Gordon Bombay

Got nothing to do Friday, if gas is ok I am thinking about heading up to Columbus on Friday to get away from here and do some exploring. Do any of the skyscrapers have observation decks like how the Carew Tower in Cincinnati does? If so, any idea where I can find the hours of operation?

I know it's not technically public transportation but the idea for this project came from the company, Universal Mobility's, product which originally was designed to offer public transportation. Universal Mobility originally designed their "Straddle" steel-box-beam style monorails to be people movers. They were originally marketed to be used for public transportation around urban centers, between office complexes, airports and such. However, the first nine installations of these "people movers" would not be used for public transit, but rather for amusement while being installed at various amusement parks, zoos, and the Louisiana World's Fair. Since the initial nine, early 70's installations, Bombradier had purchased Universal Mobility and installed two similar monorails of this type at airports. How is this tied into Ohio? Well one of the original nine UM monorails was purchased and installed at Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio just north of Cincinnati: The monorail operated from 1974 until the end of the park's 1993 season. In 1999 it was purchased by Fairfield, Ohio business Jungle Jim's International Market. For awhile many have watched the monorail slowly come together as the store continued to expand, and while I'll spare you a long winded history of the store I am glad to say that the monorail is finally coming back to life and maybe, just maybe instead of just being a solution to the stores parking problem it will demonstrate the monorails potential to be a fuel efficient, environment friendly, high capacity form of public transportation. Hell, for some of us this is the closet thing to light rail Cincinnati has. If you want to read the full article I wrote check it out here: http://www.kicentral.com/history/monorail.php Or if you want to check out Jungle Jim's International market visit: http://www.junglejims.com/ Or just check out these pictures from when I met with Phil Adams, a representative from Jungle Jims, and Keith Menter, a former monorail operator, to tour the monorail being built at the store. . . -One of the freshly renovated trains complete with its new Jungle Jim's paint job. The cars have been renovated with new safety and drive systems and the back car has had its seats removed, it now features a clean air diesel generator by Kohler to power the trains independently as opposed to electric bus pickups. Other things they plan on installing on the trains - flat screen tv's to show advertisements, specials going on at the store or if your company is holding an event you can show a presentation or if holding a wedding reception at the stores event center display photos for the wedding. Currently one train is ready to go with another soon to follow. As for the others they will become parts donors or may eventually be remodeled. Parts donors: A monorail train parked at the station above the starbucks: Phil Adams, the mastermind behind the Jungle Jims monorail (foreground) with Keith Menter, a former Kings Island monorail operator: Operators booth on an old train: I'm really excited to see the monorail come back to life in my hometown of Fairfield, I've been interested in this form of transportation ever since my dad used to build monorails out of Legos in my room as a kid. If you haven't been to Jungle Jims I recommend it, lots of fun for the family to go along too. Although if you wish to take pictures I would call ahead first for permission. Hey, its the closest thing we get to light rail around here. Full article here: http://www.kicentral.com/history/monorail.php

Wait, didn't the bridge climb close awhile ago? My personal favorite from this set: http://www.pbase.com/cincyimages/image/65091527/original.jpg

^It was actually Cedar Fair, Cedar Points parent company who purchased Kings Island along with its sister parks. What is somewhat ironic is that when Paramount Parks was in its prime it was actually in a position and a negotiation to purchase Cedar Point, and just Cedar Point, from Cedar Fair. The deal fell through at the last minute. I thought a construction thread might be nice since myself or my friend go there regularly and get photographic access that isn't accessible to the general public and should have some regular updates, if you'd rather contain it to the Kings Island thread I can do that.

On August 6th, 2008 Kings Island's Don Helbig made an announcement that would come to thrill and excite not just coaster enthusiasts but many guests and visitors. The Cincinnati area tourism staple for the past years has been known for its family attractions typically themed to movies and Nickelodeon attractions, as the park was formerly owned by Paramount. In June 2006 the park was purchased by Sandusky based Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a company most notable for their large coaster instillations at their flagship park; Cedar Point where the skyline is dominated by the 200ft. Magnum, 300ft. Millenium Force, and 400ft. Top Thrill Dragster. For many fans of the park, the announcement of Cedar Fairs acquisition meant that bigger and better roller coasters would be coming to the park. Work on the Diamondback initially began at the end of the 2007 season, yet an official announcement was not made until August 6, 2008 and the ride is set to open in April 2009 and will hopefully be ready for opening day. Here are the ride specs: The ride will be located in the Rivertown section of the park, here are some renderings: I do work for www.kicentral.com which started out as a fan site covering the park and forums, over time we've grown to come to be sponsored by COX Ohio publishing and now cover a lot of the news and media events at the park. Here are some photographs of the construction: Memorial Day Weekend: And now this past weekend of 9/12/08: The park is nice enough to allow us in for some exclusive updates so I thought I'd share them with the good folks on here. I figured many people around here might be excited for this ride as its the biggest attraction they've installed since the Son of Beast in 2000 which was met with mixed to unfavorable reviews. Hope you enjoy the photographs.

I too was always taught to use the comma before and, until I turned in my first rough draft on a college paper. . . Souther Ocean, wtf?

^No, no HDR, I just shot it in Raw, exposing for the chair, then used the recovery tool in Camera Raw then the Shadow/Highlight tool in PS to draw out the highlights and bring about the detail in the window. Have any of you had an unexpected situation arise, while trespassing? Such as falling thru a roof? Found people living in an abandoned building? Cops showed up? Able to enter but can't get out? Whenever we can, Seicer and I try to seek permission, it's not as "fun" but it allows you to relax and usually spend more time concentrating on photographs rather than looking over your shoulder, when permission fails or you stumble on something cool we go for it. The only time I ever encountered police, and they may have not been there because of us, was back in 06 a friend and I were exploring an abandoned amusement park. We got inside, realized there was a guard driving around, hid, saw his vehicle exit, we ran, hopped the fence, and as we made our way back to our car parked in a nearby neighborhood, we saw the security SUV parked next a police car in the former amusement park parking lot. Other times I've encountered homeless people, most of whom just talk and don't ask for hand outs.

^Thanks for the heads up, those look awesome! We'll be kind of pressed for time coming back so I don't know if Brooke and I will be able to stop, but these definitely looking promising if Seicer and I get some friends together in the upcoming future, thanks metrocity!

A collection of photographs from the few (wish I had gone exploring more) times I went out and explored this summer, many of these locations were featured on my website www.queencitydisco.com. First up is an abandoned rail depot near Interstate 75. Situated near the Crisco and flavoring plants, the smells around this building were nearly nauseating. It smelled like dog food the entire time. I would hate to be stuck in traffic on 75 with no A/C and having to keep my windows down in that area. I had seen this structure many, many times since I was a kid. Passing it on the way to Reds games with my dad and any other time we traveled down to the river front. I assume it at one time was there to operate a switch track as it was once a manned station. The lower part had room for bunks and a bathroom and the upper room also featured a bathroom and sink. Whatever it once was, it was nice exploring it after seeing it for years. -Equipment found up top. - "Ladies and Gentleman, we got him!" Found amongst other personal items, lots of evidence someone had once made this a home, maybe escaping the winter when there was nowhere else to go. Afternoon traffic building up: Later in the month I met up with Seicer and a few other friends to go hit up a few locations we had been looking at. One thing we had seen for awhile, we finally made a stop to; a large network of abandoned projects in the hills over looking the Queen City: We hopped in Seicers kick ass Toyota to check out something I suggested. I originally saw it feature on www.cincinnati-transit.net, this abandoned on/off ramp to the Waldvogel Viaduct from State Ave. I dared Seicer to prick himself with this, he was too much of a wimp :-P -Found on the ramp. Later in that day we strolled across Our Lady of Perpetual Help: You may have seen Seicer's wonderful historical write up on this building featured on his website www.abandonedonline.com, or in this recent UO thread: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,17276.new.html#new We stopped in across the street to the United Way center and spoke to some of the workers there who clued us in about the church's history and eventually we went inside to have a look around. Having grown up going to Catholic school and Catholic church my entire life until I went to college, photographing this place meant a lot to me. It brought back many memories of when my entire family used to attend church together, and things I learned in all those theology classes I never thought I'd use came flashing back to me. I recognized certain symbols and how some things had been removed in a particular way in accordance with the Catholic Church's procedures for decommissioning a church. -Front entrance. -Our Church of Perpetual Help, closed in 1989, the same year I would be born and baptized into the Catholic faith as was a Bombay family tradition. Despite how my feelings about faith, religion, may be these days, I love and respect the architecure, decoration, and beauty found in places like Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Oh yeah, and here is UO member Seicer with some cats he made friends with outside of the church: Yep, Seicer and his cat friends. Thanks for reading and viewing, if you'd like to see more Cincinnati urban and abandonment photography please visit my website: Queen City Disco(very)

My girlfriend and I are going to Chicago, DePaul University specifically, to visit her best friend from high school. We'll be making the 7 hour drive from Athens, Ohio. Whenever I go to Cincinnati I always drive around no problem, no big deal. I haven't been to Chicago in years and with it being a much bigger city and much more crowded on the streets should I ditch my car and utilize some form of public transportation?

Edit: Mr. Mecklenborg, Didn't mean to hijack your thread with questions or links, probably should've just pmed you, sorry for this waste of a post. Great photographs! It's been great to see two different photographic perspectives on the Labor Day fireworks from both you and CincyImages. I have never gotten to photograph, nor attend those fireworks due to me having to work every Labor Day weekend or been out of town with family.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/jmecklenborg/suspension-panorama-small.jpg ^Great photograph. Question: Were you up here as part of a special group or something for the fireworks or is this tower always open as an observation deck to the public?

Carew Tower: Devou Park: Cya in two weeks.

http://www.mcflash.4000loavesanhour.com/galleries/mccain/bin/images/large/IMG_3034.jpg That makes three!

Great photos, love this one: http://www.pbase.com/cincyimages/image/102528386/original.jpg May I ask, where were you shooting from and what lens did you use?

Thank you for the replies everyone, I'm glad you guys liked the quality. I had to shoot at 1600 ISO the whole time, thanks for CS3 :D Seicer, that sign cracked me up too, they had a bunch of those up completely blocking some peoples view.

John McCain made a stop at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio this past Friday as part of his "Road to the Convention" tour, the rally in Dayton was particularly of interest due to the fact that it was to be where McCain would announce his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Thanks to Jayson of Cincy Images for advice on bringing the camera in, I really appreciate that! Despite the signs boasting "No cameras with detachable lenses," the TSA didn't mind my 70-200mm. I originally walked up to the arena with just a point and shoot, saw lots of people get their DSLR's in, and thought "what the hell, its worth a try." I stuffed my 40d, 50mm, and 70-200mm in one bag and was let in. Nutter Center was packed and I couldn't find a seat, so I wandered about before giving up my standing position to an old woman, eventually a security guard was nice enough to let me go down the stairs to the floor. Here are some photos: -This news crew came all the way from the Twin Cities. Not everyone came to support the Senator: McCain didn't speak much, but Palin's remarks were great. Personally I am a fan of McCain and think Palin was a good choice for his running mate. Thanks for taking the time to view the photographs!

Thanks for the advice everyone. On those who suggested the airport, thats something I was thinking about but was worried about being hassled by security. Think it'll be a problem?

So I am currently in Athens, originally from Cincinnati, but I have my car here this week. One of my assignments for class is to go out and photograph "emotion." I figured I could find something interesting 1.5 hours away in Columbus, but to be honest I haven't been to Columbus in years except to go to the airport when I wanted to fly Southwest instead of Delta at CVG. Anyone have any advice on what I should go see in Columbus with my camera? Or should I just park somewhere and explore all day?

Bout time they started, I'll come back to this thread in 5 years when the project is halfway complete and Cincinnati is looking for money to try and finish it.

Originally saw the update on Cincy images, you mentioned that noise was prevalent in the photos, doesn't seem that way at all, they're fantastic shots. I had the chance to see his wife speak at Ohio University and drove from there to Columbus for his rally only to get turned away. Love the shots, although I am not an Obama supporter.

Did anyone here register Democrat in the primaries just to vote against a particular candidate? I know of quite a few people who are leaning towards McCain but registered Democrat to help Barack beat Hillary.

Oh, I agree, that Chipotle is definitely one of the most unique, a bit small though and theres always a bum guarding the parking lot entrance.

On one of the coldest and windiest days so far this winter, a fellow photographer and I were asked by some friends at Skyline Chili to come down to the Fountain Square ice rink and document a promotional event they were having. The promotion was; you come to the ice rink and get to meet some players of the Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL hockey team and then attempt to take a shot against their mascot "twister" who would be goal tending, make the shot and get a 5 dollar gift card to Skyline Chili. Unfortunately due to the epic cold few people came down. The people skating had no idea the event was even going on and before we called it a day due to the cold only a few nearby construction workers and passer bys took part in the event. The cyclones were great to meet and are currently in first place, go see them! After spending the day in the cold we went up Vine St., which is starting to look better and buildingcincinnati has some great photos of it in his thread: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,15276.0.html We then went up to Clifton for some excellent chipotle.

Anyone have any idea as to why cameras are not permitted on the historical society's tour yet they were on the Cincinnati Advance ones?