Robert Pence

Hmmm. Looks familiar. Things are looking a bit better, now. The Courtyards by Marriott is nearing completion, Calhoun streetscaping is complete and looks good, and the scaffolding is off the courthouse. There was a lot of griping about the Tin Caps' name at the start, but I think most people have gotten used to it now. People thought "Wizards" was stupid/silly when it was first announced, too, and all the naysayers said no one would go to a ballpark downtown. All attendance records have been broken since the move. Say the word, "change" about anything in Fort Wayne, and people's eyes get wide and they start to hyperventilate, but they get used to it and everything's OK after a short time.

The only Cold Stone Creamery that I'm familiar with in Fort Wayne is at the Jefferson Pointe "Lifestyle Center." The whole development is only a few years old, and although it's still attractively maintained and well landscaped, it already has the smell of death on it; there are manymany vacancies, and some big food-and-drink establishments have already pulled out, including some of the steak-and-booze chain franchises in free-standing outlot stores. I don't go to Jefferson Pointe often, except on occasional Saturday nights to hang out at Barnes & Noble (I don't have a life). The whole "center" is pretty sparse then except for surges of people going to and from the Rave Cinema, and many stores are closed then. Last week I went on a Saturday during the day, and was surprised at the amount of foot traffic. Cold Stone was doing a booming business, probably the only place with a more traffic than the Verizon store.

Bump disclaimer Recently I picked up a copy of The Johnstown Flood, by David McCullough. It's a completely engrossing read, and it motivated me to revisit my Johnstown photos from 2006. I ended up redoing the post-processing on them, taking advantage of some things I've learned since 2006. The original 3-parter is broken, mangled, and partly missing, so I thought I'd resurrect the whole thing as one great big thread. Enjoy. My maternal grandmother used to tell of being sent to Johnstown as a young girl, on the train, to help an aunt who lived through the 1889 flood. I don't remember many of the details, and I was too much a scatter-brained teenager to take a serious interest and ask questions at the time. I Googled her family name and Johnstown, and came up with some leads that may be interesting to pursue. Despite marginal weather, and possible snow in the forecast, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city with my camera and felt like I only scratched the surface in nearly two days of walking around. I definitely hope to return in warmer weather, after doing some more research and with a good map. All photos Copyright © 2006-2010 by Robert E. Pence From the posting on my web site I received many thoughtful and informative emails from Johnstown residents and expatriates, and where appropriate, I've annotated some of the photos with information they provided. Coming into Johnstown from Indiana on Pennsylvania 56, there's a good overlook. Site visitor Paul wrote, "... when you entered from Indiana, PA, the first pics you have up is of the Conemaugh Gap. It is the second deepest natural gorge East of the Mississippi River." It seemed to me that starting about at Indiana, drivers were much more aggressive than I had experienced earlier in my trip. Everyone drove like they thought the two pedals, accelerator and brake, were to be jammed hard to the floor every time they were used. Even on side streets, they go as fast as they can until something gets in their way. I will acknowledge that they unfailingly yeild to pedestrians in zebra walks. Not long after leaving Indiana, my impression was confirmed by a yellow diamond-shaped DOT sign warning, "Beware Aggressive Drivers." Apparently there's no hope of reforming them, so they just warn the unwary to watch out. As I entered Johnstown through the West End, my attention was immediately caught by the imposing landmark churches. Given that they're still in use and apparently well-maintained, it's evident that they're still important focal points for the Slavic community. Abandoned and underutilized industrial grit is pervasive in Johnstown. I had to have a photo of this van, just because it's a splash of color on a dreary, soggy day. Saint Mary's Greek Catholic Church, I think. The form of the Cyrillic script is somewhat unfamiliar to me, though. Perhaps it's an archaic form of Russian or Ukrainian? Site visitor Ed writes, "... It is Pod Carpatska Rus (Sub Carpathian Rus) or in Latin --- Ruthenian. It was a League of Nations protectorate (Ruthenia) administered by Czechoslovakia btwn. WWI and WWII. It was taken over by Stalin in 1939 and absorbed in to Ukraine and the Greek Catholic Church (today Byzantine Catholic) was taken into the Orthodox Church. They vehemently claim they are Rusyn/Rusin. They are what is called "Little Rus" --- not Russian or Ukrainian." Site visitor Stan writes, "That picture from the church is Cyrillic, it's just the form of it used before the orthographic reforms of 1917. The weird b looking symbol after the large 'deh' (second to last word on the bottom there), is yat, which is simply modern Russian ye. The diaresis over the M at the end of the last word on the top is odd, but as far as I know is simply an old mark used before the reform. I thought at first it was Church Slavonic, but it wouldn't make sense for them to use only one letter, so it's just a diacritic." The Johnstown Inclined Plane is a must-see attraction. Completed in 1891, it is the world's steepest vehicular inclined plane. On more than one occasion, it has served a vital function in flood rescue operations. The two cars run in opposition to each other, one descending while the other ascends, to counterbalance the weight handled by the hoisting machinery. The observation platform and visitors' center offer a comprehensive overview of the city. The notch straight ahead is the path by which the 1889 floodwaters came roaring down upon the city, a wall of water 35 feet high, laden with trees, wrecked buildings and debris, moving at 40 miles per hour. Johnstown's handsome Pennsylvania Railroad Station is now used by Amtrak. The main waiting room was locked, and looks as though it might be set up now for use as a reception hall or other private facility. The station was clean and in fairly good condition as small-city Amtrak facilities go. Amtrak's westbound Pennsylvanian was due in a few minutes when I was there, so I waited around until about a half hour after train time in hopes of getting a photo. After I gave up and walked back downtown, I heard a deep rumble that sounded like Amtrak Genesis locomotives. I couldn't see from where I was. I haven't been able to determine who the architect was for this station. William L. Price and his firm, Price-McLanahan, created most of the PRR stations from Pittsburgh to Chicago, and in some respects this reminds me of Fort Wayne's 1914 PRR station. There seemed to be quite a lot of freight traffic on the line. The trouble started here, where torrential rains and a clogged spillway caused Lake Conemaugh to overtop a rock- and earth-fill dam. The seventy-two foot high dam failed rapidly, releasing the entire contents of two and a half mile-long Lake Conemaugh into the Little Conemaugh River and sending it hurtling toward Johnstown sweeping trees, houses and bridges before it. A previous dam built at this location provided feedwater for the Pennsylvania Canal. The canal lapsed into disuse after the completion of the railroad through Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona. The old dam failed some years later, and was rebuilt without the discharge pipes at the bottom that had been used to regulate water levels in the reservoir, to create a private hunting and fishing club for an enclave of Pennsylvania's wealthiest industrial moguls. The top was later lowered three feet to provide a carriage road. So far as anyone was able to determine, all the work was done without the involvement of any engineers with professional expertise in dam construction and upkeep. The three following photos show the breach that caused the 1889 flood. A metal grate attached to the original bridge across the spillway was intended to prevent the club's stocked fish from escaping downriver through the spillway. Upstream flooding caused by torrential rains carried trees, and other floating debris clogged the grate and spillway, sending water over the top of the dam. The spillway was cut through solid rock so that it wouldn't be subject to erosion. Lake Conemaugh filled the valley up to near the tree line on the opposite side, and extended for two and a half miles from this point. The National Flood Memorial, operated by the National Park Service, includes the home of the man who was president of the South Fork Hunting & Fishing Club. A visit to the Memorial is a moving experience. The historic photographs and the very good professionally-produced film gave me a better comprehension than I had previously of the real horror of the events of that day. The visitors' center is patterned after the barn that once accompanied the house but that collapsed years ago. Back to downtown: these photos were taken on Saturday, and there wasn't much activity. Site visitor Ed wrote on May 8, 2007, "Only bldg. standing in this area now. It has finally been decided to demolish it." Still occupied, despite the fact that part of the roof has collapsed. Note the date. It's a flood survivor. Much of downtown's retail, like the industries that supported it, is in pretty rough shape. On the other hand, there's some impressive new construction taking place and the town overall is clean and orderly. For an old industrial city on hard times, there's very little tagging and vandalism evident downtown. Historic Central Park When the flood came, Alma Hall was the Odd Fellows' new building and the tallest building in Johnstown. More than two hundred people, cold and wet and some severely injured, took refuge there and survived the flood. The rushing wall of debris on the leading edge of the flood surge uprooted many buildings and crushed others, and some knowledgeable people among those sheltered at Alma Hall thought the building surely could not survive. Most of those sheltered there thought it was only a matter of minutes or seconds until they would die. Saint John Gaulbert is the Cathedral for the Johnstown/Altoona Diocese. Site visitor Ed wrote, "The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese has two cathedrals. The main cathedral is in Altoona and it dwarfs this one." Site visitor Patrick says, "... visit that Szechuan Restaurant for dinner. Order the Shrimp and Chicken Hunan style. I'm telling you, it's on the buffet in Heaven!" This wasn't always a Ford dealership. 'Bye from fascinating Johnstown! I really want to go back.

I've abstained from TV for a few years, but before I kicked the habit I loved the Aflac Duck commercials. Absolute cheesy, prepostorous, corny humor!

Dang! I want me some o' that Soul Roll, with the Great Wall of Chocolate for dessert! My Prevacid prescription is up to date. I'm around 5'10" and ~135lbs, so the calories shouldn't be a problem.

Published: August 10, 2010 3:00 a.m. Fests should pedal bicycle valet plan Frank Gray ... Sometimes, though, valet parking is worth it, such as at the Taste of the Arts, coming up in Fort Wayne Aug. 28, or at the Johnny Appleseed Festival in September. Leave your Porsche at home, though. The only kind of valet parking that will be available at these events is for bicycles. Read the article here: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100810/LOCAL0201/308109987/1047

Great! Another tip: have you ever noticed that when you work to get a print just right for color and contrast, and then put it behind glass, it doesn't look as good as it did before you framed it? Put a piece of glass, even good picture glass, on a white sheet of paper and compare the view through the glass with the unobstructed paper. See how green the glass is? Even on a black-and-white print, that greenish cast deadens contrast and mutes colors. Try the same thing with a sheet of acrylic. The acrylic sheet really is clear. There are pros and cons about it; some people don't like it because it scratches more easily than glass, and you can't use chemical glass cleaners with ammonia or solvents to clean it (use mild soap or the cleaner made specifically for it, and wipe it with a soft cloth, no paper towels). It builds up static, too, and can attract dust that makes you really pay attention when framing so that you don't get dust flecks on the inside of the glass. On the other hand, it gives a true, undistorted view of photos and gives better UV protection than regular glass. You don't need to pay high prices for it at art supply stores. My local Lowe's carries Optix acrylic, and it works fine. The ultra-clear bags have that same clarity, and you can get an idea from those, how much better a print looks behind acrylic than it does behind glass.

I remember during WWII, how Mom and Dad would rinse tin cans thoroughly, remove the labels, use a can opener to remove the lids from both ends, and then flatten them and save them in a box. When the box got full, Dad took it somewhere to be recycled. It took a while to get a full box, because Mom didn't use a lot of canned food. We had a garden, and we ate from that a lot. There were vitually no plastic containers, and milk came in glass bottles that got reused forever or until they got broken. The dairy in my hometown used glass bottles at least into the late 1960s, and in 2000 I saw milk in glass bottles in a supermarket in New Hampshire. There was a lot less packaging in general, then; people shopped for the basic ingredients and prepared most foods from scratch, so we didn't have all the foil and microwavable packaging (no microwaves).

For occasional light-duty framing, pick up a Dexter Mat Cutter (<$25>). With that, a self-healing cutting mat, an utility knife, a straightedge, a pencil, some mat board, and a couple of practice sessions, you'll soon be cutting your own nice-looking beveled mats to whatever size you want, all without lacerating your hand very often. Instead of matting and framing, you can buy resealable ultra-clear bags in sizes to fit standard photo papers; 11x17 bags come to about 30 cents each. Print your photos centered on the paper, and then back them up with cardboard and slip them unmatted into the bags. Serious buyers are going to take your framed prints to a framer and have them redone to suit their decor, anyway. The clear bag and white margins make for good presentation, and you'll get just as much money that way as you would if you framed them. Saves you time and money. Do make sure you stiffen them, though, so they'll withstand handling. You can use binder clips to hang some in your display area, and then use plastic milk crates for bins that people can look through for the rest. I've had very good success at art fests that way.

Option 1 has a predictable consequence here; we're not that big a city, and most people have cars. If penalized for not recycling properly, people will just load up their trash and recyclables and dispose of them along a country road, in a ditch, creek, or river, or in a farmer's field or woodlot. The city has discussed encouraging recycling by charging a fee for trash beyond a specified number of bins, but dropped the idea because it would only be an incentive for illegal dumping. Now, Option 2 looks like it will happen here with the next solid waste contract.

True. My nieghborhood has a reputation of being home turf for socially-aware, artistic & creative types. Real estate prices are fairly high, and many of the residents are homeowners in their thirties and up, professionals with good incomes. Participation in curbside recycling is <30%, despite that the cost is included in water/sewer bills so that everyone is already paying, whether or not they participate. Among the ones who do recycle, a large number are careless and indifferent to doing it right. The recycling vendor provides two tubs, a yellow one and a brown one. The yellow tub is for clear, brown, and green glass, #1 and #2 plastics, and alumimun and steel cans, containers only. The brown tub is for newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books, cardboard, etc. Pickup is every second Tuesday. On pickup day I see recycling tubs loaded with all kinds of crap, wrong stuff in the wrong tubs, and household glass like light bulbs, broken dishes, ceramics, and window glass in the yellow tub. Every year the city sends out a recycling guide describing how to use the tubs and listing drop-off sites for other stuff like motor oil, batteries, printer cartridges, styrofoam, etc., but people just can't be bothered to pay attention and do it right.

Yes, you're right. Considering our energy dependency, is irony the appropriate word to describe how we penalize tax the railroads' rights-of-way and subsidize invest in rights-of-way for trucks that use three to five times more fuel per ton-mile of freight?

That describes the situation between Fort Wayne and Chicago on the old PRR alignment, the favored route for Cleveland-Toledo-Fort Wayne-Chicago passenger trains. The former high-capacity double-track line that carried passenger trains at or above 100mph in the post-WWII steam years now is owned by CSX, leased to Rail America, and operated by Rail America's wholly-owned subsidiary, Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern. The route has been single-tracked and de-signaled and the remaining track has been downgraded to low speed. The ROW still is intact, but before passenger trains can run there everything that exists will have to be ripped up and all new rails, ties, and signaling system will have to be installed. Big price tag.

Beautiful light! Thanks for the tour.

Nice! A five-year-old playing, apparently unattended, in a room with a lit candle. The mom probably is wondering why she has such bad luck. Pretty good luck, I think, that no one died.

No, what he's telling you nitwits is that if it weren't for ColDayMan, the forum would STILL be down. Praise and worship me, as usual. It is difficult for me to find words to express my gratitude and admiration, Oh All-Seeing and All-Knowing One. A day without Urbanohio.com has only enhanced my understanding of what a void my life would become without your vigilance. :-)

Go, Youngstown! Still a grand downtown, good to see it coming back to life. Let's hope the progress continues.

David, you bear no guilt over it. As you've already recognized, often people will make their own choices despite the efforts of family and friends to intervene. When they're insistent upon self-destruction, you're absolved from guilt. It's natural to grieve, no matter what the cause, but don't blame yourself for others' bad choices.

That drinking fountain caught my eye in 2005, although my photo isn't nearly so nifty as yours:

I stand corrected on the saddle; Brooks Pro is what I had in mind, that came with the Peugeot PX-10. I thought if I ever wanted to make someone decide to never take up cycling, I'd put that on a loaner and take them out for a ten-mile spin around the Greenway! :evil: I'll take a wild-ass guess at something else, too - the mudguards. Vintage Bleumels, maybe the Popular series? Have you seen what some folks are asking for those? I paid less for my Raleigh DL-1 new!

Over the years I've seen quite a few young guys "change their minds." Sooner or later, they always come back. Some have left quite a lot of collateral damage behind them.

Thoroughly enjoyed those. It would be good to see Canton make a comeback; there's some good stuff there. That bike is sweetness incarnate. I love the color scheme, and the hardwar is prime old-school, much of it 1970s style. As I noted in the Bicycling thread when you first posted it, the crankset is Stronglight and the hubs look like Normandie. Upon closer examination I see that the frame is a Raleigh Carlton, brake levers are Mafac and it looks like the calipers may be too. Bar-tip shifters are Shimano, of course. Saddle looks like Brooks, possibly the infamous B-17. I still have one of those stashed away. People said it would break in, but after 20 years it still was hard as a board and my skinny butt doesn't provide padding to compensate.

I have one of those, bright red. I wear it with a white cotton casual shirt, khakis, and a dressy off-white straw hat when I exhibit/sell photos at art shows, to set myself apart from all the vendors in rumpled shorts and logo t-shirts.

Neat shot. The skies along Lake Erie's southern shore can be pretty dramatic, and the lake can get churned up really quickly when a storm happens.

You sure you meant to say "Obama?" I heard him praise Osama Bin Laden, but I didn't hear anything about Obama in that video! I heard him mention Bush and Rumsfield; Bush was still in his first term then. You might want to edit your post again and fix that, too.