March 26, 20251 yr Very impressive. I enjoyed the thought of the massive sculpture in the parking lot for a while. We live near Mount St. Mary's University, which features a 33 foot tall Italian statue of the Virgin Mary, gilded and set atop a 65 (ish) tall bell tower. Two years ago they took the statue down to regild it, and it was fascinating to see the statue loaded onto a flatbed trailer. The scale of some of these old sculptures is absolutely astonishing. Proves that all artists are mad!
March 26, 20251 yr That's two excellent links today Scott! Thank you. This one makes me want to visit Birmingham Al just to see the Moon Over Homewood. Should drop into Homewood to confirm the moon I guess. It has quite the story and history, a good read. Thanks again. Frosty The Lucky.
March 26, 20251 yr Author Ridgeway, I would like to see that statue of the Virgin up close, in person. I love the sound of bells. I think it hard to believe the railroad dumped the Vulcan parts on the side of the roadbed for unpaid bills. Of course, your welcome, Jerry. I stumble across things.....
March 28, 20251 yr On 3/26/2025 at 3:13 PM, Scott NC said: I think it hard to believe the railroad dumped the Vulcan parts on the side of the roadbed for unpaid bills. Only because you haven't worked for the cheap...erm, legitimacy challenged Sons of Adam. There's an old joke about a train that keeps breaking down in front of a house with a couple of sunbathing beauties. The joke ain't repeatable here, but the punchline goes "You're perfectly safe out here; it's the only time you don't have to worry. They're too busy doing it to themselves."
March 31, 20251 yr Author On 3/27/2025 at 8:21 PM, Nobody Special said: Only because you haven't worked for the cheap...erm, legitimacy challenged Sons of Adam. That may be true, but I was a railcar carman (I've worn a lot of hat's in my time) for a cheap, skinflint repair shop so I suppose I know what you are talking about. Even so, I don't like to think of old Vulcan laying in a ditch with only his hand and dagger sticking out. To be honest, that shop let us have free scrap metal and parts. I think I told the tale once of all the free ballast I got from a job we got installing remote control gates on ballast cars. They were not completely empty and I got as much as I wanted so I spread it on my lane on the farm as it was turning into a mudhole. I soon found out there were stick welding electrode stubs and other debris in it and had a lot of flat tires. I was young, blind and naive....
March 31, 20251 yr I had something similar Scott. When we bought the property in 1980 a lot of the 60 wooded acres had cedar trees growing. Up near the top where we put the house there was an old logging road that ran down and around the hill to where the RR line was. It was loaded with small cedar trees so I decided to clear cut the old road using a chain saw so we could take the old K5 Blazer down & up it. Of course I didn't want the chain hitting the ground so I cut them about 2 inches above ground level. Didn't take me long to learn cedar stubs of that diameter are tire killers. The old logging road is now all grown over again, amazing how fast the forest can reclaim land. I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~
March 31, 20251 yr Interesting, if perhaps more notable for its size and engineering complexity than its actual artistry.... On a side note, one of the books in my library is the exhibition catalog from the 1984 Birmingham Blacksmithing Festival. Nice to learn a bit more here about Birmingham's history with the iron industry.
March 31, 20251 yr If I recall during the ACW Birmingham area before it was a city, produced a lot of weaponry for the Confederacy. Everything from cannons to rifled muskets, hand guns and swords. I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~
March 31, 20251 yr When I was drilling we used to have to follow surveyed lines and those guys cleared brush without lowering the handle of the saw below belt height so all the lil stumps were steeply slanted like pungi stakes. Depending on how tall the surveyor was the spikes tended to hit you at ankle level. Ahhh the good old days! Frosty The Lucky.
March 31, 20251 yr 30 minutes ago, Irondragon Forge ClayWorks said: Birmingham area before it was a city, produced a lot of weaponry I misspoke about Birmingham, it was Selma south of Birmingham and the Selma Naval Foundry that produced a lot for the war effort. Sorry about that. I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~
March 31, 20251 yr Author I watched an old black and white movie about light house sabatuer's last night and thought of you. Not that your a sabatuer or anything. It was a hair raiser.....
March 31, 20251 yr Author The only reason I mentioned it is because I dimly remember you were in charge of one. The good guy's won, btw.
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