Happy Independence Day Everyone!

[Miningman]

Just to get back to Independence Day.https://www.csx.com/share/wwwcsx15/assets/Image/Community/SofAF%20with%20employees.jpeg 

 

https://www.csx.com/share/wwwcsx15/assets/Image/Community/Spirit%20of%20First%20Responders.jpegThese from Mike! 

 

[Jones1945]

Overmod

Meanwhile, to tie the 'cat' and T1 threads together, as it were:

Now to build an HO scale version and send a picture to Jones1945...

This is so unfair, Mr. Overmod. I remember that you are willing to gift Vince a N scale BR 05 001 but what I will be gifted is just a little boat which doesn't even have a feline on it...! 

[Miningman]

Short Train!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7mRgrO61GM&t=6m18s

 ...and as Wayne pointed out on the Trains Forum the locomotives are numbered 1776 and 911. So yes CSX did a very good thing!

[Flintlock76]

Nothing new under the sun, is there?

[Overmod]

Meanwhile, to tie the 'cat' and T1 threads together, as it were:

Now to build an HO scale version and send a picture to Jones1945...

 

 

[Flintlock76]

Thanks Vince!

Lemme see here, two Abrams, two Bradleys, and one Hercules, which is basically a tractor on steroids.

And the way some people here were carrying on you'd have thought we were going to have a  Red Square style shindig that would turn Putin green with envy.

And then they wonder why they have a credibility issue. 

 THAT'S why I don't believe anything I read unless it's a Kalmbach title! 

PS:  Full disclosure here.  About a year ago I watched the Russian's 70th anniversary of VE Day parade in Red Square, saw it on YouTube.

I thought it was pretty cool, actually, with those re-created WW2 Red Army battalions with five restored T-34's.  Amazing!

The only thing they left out that would have made it perfect would have been a Sturmovik  flyover!  Maybe they're working on that now?

[Miningman]

Don't have a clue Johnny.  Front, Centre and Rear loading and disembarking? The new ones are zero emissions, all electric.

Meanwhile:

The Army sent two M1A2 Abrams tanks, two M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, a M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle, and a Humvee by rail from Fort Stewart, GA.

 

 

[Deggesty]

Miningman

Agree Peter-- What was all the political dust up over the Salute to America about?  It's was nice, good music, good feelings. At this very moment the Muppets are singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy"... that's quite a stretch to equate that with North Korea. 

So here it is:

And here is what's coming in September .. 

 

 

What a crowd of people on that boat in the bottom picture! I'm glad my wife and I rode a Maid of the Mist 16 years ago.

How long will it take for passengers to embark and debark?

[SD70Dude]

A toast, to the land of the free and the home of the brave!

[Miningman]

Agree Peter-- What was all the political dust up over the Salute to America about?  It's was nice, good music, good feelings. At this very moment the Muppets are singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy"... that's quite a stretch to equate that with North Korea. 

So here it is:

And here is what's coming in September .. 

 

[M636C]

We have just seen the TV coverage of the Washington parade. We had been led to expect something more like the President's new friend in North Korea might have arranged.

To return to catamarans:

https://www.austal.com/ships/expeditionary-fast-transport-t-epf

The USN also have a number of trimarans built by the same company, which are actual combat ships.

Not having to deal with Austal any more is one of the better points of my retirement. They are good at advanced design but their attention to detail leaves a bit to be desired when military standards need to be met.

Peter

[Flintlock76]

Thanks Mike!  And thanks Vince for passing it along!

The Edison cylinder with Billy Murray was amazing in its sound quality.  And "Yankee Doodle Dandy"  with James Cagney, what can we say?  It's "The most colorful black and white movie ever made!"  

[Miningman]

From Mike for the 4th of July

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6jOwlxOIco&t=48s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgdyJX1jaUI

[Deggesty]

Back in '97, my wife and I rode catamarans between Seattle and Victoria. There was a large cabin set on the two hulls.

[Jones1945]

Have fun :

[Overmod]

Miningman

How on Gods green earth do you put those two together. That I cannot envision.

It is not difficult.  Think of what happens if you deck over the complete area between the two (relatively large you can make them) separate hulls, and then enclose this as a passenger area. 

See the ship that Richard Branson built to take the Atlantic Blue Riband (which was famously restored after 2013) or in fact the current 'fast ferry' that holds the eastbound record.

A number of advanced United States Navy ships -- you can read up on them under the acronym SWATH -- take the idea a bit further: they use two submerged hydrodynamically-optimized 'hulls' resembling small submarines, an improvement on the idea of the Yourkevitch bow, with highly-streamlined fins being the only thing to break the plane of the water line.  The entire superstructure of the ship then extends out a la catamaran, but with the fins possibly at the 'quarter points' (where the bending stresses in the decks can be minimized) instead of having the hulls as far outboard as you can get them.

[Jones1945]

 I wish you all a happy Independence Day celebration!  

[Miningman]

Ok, I can reasonably envision what 700 people looks like.

I know what a Catamaran is, even those huge ones the uber rich blue bloods race in exotic waters. Maybe 15 crewman running around. Slicing through the water at 60deg angles.

How on Gods green earth do you put those two together. That I cannot envision.

" Ok folks we shoot the rapids and the whirlpool then cozy up to the bottom of the mighty roaring Niagara Falls. At least 3/4 of you will not be coming back. I wish you all luck and a fun filled journey. Please ensure that you have handed your last Will and Testament to the boarding attendant"

 

[Miningman]

Well just think Penny, you would make the National News! 

Broadcast Live while you dangle. 

And of course the dramatic breathless nailbiting rescue. 

On the 4th of July!... you would be celebrated forever . 

[Penny Trains]

I KNOW I'd get stuck halfway accross! 

[Flintlock76]

You're not alone NDG, I wouldn't try that zip-line thing either.

I'm not that nuts and if the proverbial "something happened" I don't heal as fast as I used to anyway!

[NDG]

 

I feel like the world has left me behind.

Have a great 4th everyone.

 

Thank You.

[Miningman]

700 person Catamaran and a zip line across the Falls., I feel like the world has left me behind.

Have a great 4th everyone. Eat drink and be merry. 

[Miningman]

Looks as if the Canadian side is laying out the carpet at the Falls.

I did not know you can zip line over the gorge .,at night yet! 

Well not me, but others can!

Celebrate the Fourth of July in the Great White North this year at Niagara Falls, Canada! This year’s Independence Day is the perfect way to #ExploreNiagara while celebrating all things Red, White and Blue.

With a variety of exhilarating attractions that include fun for the whole family, Niagara Falls, Canada will leave your head spinning with enless possibilites this Independence Day. There’s no better way to cool off on a hot summer day than to get into the mist with Hornblower Niagara Cruises. Gather the whole family and get your spot on the 700-passenger catamaran that takes you right into the heart of the thundering Horseshoe Falls. After your cruise, visit the Skylon Tower for a romantic dinner in the revolving dining room that has one of the best views of the Falls for the Fourth of July. Enjoy your dinner with a wonderful view of the Falls illuminated red, white, and blue in honor of America's birth.

Also for this Independence Day and for the first time EVER you can zipline down the falls at NIGHT with the Mistrider Illumination Zipline to the Falls. A fun attraction the whole family will love as you dangle 67 metres above the Niagara River Gorge and glide 670 metres while admiring the beautiful Falls at night illuminated with the colours representing the flag of the USA.

What kind of celebration would it be without fireworks, right? Well don’t worry because there is a dazzling fireworks show planned when the sun goes down in dedication to our southern neighbours on this year’s Fourth of July.

[Flintlock76]

How's about a little motivational music, courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94_JuJEfHs  

And have a safe and sane Forth!  (Even if that isn't much fun!    )