33: 1 Feb 2010 - Transportation

[Cheryl]

Open for posting!

Remember we are now following a biweekly schedule, but will allow posting of commentary after the first week has concluded. Any earlier comments will be deleted.

[AnnMarie]

I have two...unusual forms of transportation, but they do get you from point A to point B.

[jube]

Mine's a steam train

[r2005]

My photo is from a trip that I took to Montreal in 2007. This photo is from the return journey, so it was taken somewhere between Montreal and Maine. I'm quite proud of this picture since I was sitting in the backseat of a moving car, and I had to do some twisting around in order to get the photo.

[Cheryl]

Two ways we travelled (okay, toured really) while in England last year: steam train and boat:

[Hans]

Famous Tram Blau in Barcelona (nowadays a tourist attraction that drives up the hill)



The small ferry boat that takes you from the shore of Bantry Bay to the Ilnacullin Garden on the Garinish Island in Ireland.

[StevenB]

Here are my transportation pictures. First, the John O' Groats ferry, waiting to transport passengers from John O' Groats in Scotland to the Orkney islands (seen in the far distance). It's large than your ferry, Hans, but not as pretty.

Second, a picture from a cycle trip I made in 1995, showing one of my friends cycling next to Loch Arklet in Scotland. We had just cycled around Loch Katrine and were on our way down to Inversnaid to have our lunch by the (bonnie) banks of Loch Lomond. The area around Loch Katrine and Loch Arklet is terrific for cycling, and there is little or no other traffic.

If you are wondering how the picture was taken, er, I was riding my own bike with one hand on the handlebars and the other hand holding the camera . We were on a straight road with no other traffic or obstacles for miles - that's my excuse anyway. Oh, and no I wasn't looking through the viewfinder. I took a few pictures blind and was surprised this one came out so well.

[Platinum]

Troop and Civilian transport all in one go!



Troop transport

[Pam]

The first, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Durango, The Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad



And I think this photo speaks for itself

[Allen]

I could do a lot more than two pictures on this subject. I'm trying to sort through things to find something completely different. Here's one:



This is a 100% perfect replica of a one-of-a-kind Cord L29 boat-tail speedster. The original car was hand built, and supposedly owned by Paul Bern, who was actress Jean Harlow's husband. The American car was lost in Europe during a show tour, never to be seen again.

From a few surviving photographs, my ex-employer, Stan Gilliland recreated the car, on commission from Dr. F. Culbreth, a long-time collector of "one-off" Cords. Everything besides the body is genuine, restored, antique L29; the body was built from blueprints drawn up by a technique known as "lofting". The fenders and hood are steel, while the body is aluminum. The interior door panels are done in walnut, and there's a "bar", complete with etched glasses, cut glass whiskey decanter, and cigar humidor hidden in the right door.

I worked for Stan while it was being built. I was busy with another car, a 1936 Cord 810 Westchester sedan. That car went to the Auburn/Cord/Deusenberg Club's Labor Day festival and car show in Auburn, Indiana and garnered 396 out of a possible 400 points. But that's another story.


This was taken about 1982, at Boeing Airplane Company, when I worked there. It's how they transported the shuttles from the landing site back to Florida. Notice the extension on the back of the Enterprise. It was necessary for stability across the vertical stabilizer during flight. This was the best shot that could be gotten on an overcast day, and considering where it was parked. It wasn't there for publicity.

[jube]

Pam, both Junior and I got a chuckle out of the toy car latched on the back of the bus

[AnnMarie]

LOVE the Cord, although I do wonder at the color schemes on some of those old classics.
The toy car on the motor home was cute.
Plat, what type of chopper is that? It reminds me of the Black Hawk they landed behind the kidling's school....which will never happen again! LOL

[Allen]

Originally Posted by AnnMarie

LOVE the Cord, although I do wonder at the color schemes on some of those old classics.

I know what you mean. No matter what you think when you picture it in your mind, red and yellow really don't go together. This car was built in the early 90s. Back then, Stan knew a big executive at General Motors. They knew the color scheme from records, and knew the name of the original red. So he got with his friend, duplicated the red, then ran it through GM's massive computer system with instructions to match it with a yellow. The computer almost blew a breaker; it almost had a "nervous breakdown". It finally came up with that yellow.

That red has a lot of orange tone to it, which helps. But to justify the cost of the computer time, the red was an optional color on a few GM or Chevy pickups that model-year.

Stan had his connections at GM thanks to the Oldsmobile Toronado. When it was being developed back in the 1960s, GM looked at examples of front-wheel drive vehicles from the past, to see if there was anything feasable to adapt over, which if you know about the Toronado drivetrain, there wasn't. But if you look at the hubcaps on the first-generation Toronado (1966), you're looking at a very close replica of the hubcap on the 1936 & '37 Cord 810 & 812. Sort of an homage to the earlier car.

Can you tell Cord is just about my favorite car?

[StevenB]

So many good pictures to choose from. Railways, classic cars, warships, helicopters... wow! And that space shuttle picture is a real souvenir.

I've seen cars being towed by RVs, but the toy car is great! An emergency shuttle vehicle. It's quite environmentally friendly too - harnessing the abundant energy of children.

I also love AnneMarie's unusual vehicles, right at the start of this thread. Is that swan pushing the boat or just following on behind it?

Cheryl, that's a really dramatic picture taken from the steam train. I take it no railway staff saw you lean out and do that?

Hans, your picture of the tram car is terrific. The shiny blueness of it just stands out from the screen. I wish it didn't have the wire dangling in front if it (maybe it can be cloned out in photoshop). What is that wire for - is the tram anchored like a boat??

[P'ter]

I THINK you're refering to the rope the crew use to disengage the armature from the overhead wire.

If they are going to go back the way they've come, they have to swing the armature round so that it still trails behind them.

Here's my contribution ...

[Hans]

Well, this surely was one of the more succesful subject where it concerns diversity. There are some great pictures here.

I love the fun in AnnMarie's photo's, especially in the second one And, like Steven, I love the drama of the railway picture by Cheryl. Steven's cyclist photo could go right onto a stockphoto website or used for a holiday brochure! The Cord is gorgeous etc. etc. Nice photo's all

[spacedog]

I'll take Draco's shuttle photo but all the others are good too!

[AnnMarie]

Steven, since the engine is in the swan, I guess you'd have to say the swan was pushing the boat.

[blondmom989]

What a wonderful diversity of modes of transport. I was LOL over the girl sitting in the swan, which was followed up by the humorous knight on the wooden horse. The helicopter shot is just great. The shuttle picture is absolutely unique.

In keeping with all this diversity, I've chosen some other transportation

A blimp over the Eastern States Exposition (An agricultural fair for all the New England States)

116-1622_IMG by blondmom989, on Flickr

I had a tough time selecting this one. I have better photos. But I love this "transporter".

PSBS023 by blondmom989, on Flickr

[AnnMarie]

LOVE the trike!

[Allen]

Originally Posted by AnnMarie

LOVE the trike!

I do, too, once I took a second look. First glance, with that white car behind her, I thought she was wearing a pointed white hat like the KKK wears!

[Kath]

[P'ter]

Now: is he a biker in the making? Or is he just heading for the dolly?

[Lily]

It'll be the bike! He's a boy! How old is he Kath? I was watching my 10 month old grandson doing exactly the same thing last week

All gorgeous photos

[Kath]

Originally Posted by P'ter

Now: is he a biker in the making? Or is he just heading for the dolly?

Biker, definitely. Anything with wheels....

[Kath]

Originally Posted by Lily

It'll be the bike! He's a boy! How old is he Kath? I was watching my 10 month old grandson doing exactly the same thing last week

He's 15 months now, but this photo is from the end of august last year when he was 9 1/2.

[Hans]

Gosh, they grow fast, don't they?

Great picture, Kath. Gotta love a picture with a story

[Pam]

Originally Posted by Draco

I do, too, once I took a second look. First glance, with that white car behind her, I thought she was wearing a pointed white hat like the KKK wears!

I can't help that my hair was so blond! Yes, that's me. When I was smaller, obviously Can't decide whether I'm embarrassed that my mom posted it.

[r2005]

I'm lucky that my mother is not around on these boards because she would have no qualms about posting embarrassing pictures of me. Although, I suppose that the only good thing is that most of my childhood pictures are in boxes, and it would take more effort than she'd want to exert to find them.

For the amusement factor alone, my favorite is Pam's second photo.

[Hans]

Originally Posted by Pam

I can't help that my hair was so blond! Yes, that's me. When I was smaller, obviously Can't decide whether I'm embarrassed that my mom posted it.

I immediately thought so but refrained from asking

Aw come on, I'm perfectly willing to post embarrassing youth photo's if all of you do it too! Maybe a seperate thread?
It's embarrassing recent photo's I have problems with!

[blondmom989]

Gee, Pam, I didn't think that one was embarrassing at all. I rejected several others because I thought you might be embarrassed. You were wearing strange outfits.

The car is actually yellow. A Chevy Nova. I can't remember what year. But I figured I was getting two transports in one photo.