Preservation Services

04/09/2026

A Virginian Railway Shop worker handles the small lathe at Princeton, WV. George K. Shands photo c. 1953.

03/23/2026

Durham, NC is a historic community with old textile mills and to***co drying warehouses preserved into lofts, condos and apartments. Everything looks fairly decent but under the surface with major Universities voluntarily paying taxes and running their own transit services, all isn't well.

The local housing authority is $2 million in debt and needs another $1.4 million this coming fiscal year. The city itself owes another $650 million and the School system has $1billion (that's with a B) in deferred maintenance.

And talking about fiddling while Rome burns. They started building a HUGE new Arts School in 2024 to move it from its decaying downtown campus (not near finished in late March 2026 and the cost in Bonds has swelled to $250 million).

Somehow, they are AAA rated. Between you, me and the fence post, I wouldn't be buying Durham Bonds.​ And reportedly, they have a moratorium on new water and sewer connections limiting growth, which seems that increasing the tax base is not an easy option - at least until they fix the infrastructure.

So there is a message here. Politicians hate spending money on hidden things like water and sewer. First of all the voters hate the annoyance, street closures and the mess. Second, when completed there is no big, shiny thing to show the voters. Finally it takes a big bite out of the budget with only a restoration to normalcy to show for it.

I would recommend that we do have a ribbon cutting and invite all the out-of-office politicians to take a bow along with current elected officials, so everyone can see what real heroes look like both here in Pulaski, VA and far away in Durham, should anyone in Durham have tried to fix the problem.

03/04/2026

Absolutely no one is flying the plane. Just relax, have your snacks and we'll see where we land.

02/06/2026

Perhaps the most despised of the retired ferries, the UNCATENA passes a sloop, which is the cause for this photograph. One of very few pictures I shot of this seemingly stackless, unattractive vessel. Martha's Vineyard April 1991.

11/19/2025

A great photo from the Cape Cod And Islands Railroads And Trains History page. Worth A visit. Also this is their link to a short New Haven Railroad film including scenes of the Islander in 1952. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Gv5WddZ8i/

05/17/2025

Does anyone else see a connection to the blackout in Spain?

China has installed kill switches in solar panels sold to the West
©Wire feeds
But rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some solar power inverters by US experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, two sources told Reuters. Using these devices to skirt firewalls and switch off inverters remotely, or change their settings, could destabilise power grids, damage energy infrastructure and trigger widespread blackouts, experts said. 'That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid,' one of the sources declared. The discovery has raised fears that Beijing may maintain the capability to wreak havoc on power grids across the Western world, including in the UK, such is the reliance of Western renewable energy systems on Chinese-manufactured parts.

01/05/2025

Anchor Lines CAMERONIA shows her stern in this undated negative. She ran under the Anchor flag from 1923 to 1941 when she became a troopship and retired in that configuration in 1953.

01/05/2025

From late 1800s to around 1926; fire departments used steam powered pumps and fire stations were referred to as a "Company." Thus our young man sitting proudly for his portrait displays his cap badge which reads, 'Washington Steamer Co.' while his collar notes "F.D." So he is gainfully employed by the fire department of what is likely in a small Washington-named town as it appears they only have one company.

12/01/2024

C. 1905 view of the SS Hampton Roads sailing according to the lettering under the Old Dominion line flag (Library of Congress0. But the N&W Historical Society negative shows it as the "Smithfield Lines" Hampton Roads passing the N&W Coal Pier' I can't find any reference to ODL owning this vessel or SL Co operating ferry services, though service from Norfolk/Hampton/Smithfield certainly occurred.

11/04/2024

Inside the VGN Railway Shops Princeton, WV. where an unidentified employee works a Blanchard Surface Grinder. Negative by George K Shands c.1953.

08/13/2024

NS has a community Grant program that we appear qualified for. (And prepositions are words we shouldn't end sentences with.)

Since 1827, our railroad has been moving the freight that powers America. Today, we operate in 22 states with connections across the globe.