Robert Pence

Yes, indeed. Thanks for sharing that, Sherman. A splendid scene, perfectly captured.

Looks like an attractive, pleasant place with good historic bones. Not all state capitals are large metro centers, nor do all of them have an abundance of urban grit. Consider Dover, Delaware and Montpelier, Vermont, for starters.

Yes. The walkway didn't provide sufficient clearance for hi-cube freight cars and double-stack container trains. It's a shame, but at least the entire concourse wasn't demolished.

A grand, splendid building. Thanks for ponying up the cash to take advantage of that opportunity, and then sharing your photos with us. America's great rail passenger terminals were built and maintained with private money -- railroads' operating profits and rents from office space. If the airlines built their own facilities from operating profits, just imagine how elegant our air terminal buildings could be!

The General Photos section exists for topics that aren't specifically urban; it's a place where photographers can post work they want to share that doesn't fit the other two photography sections, City Photos - Ohio and City Photos - USA/World. The photo is interesting, quality work that represents significant investment in time, effort, and equipment, and it's entirely appropriate here.

Great photos. Despite years of senseless and thoughtless demolitions, Cincinnati still has areas of amazing density and historic architecture. "Character" does, indeed, describe what this thread conveys.

That's a really impressive photo. It's too bad that weather and equipment problems conspired to prevent you from photographing the transit of Venus, but now you have a first-class setup and know how to use it. No doubt it will come in handy for other astronomical events in the future.

Very beautiful photo. Looking at it, I can imagine myself sitting on the riverbank as the sun sets.

Rob is that how you keep your place! Well, it's not that bad, but I'm working on it. Seriously, I have accumulated a lot of clutter because of too many family-related peripheral issues that have kept me from managing my own life, but I haven't let things descend into filth and little by little I'm getting rid of stuff I don't need and trying to reestablish order. I'm a firm believer in a place for everything, and everything in its place, but my life got derailed about ten years ago by a situation outside my control, and health issues in the interim have added to the distraction. I think I'm on the way back, now.

I'm surprised a unit that old still is running. Efficiencies have improved a lot just in the past 10-15 years, but sometimes just servicing an old unit will perk it up considerably. If it's low on freon and/or the condenser is clogged with dust and dirt, it's functioning way below its design rating. Accumulated moisture in the evaporator and drain pan and a clogged condensate drain can impede efficiency and contribute to mold growth, an air-quality and health hazard. Compact, quiet portable units on casters vent the condenser air through a nearby window via flex duct. They can easily be moved from room to room, or even a different part of a room, for efficient localized cooling. The capacity you're looking for can be bought for around $300. They operate on 110V AC and can be plugged into a normal wall outlet.

Hmmm. Sherman, for a minute there I thought you had sneaked into my house while I was passed out from the contents of that bottle.

A well-executed, imposing state capitol building. I believe the style is called Beaux Arts?

Were you challenged in any way for taking photos in subway stations? I've been able to take photos in outlying above-ground stations without any problems, but in 2006 in the Steel Plaza station, while trying to be unobtrusive but not furtive, I managed to get just two photos before I was backed into a corner by a very big cop who took my ID and radioed someone to run a check on me: He told me that photography was absolutely prohibited on all PAT property except with a permit and while accompanied by an offical from PAT's public relations department. I've heard similar stories from other people, who were made to delete their photos while a cop watched. At least that part didn't happen to me.

Neat views, excellent photos!

Some of the photos show what appears to be a bike trail separated from the railroad by a low chain-link fence. I've read that in some cases, reclaimed railroad rights-of-way have been designed to retain trails by locating them alongside the railroad at a safe distance and/or separated by a fence.

I love to see reactivation of abandoned or inactivated right of way. It reminds me of around 1980 when NS wanted a midwest connection between their Southern and Norfolk & Western systems and chose the line that runs south from Fort Wayne through Muncie to Cincinnati; in the immediate Fort Wayne area it provided occasional service for a few industries, but a considerable stretch of it south of those industries was buried in weeds with occasional small trees growing between the rails. It ran close enough to my work that I could go out during my lunch break and watch some of the activity. When I see this sort of work I feel vindicated for my years of being ridiculed for advocating the restoration of rail infrastructure to reduce truck traffic and the resultant roadway damage and oil consumption.

I'm not aware of any Indiana-oriented forum similar to Urbanohio.com, although I'll admit I haven't searched a lot. I nailed down the Urbanindiana.com domain name when I saw that it was available, because I hoped that I would run into someone with the time and technical skills to manage a forum based on Indiana, but so far I haven't encountered anyone like that. Meanwhile, I've been loading the domain with photos from Indiana cities, historic sites, parks, and countryside. You can check out some of my Indianapolis photos here: http://www.urbanindiana.com/in_indianapolis/indianapolis_in.html If you search the City Photos - USA/World section on Urbanohio.com, you'll find some excellent photo sets of Indianapolis, notably some by ColDayMan.

After fiddling with a French press for a while (no complaints about the coffee it made), I realized that life doesn't need all that complication or expense. I can get exactly the same result by microwaving a cupful of water and then pouring it into a small stainless-steel saucepan where I've already added the fresh-ground coffee and letting it steep for four minutes. Then, I pour the coffee into the cup (already preheated by microwaving the water) through a tea strainer. Add sugar, splenda, or stevia, and a couple of spoonfuls of powdered nonfat dry milk if I take a notion to (and sometimes a tablespoon of Jack Daniels). To me there's no discernible difference and the cleanup is simpler. :-)

This inspires me; art museums rank high among my favorite places to visit in any city, and looking back at photos on my web site I just realized that I haven't visited Cleveland since the UO get-together on the final Goodtime III TGIF cruise of the season in 2007. I really do need to grace the city with my presence again. :wink:

Interesting photos and historical info. The device below first registered with my brain as a generator, and it wasn't until I was looking at the photo at home after a trip to Pennsylvania that it dawned on me that it's a rotary converter. It's probably smaller than the ones in the Cleveland substation. Rotary converters have both the commutator of a direct-current motor or generator, and the slip rings of an alternating-current motor or generator. A rotary converter may be used to convert AC to DC or DC to AC, or may function as either a motor or a generator, depending upon how it is configured. Before commercial and public electric utilities had widespread distribution systems with industrial capacity, most streetcar and interurban ("traction") systems generated their own electric power. Large systems distributed power over long distances using alternating current because they could use transformers to step up the voltage, reducing line losses. High-capacity solid-state rectifiers and controllers didn't exist then, so at various points along the line, typically every 25 miles or so on interurban lines, rotary converters, or "rotaries," converted the AC power to direct current to maintain the voltage in the catenary (overhead trolley wire) that powered the cars. Traction catenary power typically was 600 volts DC, alhough a few systems used other voltages, either DC or AC.

To clarify your perspective on that sentiment, contemplate the alternative. :-)

Fixed the broken photo links

YesYes! I love belvederes, and porch with the arches is gorgeous!

Quite a respectable set of photos, and a good tour. Thanks for posting.

I went, I saw, I came home. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27635.0.html