Robert Pence

Those turned out quite nicely. It sure is interesting to see the changes that have taken place there!

OK, now I remember that we drove past the Hot Metal Bridge during the Pittsburgh (mini)Meet last year. The conversion was under way then, but not yet complete, if I remember correctly. Looks like a wonderful enhancement to car-free enjoyment of the city.

Splendid Pittsburgh sunset! What was the vantage point?

I'm not sure if one of those westward lines out of Toledo was part of the never-completed Chicago & Toledo interurban line. That line was planned to run parallel to the New York Central steam mainline through northern Indiana between the two namesake cities, but only some small segments got built, including a piece between Kendallville and Waterloo with a branch southward through Garrett to Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne historian Craig Berndt authored a book on that line and has presented lectures featuring a slide show of some fascinating photos. Federal, state and local investment of taxpayers' money to subsidize the construction and consolidation of highway systems to encourage automobile use, along with the financial impact of the Great Depression on electric utility empires and the federal government's action to force the utility companies to divest their traction holdings during a time of national fiscal crisis, brought the whole midwestern interurban network crashing down. :x </rant>

When I was little, we lived between the Wabash and Pennsylvania Railroad tracks where they passed through the east side of Fort Wayne. We were always taught not to play under the trestles, and especially to stay away when passenger trains went by. Used to be when you used the facilities on a train, you stepped on a pedal and a trapdoor opened in the bottom of the hopper, and you could hear the noise of the train and see the ties zipping past. It may be different now, because I think Amtrak has installed retention toilets in all or most of their rolling stock

I knew a young man who I thought must have worked hard to become as rude and boorish as possible. Then I encountered his parents, and realized that the son was trying to rise above his upbringing.

Magnificent heavyweights! Most people nowadays don't grasp the distinction between the streetcars that ambled along city streets at 10mph in the early 1900s and the big, heavy, powerful interurbans that rocketed along private ROW at speeds of 60mph and more. To the uninitiated, they're all "trolleys". The folks in Willoughby could take inspiration from the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum at Washington, just south of Pittsburgh. It's one of the best-run facilities of its type in the Midwest (can I call that area part of the Midwest?), with a large, varied collection that is kept in a protective environment and displayed well. Though the distance leaves me wanting more, the rides are enjoyable and everything is clean and orderly, unlike the many junkyards that present themselves as museum.

Maybe it wasn't really a dream, but a failed attempt to repress a memory of alien abduction. :wink: :?

I never got the chance. I was about 13 years old when that photo was taken. It was my aunt's, a 1947 Lincoln Continental with a V-12 flathead engine. It had a 3-speed manual transmission with Borg-Warner overdrive, with the shift lever on the steering column. As I recall, it was a very roadworthy car with a quiet, smooth-but-firm ride. My aunt was a fast driver on the open road when there was no traffic (100mph +), and she always liked it. I'm lovin' the Buick station wagon in this photo. It looks like an authentic historical restoration. Most likely it would have had an 8-cylinder in-line OHV engine. I'm thinking it's a '49 or '50. I remember a bunch of Chevy station wagons in that body style, and remember riding with Dad when he took one for a test drive. I don't remember ever seeing a Buick like that, though.

I agree with you on that, especially in the built environment. Some landscapes, particularly in the American West, lose impact in color photography but stand out in black & white, too. I'm thinking of work by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston as examples. On the other hand, there are scenes whose defining attribute for me is color. I'm remembering some back roads in Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia, with sunlit autumn foliage in rich and varied colors and clear, saturated blue skies.

I enjoy car shows, especially when there are some big ol' classics. I've been a sucker for those since I was a whippersnapper. :-D

Great photo tour! The grandeur may be faded in places, but it's still grand. When I see some of those old Pittsburgh neighborhoods, I can't help but marvel at the industrial wealth that was there in the glory days.

Nice buildings, but where are all the people? Were these shot on a Sunday morning?

Excellent tour. I love the variety and time span of the architectural designs.

The meet was semi-cancelled because of so many individual cancellations; I believe you told me that you had a memorial service that day. In the end, it just ended up being urbanforever and myself. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,16478.0.html Yes. A long-time friend and retired railroader had passed away suddenly some time before, and his neighbors held a BBQ and open house in the little town of Pleasant Lake, Indiana, according to wishes he had expressed to them, and with money he had set aside a couple of years ago. I think almost a hundred people showed up, and it was a beautiful afternoon. I'm sorry I missed the meet, but I'm glad I went to the memorial. I had no idea how many lives my friend had touched, or in how many ways he had shared kindness with a very diverse group of people.

I must have missed any reports thus far. I take it the turnout for the meet was small to nonexistent? I've experienced that a couple of times, and it's disappointing. Nevertheless, interesting photos. The bridge in the opening photo is wonderful! Andrew Carnegie was a relentless, ruthless fellow during the years when he built his industrial empire and fortune, only a little more forgiving than his erstwhile pupil and later arch-nemesis, Henry Clay Frick. Were I the person responsible for desecrating one of his libraries, I'd be very afraid when the day comes to meet him in hell.

Hot Damn! Pretty dang fancy. That had to be staged, or at least prearranged for press coverage; the photography in that slide show is way above the caliber of such an event.

I suspect ham hocks might work with cabbage & noodles, too. Sometimes we had them with the sauerkraut & dumplings, and that was heaven on earth!

My family was all Protestant, mostly of Swiss & German descent, with a lot of farmers in the mix. We ate pretty much anything that satisfied hunger, and our diet was heavy on red meat, poultry, potatoes, garden vegetables, and fruit pies or cobblers. Lard, real butter, whole milk and fresh cream were essentials for meal preparation.

Cabbage & noodles sounds pretty good to me. I'm remembering the homemade sauerkraut & dumplings that my German grandma used to make. We often had that with pork roast so tender it melted in your mouth. Anybody have a recipe?

That photo was taken at <a href="http://www.urbanindiana.com/in_hesston_steam/in_hesston_steam.html">Hesston Steam Museum</a>, and David had pretty much the same reaction to a ride on the regular narrow-gauge steam train, but he went through with it. They have four track gauges there, from 3-foot narrow-gauge to the smallest at 1 1/2 inches to the foot (7-inch track gauge), with appropriately-scaled trains. That was more his style, less intimidating, and he couldn't get enough of it. The passage of a year has made a big difference as his personality evolves. He's a lot more confident and extroverted than he was a year ago.

Cabbage & noodles is a new one on me. Looks mighty good, though!

Cute town. That town clock would last until the first Saturday night around here, when an unemployed drunk hillbilly in a pickup truck, with no license and no insurance would run it down and then get hung up on the planters and half-destroy them trying to leave the scene. Fifty-fifty chance he'd then get killed in a shootout with the police after pulling a handgun out from under the seat.

I thought the name sounded familiar, then I saw the light - or lights. That's the place that's lit up like a carpet of tiny light bulbs at Christmastime, isn't it? I think someone posted a photo thread of it on UO once.

Here I sat, all primed with a snarky remark, and then I had to slap myself! Looks like a nice, charming town with a possibly interesting history. I like it, and the theatre is a real cutie!