The Addendum "I tried to write shorter ~Mark Twain
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is an occasional journal of Oregon, from arts and books to public policy & transportation.
All content © 2006- by Alexander B. Craghead, except where otherwise noted.
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Week in Review, Vol. XI
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Other Notable Blogs
Cafe Unknown
Travel, History and Portland Oregon by Dan Haneckow
Jack Bog's Blog
By Jack Bogdanski of Portland, Oregon. (Like he needs any other introduction by now? -- A.B.C.)
For Portlanders Only
"Why buy a mattress anywhere else?"
Good Stuff NW
Featuring stuff that is good in the NW
LOST Magazine
LOST Magazine is an online monthly magazine that combines elements of many other literary, online, and national magazines with a singular mission--to reclaim in writing lost people, places, and things.
Mapes on Politics
Way West of the Beltway
Outside Is America
A journal about photography, roadtrips, trains and life, with occasional detours into movies, baseball, music, family and more.
The Photographers' Railroad Page
Good photos usually have good stories to go with them.... The goal of The Photographers' Railroad Page is to provide an outlet for top quality photographs and their story.
Portland Food & Drink
Throwing Ourselves on the Grenade of Bad Food to Save You
Portland Transport Blog
A Conversation About Access & Mobility in the Portland/Vancouver Region
PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media -- and booksellers
Rambling West
The musings of a farmer with a typewriter and camera
Stumptown Confidential
Documenting Portland, Oregon architecture, history, and culture through photos, postcards, and words.
The Unauthorized Observer
Observations on faith, photography, trains, baseball, the city where I live (Fullerton, Calif.), anything that I find funny (a lot of things) or irritating (some things) and various incidents involving friends and family.
Under the Weather
...the open road, fatherhood, family life, music, railroads, photography, popular and unpopular culture, sex, violence, religion, the oppression of consumerism and capitalism and the general bullshit that makes up modern life.
Urban Planning Overlord
A blog to counter the myths, lies, and demagoguery others use against sound city planning to further their own ends, fair and foul - but also to urge the profession itself to pull back from the occasional wretched PC exces.
VanPortlander
Living in Vancouver; working in Portland. I have some thoughts.
Whiskey, Texas
...life and experiences in Texas and the Southwest. Recurring themes: Photography, railroads, fading ads / ghost signs, fallen-flag railroad logos, boxcars, bicycling, Texas music, pop culture, sports, road trips, literature, kids and family.
World Scott
The Travel Writing and Photography of Scott Lothes
Blegs & Bargains
Amazon Book Wishlist
B&H Wishlist
My eBay Listings
Powell's Books Wishlist
Friday, March 28, 2008
Portland Streetcar Obamamania
Can we have a time-out on the whole streetcar expansion thing? Labels: Civics, Design, Portland, Portland History, Public Policy, Transportation
Recently, the Oregonian printed a story on the impending Portland Streetcar System Plan. What's really interesting is to compare the system's proposed map, (as shown here in a Big O rendering,) with historic maps of the Portland Traction system, such as this one from 1924. They are amazingly similar.
The historian/nostalgist in me thinks this is really really cool. The pragmatist in me has a warning. One of the -- if not the primary -- goals of streetcar construction is development. This is nothing new really. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, streetcar lines were built to areas like Sunnyside or Council Crest specifically with development in mind. They opened up farmland to become subdivision stock, making fast commutes from outlying areas possible for the first time. In many cases lines were "aimed" into areas where land was empty and cheap.
And this puts the first hurdle in the way of the Streetcar System Plan: by largely copying the old Portland Traction alignments, it is adhering to a development pattern of a century ago, and not necessarily of today. This puts redevelopment smack in the middle of some of Portland's more vital neighborhoods. Do we really want or need to tear up Hawthorne or Belmont to install multi-story condo developments? Because that's one of the likely results of putting a streetcar in on these streets.
There's another problem too, and it also requires a brief history lesson.
Portland's now lamented streetcar system morphed into today's TriMet bus system. Most of the areas that Portland Traction's trolly lines established are the primary neighborhoods of today. Due to this, TriMet's bus routes mimic to an amazing degree the former streetcar lines, and in many cases can directly trace their existence to them, having evolved from streetcar to trolly-bus to diesel bus.
If the streetcar were about transportation, and not development, it might make a lot of sense to build these lines. It is, after all, where a lot of people are going to and from today.
But... uh... what about the buses?
By replicating the old Portland Traction routes, the Portland Streetcar is making a financial stab at the heart of TriMet's territory. Until now, the streetcar served primarily as a people mover in the downtown area, where most of the TriMet service is free anyway. The eastside streetcar loop is starting to get into TriMet's transportation territory, but could be considered as no more than a downtown extension over to the central eastside. There is no question that installing a second transit alternative on the exact same corridors as frequent service TriMet buses will effect bus boardings, and as a result TriMet farebox revenues.
It's the transit equivalent of Julius Ceaser's 49 BC march across the Rubicon river. It might be speculated that TriMet doesn't look too kindly on this streetcar plan, and I can't blame them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the workers on S.E. 17th found themselves voting for Sho Dozono over streetcar guru Sam Adams for mayor.
There's another issue of course, and it's just a small one: financing.
Although streetcars are far cheaper than light rail to build, they are far less popular with the Federal Transit Administration. One of the main reasons behind this is that streetcars just don't carry that many people. They serve as people movers or local pedestrian circulators, but they don't serve commute functions to any significant degree.
What streetcars do well is bring in economic development. It's one of the reasons I greatly admire the mode, and think they are good things to build. However, it's also something that is hard to quantify, and the FTA currently does not use economic development indicators as a significant tool in deciding how to make expenditures of federal funds.
The current 8-mile streetcar loop (4 miles each way) weighs in at a total construction cost of approximately $87 million. To establish bidirectional service, then, each mile would cost around $22 million. It doesn't take much staring at the proposed system map to see that the extensions outweigh the current system by many times. If there is no federal money, where will the financing come from? Local Improvement Districts (LIDs) cannot raise the money all on their own.
These are hardly the only issues. How, for example, will the streetcar fare against congestion? They can't weave around traffic impediments like buses can. The cars themselves cost about the same as three standard TriMet buses -- and for the money that means TriMet buses can offer more frequent service at a higher passenger capacity for the same money -- and without the need to tear up city streets.
But is this all academic? Does Adams really intend to build this many streetcar lines? Or is he applying his Machiavellian brand of politics to Portland, by making campaign promises he has no intention of keeping? It should be noted that by proposing streetcars for all the historic routes, he touches on Portland's brand of self-involved nostalgia while also promising "a streetcar in every pot" for nearly every neighborhood in the city.
Does any of this plan make sense? Perhaps. Certainly the peninsula of North Portland is under-served by transit, but I suspect that a better approach would be a spur line of Expo MAX, perhaps to a transit center in St. Johns or even beyond in Rivergate.
A better idea would be to install the streetcar along Sandy out to Parkrose. Sandy Boulevard is in many places well behind the times, and ripe for redevelopment. Its diagonal route cuts across so many neighborhoods that it would spread the economic impact of the project more than any other single proposal on the system plan map. It would still have impacts on TriMet service, however the 12 bus that serves Sandy is already over capacity and slow; any additional service here would be welcome. Most of all, it would help to turn over a strip of road that desperately needs public attention, which means that it's a relevant redevelopment for 21st century Portland. The fact that it's also someplace Portland Traction once ran would be a nice symmetry, but no more.
Most of all, however, what I feel we need is a breather. Streetcar building is not an end-all answer to every need the city has, and we need to stop giving it a Barack Obama-like mania. Yes, it's cool. But transportation should be designed with a clear and level head.
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Friday, February 22, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. XI
Pronouncements of doom for various car styles have always amused me. Some time ago, my mother covered a screen with newspaper clippings of British sports cars -- the covers of magazines, newspaper articles, even classified advertisements. One of the articles is written in the late 1970s, and predicted the doom of the convertible. New U.S. safety standards, you see, made them inherently unsafe, and therefore it was only a matter of time before they would be gone from the market, a memory from the past. Labels: Automobiles, Civics, Design, Food, Portland, Transportation
Yeah. Right.
Well, now it's the muscle car's turn.
While in the world of transportation, it appears the Washington State Ferries sytem is in trouble. WS-DOT is even proposing a restructuring.
The mess gave me one of those "what ever happened to" moments regarding Mike Thorne. You might recall that Thorne used to be director of Port of Portland and quit to run for governor. When he dropped out of the race, he went to run the ferries in Washington.
So what's become of Mike? And can he be blamed (rightly or wrongly) for any of Washington's water-borne mess? Well he quit the ferry job in 2004 and returneed to Pendleton. As Seattle Times staff writer Susan Gilmore put it in 2004,"He said he came into the job with huge expectations, that he'd be able to achieve financial footing with no plan how to get there. Raising ferry fares drove away customers, voters rejected Referendum 51, which would have dumped billions of dollars into state transportation projects, and there were no plans how to replace the aging state ferries, some 70 years old."
And now? Notice that "Big Look" land use review that the legislature wants to fund? Thorne's a member. That may or may not mean anything -- put your tinfoil conspiracy hats on now if you wish -- but I find it an interesting path for someone who thought themselves a gubernatorial contender.
Which brings up another question: what ever happened to Ron Saxton?
Also up in Seattle, the Big O reports that it may only be a matter of time before the Sonics move to Oklahoma. The single commenter on the Big O's story says "who cares".
I have a question for you, ladies and gentleman. Who owns the Blazers? Where does he live? And what might he do if Seattle no longer had a pro basketball team?
Lastly, a food related story. Author Michael Pollan has been making the local circuit here lately, sending parts of the Portland food blogosphere into titters. Why? Pollan has written a book that dares to suggest that we should eat food, not "food substitutes".
Pollan has some interesting things to say, and Edible Portland sat down and did a video interview with him. The first part is here. I found Pollan's comments about Sour Cream and tofu-based meat substitutes to be so common-sense based that I had to pinch myself that I was hearing these words at all. Can it be? Might sugar and butter be... acceptable? It's so sad to think that Julia Child -- who seemed to improve any recipe by adding either butter or "booze" to it -- didn't live to see this day.
That's all for now.
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Friday, February 15, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. X
First up this week: the saga of railroad service in Southern Oregon continued this week. RailAmerica, owner of the Central Oregon & Pacific, sent a response back to Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski stating that the company would undertake repairs to the currently shuttered Coos Bay line on its own dime. The hitch? The railroad conglomerate wants a commitment from the state that they will receive assistance for both repair costs and operating expenses on the route. Labels: Food, Portland History, Public Policy, Railroads, Transportation, Week in Review
The Governor wasted no time crafting a response, which said in no uncertain terms "no deal". As it sits now, it appears the state is still on track to pursue a forced transfer of the line to public ownership. That said, the fact that RailAmerica was willing to change their proposal at all suggests to this observer that they have "blinked", and can likely be moved further with the right amount of pressure.
The Seattle Times printed an op-ed this week highlighting the conundrum freight transportation is in: it's just not that sexy."Interestingly enough, the same representatives who want tax dollars to supplement ferry service to Vashon and Maury islands are not arguing that Puget Sound would be harmed by increasing ferry traffic.
In short, passenger services are considered worthy projects, while freight mobility gets the short shrift. Yet freight mobility is often responsible for vast amounts of the economy, and improvements there can make huge impacts on pollution and congestion.
These representatives also do not seem to be taking into account that transporting sand and gravel by barge, instead of by truck, saves fuel, reduces heavy truck traffic on area roads, reduces greenhouse-gas emissions and helps keep down the cost of state-(taxpayer-)funded transportation projects that benefit the entire region. One average barge keeps 186 heavy trucks and trailers off the road."
Two industrial stories of note this week. First up, the Willamette Week has a neat story on Oregon City's Blue Heron Paper. The company is one of the few independent paper companies left in the region. Less satisfying news comes via the Statesman Journal, who notes that the old Steinfeld Pickles plant is closing. Wonder where the pickles are made now?
Odd news roundup: the Albany Fire Department has gone retro; Stumptown Confidential brings us mod churches; LEGO hits the classroom; and a postcard mailed in 1929 arrives at last.
A quick hat-tip to VanPortlander for pointing out this tour of Interstate Avenue's neon. Cool stuff.
Lastly, a big loud amen to Katlheen Bauer over at Good Stuff NW for her post on foodie terminology addiction:"Then this morning I'm reading a seemingly harmless Valentines Day article in the NYT about couples who have different food preferences, and one woman says that she's been able to tolerate her husband's occasional need for animal flesh because she's not a "vegangelical." What?"
Kathleen, don't tell me you haven't heard about vegansexuality yet?
On that very sketchy note, I think I should leave now, quietly!
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Saturday, February 9, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. IX
Thanks to the good old viral hokey-pokey, this installment of Week in Review is a tad late. It seems everybody has caught it, or some variant of it, this week. Ugh. I'm still recovering but I'm at least functional again. I also managed to donate a significant amount of money to the "keep Ricola making cough-drops" fund. Thank you, Switzerland! Labels: Civics, Photography, Portland, Public Policy, Publishing, Railroads, Transportation, Week in Review
A lot of streetcar noise this week. Portland Transport on Monday broke news that the new loop for the Eastside had made the President's budget. Metro is now seeking public comment on the project.
The AP story, however, has not gone down well with some:"But the federal agency said that the Portland transit agency, TriMet, has to develop better ridership models and show the benefits of the streetcar system to get past the last hurdle for funding in 2009."
The Portland Streetcar, Inc., is not a division or affiliation of TriMet. Although TriMet has handled making federal funding applications for them, they are not responsible for planning decisions on the streetcar.
Meanwhile I can't help but feel that the grand expansionist visions of the streetcar system are eventually going to come into direct conflict with TriMet's extensive bus system. Why would the agency view streetcars on their bus routes, taking their riders and their fares, with anything other than alarm and anger? It makes no sense to build a competing system in the city; neither TriMet nor PSI will be healthier for it.
The remaining transportation roundup jumps all over the place. Also on Monday, a MAX train struck a TriMet bus downtown. Thankfully there were only minor injuries to one person on the bus, and no injuries to anyone else.
On Tuesday the Oregonian published a story on the design of the Columbia Crossing project. The story laments how plain the new bridge will be. At $4.2 billion, I'm not sure if all this debate will be moot anyway.
On Wednesday the Roseburg News Review put up a rather amusing Op-Ed on the closure of the Central Oregon & Pacific's Coos Bay line. The name "Snidely Whiplash" is used. Why do I feel that I need the voice of Edward Everett Horton to read the story out loud?
Friday brought an amusing story in the Big O about the TriMet hearings in Salem."One senator read a constituent's e-mail message.... [suggesting] replacing MAX with express buses that have drivers who can monitor riders."
It's nice to see the politicos are now being blatant asses by reading ludicrous comments such as that. After investing how many hundreds of millions -- its probably over a billion -- in federal and state funds, we should abandon our investment and convert back to buses? All so we can have a false appearance of safety? Or, well, you know, we could add, uh... enforcement?
Lastly, my friend Dan the history man should be happy to see that the Figo House will be saved after all.
A few other odds and ends of news. The Seattle P-I will have to treat online reporters the same as paper ones, which amounts to a victory for their unionized workers. Also in the Emerald City, some artists have created custom audio tours of the Seattle Art Museum. I wonder if we could do one for a walking tour of Portland? And in an "only in Portland" story, we now have a Vegan stripper joint.
In the photography world, Whiskey Texas has a lot of new stuff. Grain elevators, buZ blurr, and anti-sagging-pants billboards. Strange combinations, Wes.
There's also another essay up from Martin Burwash. Nice stuff as always.
That's all for now. Take care, folks, and if you catch what I've got, I recommend a lot of green tea and miso soup.
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. VIII
There's been a lot of infrastructure news this week. First up, Seattle's Sound Transit might get an expanded authority to oversee general road projects in the region. I'm not sure if this idea is a boon of synergy or a monopolistic boondoggle. Labels: Automobiles, Food, Media, Photography, Public Policy, Railroads, Technology, Transportation
Rail has been front and center in a lot of the news. In Oregon, Governor Kulongowski has told the Central Oregon and Pacific that there will be no discussion of helping out with maintenance or rehabilitation costs unless the company reopens the Coos Bay line first. (Good for Ted!) Meanwhile, the Port of Tillamook Bay's coastal line has until February 7th to get their FEMA request in. I don't know if this means they need their 25% share by then, or just a pledge towards it, or what, but I can hear a loud ticking reminiscent of the intro to 60 Minutes. Lastly, a proposal to restore the Amtrak Pioneer continues to drag along.
Then there's the continuing saga of the bridges. Of note: Salem wants $680 million for a new one, while the Portland metro area's new Columbia River crossing just may not pencil out.
At the rate that infrastructure costs are climbing, we'd either better start flooding the market with steel to bring prices down, or face the possibility of reduced weight capacities and a reduced flow of people and commerce.
Meanwhile developments in cellulosic ethanol may make this plan obsolete before it's finished. Hat tip to Bojack.
In related auto news, Autoblog gets a first drive of the Tesla, and reports that speed bumps aren't green! Finally, a PC reason to get rid of those bone-shakers!
Oh, and one more via Autoblog: the strangest cooking contraption ever. If George Foreman endorses it, watch out America.
Lastly, news that Jaguar may be planning a hard-core sportscar. I'm drooling already.
Lewis County was hit pretty hard by the flooding on December 5th. Among the victims of the rising waters was the Black Sheep Creamery. Irony of ironies, while the local residents hand-wring over the reopening of the local Wal-Mart, the creamery is relying on rebuild money from a fundraiser in -- guess where? -- Portland.
Am I the only one who finds it strange that it's the cities of the region that may be the salvation of small family farms?
Speaking of food, Good Stuff NW reports of the rebirth of a local grocery store. My only question, can I have one in my neighborhood? Please?
And in Seattle, things aren't all they are cracked up to be. Says Portland Food & Drink's "Food Dude", "No wonder our washed up restaurateurs are ending up in Seattle."
Ouch.
Before I go, a two photographic notables around the web this week include a photo essay by Martin Burwash the decline of rural Washington, and a nice collection of images from Elrond Lawrence on the vintage signs of Salinas. Love the neon, El.
Take care, all.
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Friday, January 25, 2008
Trimet Publicizes Security Increase
As I opened iTunes tonight, I noticed a new TriMet TV podcast. TriMet TV has been rather absent of late, the last episode having been put out prior to New Year's. So what prompted the transit agency to issue another episode? Labels: Media, Portland, Public Policy, Transportation
That's right. Security:"We recently hired 16 new security guards, for a total of 36.... The number of officers has increased by 10 percent, and will expand by another 10 percent when the new MAX Green Line opens in 2009."
Interesting to see them taking a more assertive role about their security public relations profile. Is it enough? Some yokel police chief somewhere thought TriMet needs another 150 or more officers to really get a handle on crime. Me, I think that's a case of a police officer trying to shove his work on another agency.
Regardless, it's good to see another 16 officers on the system. Video and transcript -- including some Fred Hansen tough-talk, heh -- at TriMet's webpage.
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Four from the Gorge
I've always been a bit of a procrastinator, and developing film is no exception for me. I tend to let rolls pile up until I realize I'm nearing a three-figure processing bill, and only then do I hit the lab. It could be better if I had lab space at home, but laziness combined with a lack of time tend to prevent me from getting there. Instead the rolls fill the fridge and eventually I end up taking them to Blue Moon. Such an event happened this week. Labels: Art, Photography, Railroads, Transportation
I'm still sorting through the images, but here are four, all from May in the Columbia River Gorge. 
The Portland section of Amtrak's storied Empire Builder heads west towards Portland in the morning light, east of Goodnoe, WA.
Goodnoe, WA. An eastbound BNSF Railway stack train heads through the scrub and gloom of mid-day.
A westbound BNSF Railway manifest freight at Maryhill, WA. 
Near Lyle, WA, an eastbound manifest passes by in rather grim afternoon light.
The versatility of the black-and-white film once more impressed me. The days these were shot was not all that blessed by weather, and I hadn't expected any images to turn out as well as these. None of them break the bank in any compositional way, but I think they all turned out solid. I would like to hand-print a few, however. I miss the darkroom so much....
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. VII
Well can anyone remember a stretch of cold weather thats lasted as long as this? Sure, we've had colder winters, and more snow, and more ice. However, I cannot recall a winter in my (relatively short) lifetime thats been as cold for as long. It's enough to make me want to stock up on things like scarves, gloves, and flannel-lined pants. What is this... Ohio? Labels: Art, Automobiles, Books, Civics, Photography, Portland, Public Policy, Railroads, Transportation, Week in Review
Let's dig right into the big stuff: OHSU. Following a ruling that removed indemnification for OHSU employees, the educational hospital announced closures and major service cuts.
Local blogger extraordinaire Jack Bogdanski doesn't buy it, and he's not alone. Big O columnist Steve Duin more-or-less agrees.
The TriMet security saga continues. Following a rather botched public hearing on their proposal to reduce Fareless Square hours of operation, the agency withdrew the plan. (See the Trib's take here).
Of course the proposal is not quite dead yet. Instead it's going to be "studied" more. Some, however, are of the opinion that the supposed link between farebox recovery and violent crime is a farce.
I must agree. The crime problem on TriMet is real, but it's more widespread than MAX and it's not primarily downtown!!. Indeed I had a discussion with a friend at one of the major newspapers in town, and he did a bit of research on the MAX attacks. Guess what? Most of the criminals involved in the crimes lived within 1-2 miles of where the crimes had been committed.
We need to have a serious discussion about security -- system-wide and in all modes -- not about Fareless Square. This isn't to say we won't be looking at fares as part of a solution, after all security must be funded, and costs are not going down for the bus system. But our first concern needs to be security personnel on the ground, and probably station redesigns to eliminate security hazards like brick walls people can hide behind.
TriMet's Mary Fetsch on today's Lars Larson show has mentioned that the agency is re-adjusting its security to put security officers on transit vehicles at least 75% of the time. Yet the agency is still proposing that Fareless Square's elimination is a tool towards increasing security. To be fair, she did mention the disconnect with the Fareless proposal and the large number of incidents occurring in Gresham.
Sam Adam's street maintenance plan won't be split into three proposals after all. The reason offered: advice of legal counsel to the City. Willamette Week, however, reports a different take: it's all about a deal with the Oregon Petroleum Association that gives them a lower rate."They didn't get what they wanted, but we compromised on their rate," Adams said.... "Now that they've agreed not to pursue a referral, I feel comfortable moving forward with one ordinance," said Adams, who's running for mayor."
Gotta love Portland politics.
Meanwhile, the Columbia River Crossing is in the midst of proposing a toll for the new Interstate 5 bridge. (Hat tip to Portland Transport).
I am actually, amazingly, in favor of tolling on freeways. However, I can't see how tolling just this bridge will work. And I am highly skeptical of all these electronic tolling systems. One of the points of this project was supposed to be to remove an alleged choke-point on I-5. As the project proceeds further and further, it's becoming more and more apparent that the new bridge will itself be a choke point, and a highly overpriced one at that.
I think we have now reached the point where the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Lets just maintain the current, perfectly safe bridge, and forget it. I won't dare mention the idea of a supplemental bridge cutting across Sauvie's Island to connect Washington County to Clark County, of course....
Rounding out the news, the Daily Astorian has an update on the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad. The line, which links rural Tillamook with national markets, experienced major damage during early December 2007, and remains out of service. Reading the tea leaves, it's really starting to look like the Tillamook Branch may be gone for good.
This is a major challenge for how the state addresses the needs of low-volume rural areas. If the rail line is not rebuilt, it will have a major impact on Tillamook County's economy. And if the state does not provide some alternate solution, it will be telling rural areas across Oregon that they are not a priority in Salem -- a mixed message at a time when ODOT is promoting the Connect Oregon project.
I have a soft spot for British automobiles, having grown up in the back seat of a 1959 Triumph TR3. Thus the future of the Jaguar marquee has been of great interest, which is why this report about difficulties between current owner Ford and future owner Tata Motors is slightly disturbing. Lets hope this doesn't mean the deal falls off.
Strange things amuse me, and perhaps this is too obscure. However, it appears Union Pacific does have a sense of humor about itself.
Heh.
Once upon a time in Public-Broadcasting-Land, there was a show called Masterpiece Theater. It was a variety drama show, much like the old "Carnation Milk Presents" shows that aired on broadcast television in the U.S. throughout the '50s. (In fact, oil giant Mobile used to sponsor Masterpiece, and it was known as "Mobile Masterpiece Theater"). Each week the host -- first Alistair Cook, later New York Times columnist Russell Baker -- would introduce a classic work of literature (and occasionally an original screenplay) that had been made into a film. In some ways this series was the ultimate intellectual feather-in-the-cap for PBS.
Apparently that's not so much the case anymore. PBS has re-branded the series as "Masterpiece Classics" -- a case of painfully obvious duplicative phrasing if ever there was one -- and has replaced Baker with actress Gillian Anderson. The move is reminiscent of NBC's recent decision to use the actor Micheal Douglas as voice talent for the NBC Nightly News. As the Ellen & Jim blog put it:"The appearance and demeanor of the introducer, Gillian Anderson, her talks and inset commercials (if we needed more evidence) show how little respect the PBS stations now have for their audience. Their original goal which was to have an alternative place for intelligent talk and decent art. Anderson is made up grotesquely; she leers at the audience; I expect she knows little of Austen for real or the 18th century, but the people who wrote the speeches clearly also know little. I didn’t stay for her closing one -- it actually comes after a commercial. PBS now puts commercials inside their shows. They assume the audience will sit through the commercial for the sake of watching and listening to this woman again."
Ouch.
They're also getting heat for having cut up the recent Jane Austen film adaptations so much to have made a joke of the original material. (Hat tip via the Chronicle Blog).
Kevin Scanlon sends along notice of an interview on Public Radio International's Studio 360 with the photographer David Plowden. Plowden has recently published a retrospective book titled David Plowden: Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography. (I will be reviewing it sometime next week). Studio 360 took the time to visit with Plowden in New York and has made their interview available in audio format. The interview is about 12 minutes long, and in it you can hear Plowden's sense of wonder and personal curiosity shining through. For an admirer of Plowden's work, I found the interview informative and inspiring:
In addition to the main interview, Studio 360 has made available a 4-minute bonus interview with Plowden on his fascination with bridges:
If the embedded players do not work for you, the interviews are available as downloadable .mp3 formats from their issue archive page. (It's on the right).
One last note before I go. While we're discussing photography, Martin Burwash has another photo essay up. Check it out.
Have a great weekend, and look for some book reviews before the next Week in Review.
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Thursday, January 17, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. VI
Okay, what is this? Is the Willamette Week taking a page from the Onion? If so, can't hurt. Labels: Blogging, Civics, History, Media, Photography, Portland, Portland History, Public Policy, Site News, Transportation, Week in Review
While you're there, check out this acerbic piece by Corey Pein. I don't think I've read as entertaining of a summing-up of the Portland political landscape in a while. Informative while hilarious; well done.
And while we're on Portland subjects, just a brief note that quid pro quo is alive and well.
Tuesday, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission released their report to Congress containing recommendations on future surface transportation policy."The Commission is working to examine not only the condition and future needs of the nation's surface transportation system, but also short and long-term alternatives to replace or supplement the fuel tax as the principal revenue source to support the Highway Trust Fund over the next 30 years."
Since the report was released only two days ago, I have yet to open it much less digest it. Regarding the production of the report, a source of mine wrote:"...all work was done by or for US-DOT directly. I reported to Susan Binder, executive director of the Commission and deputy secretary of USDOT. She reports to Mary Peters, [Secretary] of US-DOT who reports to George W. Bush who probably doesn’t know or care what we are doing. But I am in the fourth layer down from The Top. This is the highest I have ever been or am ever likely to be."
It will be interesting to see what exactly the report -- called for in 2005's transportation funding bill -- consists of, much less recommends. Apparently one of the recommendations is a $0.40 hike in the Federal gas tax, something that Portland Transport reports isn't going down well with the administration. I'll take a look at the report later this week, and will likely have some thoughts.
While researching obscure Cuban cocktails I located (via this article) a cool little publication called Lost."LOST Magazine is an online monthly magazine that combines elements of many other literary, online, and national magazines with a singular mission--to reclaim in writing lost people, places, and things."
For lovers of history, nostalgia junkies, as well as obsessive collectors of obscure trivia, it's a really cool site. Lost is a welcome addition to our blogroll. Check it out.
Speaking of lost things and blogrolls, I stumbled onto this cool site this week. Sleek design, neat concept, great content, luscious photos. Sadly, it's not updated anymore. As a former boss of mine used to say, "drat".
All the blog overload has lead me to try out an RSS reader. No Safari has one built in, but all the geeky types are using standalone RSS Readers. With an overload of blogs to keep up with, I thought, hey, why not try this out? So lately I've been trying a few, and I've found my favorite so far, an app called Vienna. It's sleek, so far it doesn't hiccup too much, and on an added note I can view web pages directly in it rather than opening a browser. (It uses the Safari architecture to power a simple browser function).
While we're discussing blogs, here's one more "best images of 2007" post, this one on Elrond Lawrence's Outside is America. Nice stuff, El.
Keep Portland Weird may be an understatement on this one: it was No Pants on MAX Day on Saturday.
What's worse? Hockley has photos. Click if you dare.
How about a blast from the past to clean those images off the insides of your eyelids? Stumptown Confidential has Portland circa 1964, and Dan Haneckow has a farewell to Nick's Famous Coney Island.
Nick's reminds me a bit of the pictures of the original Camp Washington Chili in Cincinatti. Camp Washington modernized in the last decade or so; Nick's stayed blessedly old school and blessedly Portland.
Alas, no more. Wonder if it will be condos, or apartments?
More Portland news: Friday the city will be putting on a press event celebrating the 50th anniversary of... parking enforcement?"(PORTLAND, OR) -- The City of Portland Office of Transportation's Parking Enforcement Division will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Friday, January 18, 2008. The media are invited to attend this special event that includes an entertaining slide show presentation on the history of parking enforcement in Portland."
What next? Can we have a 100th anniversary of indoor plumbing event?
Rolling Stone brings us this story about the decline in audio recording quality.
I'm from the mp3 generation and love their flexibility and portability. That said, vinyl is way better than anything you can hear these days. Once more its a case of modern digital technology replacing a superior analog one. Mass production always has more upsides than downsides, but it's always a loss in quality too.
A few additions to the blogroll this week:For Portlanders Only;
Good stuff all.
Elrond Lawrence's Outside Is America;
Kevin Scanlon's The Photographers' Railroad Page;
Martin Burwash's Rambling West;
Dave Styffe's The Unauthorized Observer;
Scott Lothes' World Scott.
I'm confused. Is this a promotion for a new form of mass transit, or a statement in favor of private automobile commuting?
Last up, a bit of sound advice from the Powell's blog. I may be following it myself more in the future.
Until later, folks.
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
Fareless Square Changes?
In response to security concerns about TriMet, the agency is holding hearings on reducing the hours of Fareless Square. Labels: Civics, Portland, Public Policy, Transportation
How reducing hours on downtown's Fareless Square will improve safety in Gresham, where most of the violence on the system occurs, is beyond me. Here is the Trib's story on the matter.
The hearings are this Wednesday, the 16th, one near Lloyd Center and one downtown. (See here for details).
Personally I don't see how this is going to help things at all. The majority of the crime is not downtown, but at the extremities of the system, especially Gresham. What is needed is more enforcement, not an inconveniencing of non-criminal users.
Further, the downtown area is a site of numerous bars, clubs, & entertainment venues. It seems smart to leave Fareless Square operating all evening, allowing less-than-sober (but law abiding) Portlanders to get around downtown without being behind a wheel.
And meanwhile, enforcing the new fare restrictions will require yet more fare inspectors and transit police downtown, when where they are needed, once again, is in places like Gresham and to a lesser extent Hillsboro.
If you can't make the meetings, you can send written testimony by mail to:
TriMet-MK2
4012 SE 17th Ave
Portland, OR 97202
You can also submit comments via email at comments@trimet.org . The deadline for both is 5 PM, Thursday, February 21st.
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Questions for Sam
Recently, Portland City Commissioner (and Mayoral candidate) Sam Adams and County Commissioner Ted Wheeler have been promoting a new revenue plan to fund street maintenance. The fee would be a City of Portland fee, and the city has put up a website for the proposal: Labels: Civics, Portland, Public Policy, Transportation"The Safe, Sound and Green Streets Proposal was conceived to address longstanding transportation maintenance issues in the City of Portland and deficiencies in Multnomah County's Willamette River bridges. The Oregon state gas tax was last increased in 1993, which has meant that funding for transportation safety and maintenance has not kept pace with inflation or the increasing demands of a growing population. As a result, the City of Portland has $422 million in unmet maintenance needs. Likewise, Multnomah County faces a $485 million shortfall for bridge maintenance. Because of this underinvestment, our community faces needless deaths and injuries on Portland's streets that create an estimated annual economic impact of $412 million.
Many have come out of the woodwork to oppose the plan. Certainly questions remain about how equitable it is, and whether the city has had its budget priorities straight in the past, or if the populace is now being asked to bailout a shortfall that is the consequence of bad investments. Even the Willamette Week has criticized the proposal.
To address these unmet needs, the Safe, Sound and Green Streets Stakeholder Committee was formed to develop a proposal that would begin to address the worst of the city's unmet maintenance needs. Specifically, these include city arterial streets in poor and very poor condition, City and County bridges, signals in poor condition, and key safety needs. The proposal envisions new funding sources for both the City and County as well as a specific list of street maintenance, bridge and safety projects that would be completed with new revenue."
Sensitive as I am to the need to fund public infrastructure, my initial reaction to all such plans is skepticism. I must give Sam & Co kudos, however, for providing a budget for the proposal. I also must credit Sam with guts to push for this at a time when he's seeking a higher office.
The heart of the matter is the argument that gas tax revenues no longer supply enough revenue to cover transportation projects. The state gas tax is a fixed rate of $0.24 per gallon. While gas prices have been rising, gas taxes have remained at a flat rate, denying the public any direct benefit of higher gas prices. In short, less percentage of your money spent at the pump is returning to the streets, and more is going to the gas company.
The Portland Department of Transportation also argues that "[t]he Portland region receives only 46 cents back for every dollar we send to Salem in gas tax and vehicle registration fees". Even if true, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. One of the roles that a large city plays is to be the engine -- in public revenue generation as well as economically -- for a state or region. (If true, though -- and it likely is -- it certainly counters arguments that the rest of the state is subsidizing Portland's transportation choices).
One of the best arguments for the need for new revenue is that "[s]ince 1993, the cost for materials to repair our streets and bridges has increased by 70%..." As the P-DOT website says, "one dollar in 1993 equals 58 cents in today's market." Rising costs of concrete and steel have driven up construction costs for both the public and private sectors. Many projects -- including the new Westside Express Service -- have made major project design cuts and still are having problems staying within the originally budget numbers.
Even if the shortfall is conceded as real, is this proposal to fill it the correct choice? As the Willy Week puts it:"The tax does far more than fix potholes: Adams' office has emphasized the city's deteriorating streets, often stressing $422 million in unmet maintenance needs. Nobody would deny the city's streets are in lousy shape, with a growing 627-mile backlog of streets in crummy condition. Yet a healthy $24.2 million -- or about 5 percent of the total tax -- won't go for maintenance but for building 112 miles of new 'bike boulevards'"
It's certain that there's going to be some major questions about the "bike boulevard" proposal. Beyond just explaining what exactly they are, where they go, or what they look like, there's going to be some vocal opposition. As it stands, bikes do not pay into the transportation system in any user-based way, unlike cars & trucks. This may end up becoming more fuel for proposals to require bike registration or bike licensing.
This FAQ helps to answer many questions about transportation in Portland in general, as well as how the city got to where it is today. For example, it points out (correctly) that the P-DOT does not pay for the construction of streetcars or light rail with state gas tax dollars. What it leaves out? It doesn't say anything about non-gas tax revenues, the impact of LIDs on overall city property tax revenues, nor on whether gas taxes help subsidize improvements near such developments. Also, how does P-DOT pay for the streetcar's operations?
One question that nags me. How much of the funds raised will go towards actual shovels in the ground? I grant, some costs will have to go to overhead like engineering and some planning. But still -- how much of this is funding the projects, and how much of it is going to pay for, say, more personnel at P-DOT?
P-DOT also claims that the department has had to cut their budget for the last 7 years in a row. It would be interesting to know in what areas these cuts were made, and why.
In the FAQ, there is the following question & answer:"Question: Due to a strong economy, Portland had higher than anticipated revenue over the last 2 fiscal years. Why didn't City Council spend some of these funds on transportation?
I think this gets to the heart of questions like those raised at VanPortlander. Can the situation that P-DOT finds itself in now be partially the result of the council placing their budget priorities in other areas?
Answer: These one-time-only general funds were allocated for other council priorities like police and affordable housing. Transportation received one-fifth of these funds for specific safety projects. This amount is not sufficient to cover P-DOT's ongoing maintenance funding shortfall. Had more money been given to transportation, other essential public services such as parks and public safety would have received less."
P-DOT states that other cities are seeking similar proposals to pay for their own projects, and this is quite true. This is true, but how well is it working? In some cases, not so well.
I think Adams and P-DOT makes a strong case for the budget shortfall and for their proposed solution. It remains to be seen if it will fly with voters, however. A number of gas station owners are attempting to band together and put the issue on the May ballot. If they succeed, we will see a public debate about the city's budget priorities emerge. Let's hope it's not as ugly as the Interstate debacle was.
If it is, though, I'd better stock up on popcorn.
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Week in Review, Vol. V
Reason has an interesting review up of Andrew Keen's Cult of the Amateur. An interesting topic, and I'm not sure I wholly agree with Keen, but I am sympathetic to many points he makes. Labels: Blogging, Book Reviews, Books, Civics, Media, Photography, Portland, Public Policy, Railroads, Transportation, Week in Review
And yes, I'm aware of the hypocrisy of saying that on a blog.
Speaking of book reviews, there's been a lot of bally-hoo about their decline in recent memory. You know the drill, the usual "the Internet killed the radio star" schtick. There's definitely a bit of truth to it, although I wouldn't go shouting about the demise of the book just yet.
Still, I must admit that the concern inspired me to begin adding book reviews to the Addendum.
Of course, as a freelancer, book reviews can be a major pain. Getting review copies is difficult, and I just plain can't afford to buy every book I want to review. On the other hand, I'm a confirmed book-a-holic. End result? Most of my reviews will be of books going into my library anyway. This includes both new and out-of-print, used books, but hey, we live in the state that gave the world Powell's Books, so that's not that big of a problem now is it?
Naturally, if you'd like to help, you can always buy me a book to review. Heh.
While we're on the subject of book buying and wishlists and the like, a minor rant. Why can't Powell's have a wishlist function similar to Amazon, that would let others see what you are wanting to buy? It would be especially handy during the holidays, and I would far rather send prospective gift-buyers and friends to Powell's than to mega-monster Amazon.
It wouldn't hurt to let use have some simplified profiles too, for those of us who post reviews on their site.
And one more book-related item. I would be remiss not to add the PowellsBooks.Blog to the blogroll at left.
And then there's the Blogosphere! Yet more additions. Photographer & graphic designer Dave Styffe brings us The Unauthorized Observer; a very noir title for his SoCal photoblog. This is followed up by news that Elrond Lawrence has started another, titled Outside Is America.
Whew. Lothes returns, Carr and Kooistra surface, and then Burwash goes blogging. And now Lawrence and Styffe.
What is this? 1998 all over again?
The holidays are over at last, and many are still groaning under the weight of the feasting. it wasn't the vast Christmas repasts that hit me, though, so much as the culinary delights of Portland.
How about a little Cafe Cubano and Camarones Enchilada?
This is bad. I think I have a new addiction.
I almost feel sorry for the Portland Building. How overjoyed the city was when it was first built. A fine example of cutting edge, post-modern architecture, designed by rising-star architect Michael Graves. We were lucky, and it made Graves a real powerhouse, designing everything from major buildings to consumer goods for Target.
Time has not treated the building well, however, and it has become the building Portlanders love to hate. (Granted, it is a bit of a maintenance nightmare now).
Poor thing. Portland is one of those cities where nobody will ever stare at you, because you'll never manage to be the weirdest person on the block. In a way, the Portland Building fits in a city like that -- hell if anything it's too tame for a city like that.
Oh, don't get me wrong though; I don't like the building either.
Politics schmolitics. Eric Sten resigns and Sho Dozono files to run for mayor.
Plenty has been said elsewhere about these events. You can always go over to Bojack for the latest.
Sten's departure will leave a much larger hole in the council. Presuming that Adams is elected mayor, it means two spots are open, in addition to Randy running for his seat again. Sten's departure makes it far easier to change the majority make up of the council in one election sweep.
As for Sho? I'll say only this: Sho fills a vacuum. Before him, there was the potential for a serious contender to emerge. Sho seems like a nice guy, but Portland politics isn't about being nice. If I were Sam, I'd be really happy about all this.
Will the weather madness never end? Vancouver gets a tornado. They do happen in the region now and then.
As usual, the media are making a big fuss, giving us tornado survival advice now that the tornado is gone and after having given no warning.
I like Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen. He's a nice guy, and he has the best of intentions. I often find myself defending him when people suggest he's too soft. For once though I must issue a minor rebuke. In his state of the city address, Craig says he has really only good news to tell you.
Then there's this story.
And while we're discussing transportation financing, Sam has a plan for Portland.
I'll have more to say about this later. For now, folks, I've got to run.
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Sunday, January 6, 2008
Review: The Lure of Japan's Railways
Labels: Book Reviews, Photography, Railroads, Transportation, Used Books
The Lure of Japan's Railways
By Naotaka Hirota. Japan Times, 5-4, Shibaura 4-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8071, Japan; http://www.japantimes.co.jp/; 11.3 x 8.4 in; hardbound; 168 pages, 8 color and 108 b/w photos, 2 diagrams, 1 map; $25-$40 used.
New books come out by the boatload these days, but how many of them are truly memorable? Now and then a gem shows up, but most of them are pretty stock stuff. Old books, though, can be a wealth of material, and that is one of many reasons for the success of Portland's Powell's Books. Among its exhaustive collection, a remarkable book came my way, Naotaka Hirota's The Lure of Japanese Railways, a masterpiece that is more than just a railroad book, but rather a photographic window into another time and place: Japan, circa 1969.
Following a brief introduction by the photographer, the book is divided into four sections; a short series of color plates, a vast number of black-and-white plates, a technical appendix on the status of Japan's railways, and a section of captions. Most images are either double truck or full page, grouped by titled themes, and are accompanied by only a small plate number for a caption. Stylistically the photos take center stage, with the text playing a minimal and highly supportive role: this is a true photographer's monograph and nothing else.
Hirota is a contemporary of American railway photographers like Richard Steinheimer. His work has been noted occasionally in U.S. publications, including 2003's Starlight on the Rails. Hirota lives up to his contemporaries well; his images display a thoughtful creativity and a playful composition that raises the book's subject matter to a far higher level than most railroad books achieve. Hirota has a keen photojournalist's eye and virtuosity, and is as adept with human interest subjects as with abstracts, motion-heavy images, and scenic landscapes. There is excellence here.
The subject matter itself is extraordinary, a time capsule of a "modern" 20th century Japan. Teakettle steam engines take diminutive passenger trains to rural stations; massive steam locomotives assault snow-laden lines; sleek white bullet-nosed Shinkansens speed at aircraft-like velocities past iconic Mount Fuji. Hirota doesn't miss the context either, and in some cases puts the context right up front where it can't be ignored. Plate six, for example, places a field of yellow flowers in soft focus for over 80% of the frame; it's only at the very top that you see the white-and-blue Shinkansen streaking by in a blur. The bold imagery is a delight to behold. In a somewhat less provocative example, Hirota places workers and commuters in the forefront of images throughout the last half of the work.
The Lure of Japan's Railways doesn't come without flaws. Many images are printed double-truck, which in a book this size is sometimes awkward; the center of plate 31's speeding Shinkansens gets lost in the fold, robbing the image of much of its impact. Overall reproduction is excellent, although I wish that the black-and-white images were printed on the same gloss stock paper as the color images up front. The book originally came with a dust jacket, but some examples I've seen at booksellers have long since shod theirs.
In the end, The Lure of Japan's Railways is more than just a railroad book, or even a railroad photo book. It is an excellent work that stands as a remarkable touchstone of 20th century photojournalism. Anyone with an interest in photojournalism would do well to have the book, and it would be welcome as well to those with an interest in industrial photography, railroads, or the culture of Japan.
The Lure of Japan's Railroads is occasionally available from Powells and Amazon, and usually trades between $25 and $40 for a good to excellent copy.
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Saturday, January 5, 2008
Review: Highway: America's Endless Dream
Labels: Book Reviews, Photography, Transportation, Used Books
Highway: America's Endless Dream
Photography by Jeff Brouws, text by Bernd Polster and Phil Patton. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011; http://www.hnabooks.com/category/home/88; 10.8 x 9.8 in; softcover; 160 pages, 100 color and 37 b/w photos; $29.95
The open road is one of the central myths of 20th century United States. What makes it so alluring? Perhaps its not that hard to imagine, and not really all that American: was not Chaucer's Canterbury Tales a road-trip story? Jeff Brouws is probably more well known recently for helping produce two books of excellent railroad images, the critically acclaimed Starlight on the Rails, and the Richard Steinheimer retrospective A Passion for Trains. But Jeff is a photographer in his own right, and has a fascination for road culture that comes shining through in Highway: America's Endless Dream.
Highway is for the most part divided into six sections: an introduction, and three sections of photographs divided by two essays. Most of Brouws' photos are shown full page, though there are a few pages that show two images per page at 1/4 page size, side-by-side. Additionally there are occasional pages of blank space, on which are centered quotes from notable individuals such as politicians, writers, and artists.
The book is a bit of an odd hybrid. At first glance it seems like it's a photographer's monograph. The presence of two lengthy essays written by authors other than the photographer, however, coupled with some odd inserted sections (such as a list of highway related literature, and another for road movies) makes it feel a bit more coffee-tableish. Not quite a in-depth history, not quite a shallow coffee table book, not quite a monograph; this split personality never stopped bugging me.
The photos, however, more than save it. Though not my first exposure to Brouws' photography, it is my first book acquisition that focuses purely on his images. For a lover of Rust Belt America such as myself, his color plates are mesmerizing. From portraits of people and buildings to detail heavy images that border on abstract or Warholian pop-art, most of the images are depeopled, as if desolation is a synonym for the highway. And perhaps it is. Many of his images are striking compositions that rival any black-and-white mastery; few are the times I see color photography that feels this good.
The text is not as much of a match. The essays seem at times well researched, and yet elementary errors are made. For example, in the introduction, Bernd Polster calls Route 66 -- finished in the 1930s -- the "first road to traverse the continent", totally ignoring the Lincoln Highway of fully twenty years prior. Phil Patton writes the first essay of the book, on the cultural story of the American highway; although an interesting topic the text has a jarring, uneven style, and as long as it is it would have felt better at the beginning of the book as an introductory text. The second essay is penned by Polster, and feels slightly duplicative of Patton's work. Polster, however, dwells a great deal on Route 66, to the point of feeling like overstatement; for an essay that concentrates more on historical narrative, it's hard to forgive such hyperbole.
Highway came out as a $30 book and feels like one. The thick softcover is given a good hand feel through the use of nearly full-width fold-back flaps. Paper stock is thick, and image reproduction is vivid, crisp, and clear, without being super-high gloss. Complimenting the rough-and-tumble images is a display font that has an edgy, gritty feel to it. It's a durable, pretty book you're not afraid to pick up and flip through, which combined with its excellent content makes it a better coffee table book than most true coffee table books will ever be.
The book is over ten years old now, having been published in 1997. Nevertheless, it remains a visually stimulating book, and a welcome addition to anyone who is interested in photography, pop culture, or the American highway. My slightly thumbed-through copy came used from Powell's for $25; pristine copies seem to trade for about $50 these days.
Highway is available from Amazon, as well as from Powell's Books on occasion.
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Saturday, December 22, 2007
2007: Ten Best Images
Blair over at Under the Weather recently posted his ten favorite shots from 2007. As Blair said over on Obscar, "I'd like to see what others consider their favorites of the year, and why they chose 'em." Labels: Photography, Portland, Railroads, Transportation
So, here's mine. The order is chronological, and clicking on the image will yield a larger image. If some of them appear soft, mea cupla, I'm still a filmie, and my scanner leaves much to be desired.
1.
The first shot is from the Portland & Western's Newberg District, also known as the Rex Hill line. Here, a westbound -- by SP parlance -- welded rail train, led by PNWR 1853, rounds a curve near Chehalem Station on its way downgrade from the summit.
Rex is an oddball, mountain grades in the middle of the Willamette Valley, a legacy from a narrow-gauge would-be empire that Southern Pacific swallowed in the 19th century. But what an oddity! Within a short drive of Portland, every day, SP SD9s and SD40T-2s ground up Rex, and then glided back down again with the telltale mechanical whine of their dynamic brakes roaring away.
In 1995, PNWR picked up the line, making it an integral part of their operations, but it was not meant to last. Combining parts of SP's branchlines with branches taken over from Burlington Northern, Rex went silent, victim of a new, better, lower gradient route to the south.
I thought I would never have a chance to see the storied hill that was in my backyard the whole time. But construction on the lower Oregon Electric route resulted in detours over Rex, including this welded rail train, bound for the Seghers District. Could anything be more emblematic of the PNWR? Welded rail, bound for upgrading a branchline, being transported over a branchline that they've shut down.
2.
A small switcher, waiting to cross Yeon Avenue in Northwest Portland, the Freemont Bridge soaring through the gloomy skies in the background. It seems like something out of the 1970s or 1980s, but it still happens today -- if you're lucky enough to catch it.
And indeed it was luck that, while giving the "grand tour" to my friend Seth the reluctant Californian, we ran into the BNSF switch crew working the old 12th Street yard (that is actually closer to 27th Street). The switchman hanging off the front pilot is getting off to go push a button on the signal case that will activate the warning lights over Yeon, allowing them to cross and enter Lakeyard.
We waited and watched them go all the way in. Seth was wearing a Union Pacific Steam Program hat he'd got from somewhere, and when the engineer saw us, he pointed to his head, then made a thumbs down gesture out the window, smiling all the while. We were, after all, not in Harriman territory.
3.
TriMet is widely known for stylish smart design on its MAX light rail line. Not all ideas, however, work out so well. Station platforms on the original east-side route were not built to accommodate growth and change, and so have had to be torn into to rewire in the past. Trains still use antiquated catenary hangars on the Steel Bridge that date back to the Portland Traction system of the 1940s and '50s.
This image, taken in midsummer, shows another of the not-so-successful designs, a stylish stainless-steel receptacle for recyclable trash. The idea was to keep dumpster-divers from opening up trash cans in order to score aluminum cans and the like. The general public, however, never seemed to see them as anything other than decoration.
4.
In July I finally had a chance to "meet" fellow photographer Scott Lothes. He and I had been conversing via email for years, during which time Scott went from Midwesterner to being a resident of northern Japan. Now, though, he was returning to the states, and on his way home was passing through Portland.
For a few hours, we walked about the vaunted Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade. This mostly floating walkway continues the tradition of naming major infrastructure in Oregon after still living (and in some cases still serving!) politicians. Anyway, we had walked out to the end of a floating dock (with no boats, big surprise) in order to get a better side shot of the Union Pacific's Steel Bridge.
At the end of that dock was this gate. I don't think it was part of the officially approved public art program. But I could be wrong.
5.
Later in the month came a trip east to visit the Sumpter Valley Railway. On the way, our party had time to kill, so we took a side-route via Walla Walla. Once again, I was in good graces with luck, and we found a local on the Palouse & Coulee City branch up from Walulla. Here is an eastbound grain empty headed to Stateline for loading, climbing up grade near Touchet.
Something about this photograph captures in shorthand the entire region, from the sweeping vista to the "forest" of windmills on the distant ridge. The dichotomy of "not-in-my-backyard" public policy and natural beauty seems breathtaking.
6.
This view is of McEwen, on the Sumpter Valley, taken from the top of a dredge tailing pile. What struck me when I saw this image was how much it looked like it could be a hundred years ago. Nothing obviously screams 2007. And yet it wasn't taken with that intention. It's not my usual style, and it has a bit of a model railroad feel to it, but I can't help but enjoy the image nonetheless.
7.
Anyone with a passing familiarity with my photographic tastes knows I love signs. It should be no surprise, then that this one -- along the scrappy (but not scrap yet!) City of Prineville Railroad -- caught my eye. I love how they just restenciled a new sign right over the old one.
8.
August saw me make a pilgrimage to the Midwest once more. This time, I took a jaunt into Cleveland with my friends Brian & Duane. Among the shots that emerged was this publicity-style image, taken off the closed Broadway Avenue bridge. Below, an eastbound train passes on the Norfolk Southern's ex-Nickel Plate Cleveland District. To the right is the heavy rail line of the RTA, headed towards Terminal Tower in the background.
9.
The towns of the Midwest are depressing yet fascinating. So many have boarded up storefronts, and an air of defeat. Yet in the gloom, some towns find strange ways of waving the flag of community pride. In Corunna, Indiana, the locals painted the antiquated State Route 327 bridge a patriotic star-spangled blue. Below is the the Norfolk Southern's ex-New York Central Chicago Line, on which a westbound NS train barrels towards us.
Interestingly, this is a bit of a cursed spot. There have been two major derailments here in the past five years, yet both times the bridge has survived. Brian tells a story of having overheard a train calling to another over the radio as they passed, asking about the near collision with the span:Train one: "You guys about took that bridge out last week, I heard!"
Train two: "We'll aim better next year!"
10.
Lastly, a classic image of life at Portland's venerable Union Station. The Italianate, castle-like structure is the oldest continually operating union station west of St. Louis, having opened in 1896. Although she doesn't see nearly the hundred or so trains a day she once did, the structure routinely serves lines of passengers on Amtrak's popular Cascades service to Seattle and Eugene. Typical Portland: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Well, that's it for this year. And 2008? Probably a lot fewer rail subjects, and a few more highway ones. But who knows?
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Thursday, December 20, 2007
Week in Review, Vol. III
The Willie Week has an article on the future of garbage hauling in the Portland region, specifically in how to get it to Arlington dump. Overall it's not bad, but writer Nigel Jaquiss does make one mistaken statement:
"Barges and trucks cost about the same."
No, no they don't. Look earlier in the piece for the answer:
"The trash currently travels by truck. Every week, according to Metro, more than 350 tractor-trailer loads, each carrying about 31 tons of trash, roll up I-84 to the Arlington dump... (By comparison, four barges linked together carry 280 truckloads of trash in one voyage.)"
That's 70 trucks per barge. So each week, we'd have 350 fewer trucks on I-84, thanks to the use of just seven barges. I think that's a net gain for commerce and transportation, not a "cost"
Has anyone seen the new diner-lounge cars destined for Amtrak's City of New Orleans? Very nice, and very... familiar? They look like the inside of the Cascades Bistro Car, just a little.
In related news, it appears that Paul Weyrich has converted another politician to support passenger rail:"Commissioner Tom Skancke of Las Vegas, Nevada, also spoke: 'At the Commission's first meeting, I was sitting next to [Commissioner] Paul Weyrich. One of my opening comments on transit and inter city passenger rail was that 'transit and passenger trains don't work in the west. We don't zone for it and people won't use it...' ...Over the past 18 months, Paul and Frank [Busalacchi] have done a marvelous job of educating me and the rest of the commissioners about passenger rail and transit. I'm now an advocate and believe rail is the future of transportation in the U.S. It has to be."
Between the rapid growth of commuter rail options in the west, the continuing success of light rail in Western cities, and tremendous ridership growth on Amtrak corridors in the region, it's getting harder and harder to make the case that rail only works in the Northeast.
The drama in Southern Oregon isn't getting any better. The Central Oregon & Pacific railroad announced on Monday that the Siskiyou rail line between Medford, OR, and Weed, CA would likely close in April of 2008. This is the second major line closure from CORP this year, following their abrupt shutdown of the Coos Bay branch earlier in the fall.
Interestingly, this week also saw the announcement by the Oregon Department of Transportation of the qualifying participants in Connect Oregon II. Notably, the International Port of Coos Bay has a project on the list to repair the branch, and also has an expenditure request for money to purchase the line. For ODOT to overtly court a proposal for the Port to purchase the line is a slap in the face to CORP, whose short notices and poor communication have earned it the enmity of political and business l