There was a Nissan showroom in the Ginza district of Tokyo and it had an interesting looking vehicle on display. It was called the IMS. I don’t know whether it is a concept car or something that they are actually going to build but I thought it was interesting enough for a post.
I got a few stills of the hovercraft but I also decided to film some video. For those that haven’t seen hovercraft in action, stills probably do not give a suitable impression of how they rise up above the surface yet still leave a wake. Quite a cool form of transportation and I do enjoy seeing them. Hope you enjoy the video.
Regular readers know I like the hovercraft. I didn’t make a specific visit to Ryde on our last trip to see them but I did get to see them on our two ferry crossings and we also stopped at Southsea where I got to see a couple of arrivals and departures. The new hovercraft have not had a trouble free introduction but I suspect they have had a few fixes embodied. The memory of introduction problems will probably last far longer than the actual problems but I don’t know for sure whether they are doing fine now or not. All I know is that the service was running while we were there.
I was rather pleased that one of the crossings ended up getting very close to the ferry as we headed in to Portsmouth. It provided a far more interesting angle on the hovercraft than I would normally get. Combine that with some shots from the beach at Southsea and I was happy with having got some shots of the new craft which I hadn’t really seen before. During the departure, I was conscious of the potential for spray sideways as they lifted off. What I hadn’t considered properly – pretty annoying given how I know to deal with jetwash when on a ramp – is that the departing craft got quite far offshore before you got blasted with their propwash. That was mixed with seawater – an ideal combination for electronic equipment! No permanent damage though.
Nagoya is home to a museum of Japanese rolling stock. The museum name focuses on Maglev technology and there is a Maglev prototype in the museum. However, the exhibits are really a cross section of the Japanese rail industry over the years. I will probably post some more from the museum as there were quite a few interesting exhibits. Most of it was inside – most welcome on such a hot day – but the N700 prototype was outside. I did have a look at that briefly along with an old steam locomotive but I was soon driven back inside by the temperatures.
When I first got there, you are directed into a hall with three significant exhibits. It was so dark, I was wondering whether there would be any decent photo opportunities. However, this was just the initial introduction and there were periodic videos and light shows to allow you to see these exhibits more clearly. A little patience was required. The main hall had the majority of the exhibits and they were lit normally. There were plenty of people in the museum taking pictures with small children that didn’t seem to be enjoying it as much as the parents would have liked! Maybe they wanted to be at Legoland across the street?
There are a few readers of the blog that like trains so this is a quick view of some UK passenger trains. We stayed in Chichester for a while and were very close to the station. We had to walk past it in to the town. There were tons of trains running along this coast route so I saw several as we were finding out where things were. Here are two of the trains. They are both EMUs, one of which is relatively recent while the other is a pretty old vintage of train that I didn’t even realize operated in this part of the world.
I know a few of the regular readers of the blog are in to trains so I hope this one pleases them. The Henry Ford Museum covers all sorts of engineering endeavors including a selection of rail vehicles. This was one of the last things we saw before we left so I didn’t explore very much. However, there was one rather large steam locomotive on display. This thing was a beast and I imagine it was quite the sight when it was in regular usage. Our visit coincided with the running of Big Boy after restoration so something similar to this can been seen for real once again!
Exotics@RTC brings plenty of jazzy cars including lots of McLarens as I posted here. The one car I was hoping to see at some point was a Senna. I figured with all of the IT cash floating around the area, one was bound to appear at some point. I rode my bike down to Redmond to have a look one Saturday. My jersey only had small pockets so I left all cameras behind except my phone. Guess what car showed up as soon as I had no proper camera?
I didn’t see it initially. All I saw was a large crowd of people around one car. This is always a sign of something special and there, within the crowds, was a black car with a huge rear wing. The Senna had arrived. Getting clean shots of it was almost impossible given the number of people milling around but the wide angle lens on the phone was a benefit for once as it meant you could get closer and grab some shots. Quite a mean looking machine and one I might have to save up a bit in order to buy.
The return of summer means the return of the cruise ships. We took a trip over to West Seattle when we had visitors to get a view of the city and there were cruise ships at both terminals. One was side on to us while two more were stern on at the further terminal. We shall have a lot of these big ships coming and going for the next few months as people head up to Alaska on a voyage.
A work requirement needed some photos of a project in which we are involved. We provided he pictures but the team requiring them had an issue with the images we had an wanted something new. When we couldn’t find any more, the easiest thing was to take some. I was heading in the right direction one day so stopped off to take some shots of the Sound Transit Link light rail system. I figured I would share a little of them here too for the rail fans amongst you.
A quick work trip to Boston meant I needed to take the “T” from my hotel to the offices where we were meeting. I took the Blue Line in to the city and then changed on to the oldest line the city apparently has, the Green Line. The vehicles I rode on were very old school in their design. What amazed me more was the tight curvatures of the track.
I lived in Chicago where the “L” has some really tight curves. However, it has nothing on this track. I watch the next car pivot out of sight as we weaved through an amazing turn. When I made my return journey, I changed at one station that also had a really tight curve. At first I thought it was a relic of old track but the rail looked like it was in use and there was a power line in place so I guess it is still needed. Quite something. It would never get built like that now but that is what systems over a century old sometimes come with!
