Since it's not defined in the article, the "DEW Line" is the Distant Early Warning like, a string of radar stations in the far northern regions of Canada designed during the Cold War to provide early warning of incoming planes or troops from the Soviet Union.
My father as a newly minted ensign in 1958 served aboard the USS Interpreter and would recall fondly one of his first conversations with the captain. My father asked about how the analysts they reported contacts to would know “when it was the real one”. To which the captain laughed “You damn fool. They’ll know it’s the real one when we don’t report in.”
It didn't seem to help Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze in the 1984 movie Red Dawn ;) Interesting NATO is disbanded in that movie, and the harvest in the Ukraine suffers for some reason (blight? war?).
The Ukraine harvest suffering isn't as random as you might think. It produced the majority of the food for the Warsaw block, and avoiding a famine leading to revolution is a good reason to start a major war.
NATO being dissolved is pretty deterministic as well. The average American in 1984 couldn't conceive of the Russians actually making it all the way over to the US. Nuking the US, but not a successful land invasion. So there had to be some reason the US got weaker. NATO dissolving doesn't put any blame for that on the US, which is important for a flag-waving film.
In the 1984 movie, paratroopers dropped from supposed commercial flights, which was the approach the USSR used for their 1980 invasion of Afghanistan
Nukes were used later against the Chinese, which was why there were 500 million screaming Chinese in our side. 13 year old me was a big fan of the movie.
John has a big mustache.
The chair is against the wall.
Tom Cruise wasn't in Red Dawn, as I recall - maybe thinking about Charlie Sheen (the discount Tom Cruise)? Yes, wheat harvest fails in Ukraine, coup in Mexico, NATO disbanded. Cuban paratroopers in the first wave if I recall correctly. Still a highly enjoyable movie - one of the best eighties adventure flicks.
> It didn't seem to help Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze in the 1984 movie Red Dawn ;) Interesting NATO is disbanded in that movie, and the harvest in the Ukraine suffers for some reason (blight? war?).
Of course. The DEW line was mean to warn against a Soviet nuclear attack, but in that movie no such attack occurs.
Interesting to think that Big Muskie was significantly larger in all dimensions than the residence hall I lived in for my first year of university. One machine moved more material than two panama canals in its lifespan...
Big Muskie was not a fast mover but it could have made that proverbial 400 mile trip in about 5 months, which isn't all that bad. I do believe it would have cost more overall, which is why they didn't do it this way. I would imagine trying to ford a river with Big Muskie would have been very exciting indeed.
it wouldn't have made it, as it ran off of electric power. It trailed a huge electrical cable. Which makes sense as it was operated by American Electric Power. You can visit the bucket at Miners' Memorial Park where it's on top of a hill ( which I have to visit to get cell service when I camp nearby). It's the size of a small house.
A YouTuber I follow recently put up a ~1 hour long documentary on the land trains [1]. It's well-researched and contains some interesting details not covered by the article.
And if you enjoy that, be sure to check out his video on the Soviet Kharkovchanka Antarctic cruisers [2]. It's just as entertaining and what initially led me to his channel.
Yay, some local history... Bigfoot's Hazelwood, MO location (just outside St. Louis) was just a few miles from my house. The birthplace of the "monster truck". They used to leave the first model parked out by the highway.
That sounds like it would be pretty cool to drive past! A local auto shop has a monster truck with smallish tractor tires parked out front, but that's pretty tame compared to these monsters.
I read somewhere that these had a mechanism that made all of the wheels follow in roughly the same track, but I haven't been able to find an explanation of how they made that work. Anyone happen to have a link/explanation?
My impression from the first picture in the article was that these might be so tightly coupled car-to-car, a single car tilting (L/R) into a hole might be impossible. More fancifully, imagine they were so tightly linked wrt front/back tilt, the land train could bridge gaps all by itself.
I did a quick Google. Play with some keywords, especially searching for images: drawbar steering-angle turntable dolly Ackerman train
The usual design is to use mechanical linkages to steer the wheels, with varying levels of complexity that have different compromises. A complicated double Ackermann example (scroll down for plan view): https://planindustrie.de/en/products/industrial-heavy-duty-d... and look at other products of theirs from the menu for simpler linkage examples.
Academic papers are about the design of linkages and turning paths, with consideration for tyre slippage, obstacle avoidance, following, etcetera. The more mathematical papers use an idealised world on a flat surface (ignoring: surface tilts; terrain elevation changes/steps; slippery or soft surfaces especially if variable). Some modern systems use computer controlled power and steering to wheels to help avoid the errors in reality of idealised systems. It is a huge industry, but we need a https://ciechanow.ski/ type person to give us a nice model to play with.
My total guess not based on the drawings - the wheels of the cars move with a certain delay as a reaction to its tow bar getting turned. I would assume this delay can be configured on a per-car basis because the cars farther back may require more compensation than the ones in the front.
Although I am calling it a delay, I assume the mechanism is mechanical and there is probably a better word to describe the action where the wheels do not turn at the same time or with the same severity as the tow bar.
This sort of lore is drilled into the engineering students at LeTourneau University (my alma mater). There's an entire mini museum setup to LeTourneau's achievements on campus. After working there after grad school I realized much of LeTourneau's "genius" was some form of reductionism.
problem: "We need a machine that can grab these logs from these trees we cut down."
solution: "Why not make a gigantic claw and put it on wheels?" https://www.imcdb.org/i236846.jpg
There's this saying:
"Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands."
RG was never guilty of making anything "barely". Dude straight over over did it on a lot of projects. He took small simple machines and just scaled them tf up. He didn't do small. "You've got a big problem? You just need a bigger machine." is something that fits with what his machinery says about his design choices.
He filled a niche for sure. His style and creations fit at a unique time in American history. American steel and manufacture was very much in it's heyday. He had access to all the stuff needed to execute his big ideas. His conservative religious fervor also fit the politics of the day, allowing him to link up with Billy Graham which had some factional differences of opinion from the likes of the overly conservative Bob Jones and Oral Roberts.
Seeing large numbers of GIs returning from WW2 eager to work, RG put them to work building gargantuan creations. My personal, somewhat cynical take, is RG also saw that each of those veteran workers had GI Bill money sitting unused. He formed LeTourneau Technical College on the grounds of a shuttered military hospital to train employees at his factory a short walk from the campus. Being a "college" meant he could charge exactly the dollar limit amount of tuition the GI Bill afforded. Being a private college meant he could control what and how they studied. It remains a quite conservative Christian institution and students and faculty alike are reminded how it's a "ministry" until it comes time for a student who can't pay or an employee that asks for a raise. Suddenly the "ministry" facade shatters and the word "business" hops into the wording. As soon as the matter is closed, it returns to its "ministry" persona (esp when asked to do something above-and-beyond).
RG is a fascinating character nevertheless. He's even listed in the Offshore Drilling Hall of Fame in Galveston (yep, it's a thing) for his work on Scorpion an offshore rig for the Zapata Oil Company, then run by a young businessman named George H. W. Bush.
Ministry != charity. Otherwise, great history - that tree stomper would be fun for like fifteen minutes, and fun to fantasize about on the freeway during rush hour.
Unrelated, but in the Netflix series Snowpiercer - I never understood why its not a vehicle like but is instead a huge train besides Wilford just liking trains?
Because it's one of those classic "The story is about what happens when we accept the conceit of the setting" sci-fi approaches. It's a train, because there's exploration to be done around what happens on a journey that is both linear and fixed.
> It's a train, because there's exploration to be done around what happens on a journey that is both linear and fixed.
Eh, they could have done that with a shelter built in a tunnel or something like that. But that would have been boring; it's a train because trains are cool. And they could have had the train circling a city or even continent, but they made it circumnavigate the world instead because that's cooler.
It's based on a French visual novel and the theme is class struggle. Trains are a pretty good metaphor for that as trains segregate passengers by their "class", usually defined by how much they can pay for the fare.
The dumber part of that world is that there was a separate train of very similar or identical design that managed to defeat the "can't stop for prolonged period of time" plot point using nothing but what was available on the train, and it was somehow able to do this only after the world ended and not before.
Readit News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distant_Early_Warning_Line
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian-class_radar_picket_...
My father as a newly minted ensign in 1958 served aboard the USS Interpreter and would recall fondly one of his first conversations with the captain. My father asked about how the analysts they reported contacts to would know “when it was the real one”. To which the captain laughed “You damn fool. They’ll know it’s the real one when we don’t report in.”
Sorry. I had to. I’m a dad.
NATO being dissolved is pretty deterministic as well. The average American in 1984 couldn't conceive of the Russians actually making it all the way over to the US. Nuking the US, but not a successful land invasion. So there had to be some reason the US got weaker. NATO dissolving doesn't put any blame for that on the US, which is important for a flag-waving film.
In the 1984 movie, paratroopers dropped from supposed commercial flights, which was the approach the USSR used for their 1980 invasion of Afghanistan
Nukes were used later against the Chinese, which was why there were 500 million screaming Chinese in our side. 13 year old me was a big fan of the movie.
John has a big mustache. The chair is against the wall.
Of course. The DEW line was mean to warn against a Soviet nuclear attack, but in that movie no such attack occurs.
Why make a mere train to eventually make a building, when you can make a large building that moves?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Muskie
Interesting to think that Big Muskie was significantly larger in all dimensions than the residence hall I lived in for my first year of university. One machine moved more material than two panama canals in its lifespan...
Big Muskie was not a fast mover but it could have made that proverbial 400 mile trip in about 5 months, which isn't all that bad. I do believe it would have cost more overall, which is why they didn't do it this way. I would imagine trying to ford a river with Big Muskie would have been very exciting indeed.
And if you enjoy that, be sure to check out his video on the Soviet Kharkovchanka Antarctic cruisers [2]. It's just as entertaining and what initially led me to his channel.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGyX2uwXsw [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6R-h06IsJw
My favorite fact about land trains is that the tires were later reused on Bigfoot monster trucks[0].
[0] http://bigfoot4x4.com/blog/bigfoot-5/
Edit: Found this https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Steering-scheme-of-a-roa....
^1: These are probably called schematics or something...
The usual design is to use mechanical linkages to steer the wheels, with varying levels of complexity that have different compromises. A complicated double Ackermann example (scroll down for plan view): https://planindustrie.de/en/products/industrial-heavy-duty-d... and look at other products of theirs from the menu for simpler linkage examples.
Academic papers are about the design of linkages and turning paths, with consideration for tyre slippage, obstacle avoidance, following, etcetera. The more mathematical papers use an idealised world on a flat surface (ignoring: surface tilts; terrain elevation changes/steps; slippery or soft surfaces especially if variable). Some modern systems use computer controlled power and steering to wheels to help avoid the errors in reality of idealised systems. It is a huge industry, but we need a https://ciechanow.ski/ type person to give us a nice model to play with.
Although I am calling it a delay, I assume the mechanism is mechanical and there is probably a better word to describe the action where the wheels do not turn at the same time or with the same severity as the tow bar.
Deleted Comment
problem: "We need a machine that can grab these logs from these trees we cut down." solution: "Why not make a gigantic claw and put it on wheels?" https://www.imcdb.org/i236846.jpg
problem: "All these trees are in the way. We just need a way to quickly clear the area." solution: "Why not just stomp them down?" 'Stomp them down?' "Yeah" http://cyberneticzoo.com/walking-machines/1964-tree-stomper-...
problem: "Ok, RG. Some trees we can't just stomp" solution: "Ok. Let's just drive over them them." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-9yvNESLPo
There's this saying: "Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands."
RG was never guilty of making anything "barely". Dude straight over over did it on a lot of projects. He took small simple machines and just scaled them tf up. He didn't do small. "You've got a big problem? You just need a bigger machine." is something that fits with what his machinery says about his design choices.
He filled a niche for sure. His style and creations fit at a unique time in American history. American steel and manufacture was very much in it's heyday. He had access to all the stuff needed to execute his big ideas. His conservative religious fervor also fit the politics of the day, allowing him to link up with Billy Graham which had some factional differences of opinion from the likes of the overly conservative Bob Jones and Oral Roberts. Seeing large numbers of GIs returning from WW2 eager to work, RG put them to work building gargantuan creations. My personal, somewhat cynical take, is RG also saw that each of those veteran workers had GI Bill money sitting unused. He formed LeTourneau Technical College on the grounds of a shuttered military hospital to train employees at his factory a short walk from the campus. Being a "college" meant he could charge exactly the dollar limit amount of tuition the GI Bill afforded. Being a private college meant he could control what and how they studied. It remains a quite conservative Christian institution and students and faculty alike are reminded how it's a "ministry" until it comes time for a student who can't pay or an employee that asks for a raise. Suddenly the "ministry" facade shatters and the word "business" hops into the wording. As soon as the matter is closed, it returns to its "ministry" persona (esp when asked to do something above-and-beyond).
RG is a fascinating character nevertheless. He's even listed in the Offshore Drilling Hall of Fame in Galveston (yep, it's a thing) for his work on Scorpion an offshore rig for the Zapata Oil Company, then run by a young businessman named George H. W. Bush.
Eh, they could have done that with a shelter built in a tunnel or something like that. But that would have been boring; it's a train because trains are cool. And they could have had the train circling a city or even continent, but they made it circumnavigate the world instead because that's cooler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iFkKRh5kcM