I have been interested in railroads,
bridges, dams, etc. since I can remember. When I moved to the western
suburbs of Chicago in June, 1973, to work for Bell Labs, I drove
around the area taking pictures of movable bridges, coaling towers,
etc. And I tried to take a picture of every roundhouse I could find
using USG topographic maps. But I could never figure out what to do
with them.
When I started reading my daughter's
blog, http://jessandprinceofthieves.blogspot.com/, I realized that
this would be a perfect medium for those old pictures and for new
ones. An advantage of a blog is that you can start writing with no
idea how it is going to end. And, unlike a book, it also doesn't
require a linear organization. You can choose to view articles
according to location, railroad, canal/river, etc. But I decided to
wait until after I retired to start it so that I did not have to
worry about a time conflict with work because I knew that just
surfing the web can be a significant time sink. I retired May 2,
2014.
My profile picture is from a trip to Neucahtel, Switzerland, to watch my daughter, Laura DeBruler, play professional volleyball. She has already documented our trip to a watermill ruins that is in that town.
My profile picture is from a trip to Neucahtel, Switzerland, to watch my daughter, Laura DeBruler, play professional volleyball. She has already documented our trip to a watermill ruins that is in that town.
I have been reading a number of your entries and find them fascinating!
ReplyDeleteDo you know anything about these railroad piers in the Kankakee River? They were built by a railroad that ran out of money. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/547520393
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy my unfinished railroads page at http://russnelson.com/unfinished-railroads.html . My contact information is on that page.
Dennis, thanks for posting all of this! I am a manufacturing nerd, many years ago had a degree and 12 years experience in computer services before getting into metalbending. Fun stuff! best..............Brad Pritts, Ann Arbor, MI, born and raised in Cleveland, OH ... center of the Rust Belt...
ReplyDeleteI'd like to use some images from the Chicago area, can I get them in 300dpi or better?
ReplyDeleteIf they are my photos, sure. Contact me at bruler@xnet.com
DeleteDennis, check your email.
DeleteNice compendium of the wonders of physical infrastructure that made the US Great. I have made a post at SOAR.earth that presents the Rice Railyard in a high resolution topographical map. You might consider posting some of your drone shots there, as that seems to be their primary interest.
ReplyDeleteDo you know where the 1946 International Harvester Model K-5 truck was manufactured? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDo you think you could do post on the mechanics of straightening the North Branch Chicago River between Belmont & Lawrence? Always been curious about the actual workings of how you do this when the river channel meanders on either side of the proposed channel.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen my North Shore channel notes: https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2018/10/mwrd-north-shore-channel-and-wilmette.html? I've been collecting the construction photos from MWRD. And I just added some topo maps at the end for that stretch of the river. A question that has been on my mind for years is: when did the Main Stem achieve its current width?
DeleteBTW, you can read my other comments in that thread I added some months back. You're hearing something wrong in the video embedded in it concerning the pumping station.
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