Monday, September 30, 2013
Belgium trams and bus
aviophobia - 1 person in 10 will not fly
It's not hard to find people who hate flying, and the intrusive security resulting from the Muslim terrorist attacks and attempts from the early 2000s has only made that worse. For many who can only afford cattle class, a.k.a. coach or economy, the dislike is to do with discomfort. We are among those who dislike flying for these reasons, unless we get a window seat on a clear day, which compensates.
Aviophobia, however, is the fear of flying, a level of anxiety so great that it prevents a person from traveling by air, or causes great distress to a person when he or she is compelled to travel by air. Apparently about 1 person in 10 will simply not fly unless they really have to. For a country like NZ which is surrounded by sea and a long way from anywhere else (even a voyage to Australia will take 3 days by sea on a container ship), that has an obvious economic impact.
There are several courses offered that should help people overcome irrational fears in various countries including online (some free) - a list is on this webpage
Crichton's Service Station, Johnsonville, 1929
This pic, attributed to Neils Peter Brown, shows the base of the Crichton's Bus Service which operated between Johnsonville and Wellington. It was on on the west side of Johnsonville Road about where the entrance to the Johnsonville Shopping Mall now is.
The service station, in common with most in that era, sold different brands of fuel and oil - Shell, Texaco, Big Tree, Atlantic and Castrol.
The centre vehicle is a 'service car' with the destination of "Chateau", a reference to Chateau Tongoriro in the volcanic plateau.
Penobscot Narrows Bridge, Maine
This 2,120 feet (646 m) long cable-stayed bridge over the Penobscot River was completed in 1997 replacing a bridge from 1931. It is 135 feet (41 m) above the water. Apart from the engineering, the notable feature is the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, the tallest public bridge observatory in the world. The tower is 420 feet (128 m) high and allows visitors to view the bridge, the nearby Fort Knox State Historic Site, the Penobscot River and the Bay. (Picture source)
passenger rolling stock in Wellington station, 1950
The first two lines on the left are electric multiple units, for the time being used on the Johnsonville and Paekakariki lines, while the others are lines of wooden bodied carriages are for supplementing the Paekakariki EMU trains at peak times and all the Hutt Valley services, pending their electrification. A couple of steam locomotives can be seen shunting in the distance. Another photo considered for, but not used in the book Wellington Transport Memories.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
mythical transport
A few years ago there was a little controversy about a toy broomstick that Mattel made which achieved popularity with females for a different reason, according to this Time magazine article: "Well, this was one way to keep Harry Potter fans interested as they grew up. Modeled after Harry's first broom, Mattel's now discontinued battery-operated Nimbus 2000 featured a grooved stick and handle for kids who wanted to ride it around the house. The dubious part: it vibrated. Some of the (now deleted) comments on Amazon were so good, they had to be written with a wink: "I'm 32 and enjoy riding the broom as much as my 12 yr old and 7 year old," wrote one satisfied customer. We bet."
cars outside the Waterfall Gully tea kiosk, South Australia, 1930s
Not far southeast of Adelaide. It could almost be a scene from the 'mother country'
Ogden, Utah former Union Station
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| trackside view |
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| two more trackside views |
Constructed of brick in 1889, this building served until 1923. It was designed in the Romanesque style, with a large clock tower in the center. This building also contained 33 hotel rooms as well as a restaurant, barbershop, and other conveniences for the traveler.
In 1923, a hotel room in the depot caught fire which quickly spread throughout the building. The blaze was unable to be controlled and the interior was destroyed, leaving the walls and clock tower standing in a fragile state.
The replacement present-day building was completed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1924. It was last used by Amtrak in 1997 and now houses museums, including the Union Pacific-supported Utah State Railroad museum and the Browning – Kimball Classic Car Museum
The adjacent Ogden Intermodal Transit Center currently serves the Utah Transit Authority's FrontRunner commuter rail line.
Website
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air 2-door
One of the fabulous aspects of cars of that era was the two-tone paint schemes.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Denver and Rio Grande eastbound freight train, 1969
Seen near Helper, Utah - a SD45 + GP40 + SD45 in front.
traffic outside the Raffles Hotel, Singapore, circa 1930
A postcard of Singapore's most famous building, then and now.
traffic in South Bridge Road, Singapore, circa 1970
The main focus of this is the Trishaw Indian Temple.
model of the Philadelphia Packet Ship 'Shenandoah'
The packet ship Shenandoah was built in 1840 by John Vaugn & Son at Philadelphia, Pa. for Thomas P. Cope & Son, better known as the Cope Line. Wealthy Philadelphia Quakers, the Copes transported about 60,000 passengers—mostly Irish immigrants—from Liverpool to Philadelphia from 1820-1870. More
Australia transport theme envelope 1987
Bathurst in NSW is best known for the Mount Panorama motorsport raceway
Esso advert, Italy, 1960s
A uniformed attendant operating the pump for you would be noteworthy today.
the ship 'Ionic' in Wellington, 1889
A painting by CH Colborne from 1889 of the 19th century migrant ship Ionic which was in operation from 1883 to 1908. A bit of 'artistic license' was applied to Mt Victoria on the left.
Data according to the ships nostalgia website: 4,753 GRT; steel construction; single screw, two 2-cylinder compound steam engines arranged in tandem, 500 nhp, 14 knots service speed; 70 first and 900 third class passengers. Placed on the White Star-Shaw, Savill & Albion London – Cape Town – Hobart – New Zealand – Cape Horn – London service. Re-engined with quadruple expansion steam engine in 1894. Sold to Aberdeen Line in 1900 and renamed Sophocles. Withdrawn 1906 and scrapped 1908
Friday, September 27, 2013
E units in Dallas, Texas, 1950s
A Santa Fe E6 and a Chicago Burlington and Quincy E8 with passenger trains in Dallas. Both railroads were predecessor components of today's BNSF.
Golden Pears + Union Pacific streamliner, 1930s
Presumably the UP train was just there to make the label look good, although the grower may have shipped their produce with the railroad. After being out of refrigerated fruit haulage for a while, UP returned to it a few years ago - details on their website
Thursday, September 26, 2013
an Oregon big stick
In other words a very big log on a flat car. The trees were likewise big and could grow upwards of 300 ft (90 metres).
Southern Pacific's 'Shasta Daylight' passes Lake Odell, Oregon, 1957
This train ran between San Francisco (Oakland Pier) and Portland, Oregon, from 1949 to 1966.
steam loco on the Carrara marble quarry line, Italy
This standard gauge railway was opened in 1876 and reached a maximum extent of 33 km. The maximum gradient was 5.8%. It was predominately steam worked until the last few years and lasted to 1964 when it was replaced by road transport. Many of the civil engineering works that were built for the the railway still exist today, some of which are used by the road
