Complex Systems

Some random UPS package sorting facility
I chose this picture because the ominous red lights remind me of the Terminator

A guy I know is back working at UPS, this time at the sorting facility out by PDX (the Portland airport). This place is maybe half the size of the dungeon (as it is commonly referred to) on Swan Island. At the dungeon they had maybe a dozen people scanning packages at key locations. At PDX, the scanning is done automatically, so they don't have people doing the scanning. Like all mechanical systems, occasionally things break and the system comes to a halt. At Swan Island when something broke, it only shut down a portion of the system. When something breaks at PDX, like a package jams a conveyor belt, the whole thing stops and all the package handlers get a break for an hour or two until they (whoever they are) get it fixed and it starts running again.

We would expect newer systems to have fewer breakdowns, which should result is less downtime over all. If breakdowns start happening too frequently, I expect they will just bulldoze the entire place and build a new one.

Swan Island Water Slide

Carnival Panorama arriving at the Portland drydock
KetAwesomeness / Ketner Mizée

Older son noticed there was a cruise ship docked at Swan Island. He noticed it because he could see a water slide poking up above the warehouses. Swan Island is an industrial district, full of warehouses, train tracks and shipyards, so a water slide was definitely out of place. 

Carnival Panorama Water Slide

The water slide is perched on top of a cruise ship that has come to Portland for repairs. We were driving around down there Saturday morning and every so often you could catch a glimpse of it, but nowhere could you get a good view of it.

Near as I can make out, this ship operates out of Long Beach, California. They had some engine trouble and decided to send it to the Vigor Shipyard in Portland for repair. Vigor has only drydock on the west coast that is big enough to accommodate this ship. 

Carnival Panorama funnel
Notice scaffolding around the funnel

Before they could come here they first had to stop at Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, to have the top part of the funnel removed so the ship could sail under the bridges on the way up the Columbia River to Portland.

Bridges between Swan Island and the Pacific Ocean

Bridges between Swan Island and the Pacific Ocean

P. S. Most every web site about cruise ships is so loaded with ad-ware that it drug my computer back into the dark ages. Very annoying.

Stinson Junior

Stinson Junior SM-8A

This aircraft apparently belongs Yellowbird Aviation. They offer rides in a couple of vintage aircraft. They're based in Deer Park, Arizona, a northern suburb of Phoenix. I used to work at the Intel facility there.

The Stinson Junior dates to the late 1920's. This one carries four people.

I don't know anything about Portland Airways (the name painted on the side of the airplane), but there used to be an airport on Swan Island in Portland. It's all industry and railroads now.

That protrusion on the leading edge of the right wing might be a landing light, which makes me wonder when landing lights were introduced, but I'm not going down that rathole right now.

Isla Aves

Venezuela Protest

Came across a report about Internet access being blocked in Venezuela. Not surprising given the situation (zillions of people protesting the tyrant Maduro). Looking at the list of websites being blocked and I notice https://crimenessincastigo.blogspot.com/ They've blocked somebodies blog? It must be really radical to get the attention of Maduro's thugs. Let's go take a look, well, we'll take a look at Google's translation. It starts out with a piece about the financial clubs the US government is using to beat on Maduro's supporters. It's all rather complicated, but it might be having some effect.

The next story is completely different:

-On December 26, three Navy personnel assigned to the Simón Bolívar scientific-naval base, on Isla de Aves, went to sea in a small inflatable boat. Soon after, they lost sight of them, and since then nothing else has been known about them. The zodiac-type boat-equipped with an outboard motor-was manned by the first sergeant Víctor García Navarro, and the second corporal Gustavo Fuentes Vera and Yohander Bravo Colmenares. The first known part about this situation indicates that the military went out to do a "sea trial", and that at approximately 4:30 pm the visual contact between the crew and the base, which operates in a palafito-type building, was lost. 

Aves Island with research station

Isla Aves (bird island) is not much more than a rock (it's about 500 yards long), but since Venezuela claims it is an island, they can lay claim to a 200 miles economic zone around their rock, which brings them into conflict with just about everybody else in the eastern Caribbean.

Analysis of the case of Maritime SAR of Isla de Aves made by the Humboldt Rescue Organization.

There was some kind of search mounted for the sailors, but nothing was found, so they might be lost. Or they might have motored over to another nearby island. Guadeloupe is 125 miles away, which is a bit of a stretch for a Zodiac, but with good weather and enough fuel they ought to be able to make it. I think the above map shows they would expect a boat drifting from Isla Aves to wash up on the Yucatan peninsula after two or three months. This is the opposite direction from Guadeloupe, so if our intrepid sailors were trying to escape, the Search And Rescue team would be looking in the wrong place.

Some places that have made it into this blog before.

Top to bottom:
The Dry Tortugas (links to Amazon)
Scorpion Reef
Treasure Island
Swan Island
Isla Aves (this post).

The Dry Tortugas is on this list because I read a book that was set here. I thought I had put up a post about it, but evidently not. The book is Flashback by Nevada Barr, who has written a whole series of murder mysteries, all set in National Parks.

North Portland Railroad Tunnel

North Portland Railroad Map

Driving down North Lombard Street on my way to the airport yesterday afternoon, it occurred to me that I was missing a piece of the puzzle. North Portland is about a 150 feet higher in elevation than the river. This is especially noticeable in the bluffs between the University of Portland and Swan Island. Railroads don't like hills, so how does the railroad get from Swan Island up to the level of North Lombard Street?

For one thing, the land slopes gently down toward the north and east, so by the time Lombard meets up with the railroad (a couple miles east of the above map), their elevation is about 50 feet, only about 25 feet higher than Swan Island. The railroad has about 5 miles to to make that climb, which is only about one foot of rise in a thousand feet of run, which should be easy enough for any train.

So that part of the puzzle is filled in. But while I am looking into this I discover a train tunnel running under North Portland. I had no idea. The tunnel was built a hundred years ago and is still in daily use. It is the pale orange line running vertically in the map above, about a half an inch from the right hand border. The railroads first project to cut across North Portland involved making a cut (basically a big ditch). That's the thick orange line running diagonally across the map. People were so upset about their town being cut in half by this ditch that when the railroad proposed making another cut, they were forced to back off and dig a tunnel instead.

Brief history of the tunnel here.
Discussion on Reddit here.
Railroad maps here.
Topographic maps here.

Passport Rules, Part 2

Geese walk along the snow covered waterfront park through heavy snowfall as the first winter storm of the season hits the area in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Monday morning delinquent daughter packages up her paperwork and ships it via high speed express to the passport expediting company. They are promising one day turn around time, so with one day to get there, one day to process, and one day to return, she might have her new passport by Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon it starts snowing. In parts of the country where snow is a regular seasonal occurrence, that might not be such a big deal, but here in Portland it only snows when it will most inconvenience ME. Evening rush hour is a disaster. What would normally be a 30 minute commute turns into two hours.

Thursday schools are closed. Roads are covered with ice and snow. If you are careful, you can go places. Traffic on the roads is light because most people have enough sense to stay home.

We're expecting the new passport to arrive via FedEx, but it doesn't. Come dinner time dutiful daughter is in full panic mode. Tracking the package reveals that the delivery was aborted, no other explanation given. She finally resorts to pushing the zero button on the phone repeatedly until she gets connected to a real person, and after a few minutes of gentle persuasion they reveal that the package is at the Swan Island shipping center. It is 7:15 PM. They close at 8. Google Maps estimate travel time to be 25 minutes. (Really? With all the ice and snow?) We decide to go, maybe we'll be lucky.

Once we have gotten to well traveled places, the roads are pretty well clear of ice and snow. We see a couple of cars in the ditch, one has turned turtle. Oddly, the section of Highway 26 near the intersection of 217 has the most snow and ice. That's weird because that is usually where the traffic is heaviest.

It's a little nerve wracking driving at moderate freeway speeds on roads with dubious traction, but we don't have any trouble, not even going down Going Street towards Swan Island, or coming back up, even though it appears to be covered with ice. I suppose the sand trucks have been there.

Now all we have to do is get to the airport.

Part 1 here.

ANT-25

Stalin's Route

I'm reading The Shipping News by Anne Proulx and on page 209 she writes:

"Vikings down the cracking winds, steering through fog by the polarized light of sun-stones."

Sun-stones? There are rocks that are called sun-stones, and you might be able to use them for navigation. Reading about them leads to the solar compass, which leads to flying over the poles (where magnetic compasses are not much help), which leads to the first flight across the Arctic ice cap. And since navigation is complicated and airplanes are thrilling, we'll put aside solar navigation for now and focus on the airplane.

ANT-25 at Pearson Field

     That first transpolar flight was made in 1937 by three Russians flying an ANT-25. The ANT-25 was very large, single engine monoplane, built specifically to set long distance records. It had huge fuel tanks and a relatively tiny engine. Top speed was like 120 MPH. Empty it weighed four tons, loaded with fuel it weighed eight. Power to weight ratio was one horsepower to 20 pounds. A modern Cessna 172 has a ratio of one to 15.
    They built a special runway in Moscow for it. Two and half miles long and sloped, though I can't imagine they could put enough slope in a runway that long to make any difference.
    And then they flew it to the United States (see flight path above). They were hoping to make California, but problems with the aircraft led them to say Oregon is far enough. They were going to land at Swan Island but when they flew over they saw a large crowd of people and mindful of what happened to Charles Lindbergh when he landed in Paris*, they opted for the military airfield across the river in Vancouver: Pearson Field.
    In 1974 some Russian fishermen paid a visit to Pearson Field. Their hosts were embarrassed enough by the lack of a monument that they had one erected.
    "In 1989, Tupolev design bureau built an ANT-25 replica for Monino aviation museum."

Fiddler's Green has a few stories about the ANT-25.
Diesel Punks dot org has a pretty good photo essay.

* "A crowd estimated at 150,000 spectators stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of the cockpit, and literally carried him around above their heads for "nearly half an hour". While some damage was done to the Spirit (especially to the fine linen, silver-painted fabric covering on the fuselage) by souvenir hunters, both Lindbergh and the Spirit were eventually "rescued" from the mob by a group of French military fliers, soldiers, and police, who took them both to safety in a nearby hangar." - Wikipedia

Swan Island Airport

Swan Island Airport

I came across this picture postcard the other day when I was looking for information about Swan Island Radio. At first I thought it was somebody's Tom Swift fantasy, I mean no one would try and put an airport in downtown Portland, and Swan Island (there is one in Portland) isn't anywhere near big enough, is it?

Swan Island Municipal Airport terminal in Portland, Oregon

    Turns out it was a real thing, a hundred years ago. It was big business for 20 years or so, they even built a fancy terminal building.

Swan Island Radio

Swan Island Radio was started by the CIA in 1960 as part of the U.S. Government's effort to dislodge Castro's Communist regime.

Radio America QSL card from 1966

Radio Americas Map

Swan Island Postcard 1961

Swan Island Radio eventually became The Voice of America and moved to Miami. Since then ownership of the island has been transferred to Honduras, which maintains a navigation beacon, or at least did. A few scientists and cruisers visit occasionally.

Rotating Navigation Beacon Light 1986 Edwin P. Cutler

Dr. Sylvia Earle Explores a coral reef at Swan Island, (c) Kip Evans Photography 2011

Aerial View of the Swan Islands, (c) Kip Evans Photography 2011
We are looking east. Big Swan is in the foreground, Little Swan in back.

cGPS site CN18 on Swan Island, Honduras. Photo by Michael Fend, UNAVCO 2014
Used to measure Caribbean plate movement

Aerial view of Swan Island, Honduras. Photo by Michael Fend, UNAVCO 2014

Living quarters for the Honduran navy while stationed on Swan Island
2015 Barbara Duhn

Honduran sailors on the wharf

Radio Havana had a page with this map, but it's been deleted.

Rip, Tear, Crack, Split, Fracture

I ask a simple question and down the rathole we go . . .

SS Schenectady

Why is it so hard to start a tear in plastic film?
Once you have a tear started, it is easy to continue tearing.

I think it is derived from their long-chain molecular structure. Most plastics used in films will tend to deform when placed under tension, spreading the stress over a wider area. Once a tear is started, the stress becomes localised, and will exceed the limit quite easily. AndyTheGrump

Starting a tear, er, fracture. Figure by N. Bernstein & D. Hess, NRL

It's sort of the same reason that it's easier to pull apart a zipper [starting at one end but near impossible if you try and separate the whole thing at once]. Basically, at the onset, the force you apply is distributed throughout a line or plane. Once the tear is initiated, all of that force gets focused directly into the weak spot. Tearing is basically an example of fracture mechanics, and the details can get very complicated! A decent overview can be found here. Note that the ductile case of plastics works a bit differently than the brittle case. SemanticMantis
Part of the reason is already in the name: See Plasticity (physics). Just as when you're tearing on the cheese on your pizza, it just gets thinner and thinner, instead of breaking. — Sebastian

Then in the PDF from The University of Virginia, I found this:

Low temperatures can severely embrittle steels. The Liberty ships, produced in great numbers during the WWII were the first all-welded ships. A significant number of ships failed by catastrophic fracture. 

Ships failed? You're kidding, right? No, we're not. See the picture at the top.

Low Temperature Properties

Charpy Impact Resistance tells you how tough a material is. Nickel (the top line in the graph) doesn't much care about the temperature, but steel gets brittle when it gets cold. Fancy steel (the middle line) does better at all temperatures likely to be found on the surface of the Earth, but peasant steel (the line in the lower right quadrant) can become brittle in a mild West Coast winter, or more significantly, in the Middle of the North Atlantic.

Liberty ships were welded together, not riveted, as had been the standard practice up till that time. When they started breaking, it was assumed that the problem arose from the welding. The Brits called in Constance Tipper to look into the matter, and she found the problem was with the steel they were using. NewStatesman has a short story about her.

The SS Schenectady (shown at top) was built at the Swan Island Shipyard here in Portland, Oregon. Wikipedia has the story:

On 16 January 1943, she was moored at the fitting dock at Swan Island, in calm weather, shortly after returning from her sea trials. Without warning, and with a noise audible for at least a mile, the hull cracked almost in half, just aft of the superstructure. The cracks reached down the port and starboard sides almost to the keel, which itself fractured, jackknifing upwards out of the water as the bow and stern sagged to the bottom of the river. Only the bottom plates of the ship held. This was not the first of the war-built merchant fleet to fracture in this way – there had been ten other major incidents, and several more would follow – but it was perhaps the most prominent; it occurred in full view of the city of Portland, and was widely reported in the newspapers even under wartime conditions.