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Jamestown Street Railway
More Mystery Photos
July 29, 2016 July 21, 2018 David Sadowski 21 Comments
Tony Manthos: "Birney 93 (very elaborate 3), destination boards read "Willard via Third." Looks like end of line loop in pretty remote spot." Frank Hicks: "This is the Jamestown Street Railway in Jamestown, NY. This exact car (this isn't actually a Birney, it's a 1926 St. Louis Car Company product*) is currently being restored by a group there." http://jamestowntrolley.org/trolrest/index.html
Dear Sir:
I have been struggling to identify some trolley-related photos which came in mixed auction lots.
One significant score this morning was interurban 302, which I found to be Jamestown Westfield & NW. Others remain a mystery. Do you think you would have time to take a look at them?
Tony Manthos
Thanks for sharing. We'll see what our readers think. Likewise, I am sure they would also like to see the pictures that you have identified, including interurban 302.
If you can shed any light on these photos, you can either leave a Comment on this post, or write us directly at:
Tony Manthos: "Here is the photo of no. 128. I am hoping that this is San Diego Elec. Ry. 128 (St. Louis Car Co. 1912). I understand the series had centre doors but they were removed in 1924. I can't read the signs on the side and front. The car on the right seems to have the same sign, but only the H of the first word is visible. The box-like appendage on the roof seems to be a feature of SD cars. The flame shaped streetlight globes are distinctive. Are they a SD feature? There are 5 trolley cars in the picture, which seems a lot for a relatively quiet street. My big question is this – No. 128 and some others were apparently sold to make private residences around1937, but the California license plate on the auto has a 1948 tag in the corner. I hope you can make sense of this. Many thanks." Don Ross: "The 128 was Municipal Ry of San Francisco." Tunnelstation writes: "The cars you think are SD cars are indeed San Francisco Municipal Railway streetcars. The location is on Duboce Street passing the "New" Mint just off of Market street. In the background is where the Sunset Tunnel (built in 1928) is located, which took the Muni cars through the hills to the Inner Sunset District on their way to the Beach and the Pacific Ocean where the "N" Judah Street line ended in a loop."
James B. Holland writes:
The above is clearly San Francisco on Duboce with Market Street behind the photographer and Church Street the first intersection in the distance. Part way up the hill in the distance the tracks cross the right-sidewalk to enter the Sunset Tunnel (the picture is not clear but it does appear to show the tunnel portal outline itself!). The photographer is facing West which is Outbound. The strong cliff on the right supports the San Francisco Mint.
The Trolleys are on top of the current entrance for the "N" and "J" lines into the Market Street Subway. Indeed, the car coming toward us has "N" in the cube on the roof immediately behind the doors.
The "trestle" photo hints at West Penn but could be most any 'smaller' interurban line up and over a mainline RR!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You … for these excellent emails on trolleys. A native of Pittsburgh, I lived a decade in Zion, IL, following my stint in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club! This is the latter 1960s and early 1970s! After this I did 3.5+decades in San Francisco but am now in upstate NY!
Duboce and Market today.
Tony Manthos: "There is a vertical diamond lozenge logo on the cab side which looks like it might be a Ft. Dodge, Des Moines & Southern. Looks like edges to it so it could be a plate. Mighty steep grade it's on. I can't see any headlights and what's even stranger, no pole and no wire. If there was a wire would that guy be on the boxcar roof? Has it been converted to battery power or internal combustion?" Don Ross: "The loco seems to be FtDDM&S but it is a little shaky."
Tony Manthos writes: "Apart from being No.70 with zebra stripes I have nothing else to observe. I'll rely on your expertise." Don Ross: "70 was Sand Springs." http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr2452.htm
Unidentified by Tony Manthos. Don Ross: Don Ross: "Milwaukee Sweeper." http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr022.htm
Tony Manthos: "All I can see on the sweeper is No.6 under the front middle window." Don Ross: "I think the other sweeper was Third Avenue Ry." http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr180.htm Frank Hicks: "Sweeper 6 – this is the Chicago & West Towns."
Tony Manthos: "As for the trestle, it's a long shot, just in case you have encountered it before or know the site. The main line underneath is very well maintained. They obviously didn't want an interurban diamond getting in their way." Don Ross: "The trestle was Milwaukee at Grafton." http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr2672.htm On the other hand, Scott Greig says, "The Milwaukee Electric viaduct identified as Grafton is actually the viaduct near Mequon quarry. The view is looking north, from the side of Highway 57."
Other than the number (1101), Tony Manthos has no information on this car. Don Ross: "1101 was Portland, OR." http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr328.htm
Tony Manthos: "Interurban 818. The snow tempted me to Denver & Intermountain 818 but I believe it had a center door." Don Ross: "818 is Denver. The center door was only on one side." http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr2234.htm
Tony Manthos writes:
I am blown away by the response from your readers. Very many thanks to you and all of them.
I know where to go if I get more of the same.
I had actually already identified the little Jamestown car and have been in correspondence with the guys who are doing the restoration. They kindly sent me a photo similar to mine taken at the same spot and one of the scene today, taken from the same place on the sidewalk. It hasn't changed much. The loop is paved and the local bus turns on it. They also sent me photos of when they rescued it – it was a fishing shack on a nearby lake and they had to haul it out of thick trees. They found a good space to work on it, in the old depot, and they are doing a first rate job.
Unfortunately a big wrench has been thrown into the works, in the shape of a theatrical company which is going to convert the depot into a theatre venue in honor of Lucille Ball, who was born in Jamestown, and they don't feel a trolley is compatible. The restoration group is in despair because they have no place to move to and continue the work. I did suggest they spread a rumor that Lucy used to go to school in that trolley but my contact had already tried that and the committee shot it down. I wish I could do something to help them out.
Thanks again and best regards.
Another Mystery Photo
MBTA (Boston) PCC 3147 at an unidentified location in October 1966. Could this be the old Braves Field loop? Tunnelstation writes:"The Boston PCC picture is located at the end of the "C" line near the Chestnut Hill Reservoir off Beacon Street. The scene is the exit from the Reservoir Car yard out to the street which also serves as the end of the line return loop going to Downtown Boston. That is one of the oldest continuous running trolley lines in America and is still in service today using cars built in Japan." Beacon Street is the MBTA Green Line "C" branch.
The general area of the 1966 photo. That may be the same building at left, with the fire escape.
A contemporary aerial view.
Phil Bergen writes:
The second color Boston photo is indeed the same large building that trolleys loop around at the corner of Beacon Street and Chestnut Hill Avenue.
The only remaining portion of Braves Field that shows on the Sanborn map is the section marked Pavilion A. The stadium has gradually been reduced in size from its baseball configuration. It was the original home field of the AFL Boston (New England) Patriots and later became the property and home field of Boston University. After BU dropped football, it has evolved into a soccer/field hockey/intramural multipurpose field.
A map showing the Braves Field loop in 1916. A portion of this old ballpark still exists.
Steamed Up
We recently came across some interesting photos showing the last days of steam operation on the Brooklyn East District Terminal Railroad, which was a rail-marine terminal that operated until 1983. Small steam engines were used until October 25, 1963. These had been converted from coal to oil in the 1930s. A number of these locos have been preserved.
S. Berliner III writes:
The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad was a "pocket" railroad, one with no connection to other railroads by land. It had a main pocket yard on the Brooklyn waterfront at Kent Avenue from North 4th Street (the PRR N. 4th St. yard, immediately north of the Domino Sugar plant and the Williamsburgh Bridge, in an area formerly known as Palmer's Docks), extending north to North 10th Street and east inland only a few blocks, and a small yard directly across Newtown Creek in Queens, Pidgeon Street Terminal, and a third yard, Navy Terminal, down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (New York Naval Shipyard), but this latter was strictly for in-yard transfer. It now (Jan 01) appears that there was a second Queens yard. All commerce by rail was via carfloats, barges with rails on them, which were moved by tugboats across or along the East, North (Hudson), and Harlem Rivers to railheads at St. George on Staten Island (B&O) or in the Bronx (EL, NYC, NH) or New Jersey (PRR, CNJ, LV) where connections to the mainland railroads were available. It is also possible that connections with the LIRR via its marine terminals in Bay Ridge or LIC might have given mainland access via the New Haven over the Hell Gate Bridge but I have never seen any indication this was so, nor is the LIRR listed on the BEDT's Feb 1964 connections list. Historian Tom Flagg advised 19 Jan 01 that there was even a Warren St. Terminal in Jersey City which only lasted from about 1910-1915 until shortly after 1920; its track plan looked much more like a Christmas Tree layout, with a loop, than it did a real railroad. Tom suggests that perhaps that's why it didn't last long! Further, he advised that the BEDT became a common carrier in 1940, which certainly changes its status (source: Plowden, April 1961, article on BEDT in Railroad Magazine). Aha, interstate commerce for sure!
Several of these color images were Ektachrome slides that have faded to red over the past 50 or 60 years. Usually, red Ektachromes date to around 1956 or so– the stability of the dyes was eventually improved. The problem is not the red dye layer itself, but the greens and blues that receded, leaving practically nothing but red.
People used to think these were unsalvageable, other than to convert them to black and white. But with today's digital technology, it is possible to restore many of these classic images to something like their original appearance. To show you what is possible, we are including the "before" versions in addition to the "after."
PS- If you are interested in knowing what became of the BEDT property after it was abandoned in 1983, go here. There is also a very comprehensive site devoted to the BEDT here.
The BEDT tug "Invincible" nudges a car float on the Brooklyn side of the East River in June 1956.
You can hear the sounds of steam on the Brooklyn East District Terminal in our CD collection Twilight of Steam, available through our Online Store.
From The New York Times – Oct. 26, 1963:
DIESEL REPLACES LAST IRON HORSE
Buffs Sad, Engineer Happy at Brooklyn Ceremony
By John F. Callahan
The last regularly operating steam locomotive in the East died yesterday.
With a hiss of steam that roared and then faded to a gasping whisper, No. 10 ended a 44-year run in the shuttling yard of the Brooklyn East District Terminal.
Begrimed, and clouded in her own steam from the last of her banked-down boiler fires, the old black, 28-foot six-wheeler looked tired– especially alongside the bright blue, 44-foot diesel electric locomotive that has taken its place.
A few sad facial expressions were noticeable among steam locomotive buffs who were snapping pictures from all angles. But there was an absence of sadness on the part of Joseph Keane, engineer on No. 10.
Too Hot For Comfort
"There's no use feeling badly," he remarked. "The diesel is better in every way, and I can't forget how hot that cab was in the winter, as well as in the sweltering summer. Just step up in there and see for yourself, and mind, the fire is about out."
Then he was joined in the ventilated cab of the diesel locomotive, where there was an air-cooled supply of drinking water and but three main switch- and engine-throttles, compared with more than 20 knobs, handles, bars and cords, and no drinking water, in old No. 10's cab.
The terminal is one of three in Brooklyn that transport freight cars on floats between the New Jersey side of the Hudson River and piers along the Brooklyn side of the East River, Brooklyn's Eastern District's No. 10 is one of four sister steam locomotives that were replaced yesterday by four diesel electric engines.
Nicholas G. Cutler, a railroad man since 1926 and vice president of operations for the terminal, said he would miss the sound of locomotive steam.
"It was an old-world sound, and it was good to hear on a bitter winter day; it seemed to warm one a bit," he remarked, looking down into the yard from his second-floor office window at 86 Kent Avenue in the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn.
"Actually, I think we might have kept at least one of the steam engines if we could replace parts, but no iron works make them anymore," he said. "That factor, plus the economies of operation offered by the diesel, decided us in burying the steam engine."
It was the same decision that influenced the major railroads to abandon the old Iron Horse beginning in 1925, when the diesel first edged its way onto the nation's railroad tracks.
In the mid-20s there were about 65,000 steam locomotives, some with as many as 12 wheels, and many of them making, if not beating, the diesel's speed. As long ago as 1893, old 999 ran at a top speed of 112.5 miles an hour up near Buffalo. A diesel's maximum today is about 100 miles an hour.
The last steam engine operated by the New York Central was No. 1977. She finished her run in May, 1957, and since then her counterparts have been nostalgic conversation pieces.
Except for a few steam locomotives working in marble quarries in Vermont and on narrow-gauge tracks in outdoor railroad museums and along spurs in some southern states, the Iron Horse is dead in the eastern half of the country, and her plaintive whoooo, hoooo, whoooo has been replaced by the shrilly efficient blast of the staid diesel.
Kenneth Gear adds:
Hi David, I enjoyed the BEDT story in the latest Trolley Dodger and thought I'd share a little info about, and an few photos of 0-6-0T # 16.
Back in the early 1990's I paid a few visits to the ex-PRR Greenville car float in Jersey City, NJ to photograph the New York Cross Harbor RR's Alco switchers in action. The NYCH had taken over the operations of the BEDT and a few other remaining waterfront rail lines in New York, as well as the New Jersey side car float.
In 1992 and 1993 the New York Cross Harbor held "Railfan Days". The railroad welcomed railfans onto the property for tours of the yard and photo ops of the car floats being loaded/unloaded.
I knew the NYCH used ex-BEDT Alco switcher locomotives but I was very surprised to find that 0-6-0T # 16 was still here on the property at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn. The railroad pulled the steamer out of the engine house and spotted it next to Alco S-1 switchers 22 & 25 for both day and night photos! I've attached a few photos of #16 that I took that day.
Happily, BEDT 16 is under going a restoration at the Railroad Museum of Long Island. http://rmli.org/RMLI/Restoration.html
Interestingly, cross ferry car float operations continue in this area today via New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, successor to the New York Cross Harbor and earlier railroads. It is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
I asked Kenneth Gear:
The way #16 was painted in the early 1990s is different than how it looked when it last ran in 1963. That would suggest it was repainted at some later date, but by who?
Did the #16 get abandoned later on, and was it vandalized (stripped for brass) before it was saved? Or was it sent to a museum while still in good shape?
He replied:
As I remember it, BEDT sold the # 16 shortly after it was replaced with diesels in 1963 but it never left Brooklyn.
Who repainted it and why I'm not sure but there was some talk of restoration on a tourist Railroad. The New York Cross Harbor RR ceased operations very quickly and management was under suspicion of some legal wrong doing and the whole railroad was abandoned and eventually taken over by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. 16 was still on the property at this time and the Port Authority disposed of the locomotive and it ended up on Long Island.
I found a website with just about everything you would want to know about BEDT 16, Here is the link:
http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/bedt/BEDT16.html
Some info from that website:
BEDT documents dated June 24, 1963 request $7,000 asking price of #16.
Non-BEDT documents (5/90 issue of Semaphore) show #16 was sold to a G. Foster, then resold, then (erroneously) state it was scrapped!
In actuality, #16 had been sold to George Foster, for use in conjunction with BEDT #12 & Ron Ziel's Sag Harbor & Scuttle Hole operation; but was never removed from the Kent Ave. property and was abandoned in place when BEDT ceased operations in 1983.
It remained there until late 1993, at which time #16 was brought to NY Cross Harbor RR for cosmetic restoration.
From the time of move from Kent Avenue and during restoration in NY Cross Harbor shops, Robert Diamond (of BHRA) claims ownership. Mr. Diamond was kind enough to send a copy of receipt from owner of Kent Avenue property authorizing #16 to be moved by Mr. Diamond and transfers ownership of #16 to Mr. Diamond. According to Mr. Diamond, sometime after restoration and "unveiling" in 1993, NYCH donated #16 without his consent.
According to sources at the Trolley Museum of New York in Kingston, they were supposed to acquire it. Unfortunately, the TMNY could not fund the rigging and move from Brooklyn to Kingston, so #16 was offered by NYCH to Friends of Locomotive 35 in Oyster Bay, which accepted it. However, it was allegedly brought to the RR Museum of Long Island in Riverhead in error, but has remained at that location as their project.
New information states #16 was NOT brought to Riverhead in error, but was sent there intentionally with the knowledge of Friends of Loco #35, as a RR Museum of LI banner was hung on 16 during its move.
A Redder Red Arrow
Here is another example of photo restoration. Fittingly, this is from the Red Arrow Lines (Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company) in 1960 at an unidentified location. Even the Red Arrow wasn't this red!
Bob adds:
The photo on Red Arrow is at Drexel Hill jct the car is headed towards 69th st coming from Sharon Hill. The tracks in the foreground are the pocket tracks at the jct where they short turn cars behind the photographer are the tracks to Media. All still remains today although the 80 class car is long gone.
On July 24, a lightning bolt hit the long ramp leading to the Chicago Transit Authority's Medical Center station on the Blue Line, completely destroying a long section of the original late 1950s canopy. It made for some very compelling video:
Fortunately, no one was hurt. CTA service was fully restored by the next morning, after all the debris was removed from the tracks. This station was originally called Damen-Ogden-Paulina, and it's the Paulina entrance that remains closed.
On the Philly_Traction Yahoo discussion group, Andre Kristopans remarked:
Basically, if you see the video somebody captured from a car on the expressway, the lightning went up the ramp over about 20 seconds, totally destroying, mostly melting, all the aluminum parts of the walkway, walls, railings, with part of the roof falling onto the tracks and causing a massive arc. I have never seen anything even similar to this!
These three pictures have been added to our previous post Night Beat (June 21, 2016):
The North Shore Line terminal in Milwaukee in January 1963.
A North Shore Line train stops at Edison Court in January 1963.
A Toronto subway train in August 1963.
This picture has been added to our post Love For Selle (June 8, 2016):
CTA 3025 is running inbound on Elston on June 30, 1949. (Bob Selle Photo) Neil Arsenty adds, "Although this is the Elston Avenue line, this is actually taken at Milwaukee and Kinzie going southeast. The building behind the streetcar still stands at the Northwest corner."
Milwaukee and Kinzie today.
NOW AVAILABLE, DIGITALLY REMASTERED ON COMPACT DISC:
SEGT
Steam Echoes
Ghost Train
Steam Echoes:
First published in 1959, and long out of print, Steam Echoes captures the unforgettable sound drama of steam engines in action. Like Whistles West, it features the recordings of E. P. Ripley, made in the waning days of steam during the 1950s.
The scenes were selected for listening pleasure as well as to create an historical document. They represent the everyday workings of our old steam friends, selected for the most interest, or the most beauty. The series are purposely kept short to preserve their brilliance. They show the steam engine in all four of the ways it may be heard at work– riding in it, on the train behind it, traveling along beside it, and standing at trackside while it goes by, or stops and takes off again.
Railroads featured include Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Canadian National.
Ghost Train:
Ghost Train, first issued in 1962 and also long unavailable, is a Hi-Fi stereo sound panorama of haunting memories, highlighting the final days of steam railroading. Railroads featured include the Grand Trunk Western, Norfolk & Western, Nickel Plate Road, Union Pacific, and the Reading Company. A particular highlight is a special whistle recording, demonstrating the famous "Doppler Effect" in true stereophonic sound.
More LVT Photos & Trolley Dodger Mailbag, 12-14-2015
December 14, 2015 March 10, 2017 David Sadowski 5 Comments
LVT 1006 making a backup move, which these single-ended cars had to do on a regular basis in Allentown. This must be near the end of service in 1951 as evidenced by the premature corrosion on the car (caused by electrolysis between the steel and aluminum plates it was built with).
Our recent post about the Lehigh Valley Transit's Liberty Bell Limited interurban (December 7) prompted us to dig around for some additional photos to share with you. In addition, we have some recent selections from the Trolley Dodger mailbag. Keep those cards and letters coming in, folks, either as comments, or to:
LVT 1002 on the Philadelphia & Western in 1940. The straight track heading behind us is the original main line that went to Strafford (and gave the Strafford cars their name). It was eventually eclipsed by the extension to Norristown and was abandoned in 1956.
In a 1951 snow scene, LVT 702 meets a 1000-series car.
LVT 702 and 812 on November 12, 1939.
An LVT 1000-series lightweight high-speed car on the Philadelphia & Western in the 1940s. According to Jim Graebner, the siding is "a yard track of the Millbourne Mills shop area.
The long straight stretch of double track leads to the first station stop at West Overbrook, which is just over the hill out of sight."
LVT's Souderton car barn in 1951.
LVT 702 at Rink Siding in Norristown in 1951.
LVT 1020 and 1002 on Washington Street on an April 1, 1951 fantrip. If you look closely, you will see lots of fans with their cameras on both cars.
LVT 704 and 1020 taking their last trip on the way to the Bethlehem Steel scrap line, on New Street near 3rd Street in Bethlehem on January 8, 1952, four months after service ended on the Liberty Bell Limited interurban. Some cars had to be towed, but these at least were still able to move on their own.
Prior to being put into service on the Liberty Bell Limited in September 1941, LVT 1030 made the rounds throughout the system. Note the sign advertising this new club car. This may be Easton, usually the territory of the Easton Limited, LVT's other interurban. Notice the difference in the shape of the rear end (curved) vs. that of the ex-Cincinnati & Lake Erie cars that LVT had (squared off). That is because 1030 was originally Indiana Railroad car 55, and the IR lightweight high-speeds could be operated in multiple units and hence needed more clearance in back for turns.
Lehigh Valley Transit Co. Liberty Bell Route right-of-way at Acorn Siding one year after abandonment, looking north in 1952.
The Lehigh Valley Transit Co. Aineyville Viaduct over the Reading Railroad East Penn Junction in Allentown, PA in 1951.
LVT built the Eighth Street Bridge in Allentown, which charged tolls. This vintage postcard was mailed in 1919.
An LVT local car (yes, the interurban had locals as well as expresses) in Norristown in 1934, on the ramp up to the Philadelphia & Western terminal.
A Liberty Bell Limited saucer.
The LVT crockware was made in Allentown. According to author Ron Ruddell, these were custom-fired in 1914 for use on car 999.
This vintage liberty Bell Limited mustard pot recently sold on eBay for $429.99, although not to me (my finances don't cut the mustard for stuff like this).
Jamestown (NY) Street Railway car 82, built by St. Louis Car Company in 1917, was sold to Lehigh Valley Transit in 1938 as part of their modernization program, where it was renumbered into the 400-series.
A vintage uniform patch.
A P&W "Bullet" car side by side with the LVT at the 69th Street Terminal in 1948. The following year, Liberty Bell Limited service would be cut back to Norristown.
A rear view of two Lehigh Valley Transit ex-Cincinnati & Lake Erie "Red Devils" shows how their squared-off ends were not designed for multiple-unit operation. By comparison, car 1030, adapted from Indiana Railroad car 55, had a rounded end and was designed for multiple unit operation. Presumably, this is the Fairview car barn in Allentown. Liberty Bell Limited interurban service ended in 1951.
The final meet between two Liberty Bell Limited cars (1006 and 702), late in the night on September 6, 1951. The operators are F. Enters and C. Kistler. This was a press photo and appeared in newspapers. (Gerhard Solomon Photo)
Joey Morrow writes:
On this link there are 2 photos that show the northbound (outbound) platform directly north of Elm street east of the (North Shore Line) Winnetka Station which would have been on the modernized section of the Shore Line route. The only thing remaining are the cement blocks that supported the platform structure. The platform is long gone, but the cement supports are still fighting trees and other greenery from taking out the last known platform (that I know of) from America's fastest interurban era. The strange thing is that this platform was abandoned in 1955.
Obviously it's either gone (let's hope not), or it's so hidden you can't see it. But it's pretty clear that those photo's are not old. I'm pretty sure that one of them is still there, or at least the foundation of the platform.
P.S. Thank you so very much for posting my email on your blog, you totally made my day!
The Shore Line was abandoned in 1955 since it was a lot slower than the Skokie Valley route and presumably had a lot fewer passengers. It also had a lot more direct competition. Of course, their eventual goal was to abandon everything, which did happen in 1963.
Around 1950, the CTA proposed turning over the Evanston/Wilmette service to the North Shore Line, in exchange for having all their trains terminate at Howard. I am sure some people at the CTA regarded the interurban operations on their tracks as an inconvenience that created various operating complications. With the CTA's attempts to speed up service, at first by using A/B skip-stop service, then later high speed motors, they felt that reasonable times to downtown could still be achieved even if interurban passengers had to change trains at Howard (or Forest Park).
This did not work out so well for the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin in 1953-57 but that was mainly due to the very slow temporary trackage on Van Buren Street (2 1/2 miles). Who knows how things would have worked out if CA&E had survived after the new Congress rapid transit line had opened in June 1958?
Riley O'Connor writes (in reference to our recent post about the Ken Kidder O-scale model of CSL 7001):
Thanks for the reference to the CSL car. It sometimes seems that the best we can do is get "close enough" for colors. And, sometimes an educated guess is closer to reality than the rivet counters want to admit.
I follow a seller on eBay who operates out of Waukesha and he seems to be knowledgeable about the Kidder 0-Scale production. There appear to have been quite a number of these short production run cars in addition to your CSL car. I just haven't had time to sit down and pick his brain about them. Kidder specialized in this sort of thing, and these cars appear to be at the direction of a buyer or two, with an additional unknown number of "spec" cars. No telling where he got the drawings of the different cars; perhaps Wagner.
From what I've seen, Kidder did, among other things, an Electroliner body (four cars, but no floor or mechanism) and a number of interurbans. Also at least one city car in 0-Scale.
By the way, I've read your blog on many occasions and I thank you for doing it. It's very interesting.
One possible source for the 7001 blueprint would be Car Plans of the Chicago Surface Lines (1962), published by the Electric Railway Historical Society as their 38th bulletin. All 49 ERHS bulletins have been reissued by Central Electric Railfans' Association on a DVD data disc in PDF form, and are available directly from them or their dealers.
I've seen Ken Kidder brass Birney cars for sale on eBay, both single and double truck. The double truck Birney would be the same type of car (Johnstown 311) featured on Railroad Record Club LP #23, Pennsylvania Trolleys, available on CD via our Online Store. This car still exists and was the first one acquired by the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Pennsylvania.
Kenneth Gear writes:
I started buying RRC LPs from Mr. Steventon back when I was in high school (Mid-1970s) My uncle had RRC 10 PRR and he loaned it to me and I enjoyed it very much. In spite of the fact that this record was almost fifteen years old, I wanted to find out if the other LPs (I knew there had to be at least nine others) were still available. I wrote a letter to the Railroad Record Club thinking that I'd never get a reply. Could the post office even deliver a letter addressed simply Hawkins, Wisconsin? A few weeks later I got a nice handwritten note from Mr. Steventon (I sure wish I had saved it) explaining that RCA had lost or destroyed his master discs that the LPs were made from. He was in the process of having new masters made using good copies of the 10″ LPs. He would then start selling the remastered records as 12″ discs.
I would end up buying eight LPs over the next couple of years, but for a while my interest faded. By the time I wanted to start buying more, it was all over.
Just one of the reasons I enjoy these records (CDs) so much.
Awhile ago I sent a few Railroad LPs to a company I found online. I spoke to the sound engineer on the phone before I sent any thing to them. He admitted that he had no idea what to do with locomotive sound recordings but he agreed to make simple transfers to CD without attempting any restoration or track dividing. The results were CDs that sounded exactly like playing the LPs. Your work is so much better that there is no comparing them.
So far, I haven't been able to find anything to indicate that Steventon (1921-1993) had any children. His wife's name was Mary (née Witt) (1921-2003) and they got married in Washington, D. C. in 1954, when they were in their early 30s.
She outlived him by ten years and it looks like someone else helped clean out their house after she died. His own personal collection of RRC LPs ended up getting sold one-by-one on eBay.
I would like to think that we are continuing to carry out Mr. Steventon's life mission by making these fine recordings available once again in modern form as compact discs.
Dennis Kern writes:
I wrote you a while back asking if anyone might have photos/plans of interurban stations/depots specifically ones like the ones on Northern Indiana Power. This was the line that ran from Marion, Indiana to Frankfort, Indiana and more specifically like the depot in CERA book bulletin 102, 1958 on pg 55 of Michigantown – Bottom right. The depot in this photo is very like the one we are working on in Russiaville, Indiana. I know you indicated you might ask around however since I have not heard anything more I assume you did not find anything. You will recall we want to restore the Waiting room in the depot. We did find one photo of the Agents office which is attached for you.
!. Can you tell me your opinion of generally what a waiting room would be like. I am thinking a lot of depots had vertical siding about 3 feet up from the floor covering the lower portion of the plaster. This wood was like box car siding I think. Would appreciate any suggestions you might have because if we can not find anything specific we will just make it look like a generic depot interior.
2. Could you look at the photo – Questions; the two men in uniform – one is an agent. The uniforms are different i.e. one has a dark shirt – other has a white shirt also different hats – we have talked about trying to obtain some uniforms like these and putting some "dummies" in the depot agents office. Any idea where we might obtain uniforms like these. Also any idea on the route map on the wall above the desk, Also the telephone. Also would you say what I think is a window – to the left of door in the back – might be a ticket window – what do you think. Also any comments you might have about the other objects in the office.
Thanks for your time in looking at this.
Let me ask the readers of my blog and also some of the railroad discussion groups I belong to. I apologize for not following through on your previous request. Chances are some of our readers will offer some excellent ideas.
Andre Kristopans writes:
I have a series of huge sheets from1939 that detail car equipments. Would have to scan in three sections to send, and right now scanner is acting up anyway. However, let me give you some interesting tidbits regarding the Odd 17 (actually 19) cars:
6138-6146, 3090 built 1918
11'8-3/16″ high
6138-6142 Brill 27GE1 trucks, 4'10" wheelbase, 4 GE 226-A 45hp motors weight 46700
6143-6145 MCGMCB A/Brill 27FE1 trucks, 6′ wheelbase, 4 GE 80-A 40hp motors, weight 51600
6146 Brill 39E trucks, 4'10" wheelbase, 2 GE 242-B 65hp motors, weight 40600
3090 Brill 39E-1 trucks, 4'10" wheelbase, 2 GE 242-B 65hp motors, weight 41100
11'9-3/8″ high
6147-6153 Brill 27GE1 trucks, 4'10" wheelbase, 4 GE 226-A 45hp motors, weight 46100
6154 Brill 51-E2 trucks, 4'10" wheelbase, 4 GE 80-A 40hp motors, weight 51150
27GE1 trucks with 226A motors (12) almost certainly came from 1429-1526 series cars, of which many were sold 1914-1916
MCB 10A trucks (the 6-foot wheelbase ones) with 80A motors would have come from 5001-5200 series, though trucks were apparently rebuilt by Brill as "27FE-1″ as MCB 10A trucks were only 4'10" wheelbase.
There were three cars burned 1916, 5169, 5194,5303.
39Ewith 242-B motors would have come from 5701?
39E1 with 242-B motors on 3090-3091 might have been new purchases as no other cars with 242-B motors were retired by 1918-19
Here is some more info on these 19 cars. Officially, 6138-6142 replaced 2520, 2526, 2584, 2597, 2621, 6147-6150 replaced 2515, 2546, 2565, 2585, 6151 replaced 2777, 6152 replaced 5239, 6153 replaced 5765, and 6154 replaced 2561. However, the reality is a bit different.
2500's had 4 GE 67 40hp motors and 6′ wheelbase St Louis MCB trucks. Very different from 226-A's and 27GE-1 trucks.
2777 had again 4 GE 67 40hp motors and Brill 51-E-2 trucks
5239 GE 80A 40hp motors and Brill 27FE trucks
Possibly 2777's trucks ended up under 6154, with 5239's motors?
6143-6146 do appear to have the equipments of 5169,5194,5303,5701 which they "replaced". However, note that 1927 inventory shows 6143-6145 with GE 80 (not 80-A) motors. This might be an error, though.
It would appear that 6138-6142 and 6147-6153 did not have the equipments from the cars they "replaced" at all, but instead had trucks and motors from entirely different cars, the 1409-1505 series Bowling Alleys. One wonders if the 2500's trucks went with the 1400's bodies when they were sold off?
In addition 3090-3091 "replaced" 1405 and 1360, Matchboxes. Again, no equipment match. St Louis 47A trucks with GE 80A 40hp motors vs Brill 39E-1 trucks and 242-B motors. In 1927, though, 3090 is shown with GE 80A motors, which were apparently from the Matchbox, but by 1939 has 242-B's.
Here is an interesting tabulation. One-man conversions over the years.
1994-1999 to convertibles (can be operated one or two man) 1936
2841,2842,2845 to one-man 1926-27
5703-5722 to convertibles 1933
6000-6019 to one-man 1945, back to 2-man 1946
1721-1726,1728-1737,1739-1753,1755-1762,1764-1769,1771-1785, 6155-6158 to one-man 1949-50
3119-3129,3131-3132,3134-3149,3151,3153,3154,3156-3158,3160, 6159-6186 to one-man 1949-50
3161-3169,3171-3175,3177,3178,6187-6196,6198 to one-man 1949-50
3179 to convertible 1935
3202-3231,6199-6218,3232-3261,6219-6238 to one-man 1932
3204-3206,3210-3216,3220,3222-3224,3227,3229,3244,6219-6221,6223-6227,6229,6235 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949
3262-3281,6240-6252 to one-man 1932
3262,3264,3265,3267-3270,3275,3276,3278,3279,6241-6252 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949
6253,6255,6257,6258,6261,6264,6265 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949
3319,3321 return to 2-man 1948, back again to 1-man 1949
3325,3347-3349,3351,3352,3354,3355,3357,3360,3361-3363,3368,3372,3378,3379,6303,6305,6310,6319 to one-man 1952, never operated as such
4052-4061 to one-man 1952, 4059-4061 back to 2-man 1954, then all 4052-4061 to convertibles 1955
7035-7044 to one-man 1952, back to 2-man 1954, to convertibles 1955
7049,7052,7053,7057,7058,7060,7062,7064,7066,7067,7070-7074 to one-man 1952, but back to 2-man same year
7235-7249,7251,7253-7259 to convertibles 1955
Ron Ruddell writes:
The China shown on your blog embossed with the Liberty Bell was not used in any depot restaurant. It was custom-fired in 1914 for Liberty Bell Car 999. Please see my book "Riding on the Bell" – page 78 for further information. I have a pickle dish of the same pattern.
Nice to hear from you again. Congratulations on the successful completion of your excellent and very definitive work on the Liberty Bell interurban.
Upcoming Exhibition at Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee
Jan. 22 – April 24, 2016
Art of the North Shore Line
With its rapid expansion in the 1920s, the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad set the standard for electric interurban transit in America; no railway could compare to the North Shore Line. The North Shore Line also established itself as a leader in marketing with a highly successful print ad and poster campaign featuring the work of designers Willard Frederic Elmes, Oscar Rabe Hanson and Ervine Metzl, among others. Assembled from the collection of the Milwaukee Public Library and a number of private collections, this exhibition features many of these memorable posters along with photographs, prints and ephemera from the height of the North Shore Line's success. Curated by photographer John Gruber and J.J. Sedelmaier, world-renowned artist, designer and animator of Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse.
Friday, Jan. 22, 5 to 9 p.m. – Free admission
(Presentation by John Gruber and J.J. Sedelmaier, guest curators, at 7 p.m.)
Saturday, Jan. 23, Noon to 6 p.m. – Free admission
Grohmann Museum
grohmannmuseum@msoe.edu
This is our 104th post, and we are gradually creating a body of work and an online resource for the benefit of all railfans, everywhere. To date, we have received 101,000 page views from over 29,000 individuals.
You can help us continue our original transit research by checking out the fine products in our Online Store. You can make a donation there as well.


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November 27, 2020 December 13, 2020 Z.Leave a comment
(EDITOR'S NOTE: We only got quickies for you this week, due to dat bird with the fixins… you know the one. Regular biweekly reviews pick up again on December 4!)
Dark Psychosis – The Edge of Nowhere (Moribund)
Psychedelic black metal from Lansing, Michigan. This is a one man operation, and sounds like it.
Honestly, aside from some creepy-cool ambient effects, there's not a lot to grab hold of. I am in favor of lo-fi recordings and underproduction in general, but this album treads that murky area in between. He tried really hard to have quality sound production, but has no idea how to put it all together. The result is sterile feeling and awkward, which might work for garage-indie, but black metal needs to feel visceral or it doesn't work.
Sean. Buddy. Stop going by Xaphan because no one is actually going to call you that and stick to working with Cavalcade. Their input would most likely have helped this record quite a bit.
The best track on the album is the Digital Only cut, "Drink Fight and Fuck". What makes it good is the raw, live feel to it. No production whatsoever. Sounds like shit and is better for it.
Start with: "Born to Lose", "Dark Call…", "Drink Fight and Fuck"
FFO: Satanarchy, Ghoul Cult
Boys of Fall – Distance (InVogue)
Some people never got over the mid-2000s screamo phase. Most of the time, I find that to be sad. Not "emo" sad, just "pathetic" sad. This quintet from Detroit has me rethinking that position slightly.
With melodic sensibilities that go beyond the expectations of loud music and rhythmic chops that keep everything interesting, they captured my attention and held it for 10 songs over 33 minutes. Then I went back and listened to 2018's Better Moments. And I learned something.
They are growing.
This is their 3rd album and shows tremendous maturity compared to earlier work. Song structures more complex. Production improved. They switch between clean/melodic and and angry growling vocals without so much as a build up. The first few times it happens, it's a little jarring, but starts to make sense pretty quickly.
Lyrically, Boys of Fall still have a teen-angst poet's idea of depth. Phrases like "drowning in the dark" and "worth it" pop up repeatedly throughout the album. And clearly someone here has gone through a bad breakup, because the buzz words on "Distance" are toxic, fake pressure/weight, dig deep, fake, haunted, and fake.
You know what? Even though the Boys remind me of what skill can be involved in the Emo field of view, the stagnant, high-school breakup lyrics and general lack of formulaic distinction have given me cause to revert to my previously assumed position:
Emo is Over.
Dead-er than Grunge.
Let's leave it buried.
FFO: The Used, Hawthorne Heights, Chiodos
Brit Taylor – Real Me (Cut A Shine)
Being heralded as "a new voice in country music" when you're from Nashville is a little like saying, "I like losing" if you're from Cleveland. It's sort of a whisper on a scream at that point.
This is Brit's debut album.
And it's okay.
Maybe even the okayest Nashville country record released this…month. She definitely shows promise, though. Her voice is beautiful and her sense of melody and timing is everything you want in this genre. Brit even has a leg up in my book by having Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys in her corner, or at least writing several songs that show up on her record. Unfortunately, every song is either about a troublesome relationship or wishing to be in a troublesome relationship, fully displaying the range of emotions necessary for a female country artist: lonely to sad to insecure and needy.
At least her yodel at the end of "Broken Heart Breaks" is solid.
Start with: "Back in the Fire", "Married Again"
FFO: Miranda Lambert, LeAnn Rimes, Tori Kelly
Megan Thee Stallion – Good News (1501 Certified Entertainment)
In case you forgot – understandable, as we've shoved a few decades worth of shitty shit inside the confines of one year, with a month of potential additional shit left to go – Megan Thee Stallion was shot in July, with fellow artist Tory Lanez's next court date for his alleged role coming in January of 2021. Megan decided to start her album with "Shots Fired", which is essentially a spin on the Biggie classic "Who Shot Ya?". It's hard af.
Additional hard af tracks include "Do it on the Tip" (feat. City Girls), Freaky Girls (feat. SZA), and of course, "Savage Remix" (feat. noted queen Beyoncé). "Z", you ask, "you mention all these specific tracks on Good News are 'hard af', as you say. But are there any soft tracks in this album that should be discussed?"
How dare you. How… dare you. Dear Reader, I'm just glad it's you that's on Megan Thee Stallion's bad side, and not I.
FFO: Saweetie, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B.
XYLØ – OUTSIDERS CLUB (Pretty Records)
Paige Duddy, better known as XYLØ, has created a delightful short little EP in OUTSIDERS CLUB – 5 tracks, 18 minutes, in-and-out in a flash. Not only did I enjoy it though, but I found myself wishing it was just a bit longer. Maybe not 25 tracks… but 10? 10 would be dope. She opted for the "leave 'em wanting more" route, which I respect.
Each track offers something a bit different:
– "ALONE" opts for a disconcerting, graveyard-esque instrumental for a song about being alone, which is very fitting.
– "LIFE OR DEATH" is more generic upbeat pop on the surface, with a darker, anxiety-laden creme filling within ("I keep a bottle of water by my bed / Just in case I get thirsty in my nightmares"… not a bad idea, actually).
– "CHLORINE" sports a more electronica feel, which matches the theme of escape in various forms quite nicely.
– "LEFTY" goes back to the upbeat pop, and is a beautiful ode to XYLØ's recently-departed grandfather.
– "APPLE PIE" closes us out with a sexy beat, paired with a sultry track about finding a love needle in a people haystack.
It's an awesome way to spend 18 minutes – and more time than that, if you want to check out the rest of XYLØ's discography. yes & no (both the album, and the track within) are a perfect follow-up to OUTSIDERS CLUB – or vice-versa.
FFO: Taylor Swift (specifically from reputation), Transviolet
Boys of Fall, Brit Taylor, Dark Psychosis, megan thee stallion, XYLØ

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Ferries of Tasmania
Ferries of the Bass Strait
Bass Trader (1961)
Bass Trader
Chris Mackey/Southern Cross Maritime Services
Builder: The NSW State Dock Yard, Newcastle Australia.
Ship yard number: 64
IMO Number: 5037735
Call sign:VJWY
Length: 98.2m.
Width: 17.3m
Daft: DWL3.0m / Scantling 4.8m
GT/NT/DWT. 4,129t/ 2,390t/ 1,515t .
Main engines. Two Napier Deltic T18-27C
Power rating: 3,236KW
Gear ratio: 1,600rpm to 167rpm
Service speed: 13.69kn
Passenger capacity: 12.
Cars:N/A
Trailers: 60 and 20 shipping containers
Total Lane meters: 600m approx
When the ANL ordered the Princess of Tasmania they had the foresight to see that there would be high demand for trucks and other general Ro/Ro cargo to be transported across Bass Strait. So during their investigations in Europe they inspected Bardic Ferry and sister Ionic Ferry which were the first commercial Ro/Ro ferries in the world, although they did have a passenger capacity of 53.
Bass Trader in Melbourne
Gordy Ross
In 1958 ANL placed an order for Bass Trader at The Newcastle State Dockyard. She was to have a capacity of 60 semi-trailers on the main deck and 22 containers on the upper deck as well as a cellar deck or lower hold. Cargo was lowed by overhead hoist, once down there there where hydraulic operated bogies that could position the freight to the desired position.
GA from Shipbuilding and Shipping record,
Courtesy The Australian National Maritime Museum's Vaughan Evans Library
The engine selection was one of the most innovative things about Bass Trader, selecting Napier Deltic 18 cyl two stroke engines. These engines were a very futuristic concept, where the engines were of a triangular shape with three crankshafts, one in each corner of the engine. It had opposing pistons, and supercharges as they were unable to scavenge their own air. The advantage of these engines was mainly the small size, only being about 3.6m long, 2.1 high by 1.5m wide weighing about 5 tons with an output of 1,618kw. This allowed the vessel to have low free height in the engine room allowing for more height in the main garage deck. Comparable engines from other manufactures would have been much larger and heavier. The trouble with the Naper Deltic was it was a highly stung engine, with relatively short intervals between maintenance.
For this reason, they were designed to be removed from the vessel and replaced with a spare whilst maintenance was carried out on the other. Bass Trader was supplied with five engines, two in service, two being repaired in port Melbourne at the commonwealth engine works, and one to be carried onboard as a spare.
These engines were coupled to Allen-Stoeckicht Epicyclic gears through a fluid coupling, which was another departure from the tradition, rather than parallel shaft gears. The gearboxes were solidly connected to the prop shafts driving Stones Ka Me Wa variable pitch propellers.
Bass Trader had some other advanced machinery onboard, such as rolls Royce driven English electric generators, fin stabilizers by Denny-Brown, bow thruster by Voith-Schneider as on the Princess.
Bass Trader in dry dock
William T Barber Collection
The keel was laid on 14/9/1959 not long after the Princess of Tasmania had cleared the slip
She was launched 3/12/1960 by Mrs Henty, wife of then customs minister. The trip down the slipway took just 20 seconds, the fastest at the yard to date. She was handed over 5/4/1961 to ANL.
Bass Trader departed Newcastle for Melbourne, arriving there on 9/4/61. Two days later she headed for Tasmania to visit Bell Bay, Devonport and Burnie, the ports which she would serve.
She made her maiden voyage from Melbourne to Burnie on 18/4/61 commencing a career on the strait which would last 13 years.
She sailed on a weekly schedule serving the ports of Burnie, Bell Bay and Devonport from Melbourne one a week each.
Photo: Tim Ro
Bass Trader had a relatively event free career on the Bass Strait.
On 11/8/1962 Bass Trader took on bunkers in Melbourne, before departure it was discovered aviation fuel had been added to the tanks. This had to be removed and replaced with diesel which delayed the departure.
Cartoon about the fuel indecent.
Stephen Gatt Collection
Another indecent was during the 1960 she was approaching the Mersey River at Devonport during a south-westerly and ran aground on the eastern side of the river around midday. She was re-floated during high tide. Another incident was on the 15/6/1972 when she collided with a pilot vessel Wyuna in Port Philip Bay during heavy fog. She wasn't badly damaged though.
Bass Trader Aground in the 1970's off Devonport Tugs Gawler and Mersey in attendance
Bass Strait Maritime center
In October 1969 she was placed on a new Hobart to Melbourne line, but proved to be unsuited to the line and was put back on the northern Tasmania to Melbourne route after only three voyages.
By the mid-1970s the Bass Trader had become a victim of her own success, being too small for the growing trade, and the Napier Deltics were becoming a bit old by then. So, a new vessel was ordered at The State Dockyard in Newcastle. (Bass Trader 2)
The Bass Trader arrived in Melbourne for the final time on 20/3/1975 and was laid up.
Bass Trader moored with the Princess of Tasmania turning
Mitchell Bruce collection
She was sold to Italian based Halley Enterprise Shipping. She was handed over on 16/4/1975 to her new owners and departed Melbourne 6/5/75 renamed Halley, going via Fremantle (13/5/1975), Durban South Africa, arriving La Spezia Italy on 2/6/1975. One of the main jobs was to fit a stern ramp.
Halley moored alongside Vittoria Gardella in Genoa Italy, probably toward the end of her career.
Mitchel Bruce collection
Her career in Europe saw her sailing with Italian crew, between mainland Italy to northern Africa and Italian islands (Malta etc)
By 1982 she was laid up in Genoa, presumably because of her ever-troublesome engines.
In 1984 she was sold to D. Riccardi scrap yard in Savona, Italy for demolition.
Halley at speed.
Abel Tasman
Spirit of Tasmania
Spirit of Tasmania I
Spirit of Tasmania II
Spirit of Tasmania III
Princess Of Tasmania
Companies History
TT-Line
Newspaper Scans
Other Ferries
Ferries in Europe
Ports / Ship Yards
Visit to FSG
Ferry Links
End of Melbourne terminal, new era at Geelong
Fire onboard Spirit II
Construction commences on SeaRoad's newbuild vessel
Ferries of Tasmania Proudly powered by WordPress


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United Methodist Church, Clear Lake, Iowa
Live Worship
Outreach and Evangelism
Small Groups/Studies
Our Methodist Women
Come Sail with Christ
Chimes – Monthly Newsletter
News for the Pews
Upper Room Devotional
A Brief History of the Clear Lake United Methodist Church
The very first religious services in Clear Lake were held in the homes of early settlers, and consisted of prayer, singing and exhortation. In the summer of 1857, Elder Elias Pattee, a superannuated Methodist minister, preached the first sermon ever listened to in Clear Lake. The church service was held in the home of Joseph Hewett on the bank of the lake, and a Sunday School class was organized at that same time. Rev. Elias Pattee died September 20, 1860 and his remains lie burried in the Clear Lake cemetery.
On December 1, 1857, it was deided to organize a church. From 1857-1871 services were held in the homes of the 15 members and in the old square schoolhouse which was used by the Congregationalists and SEenth Day Adventists as well. During these early years before a church building was built, services were held irregularly, as the pastors covered a large circuit and the resident pastor conducted "preaching services" and receied financial support from them. The Rev. W.P. Holbrook was the first regular pastor, serving the circuit from 1860, the time of Elder Pattee's death until 1869.
The first official notice from the State Organization occurred in 1870 when Rev. James Williams was appointed to the pastorate by the Des Moines Conference, and became the first resident pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church in Clear Lake. Rev. James Tod was Presiding Elder of the Fort Dodge District, and held the first meeting that fall, with J.O. Davis acting as Secretary. James Price, Marcus Tuttle, Levi Lloyd and James Tasker were elected Trustees.
The first church bulding used by the Methodists was built in 1871 by Truman Woodford, at the corner of Main and East Streets. Then in 1883, a new church building was constructed and that building was remodeled in 1895 due to the increase in size of the church's membership. Another remodeling project occurred in 1912. On January 23, 1955, the church members voted to approve a new building project with the church built on the south half of the block between North 5th and North 6th Streets and 2nd and 3rd Avenue North. Groundbreaking for this new building occurred on July 24, 1955. The openin service and service of Consecreatio for this building took place on November 11, 1956.
On November 21, 1976, dedication services were held for a new Holtkamp pipe organ that continues to inspire persons in worship to this very day. On November 19, 1995, a new addition of an elevator with a new entry to the north was completed and consecrated to make this church building more accessible to all.
County Cousins' Seeds for Belzoni
NO Potluck January 29
February 26, 2023 – SAVE THE DATE
HELP WANTED:
Volunteer Information Update
508 2nd Avenue North
Powered by Aboundant | © Clear Lake United Methodist Church 2023, All Rights Reserved.


A brand new workspace will be opened in Keilaniemi's attractive business hub in Espoo, Finland at the beginning of 2020. UMA Keilaniemi will offer 33 private offices, approximately 100 open area workstations and four meeting rooms.
A new workspace will open in 2020 in the attractive business district of Keilaniemi, Espoo.
Very easy reach with public transport. Parking available in on-site garage.
Plenty of nice restaurants and other services are located nearby.


Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; Wednesdays 11:15 a.m. -12:45 p.m.; Thursdays 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Dr. Jeremy Yeats started his physical education interest as he studied for his bachelor's degree in health and physical education at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. After considering a career in counseling and graduating with a master's degree from the University of Colorado at Denver, Yeats decided to pursue a doctorate in sport and exercise science. He earned his doctorate degree, with an emphasis in sport pedagogy, from the University of Northern Colorado. During his doctoral program he studied abroad in Portugal to learn about physical education teacher education in Europe and presented research at international conferences in Spain and the Netherlands. Yeats has experience in coaching baseball, softball, basketball and soccer.


The huge demand of wireless communications has driven the requirement for highly-efficient multiple-access communications schemes that can accommodate multiple simultaneous users, yet provide performance similar to single-user systems. Recently, iterative multiuser detection schemes have shown to provide this high level of performance at a manageable level of complexity. This thesis is concerned with iterative detection of two non-orthogonal asynchronous access schemes: codedivision multiple-access (CDMA); and interleave-division multiple-access (IDMA).


I have come to realize Tableau Server distribution capabilities like exports using tabcmd scripting is not one of its strengths.
Played around tabcmd scripting to setup exports for one of our customer dashboards and it was painful. With just 2 filters - time (5 values) and province (13 values), choosing a time and province leading to 65 possible combinations of views. I wrote a tabcmd script with filters incorporated to export these 65 views into 65 PDF's. With sequential exports, it took almost 2 hours to complete. I could split out the tabcmd script with lesser commands and run them in parallel but it still takes more than an hour and I have seen that sometimes one parallel script in execution can mess other script running simultaneously. I've seen that it takes about 4-5 minutes from when tabcmd export command is executed until I see a PDF in the folder.
I tried doing similar PDF export process for another Dashboard but it still takes longer for spitting out couple of PDF's.
I wanted to ask and get an idea of how you guys in the community are accomplishing something as above efficiently ? What methods do you think can save me some export time ? If it helps, think enterprise. If I have to setup weekly exports for say 100 Dashboards..
We are currently on version 9.0.2 and planning to shortly upgrade to version 10. I am not sure if anything has changed, but will find out. Meanwhile, I thought I can get some ideas from experts here. Thanks in advance for any valuable suggestions.
At the highest level, your problem is the fact that you're trying to use Tableau Server as a PDF "rendering engine" at scale. Tableau Server has never been export-focused since we feel users find the "real" value when they interact with their data rather than look at it on a piece of paper. A Tableau person will typically say "Why are you trying to export every combination of report values to PDF? Simply have the users interact with the dashboards directly in Tableau Server. It'll be faster, more secure, and much more useful".
I suspect you're trying to work around a lack of licenses or create some sort of compliance-related "archive of record" - and that's OK. But you probably are never going to be particularly happy with Tableau as an "export engine". I doubt 10 will make this much better for you, simply because we don't spend that much time on exporting compared to improving analytics-related features and functionality.
This is probably not what you're hoping to hear, but (in my opinion, anyway) it's reality.
You may be able to improve performance a tiny bit by NOT logging in/out each time with TabCmd - there is a cost associated with launching TabCmd and creating a session - so you only want to do it once. You might also try to export images instead of PDFS and then post-process them INTO a PDF using some sort of 3rd party tool. Neither of these solutions is optimal from where you sit, clearly.


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#TEAMEUROVOXX
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Top 10 most patient countries at Eurovision : 6th and 5th!
Laura Cumbo
Our countdown of the most patient Eurovision countries continues... We have already given the history of 10th placed FYR Macedonia, Lithuania in 9th, Romania in 8th and Bosnia & Herzegovina in 7th...
6. Poland – 21 Participations – Debut: 1994 – Highest Pos: 2nd
Poland absolutely stormed their way into Eurovision in 1994. Their debut entry "To nie ja" performed by Edyta Górniak was a dramatic ballad that scored Poland 2nd place, which remains their highest position to date. This was the highest ever placing by a country in its debut outing.
Unfortunately, this did not turn out to be a sign of things to come, and for the remainder of the 1990s Poland were languishing outside of the top 10, coming 18th twice and not managing to reach higher than 11th (Anna Maria Jopek in 1997). After not participating in 2000, Poland's first entry of the new millennium was in 2001 and scored them their worst ever result up to that point, with Andrzej Piaseczny's "2 Long" finishing in 20th position. After another year off in 2002, they made a strong return in 2003 with their first entry picked by public selection and Ich Troje managed 7th place with "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic".
The following years were something of a wilderness for Poland; of their 7 entries only one of them made it to the finals, Isis Gee's "For Life" only managing a disappointing 24th position in 2008, and after that Poland bowed out for 2 years.
Their return to the contest in 2014 with the performance of "My Słowianie - We Are Slavic" by Donatan and Cleo not only giving them a grand final qualification and a final position of 14th, but with its boob-tastic, butter-churning video and performance it became the most notorious entry of that year. It placed only 23rd on the judges' scores (with one member of the UK's jury panel calling it 'soft porn'). The public, however, rated it highly and placed it 5th in their points. Racking up millions of views across its Polish and English versions, it became at that point the most popular Eurovision song in history according to Internet views.
Since then, Poland have only beaten that position once (with Michał Szpak's "Color of Your Life" coming 8th in 2016) and failed to qualify from the semi-finals in 2018. The Polish broadcaster have already confirmed their intention to participate in 2019 and having won both Eurovision Young Musicians and Eurovision Young Dancers, a Eurovision Song Contest win could be just around the corner.
5. Slovenia – 24 Participations – Debut: 1993 – Highest Pos: 7th
It would be hard for anyone to doubt Slovenia's commitment to Eurovision: since their debut in 1993 they've missed only 2 contests (in 1994 and 2000 - when their results prevented them from participating rather than not being willing). Another country which previously participated as part of the Yugloslavian nation, Slovenia participated as a country in its own right for the first time in 1993 with 1X Band performing "Tih deževen dan" and achieving 22nd place. A country that has a majority record of performing in their native language, Slovenia has performed 14 of their 24 entries in Slovenian.
Before the introduction of semi-finals as we know them now, Slovenia had varied results. They had a somewhat disappointing 21st place in 1996, but this period was also when they reached their highest position of 7th – on no less than two occasions. Slovenia's highest placing entries were multiple time entrant Darja Švajger with "Prisluhni mi" in 1995 and Nuša Derenda with "Energy" in 2001, which (if YouTube comments are anything to go by) was Slovenia's best entry.
2004 onwards brought a mixed bag for Slovenia: it entered every year, but of its 15 entries only 5 managed to make it past the semis. Slovenia certainly can't be accused of entering the same type of song each year. Over the years from 2004 to now, they've submitted songs from a huge range of genres; the violin-disco "Love Symphony" in 2009; the uniquely Eurovisiony combo of traditional folk meets pop-rock "Narodnozabavni rock" from Ansambel Žlindra and Kalamari in 2010; the Taylor Swift country pop-esque "Blue and Red" from ManuElla in 2016.
2018's "Hvala, ne!" performed by the quietly cool Lea Sirk broke Slovenia's streak of not having qualified for a final since 2015 and came 22nd overall. It was Slovenia's most contemporary act of recent years, and if they continue on this path first place could become a reality.
For more of the Top 10 countdown, don't forget to check back here, or check out our countdown video on our YouTube channel along with more Top 10's!
Portugal | Listen to the Festival da Canção 2020 entries!
Eurovision 2020 | It's Tom Leeb for France
Czech Republic l 7 finalists for "Eurovision Song Cz" have been revealed
Lithuania | Pabandom iš Naujo heat 1 results
Moldova | Changes to Eurovision 2020 national selection
Norway | Raylee has qualified to the final of Melodi Grand Prix 2020
Sweden | SVT have released running order for Melodifestivalen 2020
Eurovision 2020 | Jeangu Macrooy will represent The Netherlands
Serbia | 24 acts revealed for Beovizija 2020
#ThrowbackThursday | Special Eurovision events throughout the years
Finland l 426 songs submitted and six artists selected for UMK 2020
Norway | The first artists for Melodi Grand Prix 2020 revealed


The polar CNC is getting closer to full production ready. Our customer is making their own enclosures and HMI panel, so we have that to create that as well for our metal cutting version. I think that before I put this out there as a full cnc, I'll want to have a solid spindle and some sort of tool changer available. Lots to do, so it's good to be a subsystem for now.
August 11, 2011 by Ed Fonseca.
Pardon the disarray for a bit, I'm migrating from a posterous space that has shut down (get what you pay for), so all video content is being uploaded for some of these blog entries to make sense!
This site is all about my projects and designs, dreams and vision. I'll occasionally post work by others, but generally this is all my own stuff. Enjoy!


We are a team of outstanding professionals with diverse backgrounds, varied experience and probing minds. We always strive to win. Not as individuals but by working as a team. Our winning culture is based on collaborative teamwork, and we create results by being open-minded, helping each other and showing trust in each other's method and capabilities. And for that we need you on the team!
Interesting Career Opportunities within the Department of Professional Practice (DPP) at KPMG Professional Services, Lagos; Are you looking for a career in a challenging, dynamic environment? Are you looking for an opportunity to work with a passionate, forward-thinking team? Can you proffer plausible and well-researched options/solutions to challenging issues on IFRS and other accounting related business issues?
The KPMG DPP is a unit within KPMG set up to enhance the quality of KPMG West Africa's audit and assurance practice and provide guidance to our professionals to achieve efficiency in the delivery of our service offering through a dynamic process of pursuance and monitoring of best quality practices, excellence in training and strategic liaison with key regulators.
We are seeking bright minds that are ready to learn, perform and are interested in a challenging and rewarding career. You will have the opportunity to work with a team of outstanding professionals of diverse backgrounds, probing minds and varied experience. We always strive to win. Not as individuals but by working as a team. Our winning culture is based on collaborative teamwork, and we create results by being open-minded, helping each other and showing trust in each other's method and capabilities.


During my hiatus, I missed a crucial story — the fight to preserve the summer home and composing retreat of Charles Ives. Norman Lebrecht first mentioned the threat to the house in early August; more recently, there have been been reports in the Danbury News-Times and in the Wall Street Journal. If anyone happens to have $1.5 million sitting around unused, the sum could save a major piece of American musical heritage. Watch the Ives Society's Facebook page for updates.
Postscript: Brian Wise has more at the WQXR blog.
Ernst Busch sings "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer," from G. W. Pabst's Threepenny film.
On Sunday night I crossed the Atlantic for a quick three-day tour, with an emphasis on Wagner and the avant-garde. Details will follow in The New Yorker a week from Monday.
Monday morning: Wagner's "Asyl" in Zurich. The villa was much smaller when Wagner lived there. I also dropped in at the Zürcher James Joyce Stiftung and had the honor of meeting the distinguished scholar Fritz Senn. For anyone who is obsessed with both Wagner and Joyce, Zurich is a paradise of associations.
Monday evening: the view from the KKL, Lucerne. James Gaffigan leads the Lucerne Symphony in the world première of Wolfgang Rihm's symphonic cycle Nähe fern.
Tuesday morning: the glorious Wagner villa in Tribschen. Kudos to the museum for not having the Siegfried-Idyll on continuous loop.
Tuesday evening: Jahrhunderthalle, Bochum. Cage's Europeras 1 and 2 are produced by the Ruhrtriennale. Unfortunately, the brevity of my visit prevented me from taking in the rest of Heiner Goebbels's imaginative musical programming for the festival: Robert Wilson reading the Lecture on Nothing, Orff's Prometheus, Kent Nagano conducting Ives, and Goebbels's new piece When the Mountain changed its clothing.
Wednesday: Argyle Works, Birmingham, England. The Birmingham Opera gives the long-delayed world première of Stockhausen's Mittwoch, the one with the helicopters. It was worth the wait. Read a spate of reviews at The Rambler.
It is said that Serge Koussevitzky, the Russian-Jewish émigré who led the Boston Symphony from 1924 to 1949, had trouble reading complex new scores. He wallowed in sentiment, Stravinsky complained. He was imperious, sometimes cruel. Nonetheless, he elicited performances of voluptuous intensity— "Such a bad conductor, and the orchestra plays so well," Toscanini supposedly said—and when he died, in 1951, he left behind a vital legacy. One of the architects of the modern repertory, Koussevitzky introduced or commissioned hundreds of works, including Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms," Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Britten's "Peter Grimes," and Messiaen's "Turangalîla Symphony." He was a father figure for Aaron Copland and other American composers, saying, "Dee next Beethoven vill from Colorado come." And in the Tanglewood festival, the Boston Symphony's summertime home in the Berkshires, Koussevitzky created a singular institution that combines an élite music school with a populist open-air series. If conductors are judged not as metrical disciplinarians but as shapers of musical life, Koussevitzky might have been the greatest of them all.
This Emersonian utopia never fully materialized. One setback came when the Boston Symphony's board rejected Leon-ard Bernstein, Koussevitzky's protégé, as his successor, instead choosing the more manageable French maestro Charles Munch. The Munch years hardly lacked for brilliant playing or lively programs, and Seiji Ozawa, who arrived in 1973, after briefer tenures by Erich Leinsdorf and William Steinberg, further expanded Tanglewood's scope. There was a sense, though, that the Koussevitzky ideal was fading. In 1979, the composer Gunther Schuller, then the co-director of Tanglewood's education wing, declared that the typical American orchestra had become a soulless mechanism, hostile to creativity. "The light has gone out of their eyes," Schuller said of the musicians. Although he avoided naming names, Boston seemed to be his chief exhibit. Ozawa stayed until 2002, his later years marred by uneven performances and by unrest among the Tanglewood faculty. There ensued the short, sad reign of James Levine: aglow with promise for the first couple of years, then increasingly fretful as Levine's health problems took him away for long stretches.
One conductor receiving close scrutiny in Boston is the thirty-three-year-old Latvian maestro Andris Nelsons, who is presently the music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony, in England. Nelsons had his first outing with the Bostonians in March, 2011, at Carnegie Hall, substituting on short notice for Levine. I missed that concert, but caught Nelsons's commanding New York Philharmonic début, one month earlier, and also saw him at the 2011 Bayreuth Festival, where he delivered a blazing "Lohengrin." Evidently, the Carnegie concert pleased the management in Boston, for Nelsons was invited to serve as one of the three conductors at the Tanglewood gala, on July 14th. The following afternoon, he had his first scheduled program with the orchestra: the "Symphony of Psalms" and Brahms's Second Symphony.
It went extremely well. In the "Psalms," Nelsons found the right balance between otherworldly serenity and earthy vigor: the winds in the second Psalm were flawlessly blended yet pungent in timbre, and the movement's penitential mood ("He brought me up also out of an horrible pit") came through in finely managed swells of dynamics and emotion. The Brahms was spacious, almost Wagnerian in places, with thematic lines singing out grandly and rhythms surging underneath. In the finale, electricity flickered through the ensemble as Nelsons pushed the tempo and punched up dynamic contrasts. The final bars were a controlled explosion.
Nelsons is fascinating to watch. His arm shoots out, then freezes; he looms over the front-chair strings, then falls into a simian crouch; he sways this way and that, audibly grunting. There is no showmanship in these gestures; rather, they seem an expression of an unchecked, visceral approach to music-making, and they keep the players productively on edge. Such physicality is, not incidentally, a Koussevitzky trait: the old man advocated "bodily freedom" in performance. Whether Nelsons possesses anything like Koussevitzky's genius for cultivating composers or building institutions remains to be seen. For the moment, he has chosen to renew his commitment to Birmingham, but more Boston dates lie ahead.
Another possible candidate is Stéphane Denève, a vigorous Frenchman who made his début in Boston last year. On August 11th, at Tanglewood, he led a fluffy new piece by André Previn ("Music for Boston"), Elgar's Cello Concerto (with Yo-Yo Ma), and the Shostakovich Fifth. The orchestra responded energetically, but Denève's take on the Shostakovich seldom went very deep and ended in disconcertingly blatant fashion. Nelsons had the better showing: under his baton, the august Bostonians sounded as alert and alive as they did when Levine first arrived.
In the Koussevitzky days, new works mingled with established masterpieces; there was no contemporary ghetto. Then, in 1964, Tanglewood launched an annual Festival of Contemporary Music. Schuller, that pugnacious polymath who introduced the concept of a "Third Stream" between classical composition and modern jazz, headed new-music activities at Tanglewood from 1964 to 1984, and in the late sixties he added a pop dimension, booking Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and the Who. Now eighty-six, Schuller revisited Tanglewood this summer, offering a new orchestral piece and leading an all-Charles Ives program with student musicians. Last year, he brought out "A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty," the first volume of his memoirs, describing his encounters with everyone from Toscanini to Duke Ellington in thrilling and exhausting detail.
Curiously, while Schuller has lavished analytical attention on richly tonal jazz harmonies, he has shown little appetite for the equivalent in the modern classical sphere. When he ran the contemporary festival at Tanglewood, there were complaints that it turned into a private conference of university atonalists. The stylistic gamut widened somewhat in the late eighties and in the nineties, when Oliver Knussen and Reinbert de Leeuw served, consecutively, as directors of the contemporary series; I attended a vibrant edition in 1994, at which hard-rocking Bang on a Can pieces abutted surrealistic provocations by Mauricio Kagel and atonal edicts by Ralph Shapey. Knussen returned to lead this summer's festival-within-a-festival, declaring another ceasefire in the style wars: David Del Tredici's over-the-top neo-Romanticism shared a bill with the granite sonorities of Harrison Birtwistle. Knussen's 1985 opera "Higglety Pigglety Pop!," heard here in a semi-staged version, embodied a pragmatic ideal, its dizzyingly varied compositional resources placed at the service of Maurice Sendak's bittersweet canine tale.
Knussen's programs, concentrating on British and American composers of several generations, emphasized craftsmanship above all. (I saw four out of six concerts.) The fifty-two-year-old English master George Benjamin, who in some periods of his career has been immaculate to a fault, was represented by three pieces from the past decade, including "Duet," a finely chiselled, dark-hued concerto for piano and orchestra; it foreshadows the imaginative boldness of Benjamin's first full-length opera, "Written on Skin," which had its première at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, in July. (I watched a Webcast at Medici.tv.) Two composers in their early thirties, Sean Shepherd and Helen Grime, were not unlike Benjamin in the way they navigated between shimmering textures and lucid melodic lines. I was particularly taken with Grime's "Seven Pierrot Miniatures," whose plainspoken central motif could have come from Britten. The wild card was "Inverno In-Ver," by Niccolò Castiglioni (1932-96); his antic, surrealist sensibility resembles the later style of György Ligeti, though without the formal assurance.
In some ways, the youngest-sounding composer was Schuller, whose "Dreamscape" is an eleven-minute romp. It begins with a nose-thumbing Ivesian scherzo, replete with wayward military fanfares, a mangled "Nutcracker" quotation, and yelps from the musicians. (A clarinettist yells, "No!") A dreamlike nocturne follows, giving way to a compressed finale that escalates from nebulous low-string chords to apocalyptic brass flourishes. The extravagance of the conception is of a piece with Schuller's more extended statements of recent years, notably "Where the Word Ends," which Boston played in 2009. There is nothing studied in Schuller's late-period work, and this is a good thing: he unleashes swinging choirs of horns, locomotive ostinatos, cascades of rapid figuration à la Richard Strauss. Schuller is still following twelve-tone procedures, but thinks nothing of settling on a plush C-major chord.
The Festival of Contemporary Music brought forth many memorable performances by students at the Tanglewood Music Center, as Koussevitzky's summer academy is called. At 10 A.M. on a Sunday, a trio of oboists—Paul Lueders, Angela Limoncelli, and Graham Mackenzie— joined the harpist Grace Browning to give a starkly beautiful account of Birtwistle's instrumental fragment "Dinah and Nick's Love Song"; within a minute, morning had turned to midnight. Kate Jackman touchingly incarnated Jennie, Sendak's beloved terrier, in "Higglety." At the final concert, nearly a hundred young musicians filled the stage, revelling in Schuller's dissonances and in the ripe tonalities of Del Tredici's "Happy Voices." They played, you could say, with light in their eyes.
I have a column on the Tanglewood festival in this week's New Yorker. In the same issue is a profile of Christian Tetzlaff by the perennially acute Boston Globe critic Jeremy Eichler, in whose company I visited the site above.
There's much chatter in the film world over the new British Film Institute poll, which shows that Vertigo has supplanted Citizen Kane as the most admired film ever made. I can't help noticing that while the name of the top-place film has changed the composer remains the same.


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178 Groups Denounce Biden Administration's Continued Violation of Refugee Protections
Administration Must Direct Immediate Actions to Uphold US Refugee Law and Treaty Obligations
August 6, 2021 Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. President of the United States White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Biden: As the world marks the 70th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, our 178 faith-…
Over 100 Groups Urge Biden to Fully Rescind Title 42 Expulsions
Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Biden: We, the 105 undersigned organizations, write to express our alarm and disappointment that your administration is…
Human Rights Watch Letter to the Heads of States and Governments ahead of the G7 Summit
Last week, in a public letter, Human Rights Watch called on the leaders of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan to take concrete and decisive action facing the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19…
Coalition Letter to President Biden: Addressing the Climate Crisis' Domestic Impacts on Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes
President Joseph R. Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500 Re: Addressing the Climate Crisis' Domestic Impacts on Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes Dear President Biden, We are a group of human rights, reproductive…
Interview: The Law Putting Illinois' Young People at Risk
Forcing Parental Involvement in Abortion Violates Rights
A law in the US state of Illinois that forces people under 18 to involve an adult family member in their abortion decision is failing some of the state's young people and violating their human rights. In a new joint report with the American Civil…
Human Rights Watch Comment on CDC Interim Final Rule Suspending Entry of Persons into the US
Submitted via regulations.gov Kyle McGowan Office of the Chief of Staff Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS H21-10 Atlanta, GA 30329 Re: CDC Docket No. CDC-2020-0033, RIN:…
Over 180 Rights Groups Urge Trump Administration to Halt Border Expulsions, Protect Domestic Violence Survivors
The Honorable Chad F. Wolf Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528 email: chad.wolf@hq.dhs.gov cc: Alex M. Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State …
Human Rights Watch Letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Homeland Security Regarding Orders Related to Suspending Travel Across US Borders
The Honorable Robert R. Redfield, MD Director Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30333 The Honorable Chad F. Wolf Acting Secretary Department of Homeland Security…
Over 50 Rights Groups Call on Congress to Establish an Independent Immigration Court
United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Re: Congress Must Establish an Independent Immigration Court …
Human Rights Watch Urges Members of Congress to Reject the White House's Request for Increased Immigration Funding
Re: White House's Request for Increased Immigration Funding Dear Members of Congress: I write on behalf of Human Rights Watch to urge you to reject the White House's request for additional funding for immigration detention…
Coalition Letter to ICE Deputy Director Homan Regarding the Detention of Pregnant Individuals
April 11, 2018 Thomas D. Homan Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 500 12th St. SW Washington, D.C. 20536 Dear Deputy Director…
Joint Letter to the House Committee on the Judiciary on the "Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act" (H.R. 391)
Dear Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Conyers and members of the committee: The Proposals in H.R. 391 Would Send Legitimate Refugees and Children Back to Danger The undersigned organizations, concerned with the assistance…
The Impact of Externalization of Migration Controls on the Rights of Asylum Seekers and Other Migrants
By Bill Frelick, Ian M. Kysel, and Jennifer Podkul
Executive Summary Wars, conflict and persecution have forced more people to flee their homes and seek refuge and safety elsewhere than at any time since the end of World War II. As displaced people and other migrants increasingly move…
Letter to Vice President Joe Biden
Vice President Joe Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: Human Rights Situation in Serbia Dear Vice President Biden…
Letter to the Office of National AIDS Policy
April 13, 2015 Mr. Douglas Brooks Director, Office of National AIDS Policy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC 20500 Dear Director Brooks, We write today, representing 14 organizations to urge the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) to sharpen…
Coalition of Groups Urges Opposition To New Guantanamo Transfer Restrictions
June 18, 2014 Dear Senator: As the Senate considers an appropriations bill that includes funding for the Department of Justice, the undersigned human rights, civil liberties, and religious organizations strongly urge you to oppose…
Letter to President Obama Urging Repatriation of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen
President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: Repatriation of Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen Dear President Obama: We write to urge you to expedite the…
Joint Letter in Support of Guantanamo Provisions in Senate Bill
November 15, 2013 Dear Senator: The undersigned human rights and civil liberties groups strongly urge you to support the Guantanamo Bay detainee transfer provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal…
Joint Letter to President Obama regarding delays on meeting Guantanamo commitments
October 7, 2013 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20500 RE: More than Four-Month Delay in Meeting Two of Your Key Commitments on…
Guantanamo - Military Commissions
Joseph Kony - Lord's Resistance Army
Targeted Killings and Drones


Home Office ministers have overruled their own officials who recommended an increase to £1 per hour rates paid to immigration detainees to do menial jobs.
The information has emerged as part of a legal challenge against the Home Office brought by detainees protesting about being paid what they called a "slave labour" rate for jobs such as cleaning toilets or working in kitchens.
The work is voluntary and detainees do not have to pay for food or accommodation while they are held in detention centres which, like prisons, are exempt from minimum wage legislation.
The Home Office says the menial work is provided on a voluntary basis to meet "recreational and intellectual" needs and provide "relief from boredom". However, without the detainees to do the work, the Home Office would have to pay more than seven times as muchto external workers.
Lawyers for the detainees lodged initial legal proceedings known as a pre-action protocol last year, but the Home Office promised to conduct an internal review of the extremely low pay rates, with the legal action being paused until this had been completed.
Although Home Office officials and detention centre contractors have expressed support for a pay rise, ministers decided the recommended increase from £1 to £1.15 was not necessary. The rate has remained the same since 2008. The legal action is now continuing and will be heard in the high court in December.
Previously, Home Office officials said £1 an hour "seems high".
The official added that reducing the rate to the preferred level of 75p would be "too risky". "We would be heavily criticised by the likes of NGOs, IMBs (independent monitoring boards) and HMIP [the prisons inspectorate]," they said.
The Home Office standardised work payments in 2008, which had previously varied between detention centres. In 2016-17, detainees carried out 887,073 hours of work, for which they were paid £887,565. A very small percentage of them – 0.27% – were paid an enhanced rate of £1.25 per hour for special projects.
The detainees' lawyers say the home secretary is acting unlawfully under detention centre rules and the internal pay review conducted by the Home Office is irrational and is in breach of equality legislation.
Toufique Hossain from Duncan Lewis solicitors, who is bringing the legal action, said: "For several years, the Home Office has exploited immigrants that the government has detained. Cleaner, barber, kitchen assistant, interpreter, librarian … these are just a few of the jobs, essential to the day-to-day running of detention centres, which are carried out by detainees.
The Home Office said: "The longstanding practice of offering paid activities to people in immigration detention centres has been praised by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons as it helps to keep them occupied whilst their removal is being arranged.


Frommer 39 Syellowstone Grand Teton National Parks Park Guides is available on our site, you can read and see it in full by downloading it directly on our site. Frommer 39 Syellowstone Grand Teton National Parks Park Guides is a book that we recommend to you, and you can make Frommer 39 Syellowstone Grand Teton National Parks Park Guides as reference for your needs. Another advantage besides you buying this book is that you will get free access services on our library website as long as you subscribe. For you, we provide free access to up to 14 days trial of our book library by subscribing. So you can read other books on our website for free at any time during the subscription.


System has been recently removed from service in a corporate environment. The iPad 4 has been refurbished which means that it will be in great working condition, checked and tested. It may have minor scratches or wear from previous use. Any cosmetic imperfections will not affect the performance of this computer.


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The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis (Dutch:  Groothertogdom Flandrensis) is a micronation with claims over some territories of Antarctica, which was founded in 2008 by the Belgian Niels Vermeersch. Flandrensis is not recognised by any country or government, nor is it their intention to be recognized as a country. Since 2021 the micronation is registered in Belgium as the environmental non-profit organization "vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis".

History
The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis was founded on September 4, 2008 as a temporary hobby for 2 weeks. The Micronation is inspired by the medieval County of Flanders (Pagus Flandrensis). Flandrensis was firstly regarded by the founder as a hobby-micronation, later as an ecological venture, to raise awareness on ice melting and climate change. and since 2021 the micronation is also an environmental non-profit organization.

The micronation has its own identity cards, currency, heraldry, newspaper, constitution and national anthem. Until 2014 Flandrensis was partly a political simulation with political parties like the APPF (pirate party), DRP (royalist), NPF (nationalist), FDUP (unionist), FL-AL (solidarity), Lijst Govaert (liberal) and L&S (republican) and organised yearly elections. Professor Alastair Bonnett of the University of Newcastle described Flandrensis as an example of a micronation that is inspired by a city council in which young people learn to make decisions.

In 2021 the micronation was composed of 741 citizens from 71 different nationalities.  Outside the internet the activities of Flandrensis were restricted to the region around Roeselare but the official embassy is located in the West-Flemish town Sint-Juliaan.  Flandrensis had also a Commonwealth that united only Dutch-speaking micronations: the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis, the Principality of Arkel and the Duchy of Campinia (disbanded in 2016).

Territory
Flandrensis is regarded by the founder as an ecological venture, to raise awareness on ice melting. Flandrensis has no intentions to visit their claims.

National symbols
The flag of Flandrensis is inspired by the first Belgian flag of 1830. The original Belgian flag's yellow band has been replaced by white which symbolises a new beginning. For the same reason there are also two lions on the coat of arms, based on the Flemish lion.

Non profit organization
On August 12, 2021 Flandrensis was registered in the Belgian Official Journal as "vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis". In the published bylaws Flandrensis describes themselves as an environmental non-profit organization that focuses on climate change and Antarctica, using the concept of micronationalism to draw attention to climate in a creative way.   Some of their projects are climate letters and clean-up actions.

See also
 List of micronations
 Flags of micronations
 List of Antarctic territorial claims

References

External links
Official website
Grand Duchy of Flandrensis on MicroWiki

West Antarctica micronations
States and territories established in 2008
Marie Byrd Land
Environmental organisations based in Belgium

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
New Seagate Video 2.5 HDD Delivers Industry Leading Reliability and Energy Efficiency
Posted: Dec 14, 2012 5:42 am | Storage Press Releases
Seagate Technology today announced the Seagate Video 2.5 HDD, a 2.5-inch drive specifically engineered for use in 24/7 video applications like digital video recorders (DVRs), set-top boxes (STBs), and surveillance applications.
The Video 2.5 HDD delivers superior performance and operation in three key areas of importance to manufacturers - high reliability, acoustics, and energy efficiency. Featuring best in class reliability, the drive has an annual failure rate of approximately 0.55, based on current configurations, enabling it to keep product in the field longer while reducing the cost of field deployment and maintaining customer retention. It also boasts 24/7 operation capabilities in extended temperature ranges and enhanced acoustics for near silent operation - features crucial for consumer electronics and video applications.
The Video 2.5 HDD provides home entertainment manufacturers one and two disk, cost-optimized solutions for today's high-definition (HD) video recording applications. Featuring capacities up to 500 GB, manufacturers can benefit from its lower-power performance and slim form factor without sacrificing the streaming capabilities or reliability of Seagate's 3.5-inch video drive. Its low power consumption, 24x7 operation, and support of up to 12 streams of simultaneous HD content also make it ideal for surveillance DVR applications.
"We pioneered the HDD video market more than a decade ago and as such are leveraging our vast knowledge of this technology to bring consumers the most reliable video drive in the world," said Scott Horn, Seagate vice president of Marketing. "The CE industry has extremely specific criteria and needs when it comes to storage and the Video 2.5 HDD is built to meet and exceed their rigorous demands."
The living-room environment requires superior acoustic management to limit audible distractions during operation of DVRs and STBs and the Video 2.5 HDD enables designers to build the quietest home entertainment systems possible. Operating below the range of audible sound for the human ear at just 22db, the drive provides optimized acoustics for home entertainment components.
Maintaining Seagate's goal of delivering sustainable products, the drive reduces packaging materials by 53 percent and overall freight up to 30 percent, over previous 3.5-inch offerings, by efficiently packing and shipping more units with fewer materials than larger drives. It also contributes to sustainable energy initiatives by achieving a 55 percent improvement in power savings over comparable 3.5-inch offerings, enabling system integrators to meet aggressive new energy requirements. The Seagate Video 2.5 HDD is built without the use of harmful chemicals like the fire retardant bromide and is PVC free.
Seagate Video HDD 2.5-inch
STBs
Video HDD
Scott Horn Seagate
Marketing. CE
DVRs STBs Video HDD
Maintaining Seagate
Seagate Video HDD