Robert Pence

Beautiful photos. In the early 1950s, on the night of my birthday (July1), we saw the Aurora Borealis from our farm in Northeast Indiana. It wasn't as vivid as in the photo above, but it was very noticeable and memorable. Thinking back, it may have had some symbolism associated with my attaining puberty.

Post it as much as you like; it's a great shot!

Hmmmm. I don't guess I'll add that one to my must-see list just yet. Looks pretty desolate for 10K population.

Looks quite nice, with ongoing investment in the downtown.

KJP, I think you should write a story set in the future, say 100 years after peak oil. I can think of two possible scenarios; either a return to Bedford Falls, or the post-apocalyptic world of "A Boy and His Dog." There should be a way to weave the two together. Such a device may exist in the Orwellian subterranean faux paradise of the latter film.

If you had ever met me, you'd know that's a bit of an overreaction. :wink: There are many wonderful people in the world; among the thousands I've met over the years, there have been very few inexcusable bastards. I should have qualified my comment by saying that it applies to the subject matter of Geography of Nowhere. Our bad habits of land and energy use sometimes seem to be a runaway train, and there can be no good outcome unless things change markedly, and soon. I take heart in the fact that there are writers like Kunstler who have the vision to see the problems in our behavior and the possible consequences and who have the talent to communicate their vision and raise people's awareness, and the balls to do so. I'm also encouraged by the increasing numbers of people around the world who are beginning to pay attention.

Take photos of that window to Middletown. The folks at Beau Verre / Riordan will likely be glad to replicate it for you. :wink:

If I wanted to write something positive and optimistic about the current and possible future state of our society and our economy, I don't know how I'd go about it and keep my integrity.

Well-stated, j3shafer. Another plus for Kunstler is that his writing style is readable and engaging. He refers to other writers and books on the topic, making his books a good starting place for anyone who is just discovering an interest in the topic.

Great stuff! Looks like an interesting historic town, and the church built of fieldstone is pretty unusual.

Very charming, historic-looking town. The Masonic Temple is a gorgeous old-timer. Does the Clinton Inn still function as a hotel?

That probably happens with some regularity, late at night. The crews go off duty at Michigan City, so even the trains that run through to South Bend pick up new crews. The last timed station stop is at Dune Park, and the quicker the crews get to Carroll Avenue, the quicker they can go home. I've thought about taking my radar gun up there some night to see how fast they go. MP37 is behind Al & Sally's Motel, west of Michigan City on the north side of US 12. The nearest cross street (crossing now closed) is Kansas. The trains there are about ten minutes west of Carroll Avenue. It's a neat spot to watch trains at night in winter, after a fresh snowfall. The snow muffles the sound as the trains approach, and then billows into the air as they rush by. You can hear the catenary sing as the pantographs wipe it. To me, it's almost as dramatic as steam but without the cinders. Al & Sally's isn't too bad accomodations for hardcore railfans; it's not fancy, more a place that does a lot of weekly business with construction crews, etc. It sits less than a hundred feet from the tracks with no intervening structures, and you can see trains from the rear windows. Passenger trains run from about 4 a.m. westbound to about 2 a.m. eastbound, and there's a long freight that runs some nights after midnight. Al & Sally are probably long gone, and I think the people who run the motel now are Russians. There are two buildings; the older one in the same building with the office is a masonry building with steam heat, nice & cozy. The other (detached) building is cinder block with noisy forced-air heat, and I like it less. In winter, it never seems to get really warm. The motel is showing its age, but it's not a dump.

The lease of Metra trainsets may have been to assure capacity during the transition from the old Insull-era cars that were falling apart and beyond maintenance, and the replacements that were arriving. The old cars were crap on wheels, and the Randolph Street facility was a pit. Things have improved quite a lot: The last I heard, they plan to order (or maybe have ordered) 14 new cars. I think at least some are double-deck. It seems to me that I read someplace that they plan to add a couple of rush-hour trains. I'd like to see them get four-quadrant crossing protection so that they could kick the speeds up. The cars can make 90mph without strain, much of the track is good for it, and west of Miller there are long stretches of open-country running. Typically, they run around 70mph most of the time now, but on one late-night train returning to Michigan City from Chicago, I was hanging around the front of the first car where I could see out the front windows, and the speed indicator in the cab was hovering around 90 as we passed milepost 37. The ride was steady and the train sailed smoothly right through the curve by the cement-block factory without losing very much speed. Back in the day, they used to run expresses between South Bend and Chicago. Maybe the ridership on that end of the line will eventually get back up to where they can do it again.

All Hail The ColDayMan! Long May He Rule!

Wonderful photos! The first one immediately grabbed me with the reaction, "Wow! What a city!" Nothing says "diversity" like this one:

Up to a point, sleep deprivation has always given the creative process a kick in the butt for me. I like early mornings anyway, just as it's getting light, and the effect is enhanced when I've gone 24 hours or more without sleeping. Neat post.

I just heard on NPR that the South Shore expects to board its four millionth passenger for 2006 sometime tomorrow (December 12). The last year that ridership exceeded four million was in 1957.

When I was a kid on the farm, winters got really cold. I remember one time I carried a cup of steaming hot coffee outdoors and it froze so fast that the cup busted and the ice was still too hot to hold onto! :-o

I can see how it would make an area more attractive to residential buyers, but I don't think locomotive horns are that much disincentive to retail or manufacturing unless the trains are so frequent that the noise is almost constant. Even then, I'd think blocked crossings would be more problem than noise, and this doesn't approach that problem.

Ha! I never claimed not to be! :-D I wouldn't want to enjoy the view all day, every day, but I guess I'm pretty visually-oriented, and I remember the scene as stark, bleak and almost monochromatic in tones of light blue. Unfortunately, no camera. I don't know how I would have captured it, anyway.

Beautiful scenes. You have quite an ambitious project; it's good that someone is documenting the remnants of an earlier time in the places where they still survive.

I think it's pretty clearly a former church. Note the Gothic entries, and the evidence that there was once a bell tower, now truncated, on the near corner. Also, in the near end, the arched window that probably contained elaborate stained glass has been bricked in and replaced with smaller windows, probably for energy savings.

Grand old neighborhood, and it looks like it has held up well.

Good photo. I like the waves splashing against the breakwater. Cleveland's lakefront is great in winter, if you can stand the cold wind. I like it when the lake is frozen over and the snow squalls come flying across the ice.

To me telephones are a necessary evil, and often more evil than necessary. They seldom bring me good news. I bought a cell phone only so that I can be reached for family emergencies, and I got the cheapest one Verizon offered. I now qualify for my two-year free upgrade, and I'll probably get the most basic thing I can, again. I wouldn't even bother, except that my battery is about shot and I can't justify shelling out for a new battery if I can get a whole new phone for free. My life is too complicated already. If it weren't for my addiction to Photoshop and urbanohio.com, I'd probably be content to live with the Amish. :|