Tested trestles

So much after my own heart (this proves I’m not alone) here is 'Highest Steam: 9 Abandoned Railroad & Train Bridge Trestles', another WebUrbanist post.

Durable by design and situated by necessity in difficult to access locations, railway trestles are often all that remain when rail lines are closed and abandoned.

Tallulah Falls Railway, Georgia

Georgia’s Tallulah Falls Railway operated for nearly 90 years – from 1st September 1871 to 25th March 1961. The railway featured in several films including 1951′s ‘I’d Climb the Highest Mountain’ and the 1955 Disney production, ‘The Great Locomotive Chase’. The 1972 epic film ‘Deliverance’ (have Duelling Banjos playing) featured two of the main tourist attractions of the Tallulah Falls Railway: the waterfall at Lake Tallulah Falls, and the view from Tallulah Gorge.

Only the steel & concrete trestles of the Tallulah Falls Railway remain

In order to keep trains running on the straight and level along the railway’s 58 mile stretch from Cornelia, Georgia to Franklin, North Carolina,they had more than 40 wooden trestles and one series of steel and concrete trestles constructed. It’s little wonder the railway closed due to a mounting and unsustainable debt load.

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad, Michigan

A combination wood and steel trestle and pocket dock was constructed in 1931, to bring iron ore to ships waiting in Marquette, Michigan’s lower harbour. 

The wooden trestle portion standing in majestic solitude after the adjoining steel dock was salvaged

The dock officially closed on December 31st, 1971 when ore shipments were diverted to Escanaba and the railway, trestles and dock subsequently fell into disrepair. In the early 2000′s, redevelopment resulted in portions of the trestle and dock being demolished.

Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railroad, Colorado

In 1903 when the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad first laid rails across the Great Divide at Colorado’s 11,660 foot high Rollins Pass, it was hailed as a triumph of American railway engineering. 25 years later, another engineering triumph – the Moffat Tunnel – negated the need for the Rollins Pass line and the rail bed was converted to accommodate road traffic.

Devil's Slide

  









Supported by the east and west Devils Slide Trestles, the route has been off-limits to vehicles since 1990 when a rock slide blocked the Needle’s Eye tunnel. 
Hikers and cyclists are still allowed to cross the over-a-century-old wooden trestles, though one might end up meeting the Devil himself should he or she take an unexpected slide.

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, Yukon, Canada

 This isn’t the “After The Gold Rush” Neil Young was thinking of, though it’s almost as moving as the man’s music, and any excuse to play the track.

The old Dead Horse Gulch railroad trestle bridge is on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad to the heart of the Klondike. The rail line was constructed during the gold rush of the 1890s. The Dead Horse Gulch bridge being built in 1899. 
After 70 years of stalwart service, it was bypassed in 1969 by a new tunnel and bridge designed to withstand the weight of loaded ore trains from the Faro lead-zinc mine, which opened the same year. 
The new bridge was just a stone’s throw from the old one, providing riders on the revived WP&YR Heritage Railway an awesome sight, especially when the fog rolls in.

Florida East Coast Railway, Florida

Just over 101 years ago and 7 years after construction began, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway was finally completed. Dubbed “the Overseas Railroad” and “the 8th wonder of the world”, Henry Flagler’s dream was made real at the cost of $50 million and the lives of dozens of workers. Until 1972 the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge connected Bahia Honda Key and Spanish Harbor Key. The Hurricane of 2nd September 1935 put the money-losing railway out of business. Flagler’s innovative bridge construction techniques were not wasted, however, being quickly re-purposed into the 127.5 mile (205.2km) long Overseas Highway that opened in March of 1938 (the Overseas Highway was substantially rebuilt in the 1970s and ’80s).

The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge looking more like a take-off ramp

 The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge’s notorious gap wasn’t caused by storms or decay - two spans of the bridge were removed to accommodate boat traffic and discourage pedestrian use of the span.
As always there are more photos and stories at WebUrbanist.

Boy-O Boyeo

This is the full unauthorised version 'the Director's Cut' of my Boyeo story. The original shorter version was for our iPad videographing classes (and Larissa made me edit it down to the pre-requisite 90 seconds, so the interior pan sequence hit the cutting-room floor. So now here it is in its entirety).

+

It was from my mission to photograph the schools or school sites across the Wimmera region, that I discovered the Boyeo School building. And I knew I had to return to make it the subject of my video, as still photos didn't portray the full atmospheric feel of the place.
The Boyeo School opened in February 1884 in a temporary building on a 2 acre site. In 1885 the Department erected a timber schoolroom with an attached 4-room residence. Finally like most rural schools it succumbed to declining attendance and finally closed in February 1944.
The old abandoned, derelict structure has stood for 127 years on a rise above a timbered swamp, part of a Crown Land red-gum reserve.

The worłd according to Terry

This audio books starts off with the declaration that the Discworld books are probably the most annotated of all time, probably a correct statement.

In 'The folklore of the Discworld', Terry Pratchett teams up with leading British folklorist Jacqueline Simpson to take an irreverent yet illuminating look at the living myths and folklore that are reflected, celebrated and affectionately libelled in the uniquely imaginative universe of Discworld. 

Most of us grow up having always known to touch wood or cross our fingers, and what happens when a princess kisses a frog or a boy pulls a sword from a stone, yet sadly some of these things are now beginning to be forgotten.

Legends, myths, fairytales: our world is made up of the stories we told ourselves about where we came from and how we got there. It is the same on the Discworld, except that beings which on Earth are creatures of the imagination - like vampires, trolls, witches and, possibly, gods - are real, alive and in some cases kicking.

Discworld folklore is a trivia test to identity the original idea, character, or how Terry has warped our commonplace into a Discworld setting. He also explains how Discworld traditions floating through the multi-verse helped inspire some of Shakespeare's works.

The Annotated Pratchett File now sadly out-dated, is an example of the breadth of  the many jokes, parodies, allusions and literary references that litter the pages. There are the bits of Shakespeare, pieces from the Bible and a whole lot of pop culture from the worlds of music, film, media...

Some of my favourites come from the sixteenth Discworld story - "Soul music", in fact I think "Pathway to paradise" says so much more than "Stairway to heaven", but I appreciate the whole music with rocks in it and the many references to Meatloaf's seminal "Bat out of hell", or the running gag with the main character "Imp y Celyn"  a Welsh transliteration of 'Bud of the Holly' who is a bit elvish. Just some more I couldn't resist: "'Cliff? Can't see anyone lasting long in this business with a name like Cliff'."and the University "Born to rune" and "Rebel without a pause".

The final section is a discussion on folklore between Terry and Dr Jacqueline Simpson (she is a long-standing member and office-holder on the Folklore Society's committee), where they quiz a young member of the audience about her knowledge of Shakespeare, and go off on a tangent to complement John Tams on his 'Sharpe' song lyrics "Over the hills and far away", etc. (Just found the John Tams version of the folksong on YouTube, have to love YouTube sometimes). All a very laid-back exchange with Terry breaking out into song ditties - the man has a phenomenal knowledge and must have undertaken research into many branches of  scholarship.

A must read for Pratchett fans.

I still luv rock n roll

News today, that Victoria’s first and only female Premier  - Joan Kirner is being treated for cancer. Ms Kirner, 75, was diagnosed last month and has started chemotherapy and radiation treatment for oesophageal cancer.

So I’m prepared to put in the background all the old Razor Gang business with Race Matthews & the Arts, and remember the night when Joan decked out in leather did a version of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I love rock n’ roll” on the Late Show (It was also the first thing that everyone here recalled about her).

Good on you Joan!

A passing fad?

It is clearly time for another Unshelved post.
We haven't moved on from the vampires yet, zombies are still to take over!