This trail was once part of a rail system which ran from Durham to Duncan it is orphaned from the better know ATT and not well traveled. The trailhead sign gave pause and we did see a man walking out with rifle slung. According to this reviewer, the area is managed by NC Wildlife Resources Commission, so I guess guns are okay. Not used to taking exercise with the hunters though.
Taking in the scene at the salt marsh I read about the delicate balance of nature, the sensitive Eco system and how this wetlands was now protected and being reclaimed by plankton, fish and fowl. From the 1920’s the area had been in environmental decline; zoned for industrial and disposal usage. Just behind me was a large hump of a hill . Its sides grown over with brush and shrub. Its flat sloping shaved top green with grass now has a golf driving range park perched upon it. Who would know that until 1987 this innocent looking mountainous lump was the city landfill dump? I was pausing at the Sanchez Lagoon section of the Bayside park. The trail is parallel to its better known parent the Bay Trail which offers a cleaner view of the San Francisco Bay as opposed to the obtrusive Bayshore 101 Freeway on the other side of the mud flat. I’d not traveled it before so it was nice to cover new ground and discover the (former) identity of the area. BTW, I can recommend Gabrielle & Daniel’s (gourmet) Mexican Grill at the Golf Center; not holding its restored location against it.
We have entered a less traveled remote area of Lake George in the Adirondacks. We were somewhat intimidated; there were authentically costumed role players armed with hatchets, muskets and gear. Halloween was weeks away. We had to ask…
There are no trail-head identifiers or trail markings. This is by design: The Shelving Rock Falls, when arriving at the top, have a somewhat treacherous descent to their base. i.e. slippery rocks and pine straw footings. The park land authorities must be concerned that advertising directions, let alone promoting the location might invite liability as sightseers in numbers attempt them. A helpful ‘point us in the right direction’ get started from exiting hikers was necessary. So with local knowledge (and a satellite photo 😉 we ventured on for a nice little lake side hike [ GPX ].
Stumbling upon a photo set from the Castle Air Force Museum my attention was captured by a static display of an old Convair 240. In reading the descriptive caption I realized that I was looking at some aviation history that I had been close to. Further searching revealed documented early days of this Convair 240-11, c/n 133:
1949 – delivered new to Swissair and registered as HB-IRT
1956 – purchased by Mohawk Airlines and leased in the short term to Transocean Air Lines as N1018C
1957 – operated by Mohawk as the Air Chief PEQUOT in scheduled service for the next 10 years
1966 – purchased by Fairchild Hiller
1968 – purchase by Southwestern Skyways re-sold to Permian Skyways and re-registered N280P
1969 – bank repossession stored and mothballed
1975 – seized by the Sheriff of Salt Lake County
From this Museum find, the end of the story is now complete. But as with most accountings there is usually a gap from when a machine becomes unprofitable, aged and rejected until it is scrapped or rescued. In the instance of this old plane however, I can complete the story.
1977 – ‘The Spirit of Modesto’ an adventure, by my account: continue reading about c/n 133 and the Great Valley Travel Club… (Camberley Associates Inc ?)
1978 – Occurrence Date 20 JUN BOTH ENGINES STOPPED, PILOTS UNABLE TO START. LEFT TANK EMPTY, 200 GAL IN RIGHT. RIGHT BOOST PUMP INOP. forced landing in a California cornfield (estimated 3.7 miles short of Modesto (KMOD) airport runway 28R where is was moribund for almost 2 decades
1997 – dismantled by volunteers and extracted by a house mover and hauled down Santa Fe Avenue to Atwater, CA
2000 – displayed to current day at the museum with tribute Coast Guard HC-131 Samaritan transport livery.
Seen: This memorial by J. Seward Johnson of Morris Frank and dog Buddy on the Morristown Green downtown classroom. Seeing Eye Dog, an ubiquitous term for guide dogs, is actually a trademark that was genericized. See historic photos here.
The distinctive blue bubbles on this CRJ gave away its former identity and a close up revealed the old Blueridge tail number unchanged. Evidently the aircraft had a 2 year fling with Georgian National aka SKY Georgia in Tbilisi until being replaced by a larger but older DC-9-51. Russian and separatist hostility broke out shortly thereafter and It was returned to its lessor.
We went to see the cars on display at the show and, as it happened, this 3rd Annual 2009 Historic Occoneechee-Orange Speedway “Celebration of the Automobile” Car Show & Racers Reunion took place at a location that NASCAR devotees revere as holy ground.The old speedway site features an oval dirt track which traces its beginnings back to the inaugural 1949 race season for the franchise and is now, in fact, considered to be a historical preservation. The dirt track by now is only partially visible because the infield (and outfields) are completely overgrown with tall pines and woods. There was a crumbling concession stand that they lingered over. Only a broken foundation and a rusty pop cooler were visible in the remains. A section of cement grandstand remains in decay and it was amusing to see the a fore mentioned race fans taking a moment to sit down on them contemplative, solemn and introspect seeing and hearing in their imagination the cars roaring round and round.
Braving snakes, and lizards in the tall grass and with an eye open for Santo Domingo security which might take exception to my off airport excursion, I explored this Boeing 707 gone to pasture.This workhorse belonged to an airline that went from boom to bust with a somewhat sad safety record enroute. [ reference ]
There are other photos of HI-442 taken during happier times.
This old ship has not had the fortune to be rescued but at least it has not been destroyed for scrap (yet). I was able to photograph what remains of HI-393 at its final resting place were it would appear that a hurricane or two may have had its way. Nature and the elements are trying hard to reclaim what’s left.This was a C-121, the military version of the Lockheed Constellation. There is a time line history reference for HI-383 VC-121A 48-611.
