Robert Pence

Nice! The Union Terminal shots are dramatic!

This time of year, I could use some sun & sand. Don't have much of that where I live!

Quite the extravaganza, and great photos! I love the transit-oriented wrap-up.

You'll have to pry it from my cold.......dead....oh screw it, you can have it. How about a swap - Ohio gets Morenci, and Michigan gets Pioneer? :-D

Quite satisfactory!

More than 20 years ago, Harpers Magazine ran a story by Jonathan Kwitney, titled "The Great Transportation Conspiracy." The story went into quite a lot of detail about how GM used National City Lines as a front to take over and dismantle rail-based transit systems. Someplace I have a copy of it, but I haven't been able to turn it up lately. Not only did National City Lines acquire and dismantle rail systems and replace them with buses; then, they gerrymandered schedules to sabotage coordinated transfers and make urban travel by public transit increasingly inconvenient, uncomfortable and time-consuming. The early buses were coach bodies on heavy truck frames. Compared with streetcars, at least on formerly well-maintained systems, the ride was rough, noisy and smelly. Come to think of it, the tradition continues on Chicago's CTA buses.

Good stuff! When I photographed Rogers Park and Howard CTA last October, I hadn't been in that area in several years. I was pleasantly surprised to see the improvements in progress at the CTA station, and the development in the surrounding area.

Kinda nice!

The rate at which electrical current flows between the electrodes determines how fast hydrogen and oxygen are released. Pure water is a poor conductor, and doesn't promote very high current flow. Salt increases the conductivity and current flow, and accelerates the release of hydrogen and oxygen. Automotive storage batteries use sulfuric acid as an electrolyte. When a storage battery is charged, it releases hydrogen. That's why there are warnings against storage batteries near an open flame, or smoking around them when they are being charged. There are various chemicals that will work as electrolytes; salt is probably the cheapest. Eggzackly!

Nonsense, poppycock and balderdash! Nothing new there! Electrolysis of water has been understood for more years than any of us have been alive. Apply an outside energy source, and you can cause the oxygen and hydrogen atoms to separate and be released. Recombine them with an ignition source, and they'll react (burn). The products of the reaction are water vapor and heat (energy) The salt functions as an electrolyte; without it, the process would take place very slowly. Typically a direct current power source is used, either a battery or a rectifier; oxygen will collect at the anode, or positive electrode, and hydrogen will collect at the cathode, or negative electrode. In this case, the external energy comes from radio waves that are generated by a device created by the experimenter. In any case, the potential energy derived from reacting (burning) the hydrogen and oxygen is likely to be substantially less than the energy used to sustain the electrolysis. If you're looking for a place to invest in alternative energy sources, I'm working on this revolutionary new concept for a perpetual motion machine ... :roll:

Wonderful patterns and textures! The GM Futurliner was restored from a derelict hulk. It belongs to National Auto and Truck Museum of the U.S. at Auburn, Indiana. It was one of several built to showcase GM's Parade of Progress at public events around the country. On location, the sides cantilevered up to provide a canopied performance stage, complete with integrated lighting and sound system.

Stuff happens, man. I appreciate all the hard work you do to keep the site running as smoothly as possible. Your technical expertise and the attentiveness of the mods make UO one of the best sites dealing with urban issues.

Chicago - Millennium Park, December 2007 I went to Chicago on the day after Christmas, and finished early with what I had gone to do. I caught a Green Line train downtown and found myself with some time to kill before my South Shore train left for Indiana. I roamed around the Millennium Park area with a new toy, a Nikon S700. There are times when photography isn't my main objective, and a DSLR can be a lot of extra cargo to carry around. I hate to be without a camera, though, and I wanted something that would fit in my pocket. I'm still figuring out how to get the best results from it, but I don't think these turned out too badly. The biggest issue for me is that the LCD screen challenges my eyesight. It's easier for me to see what's going on in the life-size view provided by a DSLR.

Great space, great event. Some '70s flashbacks, too!

Sort of decline and collapse in slow motion. I have a vague feeling that I've been in Scio at some time, probably 30 - 40 years ago, but I don't have any photos or distinct memories of it.

Looks pretty interesting. I'd heard of Bardstown, but didn't realize how beautiful it is; great photos!

Nice-looking town, elegant courthouse, and this is a great facade:

Happy Holiday Photos! The conservatory looks like a good place to just go and sit whenever the winter blahs overwhelm.

Several years ago I drove through Sodom, New York. I looked, but didn't see any sodomites. Probably that awkward time in late afternoon/early evening when it's too late for shopping and too early for the clubs.

On a Sunday morning in 1990, I spotted the Marlboro Man - with a rope - checking out an aloof Greek god with a truck. I wonder if they ever hooked up.

Yay for festive holiday New York!

Some Grandeur!

Neat shots! Those are some magnificent homes and churches; the library is a gem.

Pretty typical small Ohio town. Some of those buildings would be great with facade restorations, but there's usually not a lot of money for that in those places.

I agree. On-time performance is important, too, and it's achievable on corridor-type operations. Provide frequency and reliability, and the ridership will fill up just about all the capacity you can run. There are some city pairs involving similar distances that have potential for strong ridership, but they're served only as segments of long-distance trains with poor on-time performance. I'm thinking of my own case, Fort Wayne - Chicago. I make frequent Chicago trips, and despite the sparse service, higher prices and sometimes-inconvenient times, I'd still prefer to drive 20 miles to Waterloo for a comfortable ride on Amtrak than to drive a hundred miles in unpredictable winter weather to South Bend for a merely tolerable 2 1/2-hour ride on a South Shore commuter train. I'm working around scheduled appointments, though, and I know the South Shore trains will be within a few minutes of the timetable. When Amtrak is late, the waiting room at Waterloo is your car in the ballast-rock-surfaced parking strip beside the low-level asphalt platform. Keep a mason jar in the car, 'cause there ain't no bathroom - not even a porta potty. Yeah, I'm just grumbling.