And now for something completely different

[Dog427435]

[b] Pro Street 409
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[Dog427435]

[b] Anyone from Long Island remember the Island Garden Arena?
It was located in West Hempstead, on Hempstead Turnpike, right up the block from the
Aurora Plastics building, where they made the Model Motoring sets.
It was a half domed arena that had all kinds of shows, the circus and in the winter
they raced the 3/4 Midgets there.
These shots are from early 1962 - There was nothing greater as a kid then to go see the Midgets
on a Friday night race on the concrete floors.
Now remember its freezing out so all the doors are shut, there is no real
ventilation system and the shows 3-4 hours long.
That foggy look is the exhaust smoke hanging in the air. By the time the races were over
your eyes were bright red, watering like crazy, you stunk and your head felt like there
were a thousand bees inside fighting to get out.
Ahh - what a great time!!!
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[Dog427435]

[b] 1972 Australian Ford Falcon XA GT Coupe

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NICE!!
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[Dog427435]

[b]
The founder of Blount Seafood Corporation, F. Nelson Blount, was a collector of steam locomotive
equipment. He bought a railroad so he could be an engineer.
In 1963 Blount moved his Steamtown U.S.A. steam locomotive collection to a new site
(Steamtown was moved several times before). This latest location was a the former site of a
proposed Rutland yard in Riverside, near Bellows Falls, VT. Tracks fanning out from a turntable
provided an excellent place to display his collection of steam. Regular excursions were run
between Riverside and Chester.
Tragedy struck in 1967 when Nelson Blount was killed when his private plane crashed into a
tree in Marlborough, NH. Nelson was only 49. This event took a lot of steam out of Steamtown.
Most of the operational steam locomotives were either sold or fell into disrepair. Then, in 1970,
Vermont passed air quality regulations which prohibited steam operations. Diesel locomotives
were then used on Steamtown excursions, however, ridership fell dramatically. Despite the air
quality regulations, the Steamtown Foundation again began operating with a steam locomotive.
By 1983, Steamtown again had many (six) operating steam locomotives.
Despite the resurrection of steam locomotives, Steamtown was in financial trouble.
It was determined that the main problem was its location -- isolated from any major population
center. In 1984, Steamtown was moved to Scranton, PA. Still losing money, the Steamtown
Foundation went bankrupt in 1986.
Congress created the Steamtown National Historic Site and the National Park Service acquired
the collection.
Congress created Steamtown National Historic Site in 1986 to interpret the story of main line
steam railroading between 1850 and 1950. The park now occupies about forty acres in Scranton, Pa

These shots were taken in the summer of '75 in Bellows Falls, VT.
You can see the poor condition the site was in. I believe the former site is currently listed in
the Vermont hazardous sites list.

Talk about massive amounts of horsepower!!
The first shot is my Dad taken in front of one of the locomotives - he is over 6 feet tall!

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[Dog427435]

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[Dog427435]

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[markjohnson]

I've gotta tell you, these are some amazing pictures. You had the foresight to photograph ordinary things that most people overlooked back then. The pit shots, the line of tow trucks, even the spectator parking lots. Love the mall car show! We all remember those! Thanks again for taking all time it takes to post them. Oh, and more are always welcome.

[ChevyThunder]

Those are fantastic photos!They really capture the flavor of the time.
The locomotives reminds me of this guy Jaque Littlefield who lives a couple of towns over from me. He has the larges collection of military tanks in the word!Something like 100 tanks. Amazing what some people collect. According to him they are basically worthless . He could own multiple top flight muscle cars for the amount he spends to restore one tank.

[Xplantdad]

To each his own....right Van?

[Dicky]

Glenn, That locomotive your dad is standing next to is a Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. They had 25 built to run the steep mountain grades of eastern Utah & western Wyo.
Were you born with a camera around your neck?

You have some GREAT threads.
Dicky