Robert Pence

Fascinating stuff!

The way I heard it, to build a railroad connecting Omaha and the Missouri River with California, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific each received one section of land (1 square mile, or 640 acres) for each mile of track completed. The sections alternated between the two sides of the track. It was a good deal for the government because the land had little commercial value without access to population centers and the government's cash was going to fight the Civil War when the Central Pacific started construction in 1863. It was a good deal for the railroads because completion of their work resulted in the land increasing in value. It was a bad deal for the Native American people. I don't know of any other significant amounts of railroad that were paid for with land grants; most were built with private capital. A lot of early railroad ventures were highly speculative, and in many cases investors badly underestimated the costs involved and badly overestimated the revenue traffic. Some failed before they ever ran a train, and some were abandoned soon after opening. A lot of investors lost their shirts, so it's easy to understand why the government had to sweeten the pot substantially to get anyone to take on such a huge risk - more than 1600 miles of railroad across wilderness, desert, and mountain ranges, all built with hand labor.

It seems to me that if user fees and dedicated taxes fully covered the cost of highway infrastructure, America's bridges and roads wouldn't have become so deteriorated that billions in stimulus dollars won't be enough to fully catch up with all the deferred maintenance and repairs.

That's a common assumption, and as you state, it accounts for the antipathy of a lot of taxpayers toward public funding of transit. In fact, the dedicated tax revenues fall short of covering the costs incurred by our car- and truck-dependent transportation network. The last figures that I could cite were between $8 and $10 billion in General Fund dollars, mainly from income taxes, at federal, state, and local levels that went into building and maintaining transportation infrastructure for cars and trucks. Those figures don't include the costs of attempting to mitigate environmental damage from emissions and runoff. My information is several years old and I can no longer cite the sources, but perhaps BuckeyeB or Gildone can provide more current info.

It's not hard to visualize what a "slaw dog" might be, but it's pretty hard to visualize me attempting to eat one. :|

Neat thread, and some uncommon angles. I think several people here would like David Plowden's Bridges - The Spans of North America. • Hardcover: 328 pages • Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company; Revised edition (November, 2001) • ISBN: 0393050564 • Product Dimensions: 12.0 x 10.5 x 1.5 inches In my estimation Plowden is among the foremost living black-and-white documentary photographers. For that matter, I think he ranks high among the all-time outstanding artists in the medium. All the photos in the book are of high artistic and technical quality, shot with professional medium-format equipment, and the written narrative provides abundant historical and design information. Some of the bridges pictured haven't existed for forty years, like the Pittsburgh's massive Point Bridge. The book is pricey; I paid $75 for mine. You probably can find it in a library or browse it in a good, well-stocked bookstore, though. If you have a passion for bridges and fine photography, it's well worth your time and effort to run down a copy. While you're at it, check out Plowden's site here Disclaimer: I don't have any commercial interest in Plowden's publications or web site. I just like to share with others what is a great source of enjoyment for me.

Beautiful photos of two of the nation's most historic cities. You shoulda' seen it thirty years ago. It was more than a little rough, and not just around the edges:

Dang. I knew I'd not likely get through life without ever making a mistake, but I didn't expect my first one to come so soon. :wink:

I think the PRR introduced the slumbercoaches. They ran regularly on Amtrak's version of the Broadway Limited, and I used them on several trips.

No matter how much one spends on a camera, within weeks something else just as good or better, for the same price or less, will come along. Digital technology brought photography into the same realm as personal computers, where chip technology breakthroughs open up new possibilities that drive newer, faster hardware that opens a market for more capable software, and around and around we go! The pace of change and innovation was much slower when cameras were mechanical/optical, and the most frequent advances were in film (ISO, color rendition, and grain structure). Buy a top-of-the-line camera in any format, and you were good to go for several years. I bought my first SLR, a Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex Super, in 1962 and used it until 1979. The Nikon FM I bought in 1979 kept me happy until 2004. Since 2004 I've owned a D70, D200, and now a D700. The circa-1955 Rolleiflex 2.8 with no meter or gadgets (no batteries required) that I bought lightly-used in 1967 for $270 for special occasions is still a cherished possession. When I scan negatives and transparencies shot with it, I'm often surprised by the sharpness. I'd still be shooting Fuji Provia 100F and Fuji Reala 100 with it, if the local custom lab that I could count on for high-quality same-day or next-day color processing hadn't gone out of business, a victim of the widespread shift from film to digital photography.

I like more than I dislike. Germantown looks awfully sweet, and Nashville has an advantage with its longer growing season to create lush landscaping. They do need to do something different with that garage door, though!

Great things happening in Lexington!

Sweetie, what hotel was that? Where is this? I dont recognize that area. Then it was a Holiday Inn. I don't know what it might be now, or even if it still exists. My train from San Francisco was delayed by blizzard conditions across much of the West/Midwest and I missed my connection out of Chicago to Fort Wayne. Amtrak put me in a hotel overnight and gave me vouchers for meals and cab fare. Might have been near Greektown; one of the parking lots in the photo has a sign for the Greek Isles restaurant. The single-storey building on the far side of the Hart, Schaffner & Marx building has "Jackson Blvd" painted on the side. I can't recall the technical details of the photo, but I set my camera on a tripod on the balcony and used a cable release to lock the shutter open, and then stepped back inside to get out of the cold wind. I had much of the next day to roam around the loop, and the temperature never did get up to zero F. The negative is T-Max 100, 120 roll film scanned on a Nikon 9000ED film scanner. I don't know if the apparent noise in the upper left sky area is a result of the poor gamut/dynamic range of the monitor or if it's in the digital file from the scan. I'm going to print it and see how it turns out.

I'm desperately envious!

... Good points, and toss in a set of tire levers. Get an experienced cyclist or shop employee to give you a hands-on tutorial in tire repair/tube replacement. It's easy once you know how, will put you back on the road in a few minutes, and will spare you the eventually inevitable and frustrating long walk home or the humiliation of having to call someone to pick you up.

Or "Picture Of The Night" Chicago - January 1984, shot from a hotel balcony in the wee hours, temperature -8F

I'd recommend going to a reputable bike shop where a knowledgeable employee can help you determine what frame size fits you, and what features you need/like. Even if you decide to shop for a used bike on line, in the classifieds, or at yard sales, you'll have an idea what you're looking for, and are less likely buy something you regret. I'd avoid the big-box stores (Wal-Mart, etc.). Their bikes may of marginal to poor quality and may be assembled by some guy who doesn't know a metric socket from a can-opener. In those places it's rare to find an employee who knows anything about the goods they're selling. I don't know what resources/shops are available in the Cincinnati area. I'll leave those suggestions to the area forumers. Edit: Go back to the start of this thread, and you'll find some tips on where to shop for and get educated about bikes.

Near where I live are a Lowe's and a Menard's, not far apart. Aside from the fact that Lowe's more often has merchandise I prefer, I avoid Menard's because of the annoying jingles and product promos that seem to run almost constantly over the PA. At Lowe's, the only time PA silence is broken is for "Customer needs assistance at the board cutting area." Oh, and that's another thing. At Lowe's, I'm a customer. I know that and it suits me fine. At Menard's, I'm a "guest" (?) Whom are they trying to fool? Maybe if I'd tell the manager that their constant yammering over the PA is annoying this guest, they'd stop it. :|

Great stuff! I love the "ugly day" photos.

Great contrasts- colors, textures, and a good balance between highlight and shadow. Nice work!

It sounds like they seriously want it to happen. Electrification could be a plus for both passenger and freight operations; it's possible to get a lot more bang for the buck with electrification in terms of performance, especially in maintaining speed on grades with heavy trains. I don't think anyone has yet built a diesel-electric powertrain that can provide peak tractive effort to match what has been achievable for seventy years with electrics.

My slightly belated wish for a happy birthday, with many more to follow!

I've contemplated bringing a bike to Chicago, but I've been intimidated by what I've seen there. I'm not sure there's a place for somebody my age who isn't and never was an athlete. Even though I ride steadily and predictably and stay to the right, I'm not fast (~12mph) and I like to take in my surroundings. I think I'd probably feel terrorized. Then there's the logistics issue, anyway. Because of SRO loads even on many off-peak trips, the only bikes permitted on South Shore trains are folding bikes in bags, stowed on the overhead racks.

Looks visually interesting. Fort Worth appears to have a lot of character.

Neat! Ballparks are tops among ways to get people having summertime fun downtown.