The state fleet grew by ten this week as the DOT purchased several Chevy Volts. These are electric cars with a range of about 40 miles, so I don’t think anyone will be running from Bismarck to Fargo (or Minot, or Glen Ullin for that matter) with them without kicking in the backup gas-powered generator. I wonder if they’ll make interesting little git-around-town vehicles. They’re going to be distributed around the state to the eight motor pool regions for state employees to use on official business. GM has suffered dismal failure in trying to convince the general public to buy these things, so I hope the state was able to leverage a sweet deal before spending our tax dollars on them.
If you sense apprehension in my words, don’t get me wrong. I’m not fundamentally opposed to electric cars; I think it’s a good idea to explore new technologies. After all, the “brick” cellular phone of the 90’s had to precede the smartphones of today. What I do oppose are any simpletons who claim they’re “saving the Earth” by purchasing one. Apparently people like that think their outlets are juiced by the Electricity Fairy or something. Let’s face it: these things are NOT going to be charged by windmills or solar panels…period. Thankfully I don’t get the impression that anyone at the state is making any of these pie-in-the-sky claims. This isn’t the first set of electric vehicles to frequent the capitol; there are still some GEM electric vehicles in use as well.
All “saving the planet” BS aside, I don’t know if I see these things as nearly as big a boondoggle as the state’s fascination with ethanol blended fuels. Those are a sure-fire loser, with less thermodynamic potential than gasoline, propped up by taxpayer subsidies in a perverse shell game, while wreaking havoc on the food market. These cars are drawing power from North Dakota lignite-fired power plants, and we can be quite proud of that. I just try not to think of the fact that each one of these cars may already have as much as $250,000 in taxpayer money already subsidizing it.
I spotted this rusty old vehicle hiding behind some trees southwest of town a while back, just as the sun was starting to really splash the area with color. The hour before sunset/sunrise and the hour after are absolutely magical from a photography point of view.
I know this isn’t a tow truck, but thanks to Pixar I start thinking of Tow Mater every time I see a rusty old truck anywhere. That may have something to do with having two little boys who love all things related to Cars and Cars 2!
Hiking north of Fort Lincoln reveals trouble for the Fort Lincoln Trolley, one of my favorite local attractions. Most people haven’t seen even a small fraction of the devastation caused by the Flood of 2011 south of Mandan, and this is just one of many tragic stories.
This particular section has left a long stretch of rail, along with whatever ties were strong enough to remain attached, literally hanging in open air.
While the rails have not broken, they’ve certainly bent and are in serious need of rescue. The dark spot to the right of the tracks in the upper right portion of this photo is an enormous crack in the earth.
This isn’t the first time that the trolley folks have had to deal with erosion of the hills upon which their track resides; however, I don’t know whether previous damage was anywhere near as serious as this. Not only has a lot of the hill let go, but there are still major cracks in parts of the hill that remain. It looks as though plenty more dirt is waiting for an opportune moment to plunge toward the river as well.
As you can see, a large section of the hill simply separated and tumbled toward the river below as the hill was eroded from its base by the overflowing river. I used my monopod as a makeshift jib to suspend my camera in the air over the tracks for this treacherous shot.
I don’t know what it’ll take to get these tracks back to operational status; it looks like a trellis system might be required, because I don’t think it’s feasible to try to rebuild and reinforce this section of the hill. Hopefully something can be done for next season, because this trolley ride is one of the more fun ways to spend a summer afternoon! I shot some video of my last ride…I’ll have to put a little something together and post it here.
Boys love machines, period…it doesn’t matter how old. Airplanes and helicopters are particularly cool, which is why I’ve always taken the time to give my little fellas plenty of exposure to aircraft. In fact, we may be taking them to the skies for a joyride this week… and Daddy is planning a video gig with plenty of helicopter work! Doesn’t that all sound fun?
Our family plays Slugbug wherever we drive. We have as long as my little boys can remember, as we started ’em young. They’re getting pretty sharp at it, too, which is why this was one of the highlights at Buggies & Blues for them this year.
We made it to B&B but were unable to continue because of the heat and humidity. There are limits to how far you can take two little boys in the sun and heat, especially walking up and down a hot slab of concrete like Main Street. The humidity was oppressive, and actually fogged up my camera when I pulled it out of its bag. As a result, we headed back to the air conditioned truck…but not without someone enthusiastically calling, “Slugbug!”
I read that Railroad Days will be held this weekend at the North Dakota Railroad Museum, located on Old Red Trail in Mandan. My family and I visited the museum earlier this summer and had a blast. There is SO much to see and do, starting with a collection of train cars and signals to peruse outside.
The museum has multiple buildings containing multiple rooms full of railroad souvenirs, memorabilia, and other displays. There are seats from old passenger cars, items from old rail depots, model trains, and such a variety of items that I can’t begin to describe. You’ve got to see it all for yourself.
One highlight of the trip was a ride on the Sky Line Railway, a miniature steam train operated by Ed Duke from Hensler (Don’t Blink). Tickets were free, and my boys took a ride before I climbed on with my camera to shoot a little HD video. You can check it out below:
The next big event at the ND Railroad Museum will be this weekend on the 28th, so be sure to save the date and pay them a visit. Check out all the memorabilia, climb around on the caboose collection outside, go for a stroll around the grounds, and check out the various buildings and exhibits. Top it all off with a ride on the Sky Line, and tell them you heard about it here!
I took my little boys to Safety Day at the Bismarck Civic Center last week and, although most things there were for slightly older kids, they did enjoy this demonstration. Two dummies are seated in a small truck on a trailer. A Highway Patrol officer then activates the motors which spin the truck’s cab and hilarity ensues. It wouldn’t be so hilarious if you’re the dummy who gets tossed around inside the vehicle and eventually ejected!
Here’s what it looks like from another angle, as a series of stills. Not good. The dummy actually got ejected, bounced on top of the vehicle briefly, then slammed down onto the trailer and rolled over. It’s a good illustration of what can happen very quickly.
Naturally we are seat belt users in our family. As a passenger in a friend’s car, I once went partially through a windshield. If my knee hadn’t gone through the dashboard I probably would have been ejected completely. It opened my eyes and I’ve been an ardent supporter of seat belt use ever since.
By the way, I don’t believe in seat belt laws for adults, but I do encourage their use. The same thing goes for helmet use; as a former motorcycle racer, I’ve ruined multiple helmets but kept my head intact as a result. I’m not going to go around trying to force others to wear seat belts and helmets, but I will give an enthusiastic testimony of their effectiveness.
Sometimes, of course, people just have to see for themselves, and that’s what this machine is all about. In addition to my fatherly guidance, I’m hoping demonstrations like this will open the eyes of my boys as well!
My guess it’s a combine, but it might as well be a white whale. This piece of equipment sits just east of north 26th Street at the intersection where the road transitions from pavement to gravel. It’s on private property that’s posted, so any photography has to be done from the fence line. To complicate matters, it sits at such an angle that its side is obscured by its shadow for most of the year.
That’s where the calendar comes into play. In mid-June when the days are longest, the sun sets farther north than during most of the year. At that point it’s just far enough to illuminate part of this machine, as you can see here. It still has a shadow cast along part of the side, but at least the main workings are seeing direct light.
One of the things that has intrigued me the most about photography, at least the type of photography which I pursue, is that timing is everything. I’ve taken photos of this machine during the summer, winter, and all points in between. It wasn’t until I made a point of remembering to visit in late June that I was finally able to get a shot like this one. Maybe next June I’ll try it at sunrise!
A couple of weekends ago I was pleased to discover signs pointing to a Bismarck Aircraft Modelers’ fun fly event east of town. The weather was good, the wind wasn’t complicating things, and I happened to have a little extra time after some work on a parade float for July 4th. After we got a couple hours in on the float, I took my family eastward to check on the planes.
The BAM club is one of two in town, and calls the Hoge Island airfield home. Sadly, Hoge Island (not Hogue, local media) is under water right now, so a neighboring club was gracious enough to lend them their field for the day. There were hot dogs and other snacks & refreshments served and it was a glorious day to be out watching the planes. Some of them are capable of speeds over 100 mph, and there were some really interesting designs and pilots as well.
Naturally, my little guys were totally intrigued by this. They asked if there were some that they could fly, but I don’t think putting the controls of a fast airborne object into the hands of a three or four year old is a good idea. I told them they’d have to wait.
I drive little nitro-powered RC trucks – two of them, to be exact. My little guys dig those machines as well, but they’re too young to drive them. Capable of speeds over 60mph, they’re simply too dangerous for children. I do, however, have some old Tyco battery powered RC trucks that are just fine for kids, and they’re getting their training on those. Who knows, maybe someday they’ll be RC pilots!
I’m not sure if it’s one of the BAM guys who created this YouTube video at the beginning of the month, flying over the area north of Bismarck where these planes normally play. It’s an interesting video, though. Of course, now that we’re at 150,000cfs from Garrison alone, and have had plenty of rain, the area is even more inundated with flood waters than in the video.
Just in case you thought you might find a way to hop a flight with a pilot friend and get your own birds-eye view of the flooding situation, I thought I’d pass along this little tidbit: Bismarck-Mandan is a no fly zone for air traffic below 5000 ft MSL, shown in the red area above.
The FAA put out NOTAM (Notice To AirMen) 1/6326 on June 5th with very specific instructions that really don’t leave local pilots much room. My guess is that they fear that the same bunch of lookey-loo gapers that caused traffic jams from one end of the metro area to the other will find a way to take to the air, and that causes a hazardous situation over an area where a rescue is a near-certain impossibility.
Oh yeah…right before that they issued NOTAM 1/6325, which declares the same sort of thing around Garrison Dam. So if you thought it’d be really keen to hop in a puddle-jumper and do some circles around the dam to satisfy your curiosity, guess again!
