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Tulip Trestle in Greene County, Indiana, Spring 2012

On Saturday morning, April 7, Don and I drove out to Greene County to get some pictures of the famous Tulip Viaduct, or Tulip Trestle, in the early morning sunlight. You have to know the route on the small paved county roads, because finding signs for those roads is something of a challenge. The first time we drove out to see it a couple weeks ago we missed the turn completely and ended up southwest of the bridge in Bloomfield, Indiana. You can drive under the trestle on unpaved county road 480 E.

The 2,295-foot long trestle was built in 1905 – 1906, and is still in use by the The Indiana Railroad today. It is the longest railroad bridge of its type in the United States, and the third longest of its type in the world. It is 157 feet high at its tallest point above ground.

Here’s a selection of the pictures I got. Note the twelfth and thirteenth. Two hawks were sitting on top of the trestle on the north edge, sunning themselves. A few minutes after we first saw them, I looked up to see them both lifting one wing to soak up the warmth of the sun, just as the contrail of a passing jet passenger plane crossed above them headed west, perfectly parallel with the trestle. It looks like the birds are saluting the plane.

I only had the mid-range telephoto on one of the two cameras with me, but did manage to get a picture of a red hawk, both in tree, and in flight. There is also a picture half way down of two geese we heard coming from the fields north of us, as they flew down above the creek headed for the trestle. You can see one of them just to the left of the center of the picture, the other is hard to spot, but is to the right and somewhat up from center. Click to enlarge the picture.

Don and the IU REDCAR south of the trestle.

Tags: Indiana, Photography by Ron
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Dan Wheldon Wins Indy 500 After Rookie Mistake Takes Hildebrant Into the Wall Seconds Before Finish

You have to feel sorry for JR Hildebrand. The rookie driver had the win at Indy 500 2011 all sewed up. But instead of just coasting to a finish, he tries to move around a car that he does not have to pass, loses control, and takes his car into the wall. He coasts from there to finish second after Dan Wheldon, who finished first in 2005, and second the past three races. Apparently officials reviewed video, and determined that Wheldon passed Hildebrand’s car before the caution light went on, thus meaning he was free to go on and win the race since and was not required to hold position.

Here is the picture I got of Wheldon during the final hour of practice on Carb Day Friday before the race, taken just before 11:00 am practice hour started.

Here is video of the finish on YouTube.

Tags: Indiana by Ron
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Indy 500 Centennial Era Carb Day Photo Diary

That Donald Trump was originally slated to host what is being dubbed the 100th Anniversary of the Indy 500 race is happily something that will not be going into the history books.

Four time Indy winner A.J. Foyt will drive the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS pace car.

Facts and figures of the 95th Indianapolis 500

Now if you were paying attention, you will note that 95 runnings does not add up to 100 for a centennial. In a nutshell, the track opened in 1909, and the first Indy 500 was in 1911. There were years during both WWI and WWII when the race was not held. Thus the difference in numbers. The past three years culminating this year have been labeled the Centennial Era for the fabled race.

This race is still considered one of the premiere racing events in the world. And it is quintessentially American in flavor.

For the past 5-6 years or more, a couple of computing technology companies have held a combination vendor show and customer appreciation day at the Speedway on Carb Day, and one of the nice benefits of my job for all those years was the chance to attend. Even though I retired as of March 1, I sill do independent consulting on database development and IT support.

So following is a picture rich diary from 2011 Carb Day, May 27. Most of the pictures were taken down in the pit, from one end to the other. The pictures were taken from about 10:30 to 11:30 for the most part. Final practice for drivers and final tweaks to cars under track conditions happens on Carb Day between 11:00 and 12:00 in the morning.

And at 11:00 ON THE NOSE the cars started roaring out of their pits and onto the track.

My only regret for the day was I forgot to stick earplugs in my pocket.

For those who might ask, all photos were taken with my Pentax K10 Digital SLR. The lens was the Pentax SMC DA* F2.8 50-135 (70 – 210 35 mm equivalent) digital telephoto/zoom lens. All were shot with natural light, no flash. The day was pretty much overcast and cool. Since I had foolishly left my windbreaker in the car, I had a good excuse to buy a nice Centennial Era zip up jacket/sweater at one of the many gift shops near the Pagaoda.

The above car is in the A.J. Foyt team garage. We had Garage passes and got walk through the garage complex, and back out Gasoline Alley, the passage from the garage to the track itself.

Ana Beatriz, one of three women in this years field.

One of the really cool things about having a pit pass is you get to be very close to the cars and the drivers, and can watch the proceedings in each team pit up close and personal. We even got to chat with one driver, and he even posed with a friend who was with me for a photo.

But the opportunities for some really colorful pictures is the key pleasure if you love photography. I particularly like the color coordinated water bottle sitting on the sill of this driver’s cockpit. Apparently he can accessorize as well as drive fast.

Everything is computerized. Every team has set ups like this, and they are tracking the car and performance real time on multiple monitors.

Driver is Dan Wheldon.

Driver is E.J. Viso. He was nice enough to let one of my friends get the photo with him.

Fire Extinguishers. Hmmm. Seems reasonable to me.

I assume I do not need to point out that advertising and sponsor info is plastered on every square inch of available space, on cars, clothing, drivers suits, gear, and in the pit areas, including fuel tanks? For this one, we joked over whether or not the contents were intended for the car or the spectators.

This is the Fuzzy Vodka car. Drive is Ed Carpenter.

The next half dozen shots capture driver James Hinchcliffe of Newmann Hass team, going through steps to get his head protection and helmet on. Fascinating.

Same driver as above, getting ready to squeeze down into the cockpit. If you have never seen the inside, imagine an incredible tight, narrow space, legs forward with supports under upper part of each back leg, and a steering wheel so small it looks like a toy. I am amazed at what it must take to steer one of these cars with that wheel at over 200 mph.

GoDaddy’s / Danica Patrick’s pit crew. They did not look all that happy. Perhaps they were looking for the missing elephant in the room. (If you don’t get it, go Google GoDaddy CEO kills African Elephant.)