Some of my Diecast Airplanes

 After taking pictures of the Chessie, I decided to get some pictures of some of die cast models.  Most of these are 1/400 scale.

The Concorde was supposed to be a game changer and might have been had the United States not banned sonic booms over the country.  Because of that, it was limited to coastal airports (and Detroit).  It couldn't carry enough passengers to be cheap but the service was great.  United is talking about bringing back supersonic aircraft.  Maybe they can make a go of it.

Pan Am was an airline that made the imagination wander.  Thier owner was forging new air routes and pushing new airplanes.  There were a couple of major airplanes that came at the advice of Pan Am.  I think one of them was the 747.  Opening up the international routes began the end for them.  Every so often, there is talk of an airline taking the Pan Am name.  They may take the name but they will never take the legend.

Northwest was another innovator in the aviation industry.  They pretty much opened up the Asian market to the airline industry.  They had direct flights to China and Japan from Detroit and Minneapolis.  They had one of the best service records of the airlines out there.  Unfortunately, the name disappeared when they merged with Delta.

A couple years ago, United had woman artists submit ideas for a special livery.  They called "Art Her Way".  This is one of the winners.  It looks pretty cool but since United doesn't fly the 757 my way, it will be difficult to see.

This is the livery dedicated to New York.

This is one of the classic United liveries.  I wish it was still around but I don't think it will come back.

And this is probably the classic United livery.

North Central is another fallen flag.  It disappeared when it was acquired by Republic.  Republic kept Herman the Duck but Republic disappeared after their merger with Northwest.

This is the Salmon Thirty Salmon.  It is used by Alaska Airlines as they are based in Seattle.  It is a cool looking livery but it rarely comes this way, so I'll have to be content with seeing it on a model.

I've actually seen this livery a couple of times.  Sadly, Southwest ended their relationship with Sea World and doesn't use this anymore.  They didn't like some of the negative publicity that Sea World was getting at the time.

While, I don't like the livery, I do like the plane.  It's not a bad livery but not quite as iconic as some of their older liveries.

This is a B-52 diecase model I found.  I got it because it was using the wing that was based on K.I. Sawyer.  They did this paint scheme for one of the commemorations of D-Day.

Chessie on a Snowy Day

 Yesterday I didn't do anything because of the threat of snow and today, I didn't do anything because of actual snow.  Well, I take that back.  I was going to go catch the Wolverine.  I went down to Depot Town and as I saw the updates for the train getting later and later, I decided to head home.  That was a shame because the sun was coming out and the snow was powdery.  It would have made for a cool picture, I think.  I was content to not take any pictures but then I saw Chessie laying on my bed.

She didn't look terribly please that I disturbed her sleep.  Oh well, she doesn't have a problem doing the same to me.

I decided to do a close up shot.  I love her face.

Looking kind of curious at what I was doing.

Looking down Fort Street

 This has been a picture I've been meaning to get for a while.  I kind of like the view of downtown Detroit when you are coming in from Fort Street.

I was stopped at a light and I had my camera in the passenger seat, so I had a chance to get this shot.

The Belanger Park Lighthouse

Just before I left, I decided to take a picture of the lighthouse.

I liked the fact that there were a couple of ships behind it.
 

Catching the Arthur M. Anderson

 This ship is the one that I was hoping to catch.

The Arthur M. Anderson was making her final voyage of the year before going into layup.

She came down from Duluth with a load of taconite.  As I was watching her cross Lake Superior, it dawned on me that she was having a pretty rough night.  Normally, ships will shoot straight across Lake Superior, taking the mostly direct route from Duluth to the Soo Locks.

She ended up hugging the Canadian coast.  That's what lake ships do when it is rough on the water.  It gives them some reprieve from the weather but not much.

After she got through the Locks, she had to wait until morning to start leaving because the Coast Guard doesn't do ice breaking at night.

It looks like it was pretty windy the night before as she had ice stuck to her bow.

If I didn't know better, I would say have said it was a maidenhead.

But I know that a freighter wouldn't have one of those.

It was kind of a nice day but a little on the cold side.

The almost beam shot.

I love the looks of these ships.

But I have a feeling their days are numbered.  I heard that Great Lakes Fleet was up for sale.

With steel production getting transferred to using scrap steel instead of raw iron, the need for these ships may not be as great.

But they've faced other challenges in the past, so I think they'll be up for this one.

She was on her way to Conneaut.

After she delivered her taconite to Conneaut, she was off to Toledo for a well deserved rest.

A Bufflehead Passes By

 As I was photographing the next ship, I saw these guys go by.  I of course had to get a picture of one of them.

I think this is a bufflehead duck.  But I'm not sure.  It looks pretty neat at any rate.

And Also the CSL Assiniboine

 There was one more ship at the docks near the grain elevator.

Again, I think the CSL Assiniboine was in layup there but I'm not sure.  It was after the time that the Welland Canal closed, so it's probably a good bet that she was laid up.

I don't think Canada Steamship lines uses her for salt runs, so it's possible she's hear for the winter.

The Harvest Spirit at Rest

 There was another ship that was at the grain elevator.  I also think she was resting although she may have gotten there recently.

The Harvest Spirit was at another spot near the grain elevator.  I think she got there a little more recently, as evidenced by the ice on her bow.

I decided to get a close up of her bow.  I kind of liked the pattern of the ice.  Anyway, I can't imagine being out there now.

The Florence Spirit at Rest

I went to Belanger Park because I saw that a ship I was interested in catching would be passing.  While I was waiting for that ship, I saw that there were a couple ships at rest at the grain elevator.

 First up was the Florence Spirit.  I'm not sure if she was offloading or she was waiting out the winter there.  Either way, she's a nice looking ship and I was happy to see her.

Catching the Moon

 I liked the look of the moon as I was wandering away.  So I took a picture of it.

It had some of the coloration of the sunset.  It was a little washed out though but that was okay.

Catching a Snowy Owl

 So last weekend I decided to head up to see if I could catch a snowy owl.  I went to my normal spot where I could catch them.  As I was about ready to give up, I looked at one of the telephone poles and saw one.

I think this is a female snowy owl.  The males are whiter.

Someone else said it might be a younger snowy owl.

Either way, it is a pretty majestic looking bird.

I tried to move around to get a better angle.

I didn't really like the wires were in the way and I finally found a spot where I could minimize their effect.

She stayed in this spot for quite a while.

I moved around trying other angles.

With my light waning, I headed off.  But it was cool catching her.

A Very Quick Stop at the Airport

 We lost our power Sunday morning.  I was kind of waffling about going out but that kind of settled the matter.  I decided to head to the airport first before going off to my next destination.

First up was a CRJ-200.

This one was coming from the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City.

While it is a short route, it is not the shortest Delta route.

The plane spends a total of 42 minutes in the air.  It had a taxi time of 10 minutes in Traverse City and 6 minutes in Detroit.

Next up was the plane I was interested in.

It has a tail number of N535US which means it is one of the 757-200s that Northwest used to own.

This particular one was coming in from Minneapolis.

Minneapolis used to be the main hub for Northwest.

It is still a major hub for Delta.

I think this might have been a repositioning flight.