A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard 1,435 mm. Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 1,067 mm. Since narrow-gauge railways are built with tighter curves, smaller structure gauges, lighter rails, they can be less costly to build and operate than standard- or broad-gauge railways. Lower-cost narrow-gauge railways are built to serve industries and communities where the traffic potential would not justify the cost of a standard- or broad-gauge line. Narrow-gauge railways have specialized use in mines and other environments where a small structure gauge necessitates a small loading gauge, they have more general applications. Non-industrial, narrow-gauge mountain railways are common in the Rocky Mountains of the United States and the Pacific Cordillera of Canada, Switzerland, the former Yugoslavia and Costa Rica. In some countries, narrow gauge is the standard. Narrow-gauge trams metre-gauge, are common in Europe. A narrow-gauge railway is one where the distance between the inside edges of the rails is less than 1,435 mm. Historically, the term was sometimes used to refer to standard-gauge railways, to distinguish them from broad-gauge railways, but this use no longer applies.
The earliest recorded railway appears in Georgius Agricola's 1556 De re metallica, which shows a mine in Bohemia with a railway of about 2 ft gauge. During the 16th century, railways were restricted to hand-pushed, narrow-gauge lines in mines throughout Europe. In the 17th century, mine railways were extended to provide transportation above ground; these lines were industrial. These railways were built to the same narrow gauge as the mine railways from which they developed; the world's first steam locomotive, built in 1802 by Richard Trevithick for the Coalbrookdale Company, ran on a 3 ft plateway. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray's Salamanca built in 1812 for the 4 ft 1 in Middleton Railway in Leeds. Salamanca was the first rack-and-pinion locomotive. During the 1820s and 1830s, a number of industrial narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom used steam locomotives. In 1842, the first narrow-gauge steam locomotive outside the UK was built for the 1,100 mm -gauge Antwerp-Ghent Railway in Belgium.
The first use of steam locomotives on a public, passenger-carrying narrow-gauge railway was in 1865, when the Ffestiniog Railway introduced passenger service after receiving its first locomotives two years earlier. Many narrow-gauge railways were part of industrial enterprises and served as industrial railways, rather than general carriers. Common uses for these industrial narrow-gauge railways included mining, construction, tunnelling and conveying agricultural products. Extensive narrow-gauge networks were constructed in many parts of the world. Significant sugarcane railways still operate in Cuba, Java, the Philippines, Queensland, narrow-gauge railway equipment remains in common use for building tunnels; the first use of an internal combustion engine to power a narrow-gauge locomotive was in 1902. F. C. Blake built a 7 hp petrol locomotive for the Richmond Main Sewerage Board sewage plant at Mortlake; this 2 ft 9 in gauge locomotive was the third petrol-engined locomotive built. Extensive narrow-gauge rail systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in World War I.
They were a short-lived military application, after the war the surplus equipment created a small boom in European narrow-gauge railway building. Narrow-gauge railways cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, smaller bridges and tunnels, tighter curves. Narrow gauge is used in mountainous terrain, where engineering savings can be substantial, it is used in sparsely populated areas where the potential demand is too low for broad-gauge railways to be economically viable. This is the case in parts of Australia and most of Southern Africa, where poor soils have led to population densities too low for standard gauge to be viable. For temporary railways which will be removed after short-term use, such as logging, mining or large-scale construction projects, a narrow-gauge railway is cheaper and easier to install and remove; such railways have vanished, due to the capabilities of modern trucks. In many countries, narrow-gauge railways were built as branch lines to feed traffic to standard-gauge lines due to lower construction costs.
The choice was not between a narrow- and standard-gauge railway, but between a narrow-gauge railway and none at all. Narrow-gauge railways cannot interchange rolling stock with the standard- or broad- gauge railways with which they link, the transfer of passengers and freight require time-consuming manual labour or substantial capital expenditure; some bulk commodities, such as coal and gravel, can be mechanically transshipped, but this is time-consuming, the equipment required for the transfer is oft
Wiseana copularis is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand; this moth is one of several similar looking species within the genus Wiseana and this group are collectively referred to as "Porina" moths. In its larvae form this species consumes pasture grasses and, if numerous, is regarded as a pest by New Zealand farmers reliant on good quality pasture for their stock. W. copularis was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1912 under the name Porina copularis. Meyrick used material collected by Alfred Philpott from the West Plains district of Invercargill. George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under this name in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Pierre Viette placed this species within the genus Wiseana in 1961; the lectotype specimen is held at London. John S. Dugdale noted that the name despecta was misapplied by L. J. Dumbleton to this species in his 1966 publication Genitalia and zoogeography of the New Zealand Hepialidae.
This error was perpetuated in subsequent agricultural literature. The wingspan is 34 -- 40 mm for 43 -- 52 mm for females; the colour of the forewings varies from dark to pale brown. The hindwings are pallid to infuscate. W. copularis has variable wing patternation and is visually similar to four other species within the genus Wiseana. It is possible to distinguish the male of W. copularis by the long rectangular antennal pectinations of the adult moth. However the recommended technique to distinguish specimens down to species level is through microscopic examination of the genitalia of the species or alternatively mitochondrial DNA analysis; this species is endemic to New Zealand. It is common in the Wellington districts as well as throughout the South Island. W. copularis is on the wing from October to April. They are attracted to light, they only live for a few days. Female moths have been observed fanning their wings just prior to copulation with a male. Evidence suggests that the female moths release a sex pheromone to attract male moths prior to copulation.
After mating females lay between 500 - 2300 eggs in grass. After 3 to 5 weeks the eggs hatch and the young larvae feed on leaf litter; as they mature, at an age of between 4 and 15 weeks old, the larvae create a vertical tunnel in the soil from which they emerge at night to eat grass species surrounding their tunnel. The tunnel entrance is concealed by plant detritus. At 38 weeks they reach maturity having grown to a length of up to 7 cm; the moth enters the pupa stage of their life cycle which lasts a month. The moth pupates in their tunnel. Field collected larvae of this species have been reared in the laboratory for research purposes. During that study it was found that the survival to adulthood of the larvae was greatest at a temperature of 15 Celsius. Eggs and immature larvae are vulnerable to dry trampling by stock. Once in their tunnel, they are protected from dry conditions. Larvae have been shown to be at risk from bacterial infection. Research has been undertaken on the possibility of exploiting this susceptibility to ensure biological control of larvae inhabiting farmland pasture.
W. copularis prefer moist sites in shrub and grasslands. Host species for the moth larvae include Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens; the larvae of this species have been implicated in pasture damage. Farmers use an insect growth regulator such as Diflubenzuron where they believe moth larvae infestation may cause significant damage to their pasture
Ushlinova Peak is the sharp ice-covered peak of elevation 2150 m in the west foothills of Avery Plateau on Loubet Coast in Graham Land, Antarctica. It surmounts Widdowson Glacier to a tributary to that glacier to the northeast; the peak is named after Donka Ushlinova, a participant in the Bulgarian liberation movement in Macedonia, much decorated for her bravery in the 1912–1918 wars of national unification. Ushlinova Peak is located at 66°48′10″S 65°37′44″W, 13.66 km southeast of Rubner Peak, 14 km south-southeast of Sokol Point on Darbel Bay, 9.63 km southwest of the nearest of Zilva Peaks, 12.1 km north of Hutchison Hill. British mapping in 1976. Antarctic Digital Database. Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 1993-2016. British Antarctic Territory. Scale 1:200000 topographic map. DOS 610 Series, Sheet W 66 64. Directorate of Overseas Surveys, Tolworth, UK, 1976. Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer. Antarctic Place-names Commission. Ushlinova Peak. SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer Ushlinova Peak.
Copernix satellite imageThis article includes information from the Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, used with permission
Chrysophyllum roxburghii is a plant species in the family Sapotaceae. It grows; the bark is grey to dark brown. Inflorescences bear up to 45 flowers; the fruit are brownish to purplish round, up to 4 cm in diameter. Its habitat is lowland forests from sea-level to 700 metres altitude. C. roxburghii grows in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Queensland. The Latin specific epithet roxburghii refers to the Scottish Botanist William Roxburgh
Me Against Myself is the debut studio album by Jay Sean, released 8 November 2004 in the United Kingdom, January 2005 in Malaysia, February 2005 in India on 2Point9 Records, Relentless Records, Virgin Records. The album includes three UK top 20 hit singles: "Dance With You", "Eyes On You", "Stolen". Noted for its experimental, creative fusion of contemporary R&B, British hip hop and Indian music, as well as its social commentary, the album was universally acclaimed by critics and sold more than two million copies worldwide, remaining Sean's most successful album to date. Me Against Myself was influential in pioneering and popularizing Bhangra-R&B fusion music among the worldwide South Asian diaspora. Despite failing to reach the top 20 on the UK Albums Chart, the album managed to sell 100,000 copies in the UK and went on to become a substantial hit in Asia. "Dance With You" and "One Night" were included on the soundtracks for the Bollywood films Boom and Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, with Sean making an appearance in the latter, while the Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu made an appearance in the music video for the song "Stolen".
This helped Me Against Myself become five-times platinum in India. Beyond India, the album sold over 300,000 copies across other parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, his performance of tracks from Me Against Myself on MTV Asia had a television audience as large as 165 million viewers. The album helped establish Sean as a major recognized artist across Asia and among the worldwide Desi diaspora. Me Against Myself was universally acclaimed by critics across the world for its experimental, creative fusion of contemporary R&B, hip hop music and Indian music, as well as its social commentary. In the UK, Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music gave the album 8 out of 10 stars, referring to Me Against Myself as "an album of phenomenally accomplished R&B" and "an album of indisputable quality." He praised the Asian musical influence, social commentary, "well adjusted sense of humour" the "hysterical crisis of integrity" shown in the title track "Me Against Myself" where "rapper Sean mercilessly derides his “pansy” singing alter ego".
Antony Hatfield of BBC Music praised the album, stating that it "is of major league significance" and, with "influences that enter from all angles," it is "an album by gifted people with a vision beyond boundaries and a simple devotion to music." In particular, he praised the title track "Me Against Myself", where Sean's singer and rapper personae go into battle, for its honesty and self-awareness. Tareck Ghoneim of Contactmusic.com praised the album, referring to Sean as an "Asian sensation", breaking barriers "making pop songs that include sounds from Sean’s cultural background and with potential mass appeal." He stated that the "album is progressive in that it shows a fusion of Asian sounds with r’n’b and pop music." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, praising "the Bollysoul arrangements that underscore his vocals", in reference to the fusion of Bollywood and soul music in the song "Stolen". The Liverpool Daily Post gave the album a score of 3 out of 4 stars.
Peter Culshaw of The Telegraph referred to the album as "highly accomplished R&B, with minor Indian musical elements", but considered the best tracks in the album to be the hip hop tracks "You Don't Know Me" and "Me Against Myself" for their social commentary which deal with Sean's inner conflicts and the difficulties in "trying to make it as an Asian in the hip-hop arena." Culshaw praised Sean's talent and stated that, "currently attracting the attention of demi-god producer Timbaland, it will be fascinating to see how Sean resolves his musical schizophrenia."The album received positive reviews in Asia, where its British-Asian fusion sounds were seen as a novelty. In India, A. Vishnu of The Hindu stated that, "After having kick-started the `British sound with an Indian flavour' concept, Sean has created a cutting-edge formula, which appeals to Hip-hop fans and Bhangra enthusiasts alike." He concluded. It's time to take Bhangra to the next level." The Statesman stated, "A mixture of R & B, hip hop and rap, it has desi flavours as well.
With bhangra influences in the background, this album is one of the most popular UK Asian crossover offerings till date." In Malaysia, Kiren Kaur of New Straits Times praised the album, referring to the songs "Eyes On You" and "Dance With You" in particular as "dance-floor favourites with the fusion of Desi rhythms with R&B tones." In the African country of Zambia, Candice Soobramoney of the Zambia Post gave the album a rating of 8/10. The creativity and experimentalism of his debut album Me Against Myself became a point of criticism towards Sean's more mainstream follow-up albums, My Own Way and All or Nothing, for lacking the experimental British-Asian fusion sounds and the social commentary that had characterized his debut album Me Against Myself, in favour of mainstream American-influenced R&B pop music in his albums. In his review of My Own Way, Angus Batey of The Guardian stated that Sean "has lost - not for one hopes - the stuff that made him stand out" in Me Against Myself. Sean responded that the reason he gave up on the Indian-R&B fusion music that he helped popularize is because it had become too common in Asian Underground and Indian pop music.
Dance With You on YouTube Eyes On You on YouTube Stolen on YouTube One Night
John George Prchlik was a professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League. The eldest of four, He was born into a Czech immigrant community and didn't learn English until he went to school, yet he excelled at academics and athletics at Cleveland West Technical High School. Evidence to his leadership skills and the wartime situation, he was nominated for an officers training program, he could have been placed in any university in the country, but randomly he was assigned to the ROTC program at Yale University, where among others his classmates included George Herbert Bush and William F. Buckley, a huge cultural shift from W. 44th St. in Cleveland. He served as an Ensign on the aircraft carrier, the USS White Plains in the Pacific Theater in the middle of his college career, he returned to New Haven, lettered in football and crew and married his wife, Patricia Hallihan, a local resident in 1949. As a college All American he played in both the 1948 East West Shrine game and the College All Star game.
After playing college football at Yale, Prchlik was drafted by the Boston Yanks in the 30th round in the 1947 NFL Draft. He played five seasons for the Detroit Lions including their 1952 and 1953 Championship seasons and in the 1951 and 1952 seasons was defensive captain. In the off season, he worked towards his Law degree and graduated from Wayne State University in 1952, he had six children. John Prchlik died December 31, 2003 of pancreatic cancer in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee at age 78. John Prchlik at Find a Grave