#Bessemer and Lake Erie

[20th-century-railroading]

B&LE train, engine number 623, engine type 2-10-4 Freight, southbound; 115 cars, 10 MPH. Photographed: near Hewitts, PA., August 9, 1937.

#ble #bessemer & lake erie #1937 #trains #freight train #history #hewitts #pennsylvania

[cheeseheadmedia]

Erie in the Heartland by Brian Hechel Via Flickr: Far from their home rails in Ohio and Pennsylvania geographically speaking these two EMD SD40T-3 locomotives just crossed the street as they are at the top of Byron Hill, part of the Niagara Escarpment which separates the Great Lakes and Mississippi watersheds. This geographical feature is also what creates the infamous Niagara Falls in New York and Canada.

#BLE #BLE 901 #BLE 910 #Bessemer & Lake Erie #Byron Hill #DJI Mini 3 Pro #Drone #EMD #EMD SD40T-3 #SD40T-3 #USA #Wisconsin #Brownsville #United States #flickr

[grimm-the-tiger]

Dumb shipwreck facts because I need to hyperfixate for a moment: 

The only Olympic-class (Britannic, Titanic, and Olympic) ship that was actually unsinkable was the Olympic. Olympic took full advantage of this and became the only merchant vessel in WWI on record to sink an enemy vessel (it didn’t discriminate, either; Olympic actually sank two vessels during its service, one of which was a friendly lightship during peacetime). 

It took 150 years to discover what happened to the infamous Lost Franklin Expedition because the English were too racist to ask the natives. The Canadians, meanwhile, found the wreck of one of their ships, HMS Terror, in a fraction of the time by asking an Inuit hunter named Sammy Kogvik for help. 

There are at least two wrecks in Lake Erie that we may never find because the lakebed quite literally swallowed them. 

On a related note, Lake Erie might have the highest concentration of shipwrecks of any body of water in the world. 

Lake Superior is actually the least lethal Great Lake, despite its reputation, but over half of its wrecks are located around Whitefish Point, most notably the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

The Bermuda Triangle doesn’t actually have a very high disappearance or wreck rate. It’s considered weird because the gulf stream carries any wrecks and debris out of the search area, making it that much harder to find any remains. 

There’s a disturbing tendency for ships, particularly freighters, to not only split in half while they sink, but for the back half (the stern) to keep going, sometimes for miles. The most notable case of this would be the SS Pendleton, an oil freighter that wrecked off the coast of Massachusetts; the rescue of the crew on its stern is considered to be one of the most daring Coast Guard rescues ever pulled off. 

Most ships built before 1950 were made with subprime or low-grade metal, which is believed to be part of the reason why they split in half so often. This metal turned brittle in colder water; guess where most of these wrecks were. Some wrecks believed to have fallen victim to this include the Titanic, the aforementioned Pendleton, the Carl D. Bradley, and the Daniel J. Morrell. 

An Arctic cruise ship took on a Venezuelan patrol boat and won. Said patrol boat was trying to force the cruise ship, the Resolute, to come ashore. Ships create depressions in the water (you most often see this in the “wake”) called displacement, and it’s generally believed the patrol boat underestimated the strength of the Resolute’s displacement and was sucked into its path, ending up crushed by Resolute’s icebreaker-grade hull. 

While we can be reasonably certain what sank the Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 (it was a train ferry with an open back and had previously had a near-accident when a wave slammed directly into the opening, almost flooding it), what we don’t know is what happened before and after. One of its lifeboats was found with nine bodies and the clothing of a tenth. The ship’s steward was found armed with two knives and a meat cleaver, and the captain’s body was found some time later with slash wounds. It’s agreed that the steward killed him, but why remains a mystery. 

Moby Dick was based on the sinking of the Essex, a whaling ship that was rammed and sunk by its own prey. The crew resorted to cannibalism to survive; ironically, they would’ve been rescued sooner had they not avoided a nearby island chain for fear of cannibal tribes. 

Don’t read about the sinking of the Estonia. Just...don’t. It’s not pleasant. For some hint of how awful it was, despite being reasonably close to the surface no one was ever able to get all the bodies out because of the sheer number of them. 

On a much lighter note, the Swedish Navy in the 1700s poured thousands of kroner into building a mighty flagship for their navy, the Vasa...only for the Vasa to sink less than 300 yards into its maiden voyage. Turns out they gave it too many guns, making it too top-heavy, and it capsized. 

The Canadian freighter Bannockburn disappeared in a storm in 1902. Almost all of its crew were in their late teens and early 20s; the youngest was 16. Companies would hire younger, less experienced men to work aboard their ships because they were cheaper. The Bannockburn has never been found. 

Speaking of Lake Superior shipwrecks, there’s a saying that “Lake Superior never gives up her dead”. It’s not wrong; the temperatures at the bottom are cold enough to halt the decaying process, which prevents the bodies from rising to the surface. The most notable instance of this is Old Whitey, the nickname for a body found in the engine room of the Kamloops who has never been identified. This is also the reason no one is allowed to dive to the Edmund Fitzgerald; the crew’s bodies are still aboard the wreck, and it’s considered disrespectful at best to dive to a place that for all intents and purposes is a graveyard. 

It took over 100 years and numerous deaths from scurvy for anyone to realize that eating raw meat can prevent it. They discovered this on a Belgian arctic expedition where one of the crewmen, drawing on past experience, somehow managed to convince the rest of the crew to eat raw penguin, rapidly decreasing the number and severity of scurvy cases onboard. 

To end this on a lighter note, the saying “Batten down the hatches” is an actual maritime phrase; hatches are openings in the ship’s deck used to bring cargo inside and, on older ships, allow passengers and crew on deck. Hatches let enormous amounts of water into the ship in bad weather, and are often “battened down” (covered up) to prevent water from getting in. It will probably not surprise you to learn that not battening down the hatches or not doing it properly has caused its fair share of wrecks; notably, it’s believed that the Cyprus, an ore carrier that was said to be leaving a red trail in its wake the day before it capsized, was leaving said trail because its hatches were improperly sealed; water was getting into the hold, mixing with the cargo of iron ore, and then being pumped out, hence the red wake. 

#shipwreck #shipwrecks #interesting facts #random facts #indulging in my shipwreck hyperfixation #shipwreck shenanigans #might make posts elaborating on some of these #especially the olympic #that ship did not give any fucks

[guerrerense]

U79184 por Matt Krause Por Flickr: The first rays of sun bathe Bessemer & Lake Erie No. 904 in sweet morning light at is punches through a thick wall of fog with Canadian National train U791 as it approaches Fayal, MN. Headed to Two Harbors; the taconite train was loaded at U.S. Steel’s Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron.

[purdunkin]

MYSTERIOUS PHANTOM SHIP "SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2" PORT #CONNEAUT OHIO BODIES RECOVERED The SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 was a train ferry that sank with the loss of between 30 and 38 lives on Lake Erie on December 8, 1909. #Corruption #Conspiracy https://youtu.be/5pyKjPwOHv0

#youtube

[crownedstoat]

Scrap and Stone at Cornell by Ben Sutton Via Flickr: Mercer PA

#5422 #B&LE #Bessember #Bessemer and Lake Erie #Bridge #CN 5422 #CN Bessemer Sub #Cornell Viaduct #Drone #autumn #drone photography #fall #rail #railroad #scrap #stone #trains #viaduct

[thefakeray]

BLE F7 722 by Todd Dillon Via Flickr: B&LE F7 #722 Location unknown, Dan Dorko photo.

#ble #f7 #bessemer and lake erie #railroad #1980's #fallen flag #industrial #dan dorko #photo #train #diesel locomotive

[airmanisr]

Stourbridge Line BL2 by Jeff Terry Via Flickr: The "Stourbridge Line" operates excursions out of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, using a former CP FP7 (now "PRR 9880") and an ex-Bangor & Aroostook BL2. Also on the property is a former Bessemer & Lake Erie F7A, which has been painted in Erie Lackawanna colors.

#Locomotive

[harvard-art-museums-photography]

Housing, Industrial: United States. Pennsylvania: Industrial Housing, Detached Dwellings Frame Construction: Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company: Subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation: IV: III and IV. Company houses for employees at Russellton, Pa. Six rooms, bath, cellar, electric lights. Rent $10 per month., Unidentified Artist, c. 1903, Harvard Art Museums: Photographs

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Social Museum Collection Size: image: 16.2 x 10.1 cm (6 3/8 x 4 in.)

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/12201

#museumarchive

[gregador]

Bessemer & Lake Erie brocomotives #878 and #905 at the Greenville Yard. I wanted to describe these as sisters, but they’re clearly not.

Regardless, as a youngster in Girard, PA, I survived on a street that paralleled the long-abandoned Erie Extension Canal, connecting Lake Erie to Pittsburgh. The canal hadn’t been used since the 1870′s, but the Bessemer had its right of way along the western edge of the canal on this dead-end street. The Bessemer trains were a constant during the 1970′s-taking iron ore down to the steel mills in Pittsburgh and returning with coal headed to Conneaut, Ohio. The trains would shake the house and wake us up during the night. It was annoying, but I loved it. Back then, trains rocked my world, and the Bessemer was it. As far as I was concerned, the logo with its cross-section rail denoting the “I” was pure genius. Well, an imagined “I”...I’m still laughing that I still can’t remember Bessemer isn’t spelled with an “I”.

I’m surprised the Bessemer is viable [it’s now owned by Canadian National], but it still carries ore to the Edgar Thomson works of US Steel-the last mill in Pittsburgh-and returns with coal, although I have no idea who or what needs coal these days. 

#greenville #railroad yard #bessemer #b&le #photographers on tumblr #locomotives

[20th-century-railroading]

B&LE train, engine number 520, engine type 2-10-2 and engine number 514, engine type 2-10-2 Helpers at rear of extra 623; 10 MPH. Photographed: near Hewitts, Pa., August 9,1937.

#ble #bessemer & lake erie #1937 #trains #freight train #history #hewitts #pennsylvania

[cheeseheadmedia]

Erie in the Heartland by Brian Hechel Via Flickr: Far from their home rails in Ohio and Pennsylvania geographically speaking these two EMD SD40T-3 locomotives just crossed the street as they are at the top of Byron Hill, part of the Niagara Escarpment which separates the Great Lakes and Mississippi watersheds. This geographical feature is also what creates the infamous Niagara Falls in New York and Canada.

#BLE #BLE 901 #BLE 910 #Bessemer & Lake Erie #Byron Hill #DJI Mini 3 Pro #Drone #EMD #EMD SD40T-3 #SD40T-3 #USA #Wisconsin #Brownsville #United States #flickr

[alluneedissunshine]

Scrap and Stone at Cornell by Ben Sutton Via Flickr: Mercer PA

#5422 #B&LE #Bessember #Bessemer and Lake Erie #Bridge #CN 5422 #CN Bessemer Sub #Cornell Viaduct #Drone #autumn #drone photography #fall #rail #railroad #scrap #stone #trains #viaduct

[guerrerense]

Bucket List Scratches por Kenny Wright Por Flickr: My entire life I have been obsessed with line side signals. US&S searchlights just so happen to be one of my favorites, I had believed until recently the Bessemer and Lake Erie was the only hold out for these signals until fairly recently. A few friends had enlightened be about the former D&H main and the RBMN mainline's extensive searchlight installs that stretched through the Anthracite fields. RBMN NRHT at the 99 automatic brings an era of hunting these signals to an end and brings the start of a journey to document signals in PA. Although these were the second searchlights I had seen this day, I preferred this photo over the previous.

#flickr

[ragamuffingunnar]

22; 23 for the music ask. Also Favourite "Fallen Flag" per region?

Hey there! 

22. what artist did you try to like because you thought they were “cool”, but just couldn’t get into?

I don't even know anymore. Let's just say Brokencyde. 

23. what artist can you absolutely not stand?

6ix9ine and anyone in that vein.

For the fallen flags, some will be repeats in a region….

Bessemer & Lake Erie, Ma & Pa, Lehigh & New England, Pennsy, Boston & Maine, Delaware & Hudson, Central Vermont, New York Central, Chessie System, Ann Arbor, Mo-Pac, Rock Island (although a short line out that way has resurrected the name and old livery), Illinois Central, Katy (MKT), Denver & Rio Grande, DTI, Seaboard, Louisville & Nashville, Southern Pacific

#acarefullycuratedmess #asks #bless you for the rr question :')

[currinstrains]

Norfolk Southern intermodal train 22K makes its way over the trestle in Conneaut, Ohio behind a pair of GE's on the last day of October 2020. Three railroads pass through Conneaut: Norfolk Southern seen here, CSX seen crossing over Conneaut Creek on a pair of trestles, and Canadian National (former Bessemer & Lake Erie) whose yard can be seen at Conneaut Harbor.

 https://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=71032

from JC's Trains, Railways all Transport https://ift.tt/3p8VbFm via IFTTT

#IFTTT #JC's Trains #Railways all Transport