Gnarly Marly

Making the Marly sign in Greenpoint, on any given night, is a good sign. You are on the bridge (Koscisuzko, of course), and so practically home free. On a snowy Wednesday night, with rubbernecking caused by an accident on the other side--some poor bastard in a Sentra merged with a Department of Corrections bus--I finally had a chance to photograph it.

Everybody Needs a Shovel

Resurfacing the Kosciuszko Bridge is a big job. And it calls for big machines. During the day, for the last several weeks, this monster has sat idle on 65th Place just beyond the BQE off-ramp.

Steam Mayor

From the Behind the Water Tower blog (a BTB favorite):

Wolsztyn elects new mayor
Monday, 24 November 2014 by John Savery

Wojciech Lis, the newly elected Mayor of Wolsztyn.
Photo Wojciech Lis.

The recent local elections have seen a change in leadership in Wolsztyn.

The new Mayor is Wojciech Lis, known to many for his factual and regular updates on the Wolsztyn steam scene through his website parowozy.com.pl, which he has operated for well over a decade.

It is clear that since the suspension of the regular scheduled service, the town has been substantially quieter.  It is hoped that such an openly pro-steam mayor will vigorously push for the reinstatement of the daily steam services.

Behind the Water Tower congratulates Mr Lis on his election, and wishes him well for his tenure.

...and from Flann O'Brien (another BTB favorite):

For Steam Men

I took a trip to Belfast the other day on business of a kind that cannot be discussed here or elsewhere. I was not five minutes in the train until I realised that the engine-driver belonged to the 'full regulator, short cut-off' school. In my own railway days I used to work the locomotive as a high pressure simple (indeed, the design of the steam chest made no other course feasible) with cut-off as high as 60 per cent. That was before the days of the de Glehn compound or the Walschaerts gear. (I knew Walschaerts well, he was the best of fellows and a prince among steam men.) I am not criticising the G.N.R. driver. He knows his 'car' better than I. It is true, nevertheless, that the modern low pressure cylinder is not there for nothing. Where you have 'hard steaming', short cut-off with full regulator will nearly always lead to disparity in pressure readings between boiler and steam chest. They tell me that modern research at Dundalk has show otherwise, but that is all my eye and Betty Martin.

     At Belfast I noticed that the valve rod had lost adjustment and nobody was less surprised than myself. I hate to see machinery tortured.

-Flann O'Brien (Myles na Gopaleen), from The Best of Myles

Ramping Up to Red and Green

I took these photos a few weeks ago when I was wandering around Snug Harbor on Staten Island's north shore. I posted one I took from the top of the ramp leading down to a disused and broken landing dock and pathway along the Kill.

It was only later that I noticed that the couple shots I have looking up the ramp were timed to catch a green light and a red light on Richmond Terrace. Green in sunlight, red in shadow.

Lucky

Staten Island Expressway from Victory Boulevard.

Begob, Here's Me 'Bus

Sixth Ave. and 35th St., Monday after a Thanksgiving weekend. Mild temperatures and... what's that parked along the curb by Macy's?

Bus #9098 from the NYCTA's (now MTA) vintage bus fleet. Just sitting there, front door wide open, no driver in sight. A paper sign taped inside one of the passenger windows helpfully informs us that this two-tone green GM Model 5106 was purchased along with 120 others in 1958. It was in operation from then until 1972 on Brooklyn and Staten Island routes. Not a bad run. Here's the view from the driver's seat.

Looking back: How many New Yorkers have claimed one of those wraparound fiberglass seats?

Sun Dial

A mechanical Sun God blasted against the sky. Below the headless mortals toil.

ConEd at work on Victory Boulevard, S.I. (Nov. 2014)