Venice and is colloquially termed "el paròn de casa" (the master of the house). It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.

 

Located in Saint Mark's Square near the mouth of the Grand Canal, the campanile was initially intended as a watchtower to sight approaching ships and protect the entry to the city. It also served as a landmark to guide Venetian ships safely into harbour. Construction began in the early tenth century and continued sporadically over time as the tower was slowly raised in height. A belfry and a spire were first added in the twelfth century. In the fourteenth century the spire was gilded, making the tower visible to distant ships in the Adriatic. The campanile reached its full height in 1514 when the belfry and spire were completely rebuilt on the basis of an earlier Renaissance design by Giorgio Spavento. Historically, the bells served to regulate the civic and religious life of Venice, marking the beginning, pauses, and end of the work day; the convocation of government assemblies; and public executions.

 

The campanile stands alone in the square, near the front of St Mark's Basilica. It has a simple form, recalling its early defensive function, the bulk of which is a square brick shaft with lesenes, 12 metres (39 ft) wide on each side and 50 metres (160 ft) tall. The belfry is topped by an attic with effigies of the Lion of St Mark and allegorical figures of Venice as Justice. The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire at the top of which there is a golden weather vane in the form of the archangel Gabriel.

 

Historical background

 

The Magyar raids into northern Italy in 898 and again in 899 resulted in the plundering and brief occupation of the important mainland cities of Cittanova, Padua, and Treviso as well as several smaller towns and settlements in and around the Venetian Lagoon. Although the Venetians ultimately defeated the Magyars on the Lido of Albiola on 29 June 900 and repelled the incursion, Venice remained vulnerable by way of the deep navigable channel that allowed access to the harbour from the sea. In particular, the young city was threatened by the Slavic pirates who routinely menaced Venetian shipping lanes in the Adriatic.

 

A series of fortifications was consequently erected during the reign of Doge Pietro Tribuno (in office 887–911) to protect Venice from invasion by sea.[7] These fortifications included a wall that started at the rivulus de Castello (Rio del Palazzo), just east of the Doge's Castle, and eventually extended along the waterfront to the area occupied by the early Church of Santa Maria Iubanico. However, the exact location of the wall has not been determined nor is its duration beyond the moment of crisis indisputable.

 

Integral to this defensive network, an iron harbour chain that could be pulled taut across the Grand Canal to impede navigation and block access to the centre of the city was installed at the height of San Gregorio. In addition, a massive watchtower was built in Saint Mark's Square. Probably begun during the reign of Tribuno, it was also intended to serve as a point of reference to guide Venetian ships safely into the harbour, which at that time occupied a substantial part of the area corresponding to the present-day piazzetta.

 

Construction

 

The defensive system begun under Pietro Tribuno was likely provisional, and construction may have been limited to the reinforcement of pre-existing structures. Medieval chronicles suggest that the laying of the foundation for the tower continued during the reigns of his immediate successors, Orso II Participazio (in office 912–932) and Pietro II Candiano (in office 932–939). Delays were likely due to the difficulty in developing suitable construction techniques as well as locating and importing building materials. Some of the early bricks dated from the late Roman Empire and were salvaged from ruins on the mainland. For the foundation, alder piles, roughly 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in length and 26 centimetres (10 in) in diameter, were driven into a dense layer of clay located around 5 metres (16 ft) below the surface. The piles were topped with two layers of oak planking on which multiple layers of stone were laid.

 

Fabrication of the actual tower seems to have begun during the brief reign of Pietro Participazio (in office 939–942) but did not progress far. Political strife during the ensuing reigns of Pietro III Candiano (in office 942–959) and, particularly, Pietro IV Candiano (in office 959–976) precluded further work. Under Pietro I Orseolo (in office 976–978), construction resumed, and it advanced considerably during the reign of Tribuno Memmo (in office 979–991). No further additions were made to the tower until the time of Domenico Selvo (in office 1071–1084), an indication that it had reached a serviceable height and could be used to control access to the city. Selvo increased the height to around 40 metres (130 ft), which corresponded with the fifth of the eight present windows. Doge Domenico Morosini (in office 1147–1156) then raised the height to the actual level of the belfry and is credited with the construction of the bell tower. His portrait in the Doge's Palace shows him together with a scroll that lists the significant events of his reign, among which is the construction of the bell tower: "Sub me admistrandi operis campanile Sancti Marci construitur...".

 

Belfry and spire

 

The first belfry was added under Vitale II Michiel (in office 1156–1172). It was surmounted by a pyramidal spire in wood that was sheathed with copper plates. Around 1329, the belfry was restored and the spire reconstructed. The spire itself was particularly prone to fire due to the wooden framework. It burned when lighting struck the tower on 7 June 1388, but it was nevertheless rebuilt in wood. On this occasion, the copper plates were covered in gold leaf, rendering the tower visible to distant ships in the Adriatic. Marcantonio Sabellico records in his guide to the city, De Venetae urbis situ (c. 1494), that mariners looked to the gilded spire as a 'welcoming star':

 

Its peak is high such that the splendour of the gold with which it is sheathed manifests itself to navigators at 200 stadions like a star that greets them. (Summus apex adeo sublimis ut fulgor auri quo illitus est ad ducenta stadia ex alto navigantibus velut saluberrimum quoddam occurrat sydus.)

 

The spire was once again destroyed in 1403 when flames from a bonfire lit to illuminate the tower in celebration of the Venetian victory over the Genoese at the Battle of Modon enveloped the wooden frame. It was rebuilt between 1405 and 1406. Lightning again struck the tower during a violent storm on 11 August 1489, setting ablaze the spire which eventually crashed into the square below. The bells fell to the floor of the belfry, and the masonry of the tower itself cracked. In response to this latest calamity, the procurators of Saint Mark de supra, the government officials responsible for the public buildings around Saint Mark's Square, decided to rebuild the belfry and spire completely in masonry so as to prevent future fires. The commission was given to their proto (consultant architect and buildings manager), Giorgio Spavento. Although the design was submitted within a few months, the estimated cost was 50,000 ducats, and financial constraints in the period of recovery from the wars in Lombardy against Milan (1423–1454) delayed construction. Instead, Spavento limited repairs to the structural damage to the tower. A temporary clay-tile roof was placed over the belfry, and the bells that were still intact were rehung. The outbreak in 1494 of the Italian wars for the control of the mainland precluded any further action.

 

On 26 March 1511, a violent earthquake further damaged the fragile structure and opened a long fissure on the northern side of the tower, making it necessary to immediately intervene. Upon the initiative of procurator Antonio Grimani, the temporary roof and the belfry were removed and preparations were made to finally execute Spavento's design. The work was carried out under the direction of Pietro Bon who had succeeded Spavento as proto in 1509. To finance the initial work, the procurators sold unclaimed objects in precious metals that had been deposited in the treasury of St Mark's in 1414 for a value of 6,000 ducats. By 1512, the tower itself had been completely repaired, and work began on the new belfry made in Istrian stone.

 

The four sides of the brick attic above have high-relief sculptures in contrasting Istrian stone. The eastern and western sides have allegorical figures of Venice, presented as a personification of Justice with the sword and the scales. She sits on a throne supported by lions on either side in allusion to the throne of Solomon, the king of ancient Israel renowned for his wisdom and judgement. This theme of Venice as embodying, rather than invoking, the virtue of Justice is common in Venetian state iconography and is recurrent on the façade of the Doge's Palace. The remaining sides of the attic have the lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of the Venetian Republic.

 

On 6 July 1513 a wooden statue of the archangel Gabriel, plated in copper and gilded, was placed at the top of the spire. In his diary, Marin Sanudo recorded the event:

 

On this day, a gilded copper angel was hoisted above Saint Mark's Square at four hours before sunset to the sound of trumpets and fifes, and wine and milk were sprayed in the air as a sign of merriment. (In questo zorno, su la piazza di San Marco fo tirato l’anzolo di rame indorado suso con trombe e pifari a hore 20; et fo butado vin e late zoso in segno di alegrezza.)

 

A novelty with respect to the earlier tower, the statue also functioned as a weather vane, turning so that it always faced into the wind. Francesco Sansovino suggested in his guide to the city, Venetia città nobilissima et singolare (1581), that the idea of a weather vane atop the new tower derived from Vitruvius’ description of the Tower of the Winds in Athens which had a bronze triton mounted on a pivot. But the specific choice of the archangel Gabriel was meant to recall the legend of Venice's foundation on the 25 March 421, the feast of the Annunciation. In Venetian historiography, the legend, traceable to the thirteenth century, conflated the beginning of the Christian era with the birth of Venice as a Christian republic and affirmed Venice's unique place and role in history as an act of divine grace. As a construct, it is expressed in the frequent representations of the Annunciation throughout Venice, most notably on the façade of St Mark's Basilica and in the reliefs by Agostino Rubini at the base of the Rialto Bridge, depicting the Virgin Mary opposite the archangel Gabriel.

 

As recorded by Marin Sanudo, structural work on the tower terminated in June 1514. The remaining work was completed by October 1514, including the gilding of the spire.

 

Later history

 

Throughout its history, the bell tower remained susceptible to damage from storms. Lightning struck in 1548, 1562, 1565, and 1567. On each occasion, repairs were carried out under the direction of Jacopo Sansovino, responsible as proto for the maintenance of the buildings administered by the procurators of Saint Mark de supra, including the bell tower. The work, funded from the accounts of the procurators, was typically executed by carpenters provided by the Arsenal, the government shipyards. The tower was damaged twice in 1582.

 

In the following centuries, it was repeatedly necessary to intervene and repair the damage caused by lightning. In 1653, Baldassarre Longhena took up repairs after lightning struck, having become proto in 1640. The damage must have been extensive on this occasion, given the repair cost of 1,230 ducats. Significant work was also necessary to repair damage done after lightning struck on 23 April 1745, causing some of the masonry to crack and killing four people in the square as a result of falling stonework. The campanile was again damaged by lightning in 1761 and 1762. Repair costs on the second occasion reached the considerable sum of 3,329 ducats. Finally, on 18 March 1776, the physicist Giuseppe Toaldo, professor of astronomy at the University of Padua, installed a lightning rod, the first in Venice.

 

Periodic work was also needed to repair damage to the tower and the statue of the archangel Gabriel from wind and rain erosion. The original statue was replaced in 1557 with a smaller version. After numerous restorations, this was in turn substituted in 1822 by a statue designed by Luigi Zandomeneghi, professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.

 

The tower remained of strategic importance to the city. Access to visiting foreign dignitaries was allowed only by the Signoria, the executive body of the government, and ideally at high tide when it was not possible to distinguish the navigable channels in the lagoon. On 21 August 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his telescope to the procurator Antonio Priuli and other nobles from the belfry. Three days later, the telescope was presented to doge Leonardo Donato from the loggia of the Doge's Palace.

 

Collapse and rebuilding (1902–1912)

 

Collapse

 

When the lean-to stalls were removed from the sides of the bell tower in 1873–1874, the base was discovered to be in poor condition, but restoration was limited to repairing surface damage. Similarly, excavations in Saint Mark's Square in 1885 raised concerns for the state of the foundation and the stability of the structure. Yet inspection reports by engineers and architects in 1892 and 1898 were reassuring that the tower was in no danger. Ensuing restoration was sporadic and primarily involved the substitution of weathered bricks.

 

In July 1902, work was underway to repair the roof of the loggetta. The girder supporting the roof where it rested against the tower was removed by cutting a large fissure, roughly 40 centimetres (16 in) in height and 30 centimetres (12 in) in depth, at the base of the tower.[98] On 7 July, it was observed that the shaft of the tower trembled as workmen hammered the new girder into place. Glass tell-tales were inserted into crevices in order to monitor the shifting of the tower. Several of these were found broken the next day.

 

By 12 July, a large crack had formed on the northern side of the tower, running almost the entire height of the brick shaft. More accurate plaster tell-tales were inserted into the crevices. Although a technical commission was immediately formed, it determined that there was no threat to the structure. Nevertheless, wooden barricades were erected to keep onlookers at a safe distance as pieces of mortar began to break off from the widening gap and fall to the square below. Access to the tower was prohibited, and only the bell signalling the beginning and end of the work day was to be rung in order to limit vibrations. The following day, Sunday, the customary band in Saint Mark's Square was cancelled for the same reason.

 

The next morning, Monday 14 July, the latest tell-tales were all discovered broken; the maximum crack that had developed since the preceding day was 0.75 centimetres (0.30 in). At 09:30 the square was ordered evacuated. Stones began to fall at 9:47, and at 9:53 the entire bell tower collapsed. Subsequent investigations determined that the immediate cause of the disaster was the collapse of the access ramps located between the inner and outer shafts of the tower. Beginning at the upper levels, these fell one by one atop the others. Without their support, the outer shaft then caved in against the inner shaft. Because the tower collapsed vertically and due to the tower's isolated position, the resulting damage was relatively limited. Apart from the loggetta, which was completely demolished, only a corner of the historical building of the Marciana Library was destroyed. The basilica itself was unharmed, although the pietra del bando, a large porphyry column from which laws were read, was damaged. The sole fatality was the custodian's cat. That same evening, the communal council convened in an emergency session and voted unanimously to rebuild the bell tower exactly as it had been before the collapse. The council also approved an initial 500,000 lire for the reconstruction. The province of Venice followed with 200,000 lire on 22 July. Although a few detractors of the reconstruction, including the editorialist of the Daily Express and Maurice Barrès, claimed that the square was more beautiful without the tower and that any replica would have no historical value, "dov’era e com’era" ("where it was and how it was") was the prevailing sentiment.

 

Rebuilding

 

n addition to the sums appropriated by the commune and the province, a personal donation arrived from King Victor Emmanuel III and the queen mother (100,000 lire). This was followed by contributions from other Italian communes and provinces as well as private citizens. Throughout the world, fund raising began, spearheaded by international newspapers. The German scaffolding specialist Georg Leib of Munich donated the scaffolding on 22 July 1902.

 

In autumn 1902, work began on clearing the site. The fragments of the loggetta, including columns, reliefs, capitals, and the bronze statues, were carefully removed, inventoried, and transferred to the courtyard of the Doge's Palace. Bricks that could be used for other construction projects were salvaged, whereas the rubble of no use was transported on barges to the open Adriatic where it was dumped. By spring 1903, the site had been cleared of debris, and the remaining stub of the old tower was torn down and the material removed. The pilings of the medieval foundation were inspected and found to be in good condition, requiring only moderate reinforcement.

 

The ceremony to mark the commencement of the actual reconstruction took place on 25 April 1903, St Mark's feast day, with the blessing by the patriarch of Venice Giuseppe Sarto, later Pope Pius X, and the laying of the cornerstone by Prince Vittorio Emanuele, the count of Turin, as the king's representative. For the first two years, work consisted in preparing the foundation which was extended outward by 3 metres (9.8 ft) on all sides. This was accomplished by driving in 3076 larch piles, roughly 3.8 metres (12 ft) in length and 21 centimetres (8.3 in) in diameter. Eight layers of Istrian stone blocks were then placed on top to create the new foundation. This was completed in October 1905. The first of the 1,203,000 bricks used for the new tower was laid in a second ceremony on 1 April 1906. To facilitate construction, a mobile scaffold was conceived. It surrounded the tower on all sides and was raised as work progressed by extending the braces.

 

With respect to the original tower, structural changes were made to provide for greater stability and decrease the overall weight. The two shafts, one inside the other, were previously independent of each other. The outer shell alone bore the entire weight of the belfry and spire; the inner shaft only partially supported the series of ramps and steps. With the new design, the two shafts were tied together by means of reinforced concrete beams which also support the weight of the ramps, rebuilt in concrete rather than masonry. In addition, the stone support of the spire was replaced with reinforced concrete, and the weight was distributed on both the inner and outer shafts of the tower.

 

The tower itself was completed on 3 October 1908. It was then 48.175 metres (158.05 ft) in height. The following year work began on the belfry and the year after on the attic. The allegorical figures of Venice as Justice on the eastern and western sides were reassembled from the fragments that had been recovered from the ruins and were restored. The twin effigies of the winged lion of Saint Mark located on the remaining sides of the attic had already been chiselled away and irreparably damaged after the fall of the Venetian Republic at the time of the first French occupation (May 1797 – January 1798). They were completely remade.

 

Work began on the spire in 1911 and lasted until 5 March 1912 when the restored statue of the archangel Gabriel was hoisted to the summit. The new campanile was inaugurated on 25 April 1912, on the occasion of St Mark's feast day, exactly 1000 years after the foundations of the original building had allegedly been laid.

 

Elevator

 

In 1892, it was first proposed that an elevator be installed in the bell tower. But concerns over the stability of the structure were voiced by the Regional Office for the Preservation of Veneto Monuments (Ufficio Regionale per la Conservazione dei Monumenti del Veneto). Although a special commission was nominated and concluded that the concerns were unfounded, the project was abandoned.

 

At the time of the reconstruction, an elevator was used to raise the new bells to the level of the belfry, but it was only temporary. Finally, in 1962, a permanent elevator was installed. Located within the inner shaft, it takes 30 seconds to reach the belfry from the ground level.

 

Restoration work (2007–2013)

 

At the time of the reconstruction, the original foundation was extended from approximately 220 square metres (2,400 sq ft) to 410 square metres (4,400 sq ft) with the objective of distributing the weight of the bell tower on a larger base and reducing the load from 9 kilograms (20 lb) to 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) per 1 square centimetre (0.16 in2). This was done by driving additional piles into the clay. Three layers of oak planks were then laid on top of the piles followed by multiple layers of Istrian stone blocks. However, the old and the new foundations were not successfully fused into a unified whole, and they began to subside at different rates. As a result, cracks in the new tower were already visible in 1914 and multiplied over time. A monitoring system, installed in 1995, revealed that the tower was leaning by 7 centimetres (2.8 in).

 

Beginning in 2007, the Magistrato alle Acque, responsible for public works, reinforced the foundation, adopting a system used to consolidate the façade of St Peter's Basilica in Rome. This involved placing four titanium tension cables, 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in diameter, around the perimeter of the stone foundation. Two of the cables, placed 20 centimetres (7.9 in) apart within a single protective polyethylene tube, are located 40 centimetres (16 in) below the surface of the square and are anchored at the four corners of the foundation by titanium pillars. Two more cables are located at a depth of 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) and are held by granite blocks. These cables are monitored and can be tightened as necessary. The project, initially projected to last two and half years, was completed after five years in April 2013.

 

Influence

 

The campanile inspired the designs of other towers worldwide, especially in the areas belonging to the former Republic of Venice. Similar bell towers, albeit smaller, exist at the Church of San Rocco in Dolo, Italy, at the Church of San Giorgio in Piran, Slovenia, and at the Church of Sant'Eufemia in Rovinj, Croatia.

 

Other towers inspired by St Mark's campanile, particularly in the aftermath of the collapse of the original tower, include:

 

the mill chimney of India Mill (1867) in Darwen, Lancashire, United Kingdom

 

the Sretenskaya church (1892) in Bogucharovo, Tula region, Russia

 

the right-hand bell-tower of St. John Gualbert (1895) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States

 

the clock tower at King Street Station (1904–1906) in Seattle, Washington, United States

 

the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (1905–1909) in New York City, New York, United States

 

the Daniels & Fisher Tower (1910) in Denver, Colorado, United States

 

14 Wall Street (1910–1912) in New York City, New York, United States

 

the Rathaus (Town Hall) (1911) in Kiel, Germany

 

the Custom House Tower (1913–1915) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

 

the Sather Tower (1914) on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, California, United States

 

North Toronto Station (1916) in Toronto, Canada

 

Brisbane City Hall (1920–1930) in Brisbane, Australia

 

the Campanile (1922–1924) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

 

the Tribune Tower (1923–1924) in Oakland, California, United States

 

the Venetian Towers (1927–1929) in Barcelona, Spain

 

the tower at Jones Beach State Park (1930), Long Island, New York, United States

 

As symbols of Venice, replicas of the campanile also exist at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada and at its sister resort The Venetian Macao in Macao; at the Italy Pavilion at Epcot, a theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida; and at the Venice Grand Canal, Taguig in Manila, Philippines.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Markusturm (italienisch Campanile di San Marco) ist der Campanile (Glockenturm) des Markusdoms in Venedig. Seine Höhe beträgt 98,6 Meter, damit ist er das höchste Gebäude Venedigs. Ursprünglich diente seine Turmspitze den Schiffen als Leuchtturm.

 

Der Turm gilt als Symbol der Stadt. Traditionell wurde er im Venezianischen „El paron de casa“ (der Herr des Hauses) genannt. Zahlreiche Türme in Venetien, Slowenien, Kroatien und bis nach Dalmatien, ursprünglich Venezianisches Herrschaftsgebiet, sind als Zitate des Markusturms errichtet und somit weithin sichtbare Zeichen der Herrschaft der Serenissima, der historischen Republik Venedig.

 

Geschichte und Gestaltung

 

Der Beginn des Turmbaus liegt zwischen 888 und 911 unter dem Dogen Pietro Tribuno. Die Bauarbeiten wurden mehrfach unterbrochen; der Turm wurde unter dem Dogen Tribuno Memmo (979–991) fertiggestellt, eine Spitze aus gebranntem Ton wurde 1152 unter dem Dogen Domenico Morosini vollendet, hauptsächlich von den Brüdern Pietro und Giovanni Basilio. Das oberste Geschoss mit den heute noch sichtbaren Klangarkaden wurde 1178 hinzugefügt und 1329 umgestaltet. Die Turmspitze wurde 1510 aufgesetzt und 1517 mit einer Statue des Erzengels Gabriel bekrönt. Die hölzerne Skulptur ist mit vergoldetem Kupferblech verkleidet.

 

Seit 1548 ist für den Karnevalsdienstag ein Brauch dokumentiert, eine akrobatische Darbietung auf einem Seil, das vom Turm herab gespannt wurde. Dieser sogenannte „volo de angelo“ (Engelsflug), ursprünglich „volo de turco“ (Türkenflug nach dem ersten, der dieses Kunststück vorführte), ist auch auf Gemälden, z. B. von Canaletto und Francesco Guardi festgehalten worden.

 

Erdbeben und Blitzeinschläge verursachten wiederholt Schäden am Turm und machten Restaurierungsarbeiten notwendig. Am 14. Juli 1902 gegen Viertel vor zehn stürzte der Turm ein, nachdem sich schon Tage vorher große Risse im Mauerwerk gebildet hatten, die darauf zurückzuführen waren, dass man die Metallanker im Turminneren entfernt hatte, um einen Aufzug einzubauen. Das Unglück rief große Bestürzung und Trauer in der ganzen Welt hervor. Der Stadtrat von Venedig beschloss bereits am Abend des Turmeinsturzes einstimmig, den Campanile wieder aufzubauen, wie und wo er gewesen war (com’era e dov’era). Der Wiener Architekt Otto Wagner meinte zwar in einem Interview mit der Zeitung Il piccolo (Triest) vom 17. Juli 1902, es hieße die Architekturgeschichte verfälschen, würde der Campanile im alten Stil wieder aufgebaut, doch stieß er überwiegend auf ablehnende Reaktionen.

 

Beim Einsturz des Turmes wurde auch die Rückseite der direkt angrenzenden Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana schwer in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Die Arbeiten zur Beseitigung der Schäden verliefen jedoch zügig, sodass die Bibliothek im Jahr 1912 wieder der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht werden konnte.

 

Der Wiederaufbau des Turms begann am 25. April 1903. Der neue Bau besteht neben traditionellem Mauerwerk teilweise aus Eisenbeton, wodurch der mit Hilfe der Ingenieurfirma von Giovanni Antonio Porcheddu geplante Turm ein bedeutend geringeres Gewicht hat. Am 25. April, dem Markustag des Jahres 1912, wurde der wiederhergestellte Turm feierlich eingeweiht. Die Pfahlgründungen erwiesen sich nach fast 1000 Jahren als noch sehr gut, waren völlig versteinert und wurden daher nur verstärkt. Dies führte allerdings zu neuen Problemen, die fast 100 Jahre später akut zu werden drohten. 2008 wurde daher begonnen, den Markusturm mit einer Titanumfassung zu sichern. Anstelle der innen umlaufenden, nach oben führenden Rampe wurde eine Treppe eingebaut. Heute ist das Glockengeschoss des Turms gegen Eintritt über einen Aufzug erreichbar.

 

Die auf quadratischem Grundriss erstellten Backsteinfronten sind mit Lisenen verziert.

 

Glocken

 

Die fünf Bronzeglocken des höchsten Turmes der Stadt sind überall in Venedig zu hören, deshalb dienten sie ursprünglich nicht nur dem Aufruf zum Gottesdienst, sondern hatten zur Zeit der Republik jeweils eine bestimmte Funktion. Die Renghiera oder Maleficio kündigte eine Hinrichtung an, die Nona erklang zu Mittag, die Mezza Terza rief die Senatoren in den Dogenpalast und die Trottiera verkündete den baldigen Beginn einer Sitzung des Großen Rates. Beim Einsturz des Turmes blieb nur die größte Glocke, die Marangona, die 1819 neu gegossen worden war, unbeschädigt. Die Marangona wurde zum Beginn und Ende eines Arbeitstages sowie zum 1. Aufruf einer Sitzung des Großen Rates geläutet. Die anderen Glocken wurden 1909 in Mailand neu gegossen: Papst Pius X. übernahm dafür die Kosten. Die Stimmung des tontiefsten und schwersten Geläutes in Venedig entspricht der A-Dur-Tonleiter. Die einzelnen Glocken hängen in einem Stahlglockenstuhl an verzierten Holzjochen verteilt im Glockengeschoss. Die zwei größten Glocken (Marangona und Nona) sind leicht gekröpft aufgehängt und die übrigen drei Glocken (Trottiera, Mezza Terza und Renghiera) sind ungekröpft aufgehängt. Die Aufhängungen der Klöppel der Glocken werden durch Stahlseile verstärkt (hierbei handelt es sich um eine Absturzsicherung der Klöppel, damit sie nach einem Bruch nicht vom Turm geschleudert werden können) und an einigen Glockenjochen ist noch ein Metallgestänge, das ehemals zum Handläuten diente, angebracht. Auch heute noch werden die fünf Glocken hauptsächlich zu liturgischen Zwecken über einen elektrischen Antrieb regelmäßig geläutet. Die Nona läutet morgens um 7:00 Uhr, mittags um 12:00 Uhr und um Mitternacht um 0:00 Uhr. Die Marangona erhebt ihre Stimme zu Begräbnissen. Werktags ertönen die Glocken Renghiera und Mezza Terza um 14:00, um 17:00 und um 18:30 Uhr läuten Renghiera, Mezza Terza und Trottiera, um 20:00 Uhr läutet die Trottiera solistisch. Dieses Abendangelusläuten variiert jahreszeitlich. Das Plenum, also das Zusammenläuten aller fünf Glocken, erklingt samstags und am Vorabend eines Festtages um 18:30 Uhr, sowie sonn- und festtags um 10:00 Uhr, 11:00 Uhr, 14:00 Uhr, 17:00 Uhr und 18:30 Uhr. Bei einem Geläute mit mehreren Glocken beginnt üblicherweise immer die kleinste Glocke und die übrigen Glocken werden dann gemäß ihrer Größe aufsteigend dazu geschaltet, sodass die jeweils tontiefere Glocke zu läuten beginnt. Beim Ausläuten kann entweder die kleinste oder die größte Glocke zuletzt erklingen.

 

Der Campanile war zugleich Leuchtturm und Landmarke der Lagunenstadt. Kaiser Friedrich III. ritt den stufenlosen spiralförmigen Aufgang 1452 zu Pferd bis zum Glockenstuhl, ebenso Napoleon und Lord Byron. Beim Blick aus der Glockenstube präsentiert sich eine faszinierende Aussicht über die Lagunenstadt und zugleich eine Kuriosität: Man sieht von dort ein Venedig ohne Kanäle.

 

Bedeutung

 

Der Markusturm hat den Entwurf einiger anderer Türme beeinflusst. Viele stehen in Städten mit maritimer Prägung:

 

Dem markanten Kieler Rathausturm in der schleswig-holsteinischen Landeshauptstadt Kiel an der Kieler Förde ist von dem Architekten Hermann Billing eine Fassadenstruktur gegeben worden, die sich an den Markusturm anlehnt.

 

Der Turm der Kathedrale St. Georg (slo. Sv. Jurij) im slowenischen Piran (venezianisch-italienisch: Pirano) an der Slowenischen Riviera wurde ebenfalls dem venezianischen Markusturm nachempfunden.

 

Der Turm der St. Euphemia-Kathedrale im kroatischen Rovinj ähnelt auch dem Markusturm in Venedig.

 

Die Venezianischen Türme am Plaça d'Espanya in Barcelona.

Der Metropolitan Life Tower in New York wurde zwischen 1908 und 1909 nach Plänen der Architekten Pierre LeBrun und Napoleon LeBrun errichtet. Mit einer Höhe von 213 Metern und 50 Stockwerken war er bis 1913 das höchste Gebäude der Welt.

 

Der Sather Tower in Berkeley (Kalifornien), in Anlehnung an sein Vorbild auch Campanile genannt. Er ist das Wahrzeichen der Universität von Kalifornien in Berkeley. Erbaut wurde der 93,6 Meter hohe Turm 1914.

 

Der Turm des Rathauses des ersten Sektors der Stadt Bukarest wurde 1920 gebaut. Als dessen Modell diente der Markusturm.

 

Der originalgetreue (98,6 m hohe) Markusturm im Venetian Resort Hotel am Las Vegas Strip (Nevada). Das Hotel wurde der italienischen Stadt Venedig nachempfunden.

 

Die Nachbildung in Las Vegas wurde als das The Venetian Macao erneut nachgebildet.

 

2015 wurde im Stadtteil Zhongshan von Dalian als Touristenattraktion eine Nachbildung von Gebäuden in Venedig entlang eines Kanals eröffnet, darunter auch der Campanile.

 

Für die New South China Mall stand der Campanile ebenfalls Modell.

 

(Wikipedia)

The remaining serviceable Class 30/EF electric locomotives are presented in a variety of liveries and exhibit various levels of external cleanliness!

It is, therefore a rare event to be able to see a pair of them on a train in both contrasting liveries and relatively clean as well!

On the 29th November I was in luck.......southbound train 225 showed up at Ohaupo with this pair in charge. "Fruit Salad"-liveried 30232 leads an unidentified sister which is in the current Kiwi Rail livery.

Keeping the old D&RGW Silverton Line open in the winter has always been a challenge and one that the present-day Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad continues to take on. While the trains don't typically go all the way to Silverton from late October Until late May, the railroad does attempt to keep as much of the line serviceable as possible, if only to make the spring line-clearing tasks easier. The primary weapon in the battle is the Flanger Extra, which is typically either a K-28 or K-36 Locomotive, equipped with wedge plow, and one of the legacy D&RGW Flanger units. In this scene, the freshly overhauled K-36 Locomotive does the honors, hauling Flanger OF and Caboose 540 past Elbert Creek, sometimes known as "Granite Point", just a third of a mile south of Rockwood, CO at Milepost 468.8.

 

This image was captured during the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad's February 2025 Winter Photo Train, which was to feature the flanger outfit pictured here. Unfortunately, the 482 had just come out of overhaul only about a week prior to the event and had been experiencing hot bearing problems with its rebuilt trailing truck, and numerous repairs had been conducted in the days leading up to the event. Only moments after this photo was captured, the train arrived at Rockwood Station and the bearing temperature was found to be well over 400 F. The railroad then elected to replace the 482 with K-28 #476 for the remainder of the event.

“BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND . . . . ?--Lockheed Missiles & Space Company has been awarded a $4 million contract by NASA to investigate the design of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).

 

AXAF will probe some of the most mysterious objects in the universe through observations in the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. These objects, such as matter around black holes, quasars and neutron stars, release massive amounts of high energy.

 

One of the fundamental question AXAF observers will address involves the fate of the universe. From previous x-ray telescopes, on sounding rockets and satellites, astronomers have observed a diffuse and uniform radiation emanating from all parts of the universe. It is not clear whether this energy comes from accumulated point sources or is a remnant of the big bang. AXAF should be able to provide the data needed to answer this question and many others.

 

AXAF is a national observatory scheduled to be placed on orbit by the space shuttle early next decade.”

 

8.5” x 11”. The size pretty much confirms it being of Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LM&SC) origin, possibly as part of a promotional/informational presentation/portfolio. Interestingly though, I haven’t been able to find a single source online that even mentions LM&SC…in any capacity WRT AXAF. TRW was eventually selected to assemble & test the observatory. Note also the spacewalking Astronaut, since AXAF was initially intended to be in an orbit serviceable by Space Shuttle crews.

 

Beautiful work by Robert Preston, who I assume to be a LM&SC artist. Unfortunately, I've found nothing on him.

 

“The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors. Since the Earth's atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopes; therefore space-based telescopes are required to make these observations. Chandra is an Earth satellite in a 64-hour orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2023.

 

Chandra is one of the Great Observatories, along with the Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (1991–2000), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (2003–2020). The telescope is named after the Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Its mission is similar to that of ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft, also launched in 1999 but the two telescopes have different design foci; Chandra has much higher angular resolution.

 

History:

 

In 1976 the Chandra X-ray Observatory (called AXAF at the time) was proposed to NASA by Riccardo Giacconi and Harvey Tananbaum. Preliminary work began the following year at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), where the telescope is now operated for NASA at the Chandra X-ray Center in the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. In the meantime, in 1978, NASA launched the first imaging X-ray telescope, Einstein (HEAO-2), into orbit. Work continued on the AXAF project throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, to reduce costs, the spacecraft was redesigned. Four of the twelve planned mirrors were eliminated, as were two of the six scientific instruments. AXAF's planned orbit was changed to an elliptical one, reaching one third of the way to the Moon's at its farthest point. This eliminated the possibility of improvement or repair by the Space Shuttle but put the observatory above the Earth's radiation belts for most of its orbit. AXAF was assembled and tested by TRW (now Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems) in Redondo Beach, California.

 

AXAF was renamed Chandra as part of a contest held by NASA in 1998, which drew more than 6,000 submissions worldwide. The contest winners, Jatila van der Veen and Tyrel Johnson (then a high school teacher and high school student, respectively), suggested the name in honor of Nobel Prize–winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. He is known for his work in determining the maximum mass of white dwarf stars, leading to greater understanding of high energy astronomical phenomena such as neutron stars and black holes. Fittingly, the name Chandra means "moon" in Sanskrit.

 

Originally scheduled to be launched in December 1998, the spacecraft was delayed several months, eventually being launched on July 23, 1999, at 04:31 UTC by Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93. Chandra was deployed by Cady Coleman from Columbia at 11:47 UTC. The Inertial Upper Stage's first stage motor ignited at 12:48 UTC, and after burning for 125 seconds and separating, the second stage ignited at 12:51 UTC and burned for 117 seconds. At 22,753 kilograms (50,162 lb), it was the heaviest payload ever launched by the shuttle, a consequence of the two-stage Inertial Upper Stage booster rocket system needed to transport the spacecraft to its high orbit.

 

Chandra has been returning data since the month after it launched. It is operated by the SAO at the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with assistance from MIT and Northrop Grumman Space Technology. The ACIS CCDs suffered particle damage during early radiation belt passages. To prevent further damage, the instrument is now removed from the telescope's focal plane during passages.

 

Although Chandra was initially given an expected lifetime of 5 years, on September 4, 2001, NASA extended its lifetime to 10 years "based on the observatory's outstanding results." Physically Chandra could last much longer. A 2004 study performed at the Chandra X-ray Center indicated that the observatory could last at least 15 years. It is active as of 2022 and has an upcoming schedule of observations published by the Chandra X-ray Center.

 

The above extract at/from:

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_X-ray_Observatory

Credit: Wikipedia

 

An excellent read. The author, Martin C. Weisskopf is project scientist for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Chief Scientist for X-ray Astronomy in the Space Sciences Department at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama:

 

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0913067107

Credit: Martin C. Weisskopf/ National Academy of Science website

SEPTA Norristown Highspeed Line (former Philadelphia & Western interurban)- three more 1989 shots illustrating the brief period of operation of former Chicago Transit Authority 6000-series L cars. SEPTA obtained them as one of the stopgaps to keep operations going until the new fleet arrived (these were later replaced by some modified Philly L cars), the serviceable original fleet of Brill "Bullets" and Strafford cars having dwindled in numbers.

Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:

 

Mercedes-Benz O530 WEB628 /

Mercedes-Benz Citaro (12.0m)

N38F - 07/2012

 

Ex-Arriva Southern Counties South Disposal (GLw-3908) (12/08/2020)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (SH-3908) (12/2017)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (ME-3908) (06/2017)

Ex-T-GM (Heathrow) (09/2012)

New to the T-GM Group (Heathrow) for 2012 Olympic Game shuttle duties.

 

A bit of a proud moment for us at Arriva Tunbridge Wells, as the first of 2 Citaro's were made serviceable having been VOR at another garage for 2-and-a-half years! Our coachmaker, Wayne, has done outstanding work on them both, which has certainly given them a fresh new lease of life, something they truly deserve! MOT passed on Friday 4th September, taxed early Saturday morning.

 

Seen here at Beckenham Junction, performing duty 108 for Croydon Tramlink replacement between here and Elmer's End, via Beckenham Road and Birkbeck.

  

Beckenham Junction Railway Station (BKJ), Rectory Road, Beckenham, London

 

Saturday 5th September 2020

Withdrawn Tractors 413 and 520 sandwich a withdrawn Class 08. 67013 and the other 08 were serviceable and just stabled

 

18/8/2002

Repeating the practice of previous summers the surviving ex Preston Olympians were stored at the far end of the Walton le Dale park and ride car park. Apparently they had been sold and were awaiting pick up. 102 looks a little leaky suspension-wise. They had all been in service on contracts after coming off stage carriage work on 31 December 2016.

Cartridge: 35mm JP

Fire Rate: Break action

Range: 455 meters

Capacity: 1

Extras: Grenade launching sight, lower rail attachments, sling

 

While older break action grenade launchers such as the M79 remain perfectly serviceable today, the JSDF wanted to design a modern, domestically produced grenade launcher. The result was the Type 121 Grenade Projection Device, a modern grenade launcher chambered for a variety of unique Japanese 35mm grenade cartridges. While still a remarkably simple design, the Type 121 is meant to provide longer range and higher accuracy for a grenade launcher. To compensate for the 121's overall larger size over similar designs, the stock has been lightened and strengthened. The Type 121 is capable of firing the entire array of available 35mm JP grenades, which include standard military and police options, as well as 35mm flare charges and a prototype HEAT grenade.

70011 passes Coton on the outskirts of Tamworth with the 4M56 1257 London Gateway - Garston freightliner on 10th July 18......I cant remember when i last saw one of these ugly things working and it was a surprise to see this one as only a handful were serviceable at the time

Our ship, Silver Dawn, was sailing from Tokyo to Osaka. We got up and went to our usual place for breakfast, La Terrazza, looked out on the starboard side (our suite was on the port side) and there it was, Mount Fuji, bathed in early morning sunlight, without a cloud in the sky. It was like this the entire morning. All I had was my LeicaQ3 with a fixed 28mm lens - far from ideal in this situation, so I switched to 60mp and cropped the image to 90mm and then again in processing. Not bad, a serviceable image I think, though my old Canon and the 300mm lens would have been useful!

After moving on from the serviceable E500’s, the repaint program moved back to the StreetLites before an apparent pending route branding decision halted those repaints again.

 

63204/11/6-8 have been repainted in the meantime, 63211 seen here on the 13 on Roslyn St.

Yorkshire Traction 804 has been repainted red and loaned to W. Gash & Son to cover for a shortage of serviceable buses. It is a series 2 Bristol VRTSL/6G with Eastern Coach Works bodywork, new in 1973. It is operating a Newark local service.

It was subsequently transferred to Lincolnshire Road Car as no. 1804.

Tramstop Piet Wiedijkstraat was, one of the least used tram stops of tram line 1 and was closed a few years ago. The notation 'vaste halte' implied that all service trams had to make a stop even if no passengers were present, a direction mostly ignored. The 886 has been preserved and is currently serviceable as the original single articulated 586. (c)Henk Graalman 1976 (4936)

USAF C-130 Hercules Propeller Driven Cargo Plane Returns to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.

The plane can fly home non-stop from anywhere in the world.

 

I did not have a camera with me, so I used my iPhone 12 Pro Max at its longest focal length.

 

Cropped and post processed in Apple’s Photos app.

The cropping is obviously beyond the useful resolution of this lens and sensor chip.

______________________________

C-130 Hercules military transport plane heading east over my house and turning south to approach the Davis-Monthan AFB runway from the southeast to the northwest.

______________________________

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules

 

C-130 Hercules

Straight-wing, four-engine turboprop-driven aircraft overflying water

USAF C-130E

Role: Military transport aircraft

National origin: United States

ManufacturerLockheed

Lockheed Martin

First flight23 August 1954

Status: In service

Primary users:

United States Air Force

United States Marine Corps

Royal Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

Produced: 1954–present

Number built: Over 2,500 as of 2015[1]

Unit cost

C-130E $11.9 million[2]

C-130H $30.1 million[3]

Variants:

AC-130 Spectre/Spooky

Lockheed DC-130

Lockheed EC-130

Lockheed HC-130

Lockheed Martin KC-130

Lockheed LC-130

Lockheed MC-130

Lockheed WC-130

Lockheed L-100 Hercules

Developed into: Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules

 

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin.

 

Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medivac, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship (AC-130),for

airborne assault,

search and rescue,

scientific research support,

weather reconnaissance,

aerial refueling,

maritime patrol, and

aerial firefighting.

 

It is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty models and variants of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as Lockheed L-100, operate in more than sixty nations.

 

The C-130 entered service with the U.S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations. In 2007, the C-130 became the fifth aircraft—after the English Electric Canberra, B-52 Stratofortress, Tu-95, and KC-135 Stratotanker—to mark 50 years of continuous service with its original primary customer, in this case, the United States Air Force. The C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated C-130J Super Hercules being produced today.[4]

 

Contents [hide]

1Design and development

1.1Background and requirements

1.2Design phase

1.3Improved versions

1.4More improvements

1.5Later models

1.6Next generation

1.7Upgrades and changes

1.8Replacement

2Operational history

2.1Military

2.2Civilian

3Variants

4Operators

5Accidents

6Aircraft on display

6.1Australia

6.2Canada

6.3Colombia

6.4Indonesia

6.5Norway

6.6Saudi Arabia

6.7United Kingdom

6.8United States

7Specifications (C-130H)

8See also

9References

10External links

Design and development[edit]

 

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)

Background and requirements[edit]

 

The Korean War, which began in June 1950, showed that World War II-era piston-engine transports—Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars, Douglas C-47 Skytrains and Curtiss C-46 Commandos—were inadequate for modern warfare. Thus, on 2 February 1951, the United States Air Force issued a General Operating Requirement (GOR) for a new transport to Boeing, Douglas, Fairchild, Lockheed, Martin, Chase Aircraft, North American, Northrop, and Airlifts Inc. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers, 72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a cargo compartment that was approximately 41 feet (12 m) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) high, and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a combat transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage.

 

A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, first developed specifically for the C-130. At the time, the turboprop was a new application of turbine engines that used exhaust gases to turn a propeller, which offered greater range at propeller-driven speeds compared to pure turbojets, which were faster but consumed more fuel. As was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the same engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. That aircraft failed financially in its civilian configuration but was successfully adapted into the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol and submarine attack aircraft where the efficiency and endurance of turboprops excelled.

 

Design phase[edit]

The Hercules resembled a larger four-engine brother to the C-123 Provider with a similar wing and cargo ramp layout that evolved from the Chase XCG-20 Avitruc, which in turn, was first designed and flown as a cargo glider in 1947.[5] The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a rear ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane (also possible with forward ramp on a C-124). The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, which included low-altitude extraction for Sheridan tanks and even dropping large improvised "daisy cutter" bombs.

 

The new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi (1,270 mi; 2,040 km), takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate. The remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs: Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was a close affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed (preliminary project designation L-206) proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design.

 

The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206.[6] Hall Hibbard, Lockheed vice president and chief engineer, saw the proposal and directed it to Kelly Johnson, who did not care for the low-speed, unarmed aircraft, and remarked, "If you sign that letter, you will destroy the Lockheed Company."[6] Both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951.[7]

 

The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, California. The aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base; Jack Real and Dick Stanton served as flight engineers. Kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune.[8]

 

After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009.[9]

 

The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers and originally equipped with the blunt nose of the prototypes. Deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D.

 

As the C-130A became operational with Tactical Air Command (TAC), the C-130's lack of range became apparent and additional fuel capacity was added in the form of external pylon-mounted tanks at the end of the wings.

 

Improved versions[edit]

 

A Michigan Air National Guard C-130E dispatches its flares during a low-level training mission

The C-130B model was developed to complement the A-models that had previously been delivered, and incorporated new features, particularly increased fuel capacity in the form of auxiliary tanks built into the center wing section and an AC electrical system. Four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models. The C-130B had ailerons with increased boost—3,000 psi (21 MPa) versus 2,050 psi (14 MPa)—as well as uprated engines and four-blade propellers that were standard until the J-model's introduction.

 

An electronic reconnaissance variant of the C-130B was designated C-130B-II. A total of 13 aircraft were converted. The C-130B-II was distinguished by its false external wing fuel tanks, which were disguised signals intelligence (SIGINT) receiver antennas. These pods were slightly larger than the standard wing tanks found on other C-130Bs. Most aircraft featured a swept blade antenna on the upper fuselage, as well as extra wire antennas between the vertical fin and upper fuselage not found on other C-130s. Radio call numbers on the tail of these aircraft were regularly changed so as to confuse observers and disguise their true mission.

 

The extended-range C-130E model entered service in 1962 after it was developed as an interim long-range transport for the Military Air Transport Service. Essentially a B-model, the new designation was the result of the installation of 1,360 US gal (5,150 L) Sargent Fletcher external fuel tanks under each wing's midsection and more powerful Allison T56-A-7A turboprops. The hydraulic boost pressure to the ailerons was reduced back to 2050 psi as a consequence of the external tanks' weight in the middle of the wingspan. The E model also featured structural improvements, avionics upgrades and a higher gross weight. Australia took delivery of 12 C130E Hercules during 1966–67 to supplement the 12 C-130A models already in service with the RAAF. Sweden and Spain fly the TP-84T version of the C-130E fitted for aerial refueling capability.

 

The KC-130 tankers, originally C-130F procured for the US Marine Corps (USMC) in 1958 (under the designation GV-1) are equipped with a removable 3,600 US gal (13,626 L) stainless steel fuel tank carried inside the cargo compartment. The two wing-mounted hose and drogue aerial refueling pods each transfer up to 300 US gal per minute (19 L per second) to two aircraft simultaneously, allowing for rapid cycle times of multiple-receiver aircraft formations, (a typical tanker formation of four aircraft in less than 30 minutes). The US Navy's C-130G has increased structural strength allowing higher gross weight operation.

 

More improvements[edit]

 

Royal Australian Air Force C-130H, 2007

The C-130H model has updated Allison T56-A-15 turboprops, a redesigned outer wing, updated avionics and other minor improvements. Later H models had a new, fatigue-life-improved, center wing that was retrofitted to many earlier H-models. For structural reasons, some models are required to land with certain amounts of fuel when carrying heavy cargo, reducing usable range.[10] The H model remains in widespread use with the United States Air Force (USAF) and many foreign air forces. Initial deliveries began in 1964 (to the RNZAF), remaining in production until 1996. An improved C-130H was introduced in 1974, with Australia purchasing 12 of type in 1978 to replace the original 12 C-130A models, which had first entered RAAF Service in 1958.

 

The United States Coast Guard employs the HC-130H for long-range search and rescue, drug interdiction, illegal migrant patrols, homeland security, and logistics.

 

C-130H models produced from 1992 to 1996 were designated as C-130H3 by the USAF. The "3" denoting the third variation in design for the H series. Improvements included ring laser gyros for the INUs, GPS receivers, a partial glass cockpit (ADI and HSI instruments), a more capable APN-241 color radar, night vision device compatible instrument lighting, and an integrated radar and missile warning system. The electrical system upgrade included Generator Control Units (GCU) and Bus Switching units (BSU)to provide stable power to the more sensitive upgraded components.[citation needed]

  

Royal Air Force C-130K (C.3)

The equivalent model for export to the UK is the C-130K, known by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as the Hercules C.1. The C-130H-30 (Hercules C.3 in RAF service) is a stretched version of the original Hercules, achieved by inserting a 100 in (2.54 m) plug aft of the cockpit and an 80 in (2.03 m) plug at the rear of the fuselage. A single C-130K was purchased by the Met Office for use by its Meteorological Research Flight, where it was classified as the Hercules W.2. This aircraft was heavily modified (with its most prominent feature being the long red and white striped atmospheric probe on the nose and the move of the weather radar into a pod above the forward fuselage). This aircraft, named Snoopy, was withdrawn in 2001 and was then modified by Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace as flight-testbed for the A400M turbine engine, the TP400. The C-130K is used by the RAF Falcons for parachute drops. Three C-130K (Hercules C Mk.1P) were upgraded and sold to the Austrian Air Force in 2002.[11]

 

Later models[edit]

The MC-130E Combat Talon was developed for the USAF during the Vietnam War to support special operations missions in Southeast Asia, and led to both the MC-130H Combat Talon II as well as a family of other special missions aircraft. 37 of the earliest models currently operating with the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) are scheduled to be replaced by new-production MC-130J versions. The EC-130 Commando Solo is another special missions variant within AFSOC, albeit operated solely by an AFSOC-gained wing in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, and is a psychological operations/information operations (PSYOP/IO) platform equipped as an aerial radio station and television stations able to transmit messaging over commercial frequencies. Other versions of the EC-130, most notably the EC-130H Compass Call, are also special variants, but are assigned to the Air Combat Command (ACC). The AC-130 gunship was first developed during the Vietnam War to provide close air support and other ground-attack duties.

  

USAF HC-130P refuels a HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter

The HC-130 is a family of long-range search and rescue variants used by the USAF and the U.S. Coast Guard. Equipped for deep deployment of Pararescuemen (PJs), survival equipment, and (in the case of USAF versions) aerial refueling of combat rescue helicopters, HC-130s are usually the on-scene command aircraft for combat SAR missions (USAF only) and non-combat SAR (USAF and USCG). Early USAF versions were also equipped with the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system, designed to pull a person off the ground using a wire strung from a helium balloon. The John Wayne movie The Green Berets features its use. The Fulton system was later removed when aerial refueling of helicopters proved safer and more versatile. The movie The Perfect Storm depicts a real life SAR mission involving aerial refueling of a New York Air National Guard HH-60G by a New York Air National Guard HC-130P.

 

The C-130R and C-130T are U.S. Navy and USMC models, both equipped with underwing external fuel tanks. The USN C-130T is similar, but has additional avionics improvements. In both models, aircraft are equipped with Allison T56-A-16 engines. The USMC versions are designated KC-130R or KC-130T when equipped with underwing refueling pods and pylons and are fully night vision system compatible.

 

The RC-130 is a reconnaissance version. A single example is used by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, the aircraft having originally been sold to the former Imperial Iranian Air Force.

 

The Lockheed L-100 (L-382) is a civilian variant, equivalent to a C-130E model without military equipment. The L-100 also has two stretched versions.

 

Next generation[edit]

Main article: Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules

In the 1970s, Lockheed proposed a C-130 variant with turbofan engines rather than turboprops, but the U.S. Air Force preferred the takeoff performance of the existing aircraft. In the 1980s, the C-130 was intended to be replaced by the Advanced Medium STOL Transport project. The project was canceled and the C-130 has remained in production.

 

Building on lessons learned, Lockheed Martin modified a commercial variant of the C-130 into a High Technology Test Bed (HTTB). This test aircraft set numerous short takeoff and landing performance records and significantly expanded the database for future derivatives of the C-130.[12] Modifications made to the HTTB included extended chord ailerons, a long chord rudder, fast-acting double-slotted trailing edge flaps, a high-camber wing leading edge extension, a larger dorsal fin and dorsal fins, the addition of three spoiler panels to each wing upper surface, a long-stroke main and nose landing gear system, and changes to the flight controls and a change from direct mechanical linkages assisted by hydraulic boost, to fully powered controls, in which the mechanical linkages from the flight station controls operated only the hydraulic control valves of the appropriate boost unit.[13] The HTTB first flew on 19 June 1984, with civil registration of N130X. After demonstrating many new technologies, some of which were applied to the C-130J, the HTTB was lost in a fatal accident on 3 February 1993, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, in Marietta, Georgia.[14] The crash was attributed to disengagement of the rudder fly-by-wire flight control system, resulting in a total loss of rudder control capability while conducting ground minimum control speed tests (Vmcg). The disengagement was a result of the inadequate design of the rudder's integrated actuator package by its manufacturer; the operator's insufficient system safety review failed to consider the consequences of the inadequate design to all operating regimes. A factor which contributed to the accident was the flight crew's lack of engineering flight test training.[15]

 

In the 1990s, the improved C-130J Super Hercules was developed by Lockheed (later Lockheed Martin). This model is the newest version and the only model in production. Externally similar to the classic Hercules in general appearance, the J model has new turboprop engines, six-bladed propellers, digital avionics, and other new systems.[16]

 

Upgrades and changes[edit]

In 2000, Boeing was awarded a US$1.4 billion contract to develop an Avionics Modernization Program kit for the C-130. The program was beset with delays and cost overruns until project restructuring in 2007.[17] On 2 September 2009, Bloomberg news reported that the planned Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) upgrade to the older C-130s would be dropped to provide more funds for the F-35, CV-22 and airborne tanker replacement programs.[18] However, in June 2010, Department of Defense approved funding for the initial production of the AMP upgrade kits.[19][20] Under the terms of this agreement, the USAF has cleared Boeing to begin low-rate initial production (LRIP) for the C-130 AMP. A total of 198 aircraft are expected to feature the AMP upgrade. The current cost per aircraft is US$14 million although Boeing expects that this price will drop to US$7 million for the 69th aircraft.[17]

 

An engine enhancement program saving fuel and providing lower temperatures in the T56 engine has been approved, and the US Air Force expects to save $2 billion and extend the fleet life.[21]

 

Replacement[edit]

In October 2010, the Air Force released a capabilities request for information (CRFI) for the development of a new airlifter to replace the C-130. The new aircraft is to carry a 190 percent greater payload and assume the mission of mounted vertical maneuver (MVM). The greater payload and mission would enable it to carry medium-weight armored vehicles and drop them off at locations without long runways. Various options are being considered, including new or upgraded fixed-wing designs, rotorcraft, tiltrotors, or even an airship. Development could start in 2014, and become operational by 2024. The C-130 fleet of around 450 planes would be replaced by only 250 aircraft.[22] The Air Force had attempted to replace the C-130 in the 1970s through the Advanced Medium STOL Transport project, which resulted in the C-17 Globemaster III that instead replaced the C-141 Starlifter.[23] The Air Force Research Laboratory funded Lockheed and Boeing demonstrators for the Speed Agile concept, which had the goal of making a STOL aircraft that can take off and land at speeds as low as 70 kn (130 km/h; 81 mph) on airfields less than 2,000 ft (610 m) long and cruise at Mach 0.8-plus. Boeing's design used upper-surface blowing from embedded engines on the inboard wing and blown flaps for circulation control on the outboard wing. Lockheed's design also used blown flaps outboard, but inboard used patented reversing ejector nozzles. Boeing's design completed over 2,000 hours of windtunnel tests in late 2009. It was a 5 percent-scale model of a narrowbody design with a 55,000 lb (25,000 kg) payload. When the AFRL increased the payload requirement to 65,000 lb (29,000 kg), they tested a 5% scale model of a widebody design with a 303,000 lb (137,000 kg) take-off gross weight and an "A400M-size" 158 in (4.0 m) wide cargo box. It would be powered by four IAE V2533 turbofans.[24] In August 2011, the AFRL released pictures of the Lockheed Speed Agile concept demonstrator. A 23% scale model went through wind tunnel tests to demonstrate its hybrid powered lift, which combines a low drag airframe with simple mechanical assembly to reduce weight and better aerodynamics. The model had four engines, including two Williams FJ44 turbofans.[23][25] On 26 March 2013, Boeing was granted a patent for its swept-wing powered lift aircraft.[26]

 

As of January 2014, Air Mobility Command, Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Research Lab are in the early stages of defining requirements for the C-X next generation airlifter program to replace both the C-130 and C-17. An aircraft would be produced from the early 2030s to the 2040s. If requirements are decided for operating in contested airspace, Air Force procurement of C-130s would end by the end of the decade to not have them serviceable by the 2030s and operated when they can't perform in that environment. Development of the airlifter depends heavily on the Army's "tactical and operational maneuver" plans. Two different cargo planes could still be created to separately perform tactical and strategic missions, but which course to pursue is to be decided before C-17s need to be retired.[27]

 

Operational history[edit]

 

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)

Military[edit]

 

USMC KC-130F Hercules performing takeoffs and landings aboard the aircraft carrier Forrestal in 1963. The aircraft is now displayed at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

The first production aircraft, C-130As were first delivered beginning in 1956 to the 463d Troop Carrier Wing at Ardmore AFB, Oklahoma and the 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Sewart AFB, Tennessee. Six additional squadrons were assigned to the 322d Air Division in Europe and the 315th Air Division in the Far East. Additional aircraft were modified for electronics intelligence work and assigned to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany while modified RC-130As were assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) photo-mapping division.

 

In 1958, a U.S. reconnaissance C-130A-II of the 7406th Support Squadron was shot down over Armenia by MiG-17s.[28]

 

Australia became the first non-American force to operate the C-130A Hercules with 12 examples being delivered from late 1958. These aircraft were fitted with AeroProducts three-blade, 15-foot diameter propellers. The Royal Canadian Air Force became another early user with the delivery of four B-models (Canadian designation C-130 Mk I) in October / November 1960.[29]

 

In 1963, a Hercules achieved and still holds the record for the largest and heaviest aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier.[30] During October and November that year, a USMC KC-130F (BuNo 149798), loaned to the U.S. Naval Air Test Center, made 29 touch-and-go landings, 21 unarrested full-stop landings and 21 unassisted take-offs on Forrestal at a number of different weights.[31] The pilot, LT (later RADM) James H. Flatley III, USN, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in this test series. The tests were highly successful, but the idea was considered too risky for routine "Carrier Onboard Delivery" (COD) operations. Instead, the Grumman C-2 Greyhound was developed as a dedicated COD aircraft. The Hercules used in the test, most recently in service with Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) until 2005, is now part of the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida.

 

In 1964, C-130 crews from the 6315th Operations Group at Naha Air Base, Okinawa commenced forward air control (FAC; "Flare") missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos supporting USAF strike aircraft. In April 1965 the mission was expanded to North Vietnam where C-130 crews led formations of B-57 bombers on night reconnaissance/strike missions against communist supply routes leading to South Vietnam. In early 1966 Project Blind Bat/Lamplighter was established at Ubon RTAFB, Thailand. After the move to Ubon the mission became a four-engine FAC mission with the C-130 crew searching for targets then calling in strike aircraft. Another little-known C-130 mission flown by Naha-based crews was Operation Commando Scarf, which involved the delivery of chemicals onto sections of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos that were designed to produce mud and landslides in hopes of making the truck routes impassable.[citation needed]

 

In November 1964, on the other side of the globe, C-130Es from the 464th Troop Carrier Wing but loaned to 322d Air Division in France, flew one of the most dramatic missions in history in the former Belgian Congo. After communist Simba rebels took white residents of the city of Stanleyville hostage, the U.S. and Belgium developed a joint rescue mission that used the C-130s to airlift and then drop and air-land a force of Belgian paratroopers to rescue the hostages. Two missions were flown, one over Stanleyville and another over Paulis during Thanksgiving weeks.[32] The headline-making mission resulted in the first award of the prestigious MacKay Trophy to C-130 crews.

 

In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, as a desperate measure the transport No. 6 Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force modified its entire small fleet of C-130Bs for use as heavy bombers, capable of carrying up to 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) of bombs on pallets. These improvised bombers were used to hit Indian targets such as bridges, heavy artillery positions, tank formations and troop concentrations.[33][34] Some C-130s even flew with anti-aircraft guns fitted on their ramp, apparently shooting down some 17 aircraft and damaging 16 others.[35]

  

The C-130 Hercules were used in the Battle of Kham Duc in 1968, when the North Vietnamese Army forced U.S.-led forces to abandon the Kham Duc Special Forces Camp.

In October 1968, a C-130Bs from the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing dropped a pair of M-121 10,000 pound bombs that had been developed for the massive B-36 bomber but had never been used. The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force resurrected the huge weapons as a means of clearing landing zones for helicopters and in early 1969 the 463rd commenced Commando Vault missions. Although the stated purpose of COMMANDO VAULT was to clear LZs, they were also used on enemy base camps and other targets.[citation needed]

 

During the late 1960s, the U.S. was eager to get information on Chinese nuclear capabilities. After the failure of the Black Cat Squadron to plant operating sensor pods near the Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base using a Lockheed U-2, the CIA developed a plan, named Heavy Tea, to deploy two battery-powered sensor pallets near the base. To deploy the pallets, a Black Bat Squadron crew was trained in the U.S. to fly the C-130 Hercules. The crew of 12, led by Col Sun Pei Zhen, took off from Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in an unmarked U.S. Air Force C-130E on 17 May 1969. Flying for six and a half hours at low altitude in the dark, they arrived over the target and the sensor pallets were dropped by parachute near Anxi in Gansu province. After another six and a half hours of low altitude flight, they arrived back at Takhli. The sensors worked and uploaded data to a U.S. intelligence satellite for six months, before their batteries wore out. The Chinese conducted two nuclear tests, on 22 September 1969 and 29 September 1969, during the operating life of the sensor pallets. Another mission to the area was planned as Operation Golden Whip, but was called off in 1970.[36] It is most likely that the aircraft used on this mission was either C-130E serial number 64-0506 or 64-0507 (cn 382-3990 and 382-3991). These two aircraft were delivered to Air America in 1964.[37] After being returned to the U.S. Air Force sometime between 1966 and 1970, they were assigned the serial numbers of C-130s that had been destroyed in accidents. 64-0506 is now flying as 62-1843, a C-130E that crashed in Vietnam on 20 December 1965 and 64-0507 is now flying as 63-7785, a C-130E that had crashed in Vietnam on 17 June 1966.[38]

 

The A-model continued in service through the Vietnam War, where the aircraft assigned to the four squadrons at Naha AB, Okinawa and one at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan performed yeoman's service, including operating highly classified special operations missions such as the BLIND BAT FAC/Flare mission and FACT SHEET leaflet mission over Laos and North Vietnam. The A-model was also provided to the South Vietnamese Air Force as part of the Vietnamization program at the end of the war, and equipped three squadrons based at Tan Son Nhut AFB. The last operator in the world is the Honduran Air Force, which is still flying one of five A model Hercules (FAH 558, c/n 3042) as of October 2009.[39] As the Vietnam War wound down, the 463rd Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Wing B-models and A-models of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing were transferred back to the United States where most were assigned to Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units.

  

U.S. Marines disembark from C-130 transports at the Da Nang Airbase on 8 March 1965

Another prominent role for the B model was with the United States Marine Corps, where Hercules initially designated as GV-1s replaced C-119s. After Air Force C-130Ds proved the type's usefulness in Antarctica, the U.S. Navy purchased a number of B-models equipped with skis that were designated as LC-130s. C-130B-II electronic reconnaissance aircraft were operated under the SUN VALLEY program name primarily from Yokota Air Base, Japan. All reverted to standard C-130B cargo aircraft after their replacement in the reconnaissance role by other aircraft.

 

The C-130 was also used in the 1976 Entebbe raid in which Israeli commando forces carried a surprise assault to rescue 103 passengers of an airliner hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists at Entebbe Airport, Uganda. The rescue force — 200 soldiers, jeeps, and a black Mercedes-Benz (intended to resemble Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin's vehicle of state) — was flown over 2,200 nmi (4,074 km; 2,532 mi) almost entirely at an altitude of less than 100 ft (30 m) from Israel to Entebbe by four Israeli Air Force (IAF) Hercules aircraft without mid-air refueling (on the way back, the planes refueled in Nairobi, Kenya).

 

During the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) of 1982, Argentine Air Force C-130s undertook highly dangerous, daily re-supply night flights as blockade runners to the Argentine garrison on the Falkland Islands. They also performed daylight maritime survey flights. One was lost during the war. Argentina also operated two KC-130 tankers during the war, and these refueled both the Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and Navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendards; some C-130s were modified to operate as bombers with bomb-racks under their wings. The British also used RAF C-130s to support their logistical operations.

  

USMC C-130T Fat Albert performing a rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO)

During the Gulf War of 1991 (Operation Desert Storm), the C-130 Hercules was used operationally by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, along with the air forces of Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the UK. The MC-130 Combat Talon variant also made the first attacks using the largest conventional bombs in the world, the BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" and GBU-43/B "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" bomb, (MOAB). Daisy Cutters were used to clear landing zones and to eliminate mine fields. The weight and size of the weapons make it impossible or impractical to load them on conventional bombers. The GBU-43/B MOAB is a successor to the BLU-82 and can perform the same function, as well as perform strike functions against hardened targets in a low air threat environment.

 

Since 1992, two successive C-130 aircraft named Fat Albert have served as the support aircraft for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team. Fat Albert I was a TC-130G (151891),[40] while Fat Albert II is a C-130T (164763).[41] Although Fat Albert supports a Navy squadron, it is operated by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and its crew consists solely of USMC personnel. At some air shows featuring the team, Fat Albert takes part, performing flyovers. Until 2009, it also demonstrated its rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) capabilities; these ended due to dwindling supplies of rockets.[42]

 

The AC-130 also holds the record for the longest sustained flight by a C-130. From 22 to 24 October 1997, two AC-130U gunships flew 36 hours nonstop from Hurlburt Field Florida to Taegu (Daegu), South Korea while being refueled seven times by KC-135 tanker aircraft. This record flight shattered the previous record longest flight by over 10 hours while the two gunships took on 410,000 lb (190,000 kg) of fuel. The gunship has been used in every major U.S. combat operation since Vietnam, except for Operation El Dorado Canyon, the 1986 attack on Libya.[43]

  

C-130 Hercules performs a tactical landing on a dirt strip

During the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the ongoing support of the International Security Assistance Force (Operation Enduring Freedom), the C-130 Hercules has been used operationally by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, the UK and the United States.

 

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom), the C-130 Hercules was used operationally by Australia, the UK and the United States. After the initial invasion, C-130 operators as part of the Multinational force in Iraq used their C-130s to support their forces in Iraq.

 

Since 2004, the Pakistan Air Force has employed C-130s in the War in North-West Pakistan. Some variants had forward looking infrared (FLIR Systems Star Safire III EO/IR) sensor balls, to enable close tracking of Islamist militants.[44]

 

Civilian[edit]

 

A C-130E fitted with a MAFFS-1 dropping fire retardant

The U.S. Forest Service developed the Modular Airborne FireFighting System for the C-130 in the 1970s, which allows regular aircraft to be temporarily converted to an airtanker for fighting wildfires.[45] In the late 1980s, 22 retired USAF C-130As were removed from storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and transferred to the U.S. Forest Service who then sold them to six private companies to be converted into air tankers (see U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal). After one of these aircraft crashed due to wing separation in flight as a result of fatigue stress cracking, the entire fleet of C-130A air tankers was permanently grounded in 2004 (see 2002 airtanker crashes). C-130s have been used to spread chemical dispersants onto the massive oil slick in the Gulf Coast in 2010.[46]

 

A recent development of a C-130–based airtanker is the Retardant Aerial Delivery System developed by Coulson Aviation USA . The system consists of a C-130H/Q retrofitted with an in-floor discharge system, combined with a removable 3,500- or 4,000-gallon water tank. The combined system is FAA certified.[47]

 

Variants[edit]

 

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2014)

 

C-130H Hercules flight deck

 

A U.S. JC-130 aircraft retrieving a reconnaissance satellite film capsule under parachute.

 

C-130s from the: U.S., Canada, Australia and Israel (foreground to background)

 

RAAF C-130J-30 at Point Cook, 2006

 

Brazilian Air Force C-130 (L-382)

For civilian versions, see Lockheed L-100 Hercules.

Significant military variants of the C-130 include:

 

C-130A/B/E/F/G/H/K/T

Tactical airlifter basic models

C-130A-II Dreamboat

Early version Electronic Intelligence/Signals Intelligence (ELINT/SIGINT) aircraft[48]

C-130J Super Hercules

Tactical airlifter, with new engines, avionics, and updated systems

C-130K

Designation for RAF Hercules C1/W2/C3 aircraft (C-130Js in RAF service are the Hercules C.4 and Hercules C.5)

AC-130A/E/H/J/U/W

Gunship variants

C-130D/D-6

Ski-equipped version for snow and ice operations United States Air Force / Air National Guard

CC-130E/H/J Hercules

Designation for Canadian Armed Forces / Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules aircraft. U.S. Air Force used the CC-130J designation to differentiate standard C-130Js from "stretched" C-130Js (Company designation C-130J-30s).

DC-130A/E/H

USAF and USN Drone control

EC-130

EC-130E/J Commando Solo – USAF / Air National Guard psychological operations version

EC-130E – Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center (ABCCC)

EC-130E Rivet Rider – Airborne psychological warfare aircraft

EC-130H Compass Call – Electronic warfare and electronic attack.[49]

EC-130V – Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) variant used by USCG for counter-narcotics missions[50]

GC-130

Permanently Grounded "Static Display"

HC-130

HC-130B/E/H – Early model combat search and rescue

HC-130P/N Combat King – USAF aerial refueling tanker and combat search and rescue

HC-130J Combat King II – Next generation combat search and rescue tanker

HC-130H/J – USCG long-range surveillance and search and rescue

JC-130

Temporary conversion for flight test operations

KC-130F/R/T/J

United States Marine Corps aerial refueling tanker and tactical airlifter

LC-130F/H/R

USAF / Air National Guard – Ski-equipped version for Arctic and Antarctic support operations; LC-130F previously operated by USN

MC-130

MC-130E/H Combat Talon I/II – Special operations infiltration/extraction variant

MC-130W Combat Spear/Dragon Spear – Special operations tanker/gunship[51]

MC-130P Combat Shadow – Special operations tanker

MC-130J Commando II (formerly Combat Shadow II) – Special operations tanker Air Force Special Operations Command[52]

YMC-130H – Modified aircraft under Operation Credible Sport for second Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt

NC-130

Permanent conversion for flight test operations

PC-130/C-130-MP

Maritime patrol

RC-130A/S

Surveillance aircraft for reconnaissance

SC-130J Sea Herc

Proposed maritime patrol version of the C-130J, designed for coastal surveillance and anti-submarine warfare.[53][54]

TC-130

Aircrew training

VC-130H

VIP transport

WC-130A/B/E/H/J

Weather reconnaissance ("Hurricane Hunter") version for USAF / Air Force Reserve Command's 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in support of the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center

_________________________________

 

With 25049 slightly out of focus but lead loco 24145 in focus the locos head south through Crewe with a freight service. No date for this but mid 70's I would guess.

24145 was new to Willesden as D5145 in September 1960 and a Crewe loco at this time, it was withdrawn serviceable in January 1976 and cut up at Swindon by May of that year.

25049 was new as D5199 from Derby Works to Toton in May 1963 and withdrawn in January 1984. She to was cut up at Swindon but not until Spring 1985.

Image from a slide in my collection by an unknown photographer.

  

The Tarot cards which are issued with the small edition of the present work, that is to say, with the Key to the Tarot, have been drawn and coloured by Miss Pamela Colman Smith, and will, I think, be regarded as very striking and beautiful, in their design alike and execution. They are reproduced in the present enlarged edition of the Key as a means of reference to the text.

 

Tarot, which is available separately, in the form of coloured cards, the designs of which are added to the present text in black and white. They have been prepared under my supervision-in respect of the attributions and meanings-by a lady who has high claims as an artist. Regarding the divinatory part, by which my thesis is terminated, I consider it personally as a fact in the history of the Tarot - as such, I have drawn, from all published sources, a harmony of the meanings which have been attached to the various cards, and I have given prominence to one method of working that has not been published previously; having the merit of simplicity, while it is also of universal application, it may be held to replace the cumbrous and involved systems

 

Arthur Edward Waite

 

In 1909, occult scholar Arthur Edward Waite paid Colman Smith a flat fee to illustrate the seventy-eight cards of the tarot. An occult scholar, Waite had already published numerous books before embarking on a tarot project, volumes on alchemy and black magic as well as explorations of the work of famous mystics. The two knew each other from the Golden Dawn, a western mysticism order they both belonged to. The 15th century Sola Busca tarot—the only tarot to use pictorial images and not repetitive numbers—was used as a guide; the collaborators viewed the Italian deck when the Sola family gave a set of photographs of it to the British Museum in 1907. Some images, like the iconic, piercing Three of Swords, are clearly lifted from the older deck, while others are less obviously derivative. The style, however, is a huge departure: simpler, modern, less muscular, more romantic. Colman Smith finished the deck, a total of eighty cards, in just six months. In a letter to Stieglitz, she wrote, “I’ve just finished a big job for very little cash!”

enchantedlivingmagazine.com/divine-mystery-pamela-colman-...

 

Originally published in 1910 Preface

 

IT seems rather of necessity than predilection in the sense of apologia that I should put on record in the first place a plain statement of my personal position, as one who for many years of literary life has been, subject to his spiritual and other limitations, an exponent of the higher mystic schools. It will be thought that I am acting strangely in concerning myself at this day with what appears at first sight and simply a well-known method of fortune-telling. Now, the opinions of Mr. Smith, even in the literary reviews, are of no importance unless they happen to agree with our own, but in order to sanctify this doctrine we must take care that our opinions, and the subjects out of which they arise, are concerned only with the highest. Yet it is just this which may seem doubtful, in the present instance, not only to Mr. Smith, whom I respect within the proper measures of detachment, but to some of more real consequence, seeing that their dedications are mine. To these and to any I would say that after the most illuminated Frater Christian Rosy Cross had beheld the Chemical Marriage in the Secret Palace of Transmutation, his story breaks off abruptly, with an intimation that he expected next morning to be door-keeper. After the same manner, it happens more often than might seem likely that those who have seen the King of Heaven through the most clearest veils of the sacraments are those who assume thereafter the humblest offices of all about the House of God. By such simple devices also are the Adepts and Great Masters in the secret orders distinguished from the cohort of Neophytes as servi servorum mysterii. So also, or in a way which is not entirely unlike, we meet with the Tarot cards at the outermost gates--amidst the fritterings and débris of the so-called occult arts, about which no one in their senses has suffered the smallest deception; and yet these cards belong in themselves to another region, for they contain a very high symbolism, which is interpreted according to the Laws of Grace rather than by the pretexts and intuitions of that which passes for divination. The fact that the wisdom of God is foolishness with men does not create a presumption that the foolishness of this world makes in any sense for Divine Wisdom; so neither the scholars in the ordinary classes nor the pedagogues in the seats of the mighty will be quick to perceive the likelihood or even the possibility of this proposition. The subject has been in the hands of cartomancists as part of the stock-in-trade of their industry; I do not seek to persuade any one outside my own circles that this is of much or of no consequence; but on the historical and interpretative sides it has not fared better; it has been there in the hands of exponents who have brought it into utter contempt for those people who possess philosophical insight or faculties for the appreciation of evidence. It is time that it should be rescued, and this I propose to undertake once and for all, that I may have done with the side issues which distract from the term. As poetry is the most beautiful expression of the things that are of all most beautiful, so is symbolism the most catholic expression in concealment of things that are most profound in the Sanctuary and that have not been declared outside it with the same fulness by means of the spoken word. The justification of the rule of silence is no part of my present concern, but I have put on record elsewhere, and quite recently, what it is possible to say on this subject. Introduction

 

The little treatise which follows is divided into three parts, in the first of which I have dealt with the antiquities of the subject and a few things that arise from and connect therewith. It should be understood that it is not put forward as a contribution to the history of playing cards, about which I know and care nothing; it is a consideration dedicated and addressed to a certain school of occultism, more especially in France, as to the source and centre of all the phantasmagoria which has entered into expression during the last fifty years under the pretence of considering Tarot cards historically. In the second part, I have dealt with the symbolism according to some of its higher aspects, and this also serves to introduce the complete and rectified Tarot, which is available separately, in the form of coloured cards, the designs of which are added to the present text in black and white. They have been prepared under my supervision-in respect of the attributions and meanings-by a lady who has high claims as an artist. Regarding the divinatory part, by which my thesis is terminated, I consider it personally as a fact in the history of the Tarot - as such, I have drawn, from all published sources, a harmony of the meanings which have been attached to the various cards, and I have given prominence to one method of working that has not been published previously; having the merit of simplicity, while it is also of universal application, it may be held to replace the cumbrous and involved systems of the larger hand-books.

 

PART I

 

The Veil and its Symbols

 

$1

 

INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL

 

THE pathology of the poet says that "the undevout astronomer is mad"; the pathology of the very plain man says that genius is mad; and between these extremes, which stand for ten thousand analogous excesses, the sovereign reason takes the part of a moderator and does what it can. I do not think that there is a pathology of the occult dedications, but about their extravagances no one can question, and it is not less difficult than thankless to act as a moderator regarding them. Moreover, the pathology, if it existed, would probably be an empiricism rather than a diagnosis, and would offer no criterion. Now, occultism is not like mystic faculty, and it very seldom works in harmony either with business aptitude in the things of ordinary life or with a knowledge of the canons of evidence in its own sphere. I know that for the high art of ribaldry there are few things more dull than the criticism which maintains that a thesis is untrue, and cannot understand that it is decorative. I know also that after long dealing with doubtful doctrine or with difficult research it is always refreshing, in the domain of this art, to meet with what is obviously of fraud or at least of complete unreason. But the aspects of history, as seen through the lens of occultism, are not as a rule decorative, and have few gifts of refreshment to heal the lacerations which they inflict on the logical understanding. It almost requires a Frater Sapiens dominabitur astris in the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross to have the patience which is not lost amidst clouds of folly when the consideration of the Tarot is undertaken in accordance with the higher law of symbolism. The true Tarot is symbolism; it speaks no other language and offers no other signs. Given the inward meaning of its emblems, they do become a kind of alphabet which is capable of indefinite combinations and makes true sense in all. On the highest plane it offers a key to the Mysteries, in a manner which is not arbitrary and has not been read in, But the wrong symbolical stories have been told concerning it, and the wrong history has been given in every published work which so far has dealt with the subject. It has been intimated by two or three writers that, at least in respect of the meanings, this is unavoidably the case, because few are acquainted with them, while these few hold by transmission under pledges and cannot betray their trust. The suggestion is fantastic on the surface for there seems a certain anti-climax in the proposition that a particular interpretation of fortune- telling--l'art de tirer les cartes--can be reserved for Sons of the Doctrine. The fact remains, notwithstanding, that a Secret Tradition exists regarding the Tarot, and as there is always the possibility that some minor arcana of the Mysteries may be made public with a flourish of trumpets, it will be as well to go before the event and to warn those who are curious in such matters that any revelation will contain only a third part of the earth and sea and a third part of the stars of heaven in respect of the symbolism. This is for the simple reason that neither in root- matter nor in development has more been put into writing, so that much will remain to be said after any pretended unveiling. The guardians of certain temples of initiation who keep watch over mysteries of this order have therefore no cause for alarm. In my preface to The Tarot of the Bohemians, which, rather by an accident of things, has recently come to be re-issued after a long period, I have said what was then possible or seemed most necessary. The present work is designed more especially--as I have intimated--to introduce a rectified set of the cards themselves and to tell the unadorned truth concerning them, so far as this is possible in the outer circles. As regards the sequence of greater symbols, their ultimate and highest meaning lies deeper than the common language of picture or hieroglyph. This will be understood by those who have received some part of the Secret Tradition. As regards the verbal meanings allocated here to the more important Trump Cards, they are designed to set aside the follies and impostures of past attributions, to put those who have the gift of insight on the right track, and to take care, within the limits of my possibilities, that they are the truth so far as they go.

 

It is regrettable in several respects that I must confess to certain reservations, but there is a question of honour at issue. Furthermore, between the follies on the one side of those who know nothing of the tradition, yet are in their own opinion the exponents of something called occult science and philosophy, and on the other side between the make-believe of a few writers who have received part of the tradition and think that it constitutes a legal title to scatter dust in the eyes of the world without, I feel that the time has come to say what it is possible to say, so that the effect of current charlatanism and unintelligence may be reduced to a minimum. labirintoermetico.com

 

We shall see in due course that the history of Tarot cards is largely of a negative kind, and that, when the issues are cleared by the dissipation of reveries and gratuitous speculations expressed in the terms of certitude, there is in fact no history prior to the fourteenth century. The deception and self-deception regarding their origin in Egypt, India or China put a lying spirit into the mouths of the first expositors, and the later occult writers have done little more than reproduce the first false testimony in the good faith of an intelligence unawakened to the issues of research. As it so happens, all expositions have worked within a very narrow range, and owe, comparatively speaking, little to the inventive faculty. One brilliant opportunity has at least been missed, for it has not so far occurred to any one that the Tarot might perhaps have done duty and even originated as a secret symbolical language of the Albigensian sects. I commend this suggestion to the lineal descendants in the spirit of Gabriele Rossetti and Eugène Aroux, to Mr. Harold Bayley as another New Light on the Renaissance, and as a taper at least in the darkness which, with great respect, might be serviceable to the zealous and all-searching mind of Mrs. Cooper-Oakley. Think only what the supposed testimony of watermarks on paper might gain from the Tarot card of the Pope or Hierophant, in connexion with the notion of a secret Albigensian patriarch, of which Mr. Bayley has found in these same watermarks so much material to his purpose. Think only for a moment about the card of the High Priestess as representing the Albigensian church itself; and think of the Tower struck by Lightning as typifying the desired destruction of Papal Rome, the city on the seven hills, with the pontiff and his temporal power cast down from the spiritual edifice when it is riven by the wrath of God. The possibilities are so numerous and persuasive that they almost deceive in their expression one of the elect who has invented them. But there is more even than this, though I scarcely dare to cite it. When the time came for the Tarot cards to be the subject of their first formal explanation, the archaeologist Court de Gebelin reproduced some of their most important emblems, and--if I may so term it--the codex which he used has served--by means of his engraved plates-as a basis of reference for many sets that have been issued subsequently. The figures are very primitive and differ as such from the cards of Etteilla, the Marseilles Tarot, and others still current in France. I am not a good judge in such matters, but the fact that every one of the Trumps Major might have answered for watermark purposes is shewn by the cases which I have quoted and by one most remarkable example of the Ace of Cups.

 

I should call it an eucharistic emblem after the manner of a ciborium, but this does not signify at the moment. The point is that Mr. Harold Bayley gives six analogous devices in his New Light on the Renaissance, being watermarks on paper of the seventeenth century, which he claims to be of Albigensian origin and to represent sacramental and Graal emblems. Had he only heard of the Tarot, had he known that these cards of divination, cards of fortune, cards of all vagrant arts, were perhaps current at the period in the South of France, I think that his enchanting but all too fantastic hypothesis might have dilated still more largely in the atmosphere of his dream. We should no doubt have had a vision of Christian Gnosticism, Manichæanism, and all that he understands by pure primitive Gospel, shining behind the pictures. I do not look through such glasses, and I can only commend the subject to his attention at a later period; it is mentioned here that I may introduce with an unheard-of wonder the marvels of arbitrary speculation as to the history of the cards. With reference to their form and number, it should scarcely be necessary to enumerate them, for they must be almost commonly familiar, but as it is precarious to assume anything, and as there are also other reasons, I will tabulate them briefly as follows:--

 

THE TAROT IN HISTORY

 

Our immediate next concern is to speak of the cards in their history, so that the speculations and reveries which have been perpetuated and multiplied in the schools of occult research may be disposed of once and for all, as intimated in the preface hereto.

 

Let it be understood at the beginning of this point that there are several sets or sequences of ancient cards which are only in part of our concern. The Tarot of the Bohemians, by Papus, which I have recently carried through the press, revising the imperfect rendering, has some useful information in this connexion, and, except for the omission of dates and other evidences of the archaeological sense, it will serve the purpose of the general reader. I do not propose to extend it in the present place in any manner that can be called considerable, but certain additions are desirable and so also is a distinct mode of presentation.

 

Among ancient cards which are mentioned in connexion with the Tarot, there are firstly those of Baldini, which are the celebrated set attributed by tradition to Andrea Mantegna, though this view is now generally rejected. Their date is supposed to be about 1470, and it is thought that there are not more than four collections extant in Europe. A copy or reproduction referred to 1485 is perhaps equally rare. A complete set contains fifty numbers, divided into five denaries or sequences of ten cards each. There seems to be no record that they were used for the purposes of a game, whether of chance or skill; they could scarcely have lent themselves to divination or any form of fortune- telling; while it would be more than idle to impute a profound symbolical meaning to their obvious emblematic designs. The first denary embodies Conditions of Life, as follows: (i) The Beggar, (2) the Knave, (3) the Artisan, (4) the Merchant, (5) the Noble, (6) the Knight, (7) the Doge, (8) the King, (9) the Emperor, (10) the Pope. The second contains the Muses and their Divine Leader: (11) Calliope, (12) Urania, (13) Terpsichore, (14) Erato, (15) Polyhymnia, (16) Thalia, (17) Melpomene, (18) Euterpe, (19) Clio, (20) Apollo. The third combines part of the Liberal Arts and Sciences with other departments of human learning, as follows: (21) Grammar, (22) Logic, (23) Rhetoric, (24) Geometry, (25) Arithmetic, (26) Music, (27) Poetry, (28) Philosophy, (29) Astrology, (30) Theology. The fourth denary completes the Liberal Arts and enumerates the Virtues: (31) Astronomy, (32) Chronology, (33) Cosmology, (34) Temperance, (35) Prudence, (36) Strength, (37) Justice; (38) Charity, (39) Hope, (40) Faith. The fifth and last denary presents the System of the Heavens (41) Moon, (42) Mercury, (43) Venus, (44) Sun, (45) Mars, (46) Jupiter, (47) Saturn, (48) A Eighth Sphere, (49) Primum Mobile, (50) First Cause. We must set aside the fantastic attempts to extract complete Tarot sequences out of these denaries; we must forbear from saying, for example, that the Conditions of Life correspond to the Trumps Major, the Muses to Pentacles, the Arts and Sciences to Cups, the Virtues, etc., to Sceptres, and the conditions of life to Swords. This kind of thing can be done by a process of mental contortion, but it has no place in reality. At the same time, it is hardly possible that individual cards should not exhibit certain, and even striking, analogies. The Baldini King, Knight and Knave suggest the corresponding court cards of the Minor Arcana. The Emperor, Pope, Temperance, Strength, justice, Moon and Sun are common to the Mantegna and Trumps Major of any Tarot pack. Predisposition has also connected the Beggar and Fool, Venus and the Star, Mars and the Chariot, Saturn and the Hermit, even Jupiter, or alternatively the First Cause, with the Tarot card of the World.[1] But the ⚫ most salient features of the Trumps Major are wanting in the Mantegna set, and I do not believe that the ordered sequence in the latter case gave birth, as it has been suggested, to the others. Romain Merlin maintained this view, and positively assigned the Baldini cards to the end of the fourteenth century.

 

ttp://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt0104.htm (1 of 6) [13/10/2002 14:24:42]

 

L4 The Tarot In History

 

If it be agreed that, except accidentally and

 

[1. The beggar is practically naked, and the analogy is constituted by the presence of two dogs, one of which seems to be flying at his legs. The Mars card depicts a sword-bearing warrior in a canopied chariot, to which, however, no horses are attached. Of course, if the Baldini cards belong to the close of the fifteenth century, there is no question at issue, as the Tarot was known in Europe long before that period.]

 

sporadically, the Baldini emblematic or allegorical pictures have only a shadowy and occasional connexion with Tarot cards, and, whatever their most probable date, that they can have supplied no originating motive, it follows that we are still seeking not only an origin in place and time for the symbols with which we are concerned, but a specific case of their manifestation on the continent of Europe to serve as a point of departure, whether backward or forward. Now it is well known that in the year 1393 the painter Charles Gringonneur--who for no reason that I can trace has been termed an occultist and kabalist by one indifferent English writer--designed and illuminated some kind of cards for the diversion of Charles VI of France when he was in mental ill-health, and the question arises whether anything can be ascertained of their nature. The only available answer is that at Paris, in the Bibliothèque du Roi, there are seventeen cards drawn and illuminated on paper. They are very beautiful, antique and priceless; the figures have a background of gold, and are framed in a silver border; but they are accompanied by no inscription and no number. Il It is certain, however, that they include Tarot Trumps Major, the list of which is as follows: Foo Emperor, Pope, Lovers, Wheel of Fortune, Temperance, Fortitude, justice, Moon, Sun, Chariot, Hermit, Hanged Man, Death, Tower and Last judgment. There are also four Tarot Cards at the Musée Carrer, Venice, and five others elsewhere, making nine in all. They include two pages or Knaves, three Kings and two Queens, thus illustrating the Minor Arcana. These collections have been identified with the set produced by Gringonneur, but the ascription was disputed so far bac as the year 1848, and it is not apparently put forward at the present day, even by those who are anxious to make evident the antiquity of the Tarot. It is held that they are all of Italian and some least certainly of Venetian origin. We have in this manner our requisite point of departure in respect of place at least. It has further been stated with authority that Venetian Tarots are the old and true form, which is the parent of all others; but I infer that complete sets of the Major and Minor Arcana belong to much later periods. The pack is thought to have consisted of seventy-ei cards.

 

Notwithstanding, however, the preference shewn towards the Venetian Tarot, it is acknowledge that some portions of a Minchiate or Florentine set must be allocated to the period between 1413 and 1418. These were once in the possession of Countess Gonzaga, at Milan. A complete Minchiate pack contained ninety-seven cards, and in spite of these vestiges it is regarded, speak generally, as a later development. There were forty-one Trumps Major, the additional numbers being borrowed or reflected from the Baldini emblematic set. In the court cards of the Minor Arcana, the Knights were monsters of the centaur type, while the Knaves were sometimes warri and sometimes serving-men. Another distinction dwelt upon is the prevalence of Chrstian mediæval ideas and the utter absence of any Oriental suggestion. The question, however, remain whether there are Eastern traces in any Tarot cards.

 

We come, in fine, to the Bolognese Tarot, sometimes referred to as that of Venice and having th Trumps Major complete, but numbers 20 and 21 are transposed. In the Minor Arcana the 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the small cards are omitted, with the result that there are sixty-two cards in all. The termination of the Trumps Major in the representation of the Last judgment is curious, and a litt arresting as a point of symbolism; but this is all that it seems necessary to remark about the pack Bologna, except that it is said to have been invented--or, as a Tarot, more correctly, modified-- about the beginning of the fifteenth century by an exiled Prince of Pisa resident in the city. The purpose for which they were used is made tolerably evident by the fact that, in 1423, St. Bernard of Sienna preached against playing cards and other forms of gambling. Forty years later the mportation of cards into England was forbidden, the time being that of King Edward IV. This is

 

www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt0104.htm (2 of 6) [13/10/2002 14:24:42]

 

Tarot In History

 

The first certain record of the subject in our country.

 

t is difficult to consult perfect examples of the sets enumerated above, but it is not difficult to m with detailed and illustrated descriptions--I should add, provided always that the writer is not an ccultist, for accounts emanating from that source are usually imperfect, vague and preoccupied onsiderations which cloud the critical issues. An instance in point is offered by certain views which have been expressed on the Mantegna codex--if I may continue to dignify card sequences with a title of this kind.

  

www.labirintoermetico.com/02tarocchi/Waite_Pictorial_Key_...

As stated in the last set up loads, more floor space was needed for car work so the stored serviceable units were pushed outside. Here are the other 2 that haven't been used in quite a long time. The 84 is ex-Norfolk & Western 415, built in 12-64, and the 83 is ex-L&N 1333, nee-Monon 516, built in 8-67. The 83 was even more obscure back in its day as it was mainly used as the in-plant switcher at the paper mill and usually out of sight to the general public. I'm not sure why it's missing the lettering on the stripe though, and it was the same on the other side.

The I SS-Panzer Korps commander Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich ordered his only reserve, schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 101 to move behind the Panzer-Lehr and 12th SS-Panzer divisions in the Villers-Bocage area, as a precaution against an attempt to advance into the Caumont Gap. Schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 101 had arrived in Normandy on 12 June, after a five-day drive from Beauvais. The battalion had an establishment of 45 Tiger I but had been reduced to about 17 serviceable tanks by an air attack near Versailles.The 1st Company moved to a position 5.6 miles (9.0 km) north-east of Villers-Bocage; the 2nd Company to just south of Point 213 on the Villers-Bocage ridge and the 3rd remained near Falaise with one serviceable tank. The 2nd Company consisted of 12 tanks but through a combination of losses and mechanical failures only six Tigers were present on 13 June. The area around Villers-Bocage came under heavy naval artillery fire during the night of 12/13 June and the 2nd Company moved three times; the company planned a mechanical overhaul for the morning.

Since the COVID-19 global pandemic, it has been over a year since countries began implementing lockdown restrictions and airlines parking aircraft due to low demand.

For EasyJet, COVID-19 has had a massive impact on its flights, with Europe wide lockdowns hampering the amount of serviceable flights being able to operate. Within the UK, with only a very small portion of countries in the so called "Green List", airlines have had to be proactive as to where demand would likely be concentrated on, only for the government to change its mind.

Either way, EasyJet has been a major Airbus customer since 2004 when the low-cost carrier took delivery of their first Airbus A319, which would form the backbone until being superseded by their ever growing Airbus A320 fleet which saw deliveries begin in 2009. EasyJet took delivery of their last Airbus A319 in 2011 which allowed for the withdrawal of their remaining Boeing 737 fleet.

With the ever increasing number of Airbus A320/A321neos entering service, the number of Airbus A319s that have been withdrawn now stands at 74, with the majority having found new homes with only a small number having been parted out for scrap.

Initially, from the beginning of 2020 would have saw United Airlines acquiring 20 Airbus A319s from EasyJet (which will differ in having CFM International CFM56 engines compared to United's fleet which have International Aero Engines V2500 series engines). The plan was to incorporate them into their fleet but that plan has since been scrapped owing to COVID-19 impacting domestic US air travel (which is slowly recovering) and instead they will used to provide spare parts to the airline's existing Airbus A319 fleet.

Currently, EasyJet operates 315 Airbus A320 family aircraft, which includes 98 Airbus A319s (57 currently in storage), 166 Airbus A320ceos (31 currently in storage), 37 Airbus A320neos (one in storage) and 14 Airbus A321neos. EasyJet have 92 Airbus A320neos and 16 Airbus A321neos on-order.

Echo Zulu India Whiskey was delivered new to EasyJet on 17th October 2005, later leased from Aircastle in 2016 and is powered by 2 CFM International CFM56-5B5/P engines.

Between March 2013 to January 2019, she carried Linate - Fiumicino colours before being repainted, later withdrawn on 23rd March 2020 and placed into storage at Lasham Airfield, Hampshire on 24th September 2020. She has since been acquired by United Airlines on 24th February 2021 as N3303U, one of 20 procured and is currently in storage at Goodyear Airfield, Arizona. United will now use the 20 EasyJet Airbus A319s for spare parts.

Airbus A319-111 G-EZIW on final approach into Runway 26L at London Gatwick (LGW) on U28662 from Alicante-Elche (ALC).

CB&Q Hudson No. 4000 in the dead line in Galesburg, Illinois.

Although she seemed to be serviceable yet, her glory days were over. 1956

Some aircraft are designed within the finest of margins, sacrificing serviceability, operability and adaptability for out-and-out performance. Other aircraft are built knowing that they may well be operating from a semi-serviceable runway with minimal logistical support. These two aircraft are certainly exemplars of the latter.

 

The MiG-23 was designed to replace the MiG-21 and first flew in 1967. The intent was to create an agile air superiority fighter, so the Soviet designers selected a single-engine design with variable geometry that could easily out-manoeuvre the aircraft's American adversaries in a dogfight.

 

The Saab Viggen also first flew - as a prototype strike fighter - in 1967 but the air superiority variant came a decade later. It was designed to be simple enough that a team of conscripts could maintain it.

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

 

"It'll be serviceable in 2 hours Captain" (Airline Engineers were always optimists...).

 

G-ALDT was delivered to BOAC British Overseas Airways Corporation in Sep-50 as a Hermes IV and later converted to Hermes IVA standard. It was in service with BOAC for less than 5 years and was sold to Skyways in Feb-55.

 

It was leased to Middle East Airlines as OD-ACB in Jul-55 for 3 months and returned to Skyways as G-ALDT in Oct-55. In Oct-60 it was leased to Bahamas Airways as VP-BBQ for the winter and returned as G-ALDT in Jun-61.

 

It was sold to Air Safaris the same month but was repossessed 5 months later in Nov-61 as they didn't keep up the payments!

 

It was retired at Stansted in Jan-62 and bought by Air Links in August the same year. The aircraft was ferried the short distance to Southend where it was slowly cannibalized for spare parts. It was broken up in mid 1964.

Father O'Leary of St. Michael's Church in Oldham was looking for a bus to transport children to and from Catholic Schools in the Oldham area, and of all that was looked at, a certain Northern Counties bodied Leyland Atlantean registered PNF941J was deemed the best of the bunch.

The bus in question was none other than the first prototype 'Standard' for the new Selnec PTE, EX1, and there is no doubt that Father O'Leary's new purchase safeguarded the vehicle to ensure it would eventually end up in preservation. Of course, he wouldn't have known this at the time, to him it was just the best of what was available.

Even before The SELNEC Preservation Society was formed on 11th January 1987, individuals who were to come together to form the society had expressed an interest in EX1, and made a number of visits to Father O'Leary in Oldham. Eventually, after the Society was formed and 7206 and 7185 had been acquired, more serious attention then turned to EX1, the Society's potential third preservation prospect. Clearly, the Father required a bus to transport the children to and from school daily, but the actual identity of that vehicle was not important, and in fact he did not realise the relevance of the vehicle he was using, until it was explained to him. Conversations with the Father indicated that should a vehicle in equal or better condition be provided to St. Michael's Church for their use, they would accept it in exchange for EX1, as all they required was a serviceable vehicle for their transportation functions.

Eventually, the Selnec group agreed with the PTE to purchase 7110 XJA501L, the first Park Royal production Standard delivered to the Southern Division. It was purchased and swapped with Father O'Leary in a ceremony outside Birchfields Depot, recorded by the Manchester Evening News on 6th April 1988.

The bus continued in the same role as EX1 before it, but was never repainted out of GMT livery, even retaining in house advertising for pre paid tickets!

It is seen here parked outside Father O'Leary's residence in the summer of 1994 looking pretty much the same as it did a decade earlier when running for the PTE.

  

25th August 2020. One of the two remaining serviceable former London Underground 1938 stock sets leaves Ryde en route to Shanklin.

The Cape Cod Central / Mass Coastal Railroad welcomed a big crowd to their second annual Railfans Day on Saturday August 17, 2024. The big draw for photographers this year was the operation of their two serviceable (they also own a third) classic original New Haven FL9s coupled back to back just as they would have operated leading the Neptune or Day Cape Codder up from New York City back in the early 1960s.

 

The railfan festival has wrapped up, and after making a run to drop off visitors who had parked and ridden in from Bourne Station the train deaded back south and is making a blue hour arrival in the now quiet yard. Leading the train are the stars of the day, New Haven 2011 and 2026 (blt. Sep. 1960 and Sep. 1957 as NH 2038 and 2007 respectively).

 

This view was taken from the high level platform at the very end of track at MP 79 (as measured from South Station in Boston) on the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal operated former New Haven Railroad Cape Mainline.

 

Village of Hyannis

Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts

Saturday August 17, 2024

BR unit 207017

 

In their last years the Southern demus were subject to all sorts of strange reformations to keep the remaining serviceable vehicles together. The former 3D unit 1317 has escaped lightly having merely lost its centre TC to run as a two-car unit.

 

Rye

 

4th September 1994

24054 [DB960008] and 46049 are seen at Newton Abbot stabling point in October 1977

When getting off an westbound train at NA the stabling point would always be the first thing you noticed and always hoping for a Western or two! Sadly not by 1977.

 

Loco transferred in May 1973 to Crewe.

May 2nd 1976 - to serviceable store.

July 17th 1976 - withdrawn.

 

After withdrawal 24054 was stored at Crewe Basford Hall until August 1976 when it was reactivated into Departmental stock and renumbered

24054 [& 24142] were pulled from the deadlines at Basford Hall and sent to the Western Region for further use as carriage heating units. On August 31st 1976 they arrived at Exeter Riverside at 4.38pm behind 45012 as part of a milk train, or an 'unidentified' fitted freight (6V53 Down Stoke - St. Blazey china clay empties from Bescot is a candidate), then 45012 tripped the Class 24s to Exeter stabling point, by September 3rd they were still at Exeter but now coupled to a BV ready for onward movement to Laira.

 

As a train heating unit changes included having the boiler exhaust plated over, eth connections fitted and external controls added to the valencing on the driver's side of the cab.

 

1977

On May 9th a reshuffle of the WR carriage heating units took place, with unit ADB968008 (24054) moved from Penzance to Plymouth, whilst ADB968009 (24142) moved from Plymouth to Worcester.

 

During September ADB968008 was transferred from Laira to Newton Abbot.

 

1978

Carriage heating unit ADB968008 (24054) was noted at Newton Abbot on March 5th.

[See DerbySulzers site for the full history!]

1983

During October ADB968008 (24054) finally reached preservation with its purchase by the East Lancashire Railway, Bury. It had spent the first half of the month in transit from March

Thanks again to the Derby Sulzers website for this information

   

Motor Rail Simplex MARY ANN and Baldwin MOELWYN seen hauling the "Flying Flea" train during the 2010 "Quirks and Curiosities Gala".

 

For thousands of photographs of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Railways-and-Tramways/Welsh-Narrow-Gauge...

 

This is the official explanation for the unusual name from the Festipedia page:

 

The Flying Flea was an unadvertised relief train introduced at short notice in 1958.

 

There was a problem with coach firms dropping their passengers at Portmadoc and picking them up at Minffordd.

 

There were sometimes in August 1958 as many as 130 single bookings per day from Portmadoc to Minffordd. To relieve overcrowding on the 2.30 pm train it was decided to run a relief train of four-wheelers from Portmadoc to Penrhyn.

 

Coaches Nos. 4, 5 and 6 (Bug Boxes) were made serviceable in a few days. Most of them had strengthening ironwork added to stop their sides falling out.

 

Originally the Flea ran with No. 1 van but it had no vacuum brake and so No. 2 van was repaired and was vacuum equipped. The Flea only ran to Penrhyn on one occasion.

 

After hurriedly checking clearances to Tan y Bwlch it ran there on every subsequent day.

 

The usual loco was Prince. The two trains met at Tan y Bwlch. The "Flea" left Portmadoc at 3 pm (2.45 pm in 1961) after the main 2.30 pm afternoon train and arrived at Tan y Bwlch in time for the earlier train to depart from there at 3.30pm. The train was first advertised in the 1961 public timetable.

 

This produced some correspondence with the Railway Inspectorate because the published timetable actually showed the 2.30 pm Porthmadog departure leaving Tan-y-Bwch at 3.30 pm but the Fying Flea only arriving there at 3.31 pm!

 

Nor were they happy about departures from Porthmadog happening 15 minutes apart (2.30 pm and the Flying Flea at 2.45 pm) when the Penrhyn to Tan y Bwlch section time was 27 minutes.

 

This implied that two trains would be in the Penrhyn to Tan-y-Bwlch section at the same time.

 

The Flying Flea nick name was because the train of originally just four diminutive coaches hauled by Prince was so small.

 

As more carriages became available in following years so both the main train and the "Flea" became heavier, and the latter went into the timetable together with a morning train for certain regular coach tours. In 1962 the timetable was recast to provide a peak season service to Tan y Bwlch with two train sets, crossing at Minffordd.[5

37409 and 37424 with a Derby to Carlisle test train

37409 very unhealthy with clag and engine sounding poorly !!

with these and 37716 the only serviceable 37s at Crewe to come over to Derby for this plans were made but the river Trent flooding the surrounding area and roads meant you couldn't easily get to better locations for the grid and these

( Mobile phone mast removed in proccesing )

Ashley 12-9-93 (SUN) On a misty September morning Buxton can only find 1 serviceable 37 for the Sunday morning loaded ICI hopper train from Tunstead to Northwich and 37677 passes showing no signs of having struggled with the load of 20 PHVs.I can only presume something banked it from Tunstead to Peak Forest!

This just might be my most rare photo on the New York, Susquehanna & Western Northern Division. Three reasons why. Number one; C420 #2000.

Number two; RS3 #29.

Number 3; Hardly a cloud in the sky.

The 2000 started life as Louisville & Nashville #1312 in 1966 and spent much of it's life in eastern Kentucky coal country like many of it's Alco siblings. In 1982 she was picked up by the Delaware Otsego Corp. to aid in the expansion of Corporate owned NYS&W. She arrived in May of 1982 dressed in a fabulous altered version of the NYS&W "yellow jacket" paint scheme with brilliant silver trucks. The #29 was born in 1952 as Delaware & Hudson #4117. She served the D&H well for nearly 20 years and was sold to a railroad supply company which in turn sold it to the Roberval & Saguenay as #29. She arrived south of the border in 1979 to be used for the new Adirondack Railroad which would be a passenger railroad from Utica to Lake Placid to serve the 1980 Winter Olympics still as 29. That railroad would cease to exist not long after the games were over due to poor track conditions. D&O picked up the 29 and Conrail delivered it to Richfield Jct. in March of 1982. At Richfield Springs splashes of green paint covered the gold "Adirondack" lettering and NYSW stenciled under the cab windows and she was pressed into service. Many didn't even know that the 29 existed because she stayed up in the north country rarely being visited by fans. Try and find her on the all time roster. She didn't exist. The following month after this shot, she'd become #104 and ply the rails of the NYS&W into the 90's. Her fate came one evening on a heavy New Jersey bound haulage train. Brakes got "set up" on her and the Conrail crew with the big powerful C430's kept on going to reach the Gulf Summit dragging the RS3 along flattening the wheels and ruining the motors.

On the other hand, the 2000 is a much different story. By December of this same year she be met with a major component failure. Some time was spent resting in Binghamton. Then a bed was made up in the Little Ferry roundhouse. There she sat in a coma for years until NYS&W finally pulled the plug and mercilessly torched her to bites right behind the roundhouse in 1988 after living a serviceable life of a mere 16 years. This is the only time I ever captured these two "rare birds" together. Throw in a wonderful summer evening in upstate Earlville, New York and you get what I mean.

Around this time seventeen years ago the final few examples of the sixty-three new low floor Dennis Darts with Plaxton Pointer bodywork were rolling off the production line at the Dennis factory in Guildford for Maidstone & District and this year will undoubtedly see the final examples retired from everyday service with ARRIVA. I expect that the majority of the vehicles that still exist will, like many withdrawn over the past eight years be sent to the scrapyard.

 

However one particular vehicle of the batch will not be visiting the grim reaper, with kind assistance from ARRIVA I can confirm that myself along with three dedicated individuals have purchased 3238 (P238 MKN) for preservation! Further details will be released shortly with regards to any rally visits but our main focus at the moment will be on getting her through an MOT!

 

For those of you who would like to know 3238 was last used in service out of Northfleet on Tuesday 12th May 2015 and was stood down at the end of the day in serviceable condition. She officially entered preservation on the 1st June 2015.

 

If you would like to follow her restoration process and get updates on any attendances at rallies (including possible feeder services) we will shortly be creating a Facebook page.

 

Seen during what would be her final two months in service, ARRIVA Kent Thameside 3238 P238 MKN is seen passing over the M26 on Wrotham Road between Wrotham and Borough Green whilst working route 308. Saturday 14th March 2015.

 

Dennis Dart SLF 10.6m - Plaxton Pointer (Ex-Maidstone & District, ARRIVA Medway Towns, ARRIVA Kent & Sussex & ARRIVA Kent Thameside 3238)

Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:

 

Mercedes-Benz O530 WEB628 /

Mercedes-Benz Citaro (12.0m)

N38F - 07/2012

 

Ex-Arriva Southern Counties South Disposal (GLw-3908) (12/08/2020)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (SH-3908) (12/2017)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (ME-3908) (06/2017)

Ex-T-GM (Heathrow) (09/2012)

New to the T-GM Group (Heathrow) for 2012 Olympic Game shuttle duties.

 

A bit of a proud moment for us at Arriva Tunbridge Wells, as the first of 2 Citaro's were made serviceable having been VOR at another garage for 2-and-a-half years! Our coachmaker, Wayne, has done outstanding work on them both, which has certainly given them a fresh new lease of life, something they truly deserve! MOT passed on Friday 4th September, taxed early Saturday morning.

 

Seen here out on a road test (after having had the silencer fitted to the air dryer) and impromptu photo shoot.

  

A21 feeder Hastings Road, North Farm, Royal Tunbridge Wells

 

Sunday 6th September 2020

British Railways ordered seven 10 ton capacity rail mounted cranes for civil engineering works from established crane manufacturer Thomas Smith Ltd of Rodley, Leeds. All seven were for use on the BR Southern Region with four delivered in 1959 and three in 1962. They were delivered with BR engineers department numbers DB 965153 - DB 965156 and DB 965171 - DB 965173 with purpose built jib match wagons in the DB 9985xx range. With the advent of the BR civil engineers plant numbering scheme in 1974 the cranes were renumbered DRS 81330 to DRS 81336.

The example seen here in Leyton CMD Yard is DRS 81332 (ex DB 965155) which was Thomas Smith works no. 24612 of 1959. Its two purpose built match wagons being DB 998511 and DB 998512 which had originally worked with sister crane DRS 81334. Its working career was mostly based out of Eastleigh Pre Assembly Depot until April 1988 when it was transferred to the Anglia Region at Leyton but went into store as a serviceable spare until March 1991. It then returned to the Southern Region at Ashford PAD but by March 1995 it was out of use. it was subsequently withdrawn the same year and scrapped in October 1995.

This time last year, Metrobus MAN 14.240/MCV Evolution 711 (AJ58WBD) was working in service on routes 130 and 359. Now, whilst a few of it's withdrawn sisters are in Cyprus and New Zealand, 711 has instead been dumped right at the corner of Croydon Garage and has had parts removed,

including the engine, to keep other MCV's for route 359 serviceable. This bus will eventually depart for the scrapyard. Such a shame, as it didn't even make it to ten years old.

 

This picture shows what's left of the engine bay. The main parts have all been removed from the bus to go on other MCV's.

An overview of the stand of Blériot Aéronautique at the Salon de l'Aéronautique in 1921 held in the enormous exhibition hall at the Grand Palais Paris. Main point of the stand was the massive four-engined Blériot-SPAD 45 airliner. Already during the war the SPAD factory was incorporated into the Blériot concern.

This airliver had a capacity for 16 passengers and three crew. The four engines (Hispano-Suiza) were mounted in pairs and were serviceable in flight by a mechanic (!) who had probably to ealk over the lower wing to reach these engines.

The mounting of the four engines was a break with the precursor four-engined Blériot biplanes which had the four engines mounted closely around the fuselage, all driving tractor propellers. The engines were than placed close to the fuselage, two on the lower wing and two on the top wing.

The Blériot-SPAD 45 is seen here in an unfinished state for instance the top wing is open, showing the precise workmanship.

The Blériot-SPAD 45 remained a single sample. Competition in 1921 was fierce for the airliner market. Modified passenger carrying bomber types used by airliners were less expensive, but worse : air travel was expensive and more for the happy few, so interest for a 16 passenger airliner was almost non-existant. Also the operating cost will have been considerable with four engines and lots of fuel to use.

British Railways Bo-Bo JB class 73/1 660-750V DC third rail electro-diesel locomotive number 73118 The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway of Stewarts Lane Traction Maintenance Depot passes by Wateringbury signal box 7 signal running light engine towards Paddock Wood. Friday 20th January 1989

 

Note, 73118 was built by The English Electric Company Limited (works number 3586) at the Vulcan Works (works number E356) at Newton-le-Willows in 1965 for British Railways as number E6024, being renumbered 73118 on 7th March 1974. It was stored serviceable at Ramsgate Traction Maintenance Depot on 4th August 1981 and was restored to traffic in November 1981. It was named The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway at Folkestone Harbour railway station on 8th May 1987

 

Wateringbury signal box is located by the Up line alongside Bow Hill level crossing and is a Saxby & Farmer type 12a design built for the South Eastern Railway Company that opened in 1893 fitted with a 27 lever Saxby & Farmer Limited 1888 Duplex frame. The lever frame was reduced to 9 levers at some time, possibly in the late 1960s. Two British Railways Southern Region individual function switches controlling 50 signal protecting Teston Crossing, and 51 signal protecting Teston Crossing and emergency replacement of 51R signal were commissioned on 12th March 1978. A British Railways Southern Region individual function switch console controlling emergency replacement of PE126 , A293 and 101 signals plus a fog switch was commissioned on 20th October 1982. A British Railways Southern Region individual function switch releasing East Peckham Tip Ground Switch Panel was commissioned on 25th November 1987. PE126 signal was renumbered AD252 circa September 1993 and the fog switch was decommissioned circa 2005). The signal box was awarded Grade II listed building status on 18th July 2013

 

7 signal (Up Starting) carried on a Southern Railway Company two-rail signal post which was erected, possibly in early 1942 (the Up Starting signal is listed on a notice dated 4th January 1942 as being moved nearer to the station)

 

Ref no 09432

One of a handful of serviceable class 91's is 91106.

 

She is seen here having just left Colton North Jn having taken the the Doncaster line via Hambleton Junction working 1Y84, the 12:02 York to London Kings Cross

4/2025 - Hurlock, MD

Now with cars in tow, 1203 heads west to Purdue which is the end of serviceable track.

With the arrival of 50 new class 90's between 1987-90 the writing was on the wall for the early AC electrics from classes 81-85. Of the first AC electrics the numerically larger class 85 fleet lasted longest with major inroads into the fleet starting in 1989. In June that year twelve standard class 85/0's were selected by BR Railfreight Distribuition sector for dedicated freight work to become class 85/1's and had their ETH cables removed and the top speed down graded to 80mph to lengthen the maintenance cycle. They were seen as a stop gap for the late delivery of class 90's to the freight sector as the passenger sector took priority with deliveries. Three more 85/0's were added to the 85/1 fleet in 1990 as the original loco selected to be come 85 112 was fire damaged and the conversion was cancelled so a new 85 112 plus 113 and 114 were added. They seemed assured a future seeing out their days working freight but the class 85/1 fleet was short lived. By the late summer of 1991 only two were still in traffic no.'s 85 101 and 113. By November 1991 it was game over and both were withdrawn although 85 101 was reinstated in May 1992 on paper but to my knowledge this was not into active service as it was a precursor to being sold into preservation.

85 113 leading here was renumbered from 85 003 in October 1990 but two months late was stored service. It spent seven months in stored here at Crewe ETD before being reinstated on 15/07/91 to Willesden TMD as an ECS pilot loco working in and out of London Euston. Four months late its career was over being one of the last two withdrawn on 08/11/91.

85 112 standing behind was ex 85 007 renumbered on 12/03/90 and this loco only worked until 15/11/90 before being stored serviceable here at Crewe. It was never reinstated and was formally withdrawn on 05/07/91. Both locos eventually met their fate at MC Metals, Springburn, Glasgow.

Long out of use Eritrean Railway 950mm gauge Breda 0-4-0 tank 202-011 (Works No.2457 of 1937) dumped inside the loco-shed at Asmara, viewed from the cab of a sister class 202 locomotive. Two serviceable 'Mallet' 0-4-4-0 tank locos stand outside in the servicing bay.

 

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