Car Show Benefit for Bryan Lawrence

The weather reports called for a partly cloudy day. When I woke up to take the Astronomy Mobile Outreach Vehicle (AMOV) to the car show for Bryan Lawrence, it was mistily raining. Being an astronomy related vehicle, the AMOV does not drive in the rain very often. You see, rain is usually accompanied with clouds, which usually massively reduces the chance of viewing stars.

I arrived at the show, to the usual odd looks from the organizers. After some quick explanations, they guided me to a very nice spot right inside the entrance. As I would find out as the day wore on, there would be quite a bit of foot traffic walking right by my vehicle. After getting approval from the organizers, I set up several telescopes to help me explain what the vehicle is all about. One set of telescopes had solar filters mounted to allow the daytime viewing of the sun, much to the delight of the hundreds of people that looked at, and through the telescopes.

I stayed very busy all day, and with about 300 vehicles entered in the event, I would have to say that it was a successful event. Below are some images that I managed to take between talking astronomy with the masses.

Here is the Astronomy Mobile Outreach Vehicle (AMOV). It was a 21 passenger bus before I saved it from the scrap yard and started using it to teach astronomy. I also use it as a base of operations when I am involved in astronomy outreach with members of the local astronomy group, Star City Astronomy Network (SCAN).

The Astronomy Mobile Outreach Vehicle (AMOV), from the back.. The large telescope toward the back of the vehicle is a 15" Dobsonian Reflector, built by StarGazer Telescopes.
The telescopes with the solar filters were mounted on the tripod near the front of the vehicle.

Below are some of the other vehicles that struck my fancy at the show.

I believe that this beautiful, 1937 Ford was my favorite at the show. I could easily see myself driving this gorgeous street rod.

This 1940 Ford is stunning.The orange paint was flawless, as is the rest of the car.

What can you say about "Rat Rods". They are as cool as cool can get. I really liked the stuffed bird in the grillwork.

I really like this dragster. With the T-Bucket style body and the front mounted, open motor, it just screams about drag racing 40 years ago.

It was a nice day, and alot of nice cars, and people. Hopefully, the proceeds will help Bryan Lawrence with his recovery. Thanks to all that were involved with this worthy benefit. A job "Well Done".

Gotta get more time

Sorry I have not posted to this blog in a while. I haven't had much time to run around Roanoke, as other ventures are keeping me busy. I hope to have some more pics up here soon. Stay Tuned.

Folks around the Ol' 917

Well, one of the coolest parts of the day was the people watching the event unfold, and the media attention that the locomotive move garnered. I decided to shoot some pics of the people taking pics of the event. Lots of good people there, and it definitely made the day brighter.

Kyle Green from the Roanoke Times gets the lowdown from a young, rail fan.

WSLS Reporter, Lindsey Ward, watches as the cranes set up for the move.


WDBJ Reporter, Susan Bahorich, reacts to being a target of another camera.


WSLS Reporter, Lindsey Ward, talks with the people watching the move.
Photographers line up on the high ground for the best shooting angles.


Smiles and cameras were abundant.


Who is that white-legged, Nikon and umbrella toting, photographer?

The Ol' 917 gets moved to Ohio

The big point of interest today was the removal of the Ol' 917 Steam Locomotive from the Virginia Scrap and Iron lot, for it's trip to Ohio. The nicest part of the move is the fact that it will be restored from its current, dilapidated condition. The sad thing is that the people, corporations, and governments of the Roanoke Valley can't seem to come to grips with the fact that our history is being taken away from the valley, piece by piece. It seems that the rest of the world cares more about the history of Roanoke than Roanoke does. Does anyone else realize that you can never move forward unless you accept who you are? Folks, losing the icons of our heritage as a community is shameful. We just lost another one today. But I applaud the people that are going to restore this wonderful, old piece of Roanoke's history. At least some people in Ohio have vision.

The cranes are in place and preparing to lift the 917 from the rails in the scrap lot.

The straps tighten as the lift is starting.

The drive wheels leave their contact with the rail for the first time in over 50 years.

The cranes are starting to turn the locomotive for placement on the flatbed trailer.

The crane operators did an outstanding job in rotating this lift. Smooth as butta....

The locomotive shows the firebox opening for firing the boiler.

I am not exactly sure what the balloons were for, but everyone got a chuckle when they saw them.

I was extremely surprised how low the locomotive sat behind the truck cab. I would have guessed it would ride much higher. - Goodbye 917.

I've been shooting the night sky

I have been photographing the stars the past few days, so feel free to check out those images at www.theastronomydude.com

I will be posting more images here as I shoot them.

Helicopter Lift from Roanoke Memorial Hospital

If you all missed it, one of the more exciting things to happen in Roanoke took place Saturday, June 28, 2008, when a US National Guard BlackHawk helicopter lifted a crippled Virginia State Police helicopter from the helipad on top of Roanoke Memorial Hospital. I positioned myself to try to photograph the lift and carry from a side view perspective. Below are a few of the shots I took of the endeavor.

The mass of deciders is gathered on the helipad, while the military personnel prepare the broken helicopter for the trip.

After a swift hookup by the loadmaster, the BlackHawk tightens the lift cable to start the transport.

The BlackHawk barely strains to lift the crippled chopper off of the roof helipad.

The crippled helicopter cooperated completely through the entire trip. It only started to rotate as it was about to be placed on the landing zone.

The BlackHawk then had to return to the RMH Roof Helipad to retrieve the broken helicopters rotor blades, which were removed for the transport.

While the lift was being organized and in operation, Carilion set up a temporary landing zone for incoming flights.

Festival In the Park - May 24, 2008

I decided to wade through the crowds and snap some images at Festival in the Park today. The crowd was not too big, but people standing still in walkways caused the usual backups to good crowd flow. When will people around here ever learn to move off the walkway if you want to stand and YAK? Folks, standing still in the walkways is just RUDE.

Of course, kids having fun is always good photos, and kids in foam bubbles is a blast. I hope you all get a kick out of these photos.