Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Downtown At Night

Marriott Rivercenter



Amtrak Station



Tower Life Building

Monday, April 18, 2005

Got Power?


San Antonio gets most of it's electricity from
City Public Service's coal-fired power plants
located on Braunig and Calaveras lakes.
The coal comes from Wyoming's Powder River Basin
on a constant schedule of unit coal trains.
Here's one that's over a mile long rumbling through
downtown with 8800 horsepower up front.


CPS owns over 1500 of these cars, which are 50+ feet long
and carry 244,000 pounds of coal each.
They all have red corners and SATX reporting marks.


At the end of the train is another 4400hp locomotive
that helps push uphill and brake downhill.
A 135-car train hauls 16,000 tons at a time, and several
arrive each week while the empties head back to Wyoming.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Back To Basics


I'm tired of the birds and flowers.
Here's a tasty decorative corner of the
Municipal Auditorium.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Another Sign Of Spring


Blossoms on a Raspberry Ice Bougainvillea.
(B. Variegata)

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Bad Drivers


Texas has it's fair share.
No more or less than, say...Nebraska.
Just buckle up, stay off the phone, and
use your turn signals correctly, please.
We'll all get where we're going that way.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Military Heritage

San Antonio is a military town.
Every single Air Force recruit comes to
Lackland AFB for basic training. Fort Sam Houston
trains many of the Army's medics. Instructor pilots
are taught how to teach at Randolph AFB.
Kelly and Brooks are former Air Force bases that still
perform their missions under civilian authority.

Here's a B-25 Mitchell bomber and a Constellation transport
on display at Lackland: