Archives for May 2011

May 22, 1902: Crater Lake National Park Created

May 22, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

Crater Lake National Park was officially designated with a bill signed by President Theodore Roosevelt on May 22, 1902.

The park encompasses over 180 thousand acres and is the sixth oldest National Park in the country.

The focal point of the park, of course, is the lake, which formed 7700 years ago when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed upon itself. The resulting caldera filled with rain and melted snow over the next few centuries.

Each year the half million visitors to the park also have the opportunity to check out The Pinnacles, camp in pine forests, view amazing sunsets, and behave like dorks (At least that’s what Heather and I did on our visit in 2009).

May 21, 2006: Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Tower Imploded

May 21, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, Oregon’s first and only commercial nuclear power plant, was located in Rainier on the Columbia River.

Cost overruns, construction flaws, frequent malfunctions, and protests marked its 16 year existence (about 20 years shorter than its design lifetime). It also failed to produce energy at a price anywhere close to too cheap to meter.

The plant was decommissioned in 1993, and on May 21, 2006 at 7 a.m. the 499 foot tall cooling tower was imploded.

Photo credit: Trojan implosion animated gif by Wikipedia user Duk, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Match Day (21-May-2011): Portland Timbers vs. Columbus Crew

May 21, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

After last weekend’s inspired performance and resulting draw up north the Portland Timbers (4-3-2) return home tonight to host the Columbus Crew (3-2-4).

The Timbers’ record at Jeld-Wen in league play is a perfect 4-0-0 while the Crew’s record on the road is a paltry 0-2-2. The Crew, however, don’t necessarily suck. Currently tied for 3rd in the Eastern Conference, they have a stingy defense and have finished top or near top of their conference table the past three seasons.

This is exactly the kind of game a team might not be mentally prepared for, especially after the no doubt emotionally exhausting experience that was last weekend. Let’s hope Spencer and the Timbers don’t let up.

Kickoff is at 8pm. The first 5000 fans through the turnstiles at Jeld-Wen receive a free Timbers reusable grocery bag! If you can’t make it to the match, watch on FOX 12 or estrellaTV 8.3 or listen on 95.5 The Game or La Pantera 940 AM.

Match previews and intrigue

Match Preview: Timbers vs. Columbus by Kelly McLain at Timbers Insider
A Few Questions Regarding the Columbus Crew [Preview] by Geoff Gibson at Stumptown Footy
Portland Timbers: Only people sawing logs in Columbus are the fans as Crew struggle to score goals by Paul Buker at The Oregonian
Timbers vs. Crew: Columbus coach says “defending set pieces is going to be crucial” by Paul Buker at The Oregonian
Portland Timbers: The Doomsday scenario at Jeld-Wen involves an overconfident team blowing a game it should win at home by Paul Buker at The Oregonian
Timbers coach Spencer preaches need for big performance in another ‘big game’ by Stephen Alexander at the Portland Tribune
Head to Head Preview: Portland Timbers – Columbus Crew by Giovanni Albanese Jr. and Justin Henle at Goal.com
Preview: Portland aim to stay perfect at home vs. Crew at MLSsoccer.com
Soccer: Crew looks to break out of goal drought by Tom Reed at The Columbus Dispatch

May 20, 1956: Spokane, Portland & Seattle #700 Bids Farewell to Steam

May 20, 2011 by Dave Knows 1 Comment

The Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) steam locomotive #700 made its final, official run, on May 20, 1956.

The Farewell to Steam Excursion attracted 1375 passenger who piled into 21 cars in Portland for a trip to Wishram, Washington and back (The Oregonian, 21-May-1956).

The train’s engineer, J. T. Craine, Vancouver, Wash., whose 38 years of railroading included service as fireman on No. 700 that morning in 1938 when it made its maiden run over SP&S tracks, was definite in his opinions. A loving hand on 700’s controls, he grieved.

“I still like this old girl. You feel like you’ve got something to work with in a steam engine. Handling a diesel is just like sitting in a streetcar.”

The 700 was placed on the scrap line after the trip . . . but that was not the end of her. The SP&S 700 is now owned by the City of Portland, and is maintained by the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. The locomotive was declared a “historic place” in 2006, and is still occasionally enlisted for special occasions, like the annual Holiday Express

Urban Archaeology in SW Portland

May 19, 2011 by Dave Knows Leave a Comment

The Burlingame Fred Meyer (7555 SW Barbur), the oldest store in the chain that is still operating, is undergoing renovations and will be closed until September. The renovation work, ZehnKatzen Times blogger and culture vulture Samuel John Klein notes, has revealed some clues to the building’s design past:

Naturally, having the outside off the way it is, the building has had its skin removed; we’re looking at the bones. It’s more interesting than I thought it would be. For instance, in the above photo, notice the slanting-out faces of the vertical supports. They have details on, some grooves in the masonry that add visual interest, and there are mansard-style caps on each of them.

See more photos and read more of Samuel’s thoughts and comments on the building and the vintage sign (which will be retained post-renovation) in his post: Urban Archaeology at the Burlingame Fred Meyer.

Photo credit: Photo of vintage Burlingame Fred Meyer Sign by Samuel John Klein, used with permission.

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