June 6, 1944

Today is the 70th Anniversary of the Allied Invasion of France.  The proper name of this invasion was Operation Overlord but in common vernacular, it has become known as D-Day.  D-day is simply the word the Army uses to indicate the planned day of attack.

Fairly extensive planning went into the Allied invasion.  They did not want to recreate the failures of the earlier Dieppe raid.  There were also extensive forces used in the operation.  This post is just about a part of that overall force.

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, US and British transport aircraft take off from various airfields around England.  They would be transporting elements of the British 6th Airborne Division, the US 82nd Airborne Division, and the US 101st Airborne Division.  These movements would signify the opening of one of the largest amphibious invasions ever taken.  The British division would land behind the British Beaches and the US divisions would land behind the US beaches.  It was the first time that a night-time Airborne assault was undertaken (and the last time I believe until one of the opening moves in the Iraq Invasion).

 The British Airborne objectives on D-day were to capture the two bridges across the River Orne and the Caen Canal.  The Allied forces wanted these bridges intact because otherwise efforts to break out of Normandy would be seriously hampered.

The British forces were successfully in capturing the bridges intact.  In fact, the Caen Canal Bridge was renamed the Pegasus Bridge in commemoration of the British Airborne Insignia and the other Bridge was renamed Horsa Bridge after the name of the gliders used by some of the troops.

In the overall scheme of the invasion, these were small actions but they were critical to the success of the operation.  I used the British example because we in the United States tend to focus on our efforts in World War II but it was truly an Allied effort.

The Ojibway Makes an Appearance

So my last ship of the night is the one that was built in my hometown...Bay City.  At one time she was known as the Charles L. Hutchinson.  Now she is known as the Ojibway.

 I was hoping that she would appear before the sun disappeared.

 And as luck would have it, that was the case.  Sadly, I was getting some shadows but I still liked the light.

 I really should try to get more pictures at this time because it makes the ships look golden.

 The beam shot.

 And she starts to head up the river.

One more picture before packing it up for the night.  I really like getting pictures of the classic lakers because I don't know how much longer I will be able to do that.

A Couple Pics While Waiting

The next ship wasn't appearing for another half hour or so.  Therefore, I decided to get a couple random pictures.

 I liked the way the light was hitting this.

I'm not sure what kind of flowers these are, but they aren't quite ready yet.

The Roger Blough Passes Algonac

I couldn't pass up on an opportunity to catch the Blough especially since I had a chance to catch her.

 I think if traffic had gone to plan a little better, I could have caught her at Marine City.  As it was, I barely caught her at Algonac.  I was still happy that I caught her in time to get a head shot.

 She's heading down to Conneaut, Ohio to deliver taconite.  I think she picked up her load from Two Harbors.  With any luck, I might be able to catch her heading back upbound during the Boatnerd event in Port Huron on Saturday.

 She passes the much smaller Virginiaborg.

 I like her look she she is loaded down.  I think she looks like a snapping turtle.

 She gives me a beam shot.

 And a better beam shot.

She continues on her way down the river.  As  I said, I think I will have a chance to catch her on Saturday.

The Virginiaborg Passes Algonac

I saw that the Roger Blough would be coming down this way, so I decided to head up to Algonac State Park in order to catch her.  As I arrived at the park, I saw this ship making her way past.

 The ship in question is the Virginiaborg, she is one of a number of ships owned by Wagenborg out of the Netherlands.

 I didn't have much of a chance to get pictures of her.  She is 433 feet long and has a cargo capacity of almost 10,000 tons.  I think she is heading up to Duluth to likely pick up grain.

A shot of her lifeboat.

More on Sturgeon Falls - The Fictional Town

So I got around to painting the buildings for my train set up.  For the most part I am happy with how they look but I think I might want to redo them.  They might be a little too big for the scale I am working in.  I think they will do for now but I definately want to redo them.

I got to thinking a little bit about my fictional town.  I figure it is somewhere in southwest Michigan and I thought up a story of an average Michigan town history for it.  So while I am showing pictures of the buildings, I will also explain its history.

 The first European settler to visit the Sturgeon Falls areas was a courier du bois (or fur trader) sometime in the mid 1700's.  He was following the river that was nearby but the rabids made it not too suitable for trapping.  The area was noted though.

 In 1835, a more or less permanent settlement was established when a lumber baron from Detroit discovered that it was a pretty good area for logging.  The river was used for both the saw mill and transportation to Lake Michigan.   The Michigan Central Railroad established a freighthouse and stopping point in Sturgeon Falls in 1850.  The first passenger depot was built in 1870 but it burnt down later that year and was replaced with the brick structure pictured above.  As the lumber industry hit it's peak in the 1880's, the Sturgeon Falls station was one of the busiest along the route.  As jobs from the lumber industry declined, so did the usage of the station.  For a while, the New York Central discontinued it's stop here but it was later picked up when Amtrak started service.  Now the station is visited daily by the Wolverine  (yes, I know those are distance cars but bear with me).

 A restaurant simply known as "Eat".  It was established as a drive in during the 1950's as the use of US-12 was at a peak.  It was a pretty popular stop for people driving from Detroit to Chicago as you would get here around lunch time.  The food was pretty good and pretty cheap.  As US-12 was replaced by I-94, the customer base dwindled but getting a long time Wolverine stop was a boon for the restaurant to the point where they added the unique track side service.

 Downtown Sturgeon Falls looks like a typical Midwestern Downtown.  These three buildings were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  At that time, the population of Sturgeon Falls hit its peak. 

 The Railway Arms was built by the Michigan Central Railroad in 1895.  At the time, it was one of the nicer hotels on the route as Sturgeon Falls was making a transition from being a lumber town to a farming/tourist town.  The transition to tourist town was successful as long as US-12 was the major highway but it died down after I-94 was built.   In 1981, the hotel closed down for a while but has since reopened as people have started to re-discover the classic highways.

 Senor Pepe's was started by Pepe Rodriguez in 1936 after he decided the migrant farming life wasn't for him.  His business was started in the back of an old Ford Truck.  He served good food and the people of Sturgeon Falls enjoyed his Mexican cuisine.  It is currently being run by his grandson and while the menu has changed a little to satisfy the American palette, it hasn't changed all that much from Pepe's day.

The Peking Moon is next door and it has a similar history but it was started a little later.

 Barron's Hardware has been in the area for almost as long as the town has.  When it started, it would provide tools for the lumber camp and it transitioned to the local farms.  It moved to this location when the building was built in 1900 and is fairly well stocked.  If you can't find a tool at Barron's, it hasn't been built.

 The gas station is also a remnant from the busier days of US-12.  At one time, it was a full service station but that ended with the death of its mechanic, Al.  It is still in business but is more like a convenience store.

 Norfolk-Southern introduced service to Sturgeon Falls with the sale of the Conrail tracks.  Freight trains rumble through here fairly regularly.

 This is a shot that I would not recommend for a real train.

 In fact, through some quirk, Sturgeon Falls is serviced by all of the major railroads.

 A kind of overall shot of my layout.

 Another shot that shows it a little better.  I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with all those wires though.

And I leave you with one more shot.

Another Giant...the James R. Barker

After seeing the lovely Kaye E. Barker, it's only fitting that we see her husband...the James R. Barker.

 The giant ship starts to make her turns towards the channel.  It's kind of amazing how big she looks against the backdrop of Lake Huron.

 The three quarters view.

 She starts to approach the Blue Water Bridge.

 And she passes under the Blue Water Bridge.  While not quite as close as they pass in Duluth, it's not too bad.

 She heads down the river.

 A shot of 2000 feet worth of ship.

 One more shot.

 I caught up with her again in St. Clair.  This is probably my favorite angle for ship pictures because I think it looks the most dramatic.

 And she starts to pass by.

 Almost a beam shot.

And a shot of her pilothouse.