@mattblaze@federate.social that's a great shot, and (for me at least) something of an optical illusion! To my brain it looks like the buildings are diverging towards the top (sort of like \ / but not that extreme, if you see what I mean) but looking at the photo closely I can see that's not the case at all.
@mattblaze@federate.social very nice (I'm a fan of lighthouses) - what are we looking at in that image? Looking at it on Flickr it looks like it might be part of a wall illuminated by the window?
@mattblaze@federate.social I definitely appreciate the posts, especially (as an immigrant) the context including historical notes you give which I wouldn't otherwise know. Thank you.
@mattblaze@federate.social the full size image definitely rewards inspection! That huge grab for instance (presumably for unloading coal) and what I presume are enormous electrical bus bars running from the lower centre off to the right.
The resolution is incredible, wasn't expecting to be able to clearly read the Plimsoll line markings on the barges in front. It seems the "Lemon Creek" in a previous life as a sewage barge had a run in with a tanker carrying molasses in 1991 - you can guess which spilt cargo.
@mattblaze@federate.social @karlauerbach@sfba.social continuing the theme of misunderstanding what you're seeing, I saw that and was thought it was a clockwork camera lens for a second (not that I think there is such a thing, but my brain isn't that quick today).
@mattblaze@federate.social I've been looking at some of the Alert California cameras around LA (have friends in Northridge) and stumbled across a tower on one of the cameras on Topanga Peak which has a nice view of another one of those Long Lines stations. https://cameras.alertcalifornia.org/?pos=34.0959_-118.5425_12&id=Axis-TopangaPeak2
@mattblaze@federate.social Fantastic! Thanks for sharing that. I lived in Malvern in the UK for years and would often see the huge antennas at the Rugby Radio Station when travelling. Always amazed how large it was (~1,600 acres Wikipedia tells me now). Sad to learn now it was demolished in 2004, just a couple of years after I left the UK.
@mattblaze@federate.social that's very nice! I like that the corrugations below what I guess are the windows of the carriages make it look like it's pulling the station along to the right in its wake.
@mattblaze@federate.social thanks! I think I often go past that travelling between the airport and my partners place in northwest Philly. I remember seeing the power station but hadn't paid any attention to the bridge. Sounds like the arsenal that gave the bridge its name got bulldozed in the early 60s.
@mattblaze@federate.social personally I think some should be kept as historical markers, neither celebratory nor commemorative, but simply to record.
Like you I lived through those times (but in the UK) and I'm still shocked by finding out new things about how close we came then. The latest thing I learned was about the US using depth charges in international waters during the Cuban Missile Crisis to get USSR sub B59 to surface, unaware of the almost apocalyptic argument they triggered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov
@mattblaze@federate.social that's a great shot, and (for me at least) something of an optical illusion! To my brain it looks like the buildings are diverging towards the top (sort of like \ / but not that extreme, if you see what I mean) but looking at the photo closely I can see that's not the case at all.
@mattblaze@federate.social oh wow - that definitely bends my mind - thank you!
@mattblaze@federate.social very nice (I'm a fan of lighthouses) - what are we looking at in that image? Looking at it on Flickr it looks like it might be part of a wall illuminated by the window?
@mattblaze@federate.social I definitely appreciate the posts, especially (as an immigrant) the context including historical notes you give which I wouldn't otherwise know. Thank you.
@mattblaze@federate.social the full size image definitely rewards inspection! That huge grab for instance (presumably for unloading coal) and what I presume are enormous electrical bus bars running from the lower centre off to the right.
The resolution is incredible, wasn't expecting to be able to clearly read the Plimsoll line markings on the barges in front. It seems the "Lemon Creek" in a previous life as a sewage barge had a run in with a tanker carrying molasses in 1991 - you can guess which spilt cargo.
@mattblaze@federate.social @karlauerbach@sfba.social continuing the theme of misunderstanding what you're seeing, I saw that and was thought it was a clockwork camera lens for a second (not that I think there is such a thing, but my brain isn't that quick today).
@mattblaze@federate.social I've been looking at some of the Alert California cameras around LA (have friends in Northridge) and stumbled across a tower on one of the cameras on Topanga Peak which has a nice view of another one of those Long Lines stations. https://cameras.alertcalifornia.org/?pos=34.0959_-118.5425_12&id=Axis-TopangaPeak2
@mattblaze@federate.social oh interesting, I was watching a short film by KQED about Drawbridge on Friday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttGi9F2MeWA
@mattblaze@federate.social Fantastic! Thanks for sharing that. I lived in Malvern in the UK for years and would often see the huge antennas at the Rugby Radio Station when travelling. Always amazed how large it was (~1,600 acres Wikipedia tells me now). Sad to learn now it was demolished in 2004, just a couple of years after I left the UK.
@mattblaze@federate.social my late wife introduced me to that song in Australia and now I cannot get it out of my head whenever I'm going to/from SFO!
@mattblaze@federate.social that's very nice! I like that the corrugations below what I guess are the windows of the carriages make it look like it's pulling the station along to the right in its wake.
@mattblaze@federate.social thanks! I think I often go past that travelling between the airport and my partners place in northwest Philly. I remember seeing the power station but hadn't paid any attention to the bridge. Sounds like the arsenal that gave the bridge its name got bulldozed in the early 60s.
@mattblaze@federate.social personally I think some should be kept as historical markers, neither celebratory nor commemorative, but simply to record.
Like you I lived through those times (but in the UK) and I'm still shocked by finding out new things about how close we came then. The latest thing I learned was about the US using depth charges in international waters during the Cuban Missile Crisis to get USSR sub B59 to surface, unaware of the almost apocalyptic argument they triggered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov