A Real Floating Bridge

Possibly A Particular Pontoon?

From Latin via French, a pontoon ('ponton') was an flat bottomed boat. Join several together and you get a Pontoon Bridge.

Probably the most celebrated Pontoon bridge was Mulberry Harbour from WW2.

But the 'flat bottom boats' are made of concrete.

It is quite hard to conceive of floating concrete, but apparently, if you make the boat like a big box, it will float. (see also warships and cruise liners, made of steel which does not, of itself, float.)

And so to Seattle.

Apparently, there is a bit more to Seattle (in the USA) than just the Space Needle.

Seattle is, to use a technical term, big; and there is even more 'city' in what might be called 'greater Seattle'. 

There it is, top left of Uncle Sam's realm and in Washington State which isn't Washington D C.

The red line boundary of Seattle passes through a chunk of wetness on the East which is Lake Washington.

This is Belleview viewed across the lake from Seattle.

It is a long way round by road, so in 1940 they built a bridge.

But the bottom of the lake was too soft to take conventional piers - or maybe to build piers would have been too costly.

So they built it on concrete pontoons; thus ... tada ... it was a genuine 100% floating bridge. O.K., not quite. The slopes down at each end were on concrete poers, but the long middle bit floats to this day.

An additional floating bridge was built further north and opened in 1963.

Both bridges have been enhanced and/or completely rebuilt in later years.

Here they are today with their official names.

The replacement Evergreen Point bridge us wider and longer than its predecessor.

The southern crossing, named after Lacey V Murrow, consists of the 1940 bridge rebuilt; plus an extra bigger bridge beside it.

Looking in the opposite direction to the above, we see a train. The double track has replaced vehicle lanes on the new additional bridge.

The structure had to be thoroughly tested to ensure that it could carry the extra weight of a whole train. Thankfully for Seattle commuters, it passed the test!

Although Lake Washington is not tidal, the weather can be scary! This us the train-free Evergreen Point Bridge (the northern one).

So that is a summary of your so-called floating train.

The line across the bridge is new ...

... with the first day drawing large crowds ...

... and with sales stalls etc at the new line 2 terminus at Redmond.

We're you to ride the line 2, these are the trains that may carry you ...

... and very smart they look.

This video takes us on a ride across the floating bridge; but as you 'float' ...

... don't get seasick!

Or maybe lakesick?

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Like many people today, Thomas refused to accept that the resurrection had taken place. He said he would only believe when he touched Jesus ' ...

WOUNDS

He did and he did! 

Then he went on to be leader of an early Christian church in India.

There is something very human, very simple and very reasonable about the resurrection appearances of Jesus. Nobody expected to see Him, all struggled to make sense of it - YET ...

... it changed every one of them, dramatically.

What could be more "human" than a breakfast on the beach?

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  Next boring wagon blog : Weds 8 April 

Floating Train Fantasy & Farcical

What's  Going On?

YouTube is full of misleading headlines and pictures. There are several lurid 'tease' thumbnails ...

... some of which turn out to be about Japan's Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) trains.

The videos that accompany these pictures are usually less ludicrous, but not always.

Some are about different floating trains ...

... referring to what fbb would call a 'train ferry'.

But some are just daft!

This headline, however, was slightly more intriguing ...

... because it does look real.

The gist of the article was that the above tram (or train) is running on a floating bridge.

As an ex Isle of Wight resident, fbb us familiar with the Cowes Floating Bridge  ...

... frequently busted due, apparently, to a very poor bit of work by the Marine Architect; i.e. they who designed the vessel. It's progress across the River Medina is in the form of large cog wheels dragging it across on chains. 

Hence such vessels are often called 'chain ferries'.

But a similar vessel at Poole is simply called the Sandbanks Ferry.

Once upon a time there were significant numbers of train ferries, namely ships which carried trains. 

One ran from Harwich to Zeebrugge ...

... carrying goods wagons only.

It is slightly spooky to see pictures of a steam loco shunting the wagons on ....

... and off ....

... up a slope at high tide!

fbb would not want to be a goods wagons on such a spindly boat ...

... in the January gales!

To save blog readers' complaints, passenger carriages travelled on a special sailing overnight between Dover and Dunkerque ...

... and on to Paris ...

... operated jointly by British Railways (formerly the Southern Railway) ...

... and S N C F.

Apart from overnight through coaches, these vessels carried freight wagons during daylight hours.

But the train in the "It Floats" screenshot isn't any of these ...

... so, what's going on?

===========================

And what was going on when the sun rose on that Sunday morning?

Of course it was impossible! The women took their ...

SPICES

... to the tomb to complete the burial.

Peter and John ran to the tomb in fear and disbelief; even after they heard from the women that the stone had been rolled back. 

Mary of Magdala thought she was talking to the gardener and begged him to tell her where Jesus body had been placed after removal from the tomb.

At various stages they were all unwilling even to consider that Jesus had risen, even though he told them all that he would!

If course, it was impossible!

So what changed?

One person who refused to accept the resurrection had his mind changed.

With God, all things are possible because, by definition, He is not limited to the restrictions of earthly science, He is not even limited to the restrictions of our whole universe.

≈≈=================

  Next floating blog : Tues 7 April 

Sunday Variety

 Bristol Area Line Re-Opens ...

... but sadly not the line to Portishead! For this re-opening, we need to travel South West along the Bristol Channel coast ...

... to Clevedon.

The miniature railway opened in 1952 as a steam hauled 7.25 OR 9.5 inch gauge line. (the latter seems more likely from photographs but on-line accounts differ.) Originally it was steam hauled.

It was expanded from a short straight run to a large circle of 15 inch track at Salhouse Fields, a park near the sea.

Sadly it closed a few years back with little to see except the decaying track bed.

In its day it ran a spectacular steam outline loco, but latterly a rather more lurid freelance USA type was at the front of the train.

But there is good news.

Clevedon had two other railways. One was a former Great Western Railway branch from Yatton ...

... to a terminus at Clevedon.

The other was a Colonel Stephens branch line run on light railway regulations with multiple stops (hardly stations!) which was doomed to early extinction.

Perhaps a topic for a future blog?

Green Line Birthday

Arriva "inherited" the Green Line brand, but London's city-wide long distance coach network had already decayed into almost nothing.

Its remnants have included the well-know 724 from Harlow to Heathrow which has run every 30 minutes all the way. 

A recent change had been to reduce the 724 to hourly ...

... and add in a 725 from Stevenage which joins the 724 just past Hatfield. Unfortunately, Arriva shows the timetables separately, one for the 724 ... 

... and one for the 725.

This means that there is no full timetable for the common section via Watford.

Anyway, 2026 is the 724's 60th Birthday.

So there is a bus in a commemorative traditional Green Line livery, and very smart it looks.

The bus above is not new, however, having begun its life in 'dealer' white ...

.. then adopting Arriva blue ...

... before its far nicer heritage paint job.

fbb wonders what the colourways will be on the promised new  stock. Arriva has a poor track record, having almost abandoned Green Line identity in recent years. There has been a feeble effort ...

... but a poor successor to something very powerful, brand-wise.

Nothing could be as ghastly as National Bus Company corporate dullness!

And here us what the new heritage bus commemorates ...

... although the above is a very different 724!

Praise for Royal Mail - Shock

A package posted to fbb from TMC Models (up a back road near Goathland, North Yorkshire ...

... at 1731 on Wednesday was delivered to fbb mansions in relatively obscure Seaton, Devon ...

... at 1130 on Thursday, just 18 hours later.

Impressive, yet again.

COMING SOON to  blog near you ...

The most boring model railway vehicle.

A real floating bridge.

Major (?) development at Taunton station.

More from Richard Rosa's book.

========================.

So what happens on Sunday? Various people go to the guarded tomb and find that the guard has fled, the very heavy stone has been rolled away.

On the Friday, Pontius Pilate, the only official legally able to give a death sentence has chickened out with a public ...

HAND WASH

... all the followers have fled.

It is all over.

But it isn't.

The guards have fled, the stone is rolled back and the tomb is empty.

But nobody knows yet; until three women took the designated necessities with which to correctly prepare the body or burial. The body had been taken to a tomb in a hurry ion the "Good" Friday as such activity has to be completed before the start of Saturdays's Sabbath at sunset.

Memo : If you know that the resurrection has happened, you don't take stuff for a proper burial. If you are expecting a resurrection, you don't take five letter things for a proper burial.

But, people argue, how can you believe in a resurrection ...

.... it is simply impossible.

 ======================

 Next Floating Bridge blog : Mon 6 April