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Blue439

New member
With welded rail now found nearly everywhere, rail joints like these are less common and placed only where needed. Note how the bolt and nut placement is alternated on the splice bars. This is done for safety. If there were to be a derailment and a wheel flange dropped off the rail, no matter which side of the rail it might fall, the flange will not shear off all of the bolts. [D5100]
Very interesting!
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
SanAntonioStation-242.jpg
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
@Sandpatch Thanks for the kind words on the San Antonio shot. Yes, New Mexico, and I should have noted that. :) We stayed overnight in Las Vegas, as well. (The one in NM, not "Sin City" in Nevada. :) )
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
From the mid-1970s at Barrington, Illinois (USA) is an interlocking tower (known as a signal box across the pond) and its levers inside. Both are gone today. These were known as "armstrong" machines because they required strong arms to move the levers which mechanically moved long lengths of steel rod to set switches and signals.

View attachment 413381

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I love images like this that show mechanical things, especially of this size. I find them fascinating.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Another from the fall of 1977 at Knoxville, TN (USA). That's the old Louisville & Nashville station as opened in 1905 and which has since been refurbished and still stands today, though not in service as a station. At the time I took this, the L&N ran a one car passenger train from the station to the University of Tennessee's football stadium as a courtesy to railroad shippers. [Nikkormat FTn, Plus-X]

1977 031b Knoxville TN - for upload.jpg
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Another from the fall of 1977 at Knoxville, TN (USA). That's the old Louisville & Nashville station as opened in 1905 and which has since been refurbished and still stands today, though not in service as a station. At the time I took this, the L&N ran a one car passenger train from the station to the University of Tennessee's football stadium as a courtesy to railroad shippers. [Nikkormat FTn, Plus-X]

View attachment 414361
Must have been a grand place in its day!
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
From about 1975 at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, IL, a look at piston-powered Convair 580s as operated by North Central Airlines which operated routes in the upper midwest. I had a late friend who was as crazy about aircraft as I was about trains, so we enjoyed some good times together. Shortly after I took this shot, a pilot invited us into a cockpit for a closer look. Simpler times. [Nikkormat FTn, Plus-X]

1970s Mid 001 OHare Airport IL3 - for upload.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
Abbey church of Gellone (2022)

Located in the remote village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (the name itself says how remote it is...!) in southern France, the Benedictine abbey of Gellone was founded around 800 by Guillaume (William), former Count of Toulouse and a close friend to Emperor Charlemagne. William, later canonized, was enticed to do so by saint Benoît (Benedict) of Aniane, the great spreader of the Benedictine rule after its creator saint Benoît of Nursia three centuries earlier. Benoît’s own abbey of Aniane was but a couple of leagues away.

Owner of a piece of the True Cross given by Charlemagne, William of Gellone soon turned his abbey into a venerated place of pilgrimage, and his own sainthood only added to the prestige and reputation of the place, which had become a renowned halt on the Path to Compostela (Via Tolosana). Additionally, the abbey possessed fragments of clothing having belonged to the Virgin Mary. In 1090, the abbey obtained the privilege to depend directly from the Pope, and was thus exempted from the jurisdiction of the local bishop of Lodève, which was a rare privilege. Its standing was such that pilgrims on the more northerly Via Podiensis were drawn to make a détour to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert to honor the saint and the relics in the abbey church.

Of the original church built by Guillaume in the 800s there is nothing left. The current church was built soon after Year 1000 in two distinct campaigns, as is evidenced by the stylistic differences between the nave on the one hand, and the apse and transept on the other. The bell tower is from the 1400s, a period during which the abbey’s decline began.

Most of the cloister was built between 1025 and 1050.

When the French Revolution came in 1789, only six monks remained. The abbey was sold to private owners, changed hands several times and was, like so many other such monuments, used as a stone quarry for most of the 19th century, even though it was included on the first list of Historic Landmarks in 1840. Many of the cloister’s sculptures were sold to an American collector and can be seen today in The Cloisters museum in New York City.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.

gellone3_bw.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
Cloister of Gellone (2022)

Same abbey as above, this time in the cloister and with the 45mm lens. This archaic column and capital, typical of early Carolingian (± 800+) or even late Merovingian (my personal bet, if I dare say, would be 600–700), attests to the fact that some parts of it are much older than the rest, built between 1025 and 1050. It could also have been re–used from elsewhere, as often happened. Either way, this may not be very ornate nor eye-catching but it is a historic treasure.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 45mm, ƒ/2.8 D ED tilt-shift lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.

gellone18_bw.jpg
 

billpics

New member
Afternoon light. Because of the large shadow area on the left, the window appears off-center. It is perfectly centered within this frame, though it may not have been in-camera. There is a tinge of pincushion distortion with this lens that is difficult to correct here, due to the abundance of horizontal lines. And, it is an old craftsman-style home that has probably settled somewhat during the past 100 years. So, while the pic will never grace the cover of Architectural Digest, the lighting and tonality are nice.

Nikon D810, 60mm AF-S G
Long Beach, California.


June - L028.jpg
 

Blue439

New member
Afternoon light. Because of the large shadow area on the left, the window appears off-center. It is perfectly centered within this frame, though it may not have been in-camera. There is a tinge of pincushion distortion with this lens that is difficult to correct here, due to the abundance of horizontal lines. And, it is an old craftsman-style home that has probably settled somewhat during the past 100 years. So, while the pic will never grace the cover of Architectural Digest, the lighting and tonality are nice.
Nice light indeed ! (y)
 

Blue439

New member
A self-satisfied Samson (2022)

Historied capital in the Benedictine abbey of Moissac, southwestern France: Samson defeating the Lion, sculpted around 1100. I simply love the easiness with which Samson casually breaks the lion’s back with his foot while keeping its jaw open with both hands, all the time wearing a slight, very self-satisfied smirk: “See? That’s how you dot it... Simple!” It may be a minor sacrilege, but it reminds me the Dire Straits song, Money for Nothing. :rolleyes: :cool:

Nikon Z7 II, Micro-Nikkor 85mm, ƒ/2.8 D ED macro lens, manual focus, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.

moissac19_bw.jpg
 
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