Hobo Jungle

[rogruth]

Cool and interesting

Thank you.

[webenda]

Cool find Tramp. Google Earth still has images of old bridge if anyone is interested.
View from inside old Cow Ln tunnel, Reading Station, Reading, Berkshire, UK

Holy Cow, those cars are on the wrong side of the road! Google Earth location: Cow Ln, Reading, UK

[healey36]

Working the financial pages yesterday, stumbled onto this. At first I thought it was a hoax, but maybe not. Figured you guys could weigh in on it...

http://www.businessinsider.com/take-a-look-inside-the-soviet-unions-gigantic-nuclear-equipped-ekanoplane-2012-1

Found some additional references elsewhere...would love to see this first-hand.

Healey

[Mitch]

I have read that flying over water was an extremely tough thing for pilots to do, causing disorientation often leading to crashes. This sucker flys only 16ft. off the wavetops. What happens if the pilot (and probably special equipment) doesn't recognize a 30ft. wave comin'? Bummer, Dude!

[ANG retired]

Back when Discovery was somewhat interesting, not just another reality channel, they showed film of that "flying" in the Caspian. Look closely, it is more of a hydrofoil than an aircraft. Very fast, not much hull in the water, would have been a decent sub hunter, or a blockade runner. However, it would have been an easy target for attack helicopters, attack aircraft, the Harrier and Warthog come to mind, or fleet defense fighters.
Neat experiment, but fuel costs, limited application, and special support equipment sort of doomed it to the "WTF" category.

[webenda]

...would love to see this first-hand.

Healey

Would seeing it from the Google Earth spy satellite be close enough?

Ekranoplan Google Earth.jpg (102.47 KiB) Viewed 2792 times

Ekranoplane
Ceiling: 24,600 ft
Unlikely since there are no bodies of water at 24,600 ft and the thing could not get off the water. (as evident from photos of it in action.)
Reference: http://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/lun_ekranoplan.pl

[webenda]

New topic in the jungle... "It all depends on how you look at it!."

http://youtu.be/hAXm0dIuyug

[rogruth]

So if I looked at things with the right perspective life would be easier.
On the other hand it would be harder if you changed your mind.
Hmmmm.
That's nothing new is it?

[webenda]

There are new things Roger, but that is not one of them.

This railroad track at High Bridge, KY used to be single track.

High Bridge KY 1905.jpg (185.74 KiB) Viewed 2605 times

Now it is double track and the curve has been straightened. (New thing.)

High Bridge Drop Today.jpg (158.28 KiB) Viewed 2605 times

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Dr. Wayne, I don't understand what I am seeing there, in the 2nd photo. I keep searching it to make sense of it but to no avail. What is that?

And how could there be what appear to be seams under the water, almost looking like taped seams on plasterboard sheets, not to mention the fact (?) that the water (?) is a different shade of green on either side of the main seam?
Murph

[rogruth]

Yeah.What Murph said.?

[webenda]

Dr. Wayne, I don't understand what I am seeing there, in the 2nd photo. I keep searching it to make sense of it but to no avail. What is that?
Murph

It is a place called "High Bridge" in Kentucky. Kind of a joke, don't you think? The train just goes over the edge, across a low bridge over the water, then, if the train is long enough,
the cars still coming down the side push the engines and cars up the other side. Clever--no?

High Bridge KY.jpg (144.1 KiB) Viewed 2727 times

And how could there be what appear to be seams under the water, almost looking like taped seams on plasterboard sheets, not to mention the fact (?) that the water (?) is a different shade of green on either side of the main seam?
Murph

I think it is a small dam to hold back the bottom mud from being washed down stream. Kayakers love going over those things.
If you type the coordinates into Google Earth you can go there and look around.
Coordinates: 37 49 02.70 N 84 43 11.56 W
Just cut and past the numbers (including the "N" and "W".)

Here is a view from a lower angle:

Defugalty in Dewater.jpg (219.89 KiB) Viewed 2734 times

I am suprised you did not get excited about the defugalty in rail alignment:

Whats Wrong With This Picture.jpg (114.16 KiB) Viewed 2733 times

[dougdagrump]

Highbridge: The Bridge

We thought our customers might be interested in High Bridge - the bridge. It has quite an interesting history, and the community around it has been closely allied with the fortunes of the bridge since construction first began. Originally planned as a suspension bridge for the Lexington and Danville railroad, it was designed by John Roebling, who later would design the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge and the Roebling Suspension Bridge which today connects Covington to Cincinnati. Work began in the 1850s with towers for the suspension cables being built during that time. Construction was suspended during the Civil War. Afterwards, plans were altered and construction was resumed by the Cincinnati Southern Railway and the bridge opened in 1877 as the first cantilever bridge built on the American continent.


It was dedicated by president Rutherford B. Hayes in 1879. The 275/308-foot tall and 1,125-foot long bridge crosses the deep gorge of the Kentucky River between Jessamine and Mercer counties. Being, at the time, the highest railroad bridge in North America and the highest railroad bridge in the world, High Bridge at once became a tourist attraction. Its popularity was at a peak during the first 20 years of the 1900s. A new bridge was built around the existing structure in 1911 and expanded to two tracks in 1929. Also in 1929 the large twin towers were torn down, and its popularity slowly faded. High Bridge still attracts interested parties who marvel at its amazing superstructure. Other attractions in the area today are High Bridge Park, offering a lovely view of the confluence of the Kentucky and Dix Rivers, High Bridge Quarry and Lock #7. Its distinction today is as the highest railroad bridge in the United States over a navigable body of water.

[webenda]

Doug... go away!

OK, you caught me. When Google Earth tries to make 3D images out of flat photos, sometimes they get distortions, like in the bridge images I posted. The line(s) across the water are where images were stitched together.

Here are real photos of High Bridge in 1907
http://www.shorpy.com/node/12352
http://www.shorpy.com/node/12361

And an undistored image of it today:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Picture_470.jpg

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Good ol' Wayne, playing games based on the currency of your excellent reputation (...if Wayne posts it, it must be real and true...).....hhhmmmmmm.....very interesting approach. You realize, o' course, this latest Wayne-test puts us all on high-alert, from this point forward, having to keep ourselves ever-at-the-ready for "Wayne-a-nanigans" (shenanigans + the Wayne factor ). Good. That'll keep us from being too complaisant or too ready to believe
Bring it on, bub.
Murph