Pregled posta

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Scientific concern about changes to atmospheric composition is not new. Back in 1974, I found myself part of a project to find a suitable location for Australia to build a specialised station to measure the background composition of the atmosphere. The site needed the cleanest possible air to study, so it had to be reasonably remote yet still accessible.

Lord Howe Island was one siting possibility for the station. An airstrip was being built there to enable normal air services, but it was incomplete and the only way to fly to the island was by flying boat: this was the last regular airline service in the world still operated by the old ‘boats’. With the runway coming soon they had been sold and were being retired. One had been taken out of service to prepare for the trip overseas, by replacing the seats and other fittings with long range tanks, but the other was doing limited service.

We had a smooth trip out, lifting off from Sydney Harbour past one of the Manly hydrofoil ferries, then banking east over Pinchgut. That trip itself was an unforgettable experience. There is no comparison between the modern ‘cattle class’ and the 1930s timber-panelled ambiance, large windows, and generally spacious and relaxed style of the old flying boats.

The return trip was to be two days later, but on the second night a huge gale came up, broke the flying boat’s moorings, and washed it aground. These flying boats had been the island’s lifeline for many years, and it was a disconsolate crowd of locals and visitors who gathered around the damaged aircraft on the beach next morning.

As I mentioned though, the other flying boat was out of service being refitted, and the runway was unfinished. We had become castaways on a sub-tropical paradise! Unfortunately it was winter and the weather was poor, which took off the gloss somewhat. Finally, after a week, the other flying boat was returned to passenger-carrying standard and the waves and weather improved enough for it to retrieve us. We began our take-off run from alongside the stranded flying boat on the beach

As a footnote, the atmospheric monitoring station was finally built in north-west Tasmania and has been doing valuable research ever since. The damaged flying boat was repaired and went back to England, where it now has pride of place in a special museum.

New radio controlled automatic switch machines with LED dwarf signals have been installed to operate the turnouts on the through tracks in the CSX Railroad Yard at Erwin, Tennessee, April 9, 2009. The rebuilding and modification of the railroad yard started the previous Summer in 2008. The purpose of this new installation is to speed up operations and to reduce the personnel required to operate the numerous manual switch machines located throughout the yard. The sidings and repair shop tracks still have the standard manual type switch machines with conventional targets. With this new installation, if desired, a freight train could pass through the yard without stopping and all the turnouts would be lined up automatically without the attention of the yard crew. It is normal for trains to stop at this yard before proceeding in either direction and crews seem to be changed here normally. One of the employee's told me that CSX was planning to install video cameras throughout the yard to monitor all operations.