CLEVELAND;OHIO

[powlee]

Bit of information please. I will have half a day before a flight home from Cleveland on Wednesday. Any Large Scale stores in the area I could spend my wages on?

Ian P

[tangerine-jack]

Depot Train & Hobby
4342 West 130th Street, Cleveland, OH 44135

This will be your best bet with the limited time you have. If you buy too much I'll be glad to hold it for you[:D]

[powlee]

Thanks Jack. Will be a bit shatterd between flights but duty dictates I must pay a visit.[;)]

Ian P

[Anonymous]

I have been to Cleveland and i thought it was the worst pace i have ever visited, however it was there that i reached the conclusion that the worse a place is the nicer the people.

However some years later i decided that was not true; i visited Hirakleon which is the capital of Crete. It was a really rotten place and the people were just awful, had minor troubles from the moment i arrived untill i left. I decided then that their is not much differencve between Cretans and cretins. I truly think that is where the word came from.

After visiting many places Cleveland is barely on my lsit of the worst ten cities i have visited.

Rgds ian

[tangerine-jack]

Right on, Ian. I don't like Cleveland much myself, but sometimes you just have to make the best of it wherever you are.

For a really nice time, come by my way. We have a great beach and a lot of colonial American history right here. Within about 20 miles you can walk in Jamestown fort where the first permanent English colony was founded, see the powder magazine in Williamsburg where the Revolution started, and then a short drive over to Yorktown where the Revolution ended. The hobby stores aren't bad either.[swg]

[powlee]

I don`t visit this Forum much nowadays. But when I did, up pops someone
with an opinion.[}:)] I will be sure to pass on your comments to my patient Ian.

Jack
I will only be there on business but in July, my wife and I are coming over for a week in Williamsburg and Bayse. Really looking forward to it.
Must go, gotta catch a plane.

Ian P

[Anonymous]

Jack, I have been your way as well, I had just the opposite opinion about Florida to that which i had about Cleveland, very nice place but didn't like the people; but after having thought it over for a few years i came to the conclusion the problem was me not them.

I had business in Tampa and went to Disney world and to Cape Canaverel and also over the Skyway i think they called it, to St petes beach i think, is it still the logest run of bridged road in the world?

Lovely place. I was critical of Flridians for boasting about being desended from Pirates but who are we to say; Sydneysiders are mostly descended from convicts, so i guess we all have something in our back ground of doubtful nature that we can be proud of.


Rgds ian

[tangerine-jack]

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel http://www.cbbt.com/ is the longest span in the world, as well as the highest toll cost. I travel the bridge many times every month and it can be quite beautiful, giving fantastic sunset/sunrise views. It can also be quite deadly, in the last year two vehicles (one car and a Pepsi truck) have gone over the side killing 3 people. It includes a great restaurant and gift shop on one of the man made islands as well as a fishing pier. Great off shore fishing near the Thimble Shoal island year round.

[Anonymous]

I am not so concerned about a single span it is the actual length of the bridge. The Skyway i thinks its called is so long it actuall gets out of sight of land.

I ahev been recently on a very big bridge across the baltic Sea in Denmark ity was definitely an out of sight experiance as well but i don't think it is as long as the one in Tampa Bay. Its toll was about 250 Danish Kroner or A$50.00 or about US $35.00 how does this compare?


Rgds ian

[tangerine-jack]

I believe the bridge you mentioned in Denmark is the most expensive toll. Here are some quick facts about the CBBT:

Official Name:
Lucius J. Kellam, Jr. Bridge-Tunnel

Operated by:
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission

Route:
US 13 connecting Virginia Beach/Norfolk to Virginia's Eastern Shore

Total Length (including approach roads):
23 miles

Length Toll Plaza to Toll Plaza:
20 miles

Length Shore to Shore:
17.6 miles

Depth of water along Route:
25 to 100 feet

Awards:
*American Society of Civil Engineers 1965 award for "Outstanding Engineering Achievement"
*Designated "One of Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World" in 1965

Opening Date:
Northbound: April 15, 1964

Southbound: April 19, 1999

Designed By:
Northbound: Sverdrup & Parcel, Consulting Engineers

Southbound: Sverdrup Civil, Inc., Consulting Engineers, Maryland Heights, MO

Contractors:
Northbound: Tidewater Construction, Corp.; Merritt, Chapman, Scott; Raymond International; and Peter Kiewitt & Sons, Inc. (TMRK); American Bridge Co.

Southbound: PCL/Hardaway/Interbeton, A Joint Venture (PCL Civil Constructors, Inc.; The Hardaway Company; and Interbeton, Inc.)

Building Time:
Northbound: 42 Months - Construction began on September 7, 1960, and the project was opened to traffic on April 15, 1964.

Southbound: 46 months - Construction began June 16, 1995, and the project was opened to traffic on April 19, 1999.

Total Cost:
Northbound: $200,000,000 financed by the sale of revenue bonds. No tax dollars were used.

Southbound: $250,000,000 financed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District and the sale of revenue bonds. No tax dollars were used.

Construction Features:
12 miles of low-level trestle, 2 one-mile-long tunnels, 2 bridges, 2 miles of causeway, 4 manmade islands and 5-1/2 miles of approach roads.

Trestles:
Length 12.2 miles
Northbound width 28 feet curb-to-curb
Southbound width 36 feet curb-to-curb

Concrete Piles to Support Trestles:

Northbound: 2,598

Southbound: 2,591

Tunnels (Trench Type):
Thimble Shoal Tunnel: 5,734 feet in length, portal to portal
Chesapeake Channel Tunnel: 5,423 feet in length, portal to portal

Tunnel Clearances:
24 feet horizontal; 13 feet 6 inches vertical

North Channel and Fisherman Inlet Bridges:
North Channel (northbound): 3,798 feet in length; 75 feet vertical clearance; 300 feet horizontal clearance
North Channel (southbound): 3,100 feet in length; 75 feet vertical clearance; 300 feet horizontal clearance
Fisherman Inlet (northbound): 460 feet in length; 40 feet vertical clearance; 110 feet horizontal clearance
Fisherman Inlet (southbound): 458 feet in length; 40 feet vertical clearance; 110 feet horizontal clearance

Islands:
Four manmade islands each with approximately 5.25 acres of surface, 30 feet above water

Rock Armor for Manmade Islands:
1,183,295 tons

It doesn't get out of sight of land, but it's still a LONG bridge across the water. As an interesting trivia fact, the bridge was built so exactly that during construction the end to end variance was less than 1cm. Not bad for a bunch of rednecks.

[Anonymous]

Thanks mate i could not have gone on without that information, however your bridge sounds mighty and a great feat of enginering as well. The bridge i was thinking of goes from Nyborg to Putgarten in Denmark or similar.It is also a rail bridge and surprisingly the rail bridge is slung under the road bridge.

But i think the biggest bridge of all is a new one in France.

That bridge at Nyborg is one of two and the other goes from Denmark across the Baltic Sea to Sweden.

You will all get a laugh at my expense, but we have all got lost; but on our way back we decided to go by ferry. Upon leaving Copenhagen just get onto the National Highway and you will come to the ferry to take you back to Germany.

Well we did that and sure enough we came to the ferry and got on to the long line. We got out to have a talk to the others in the queue; and thats not easy in Denmark only speaking English,. A few of the people seemed to have Swedish insignias on their vehicles. Afte a bit of a worry and some questioning we discovered we had got onto the National Highway in the wrong direction and we were in fact waiting for the ferry to Malmo in Sweden instead of the one to Germeny.

Getting lost is one thing but going to the wrong country is something else.


Rgds ian


Rgds ian

[on30francisco]

I was born and raised in Cleveland but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area over 20 years ago and never regretted it. The weather and winters in Cleveland are awful! I haven't been back to Cleveland in over 15 years but there was a LHS in the downtown area called The Hobby House that sold Large Scale trains. I don't know if it is still there.

[Anonymous]

Ian P, might be worth a day trip to Orbisonia, PA to ride on the East Broad Top RR. 3 ft narrow gauge at it's best.

[tangerine-jack]

Ian,
It is a mighty bridge indeed when you consider that there are TWO spans of equal length, so double all measurements for a true bridge length. It's so massive that it takes two years to do a complete inspection/service on the bridge. You can also make a U turn on the bridge and drive it's length as many times as you want just as long as you don't cross the toll booth you won't have to pay again. If anybody is in my area I'd be more than happy to take you there.

Loved your story! But what is wrong with going to Sweden? Sounds like fun and adventure to me.

[Anonymous]

My freinds liver inb Lakewood and are now what i think you Americans call Snow Bunnies. winter in Jackson something or other in Florida.

They go to incredible lengths to keep both places in operation.

Rgds ian

PS interesting enough; how i got to know them; my first wife and Nancy were pen friends as girls, and i inherited her when the marriage broke up.