Tim Caple is a British television sports commentator. He is best known for his football and boxing commentary although has commentated on many different sports. He has broadcast for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky Sports, Eurosport, ESPN, Al Jazeera, Canal+ and Globo International. He has also been featured as an in-videogame commentator for the Winter Olympics.

Football

Tim Caple has worked as a TV and radio football commentator since the early 1990s.  In that time he has commentated numerous channels and networks, including the BBC, ITV and Channels 4 and 5. In 2013, he can be heard on ESPN, BT Sport and Eurosport.

He has covered every major Club and International Football event around the globe including World Cups and the Champions League.

Olympics

Tim is also a major commentator during Eurosport's coverage of the Summer and Winter Olympics, as well as the Paralympic Games.

In addition to this he has covered the World Athletics Championships from 1997 to the present day as well as a multitude
of other events from world championship boxing to fencing and archery.

Tim Caple has also commentated on the Winter Olympics PlayStation 2 game  Winter Sports: The Ultimate Challenge.

PokerFace
Caple became the commentator on PokerFace, on ITV in 2006 and in 2007.

External links
voice123.com/timcaple
timcaple.com

Living people
British association football commentators
1964 births
Television personalities from Bristol

Tim Caple


The Marienschrein (Shrine of Mary) in Aachen Cathedral is a reliquary, donated on the order of the chapter of Mary around 1220 and consecrated in 1239. Along with the Karlsschrein, the artwork, which is from the transitional period between romanesque and gothic, is among the most important goldsmith works of the thirteenth century.

Function

The shrine serves as the container of the four great contact relics and objects of pilgrimage in Aachen Cathedral. The relics include: the swaddling clothes and loincloth of Jesus, the dress of Mary and the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist, which have been shown to the congregation and to pilgrims participating in the Aachen pilgrimage every seven years since plague struck in 1349. Until the nineteenth century, it was also the container for the Noli me tangere casket, a silver-gilt casket with mysterious contents.

Form
The shrine takes the form of a single-naved basilica with a short transept. More than a thousand gemstones were used in the creation of the artwork. On the shrine's long sides there are fire-gilt figures of the twelve apostles. The four porticos depict: Christ, Mary with the baby Jesus, Pope Leo III (r. 795–816) and Charlemagne (r. 768–814). The roof shows scenes from the life of Jesus in gold relief.

According to an old tradition, the Marienschrein is sealed with a skilfully manufactured lock, which is then filled with lead. The key is sawn up by master goldsmiths. The head of the key is held by the Cathedral chapter, while the end is taken by the city leaders (the so-called Konkustodienrecht (shared custody arrangement)). At the beginning of each pilgrimage period, however, the lock is broken with a hammer, in order to open the shrine once more.

Restoration
As a result of centuries of wear from pilgrimages and from being carried in processions at those times, the Marienschrein took significant damage. The gilt silver was tarnished, a portion had been lost, another had received only makeshift repairs and had taken many dents, cracks, and holes as a result of the passage of time. Over three thousand parts had to be replaced, cleaned, and repaired. This restoration work was documented at all stages by WDR. Since March 2000, the Marienschrein restored to its former glory once again stands in its place in a glass vitrine in the choir of Aachen Cathedral. Every year it is inspected and removed from the vitrine and cleaned as necessary.

Gallery

Bibliography
 Jürgen Fitschen: Die Goldschmiedeplastik des Marienschreins im Aachener Dom. Eine stilgeschichtliche Untersuchung. Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, .
 Dieter P. J. Wynands (Hrsg.): Der Aachener Marienschrein. Eine Festschrift. Einhard-Verlag, Aachen 2000, .
 Ernst Günther Grimme: Der Karlsschrein und der Marienschrein im Aachener Dom, Einhard-Verlag, Aachen 2002, .
 Helga Giersiepen: Die Inschriften des Aachener Doms (= Die Deutschen Inschriften, Band 31). Reichert, Wiesbaden 1992, , S. 37–39 Nr. 35 (Online).

External links
 Marienschrein in aachen Cathedral on the website of the Nordrhein-Westfalen-Stiftung Naturschutz, Heimat- und Kulturpflege (German)
 Der Marienschrein wird wieder auf Hochglanz poliert – Message of the Diocese of Aachen on their website, announcing the Aachen pilgrimage of 2014 (German)

Aachen Cathedral Treasury
Aachen Cathedral
Gold objects
Christian reliquaries

Marienschrein


Mobile defense is a manoeuvre by military units that repulses an attack by the use of well-planned counter-attacks by the defender, which seeks to avoid a pitched battle.

History
One modern example of mobile defense was during World War II during the Third Battle of Kharkov. The German commander, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, used II SS Panzer Corps to launch an attack to the rear of the Soviet spearhead force and to encircle it. The success led to the stabilization of the German Army Group South. Manstein became a proponent of the use of a strategy of mobile defense on the Eastern Front as a whole. Manstein came to the conclusion that Germany could not defeat the Soviet Union in the traditional static defensive system used in World War I and that the only chance to achieve a draw was to wear down the Soviet Army in costly mobile battles.

Manstein formulated a plan for the summer of 1943 in which he argued all mechanized forces should be deployed south of Kharkov and await the Soviet summer offensive, which was believed to be aimed at capturing the Donets Basin. The mechanized force would launch an offensive south to the Sea of Azov once the Basin had been captured by the Soviets. The German Führer, Adolf Hitler, ultimately rejected this plan, instead choosing a more conventional, double-envelopment attack on Kursk.

The Battle of St. Vith, one of the many battles fought during the Battle of the Bulge, was notable for its use of armor in a mobile defense. General Bruce Clarke organized his Combat command to prevent the German attackers from advancing more than 1 km a day. The delaying action was decisive in preventing German forces quickly advancing through the area and was one of the reasons for the German offensive's failure.

Organizational features
Mobile defense is recommended for use when the terrain is favorable for deep maneuvers, the defending troops are not inferior to the enemy in mobility, there is at least partial air superiority, and the range of tasks assigned to the defenders allows temporary abandonment of some occupied territories. In addition, it is used when defending large water barriers, the sea coast, the hasty transition to defensive actions or when occupying the defense on a broad front.

When organizing mobile defense, a significant portion (up to two-thirds) of the available forces and means are assigned to the second echelon (reserve), which is withdrawn deep into their ranks. As a rule, the second echelon includes armored formations. The remaining forces (about one-third), the basis of which are motorized infantry units, are moved into the first echelon.

Blocking positions are prepared, engineering barriers are set up, and resistance centers are equipped in the areas where the attackers are supposed to be lured. They are usually engaged by first-echelon units with the task of firmly holding and suppressing any attempts by the enemy to advance in depth and to the flanks. As the enemy approaches their positions, the primary goal of first-echelon units is to offer maximum resistance and force the enemy to introduce additional forces and means to further advance. This forces the enemy to concentrate a dense grouping of forces in the area of the incursion, which becomes a profitable target for the use of weapons of mass destruction. The classic scenario for defeating an advancing group includes first massive strikes on it using artillery, aviation and nuclear weapons, and then a counterstrike by fresh second-echelon units supported by all available firepower.

Usually a division is considered the minimum unit capable of mounting a mobile defense, since it can provide forces and assets to simultaneously provide blocking, covering, and counterattacks. Nevertheless, in some cases it is possible to conduct mobile defense operations by a brigade or even a separate armored cavalry regiment.

See also

 Area defense

Notes

Bibliography

 Walters G. L. Mobile Defense: Extending the Doctrinal Continuum. — Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: School of Advanced Military Studies, 1993. — 48 p.
 Rogozin, Dmitry Мобильная оборона. Словарь-справочник «Война и мир в терминах и определениях». Information site voina-i-mir.ru.

External links

 Мобильная оборона. Энциклопедия. Website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
 Гирин А. В. Взгляды командования Армии США на ведение обороны. Веб-журнал «Самиздат» (21 октября 2011).

Military tactics
Defensive tactics

Mobile Defense


The State Line Generating Plant was a coal-fired electrical generating station that operated from 1929 until 2012. It was located on the coast of Lake Michigan, bordering the state line separating Indiana from Illinois but within the corporate limits of Hammond, Indiana. In 2008–09, it had a year-round capacity of 515 megawatts.

Most of the plant's exterior and some of its interior infrastructure dated back to its original operation in 1929, making this plant one of the oldest large-scale urban electrical generating stations in the United States at the time it ceased operations. The plant's age meant that it generated more toxic waste, such as airborne mercury and nitrogen oxides, than most other U.S. generating plants.

Historically owned and operated by Commonwealth Edison, the State Line Generating Plant was later owned and operated by Dominion Resources. It was a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. The plant reached the end of its operating lifespan and was permanently shut down on March 31, 2012. Demolition was ongoing is November 2014.

History

Samuel Insull
The State Line Generating Plant was designed in Art Deco style by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and built in 1926–1929 under the orders of industrial magnate Samuel Insull. Insull, who led a holding company that controlled Chicago's Commonwealth Edison electric utility, dedicated his working life to the implementation of economies of scale in the generation and supply of electricity.

During the 1920s, many residents of Chicago metropolitan area had signed up to receive electrical service for the first time. Generating plants throughout the metropolitan area had developed the capacity to produce 1,310 megawatts of power to serve 1,300,000 customer households. At the same time some expected demand for electricity to further increase. In particular, inhabitants of many rural areas throughout the United States, including rural areas adjacent to Chicago, did not yet have electrical service in 1929.

In addition to increased demand for electricity from households for purposes such as lighting and appliances, Insull expected substantial increases in demand for electricity from industrial-scale purchasers. In particular, Insull's holding companies also controlled the Chicago South Shore and South Bend, an electric railroad that ran near the site of the State Line Power Plant.

In order to fulfill the increased demand for electricity that Insull's engineers told him was expected and which he concurred was going to occur, the Insull holding companies constructed the State Line Power Plant and the Unit 1 generator within the plant. With a capacity of 208 megawatts, Unit 1 upon its operational date in 1929 was the largest turbine generator constructed up to that time. The turbine plant was built by General Electric at their plant in Schenectady, New York, and carried to Hammond for assembly. Its operation increased total Chicago-area electrical generation capacity by more than 15%, to 1,518 megawatts.

Insull's optimism was sufficient that he ordered that the State Line Power Plant be constructed on a scale sufficient to allow for the insertion of further turbines in the building. Commonwealth Edison's goal was to eventually insert enough capacity into State Line to generate more than 1,000 megawatts of power – which would have made the State Line Power Plant the world's first one-gigawatt plant.

The 1929 infrastructure projects of Insull's holding companies were financed with highly leveraged junk bonds. The Insull firms could not survive the shock of the Great Depression, and Insull and his investors suffered devastating financial losses. The State Line Power Plant had been professionally engineered and constructed, so continued to operate through the Depression, World War II, and into the postwar years.

Postwar years
Commonwealth Edison expanded the State Line Power Plant according to plan, with Unit 2 going into operation in 1938, Unit 3 in 1955, and Unit 4 in 1963.

As a result of various factors, including the advent of nuclear power and the passage of the Clean Air Act, by the late 20th and early 21st centuries the State Line Power Plant was entering the latter phase of its useful life. The historic Unit 1 turbine was taken out of service in 1978, followed by Unit 2 in 1979.

In 2011, the State Line Power Plant's two newer coal-fired units, historically Units 3 and 4 (but renamed as Units 1 and 2) continued to operate with a maximum capacity of 515 megawatts. The plant employed approximately 120 full-time employees in 2011, with employment dropping to 100 in January 2012 as the end of the plant's lifespan approached.

The State Line Power Plant's age meant that it was not fitted with many of the pollution control equipment that is mandated on more modern generating plants. Instead, State Line's operations were grandfathered, giving the plant the right to vent nitrogen oxides, airborne mercury, and sulphur dioxide into the air. According to a September 2010 article in the Chicago Tribune, the State Line Power Plant was described as one of the greatest single point-source contributors to the Chicago area's ongoing noncompliant status under the Clean Air Act.

In early May 2011, Dominion Resources informed Wall Street financial analysts that the firm did not plan to retrofit State Line with Clean Air Act pollution controls, and would instead shut the plant down in the three-year 2012–2014 period. The firm further announced in January 2012 that the planned shutdown of the 100-employee plant would take place on March 31, 2012. Upon completion of the March 31 shutdown, Dominion withdrew its remaining movable assets from the cold plant and handed it over to a demolition firm, BTU Solutions, on June 26, 2012. BTU Solutions pledged to demolish the plant over a two-year period, and demolition began in late 2012.

See also

 List of power stations in Indiana

References

Energy infrastructure completed in 1929
Energy infrastructure completed in 1955
Energy infrastructure completed in 1962
Coal-fired power stations in Indiana
Hammond, Indiana
Buildings and structures in Lake County, Indiana
1929 establishments in Indiana
2012 disestablishments in Indiana
Demolished power stations in the United States
Former coal-fired power stations in the United States

State Line Generating Plant


Diarmait mac Ruaidrí Ó Conchobair, Prince of Connacht, died 1221.

Diarmait was one of the younger sons of King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (died 1198).

The Annals of the Four Masters, sub anno 1203, say of him:

 Murtough the Teffian, son of Conor Moinmoy, who was the son of Roderic O'Conor, was slain by '''Dermot, the son of Roderic, and Hugh, the son of Roderic, namely, by his own two paternal uncles, on the green of Kilmacduagh.The Annals of Lough Ce give an account of Diarmait's death:Diarmaid, son of Ruaidhri, son of Toirdhelbhach Mór O'Conchobhair, was slain by Thomas Mac Uchtraigh as he was coming from Insi-Gall, whilst collecting a fleet for the purpose of acquiring the sovereignty of Connacht; and this was a great pity, viz.:—the materies of a king of Erinn to fall so before his time.''

Insi Gall was either the Hebrides or the Isle of Man, both of which compromised the Kingdom of the Isles, ruled in 1221 by Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles (1187–1226).

Diarmait's recorded children were sons Diarmait (fl. 1237), Donnchad (fl. 1237), Muirchertach (k. 1237) and Cormac.

External links
 http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100010A/index.html

Medieval Gaels from Ireland
13th-century Irish people
People from County Galway
People from County Roscommon
1221 deaths

Diarmait Ó Conchobair


Orbiting Picosat Automatic Launcher (also known as OPAL-OSCAR 38, SQUIRT 2 and OO-38) is an American technology testing and amateur radio satellite that was developed by students at the Space Systems Development Laboratory at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The aim was to test the feasibility of launching several picosatellites from one parent satellite. The satellite's secondary payloads are an accelerometer testbed and a magnetometer testbed, which will perform component characterization. The main satellite ejected 6 nanosatellites in orbit (MEMS 1A, MEMS 1B, STENSAT, MASAT (JAK), Artemis-Thelma and Artemis-Louise). The development started in 1995 and was completed in May 1999.

OPAL was launched on January 27, 2000 together with JAWSAT with a Minotaur I rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

External links

References

Satellites orbiting Earth
Amateur radio satellites
Spacecraft launched in 2000

Orbiting Picosat Automatic Launcher


Schlimia is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is native to Costa Rica and to northern South America.

Note. This genus is often incorrectly written as Schlimmia, however it honours the Belgian botanist Louis Joseph Schlim and the author later corrected the name.

As of June 2014, the following species are recognized:

Schlimia alpina Rchb.f. & Warsz. - Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador
Schlimia condorana Dodson - Ecuador
Schlimia garayana H.R.Sweet - Ecuador
Schlimia jasminodora Planch. & Linden - Colombia, Costa Rica
Schlimia jennyana Lückel - Peru
Schlimia pandurata Schltr. - Colombia
Schlimia stevensonii Dodson - Ecuador

See also
 List of Orchidaceae genera

References

External links

Stanhopeinae genera
Stanhopeinae

Schlimia


Jamaica Inn is a novel by the English writer Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1936. It was later made into a film, also called Jamaica Inn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is a  period piece set in Cornwall around 1815. It was inspired by du Maurier's 1930 stay at the real Jamaica Inn, which still exists as a pub in the middle of Bodmin Moor.

The plot follows Mary Yellan, a woman who moves to stay at Jamaica Inn with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss after the death of her mother. She quickly finds out that the inn is an unsavoury place, mistrusted by the locals, and that her uncle is closely linked with a group of suspicious men who appear to be smugglers.

Characters
The characters presented throughout the novel include (in order of introduction):
 Mary Yellan, main character
 Joshua "Joss" Merlyn, inn-keeper and uncle of Mary.
 Patience Merlyn, Mary's aunt and wife of Joss
 Henry "Harry", a pedlar and associate of Joss
 Jeremiah "Jem" Merlyn, Joss's younger brother
 Squire Bassat, Squire of North Hill, local Magistrate
 Rev. Francis Davey, Vicar of Altarnun
 Hannah, Vicar of Altarnun's housekeeper
 Mrs. Bassat, wife of Squire Bassat

Plot
Mary Yellan, 23 years old, was brought up on a farm in Helford. After her father's and later her mother's death and with the subsequent decay of their farm, she is forced to sell it and their surviving animals, and as a promise to her mother, Mary goes to live with her only surviving relative: her mother's sister, Patience Merlyn, in a coaching inn called Jamaica Inn. Patience's husband, Joss Merlyn, is a local bully, stands almost seven feet tall and is a drunk. On arriving at the gloomy and threatening inn, Mary finds her formerly pretty, merry and friendly aunt, who had once been proposed to by a prosperous and honest farmer who loved her, in a ghost-like state under the thumb of the vicious Joss, and soon realises that something unusual is afoot at the inn, which has no guests and is open to the public only to serve food and mostly drink. She tries to squeeze the truth out of her uncle during one of his binges, but he tells her, "I'm not drunk enough to tell you why I live in this God-forgotten spot, and why I'm the landlord of Jamaica Inn".

Mary and Joss's younger brother Jem leave the moors on a jingle for Christmas Eve and spend a day together in the town of Launceston, during which Jem sells a horse he stole from Squire Bassat of North Hill back to his unwitting wife. With the money earned in other sales, Jem offers Mary a pair of gold earrings and a red shawl. He confesses to her that he has many "wives" in Cornwall. Despite Jem's offer to spend the night together with her at a local inn, Mary refuses. When it comes time to return to Jamaica Inn, Jem leaves Mary to get the jingle, but never returns. Mary has no way to get home except by walking but when she attempts this realises the weather and distance make it impossible. At this point Francis Davey passes her on the road in a hired coach and offers her a lift home. During the journey, he explains to her that he has just come from a meeting where it was settled that His Majesty's Government was going to create a patrol system for the British coasts from the beginning of the new year and bring an end to the shipwrecks. He leaves the coach at the crossroads to walk to Altarnun. The coach is then waylaid by her uncle's band of wreckers and the coach driver is killed. Almost raped by Harry when trying to escape, Mary resists him but is caught, forced to go along with the wreckers and has to watch as they 'wreck' - tricking a ship into steering itself on to the rocks and then murdering the survivors of the shipwreck as they swim ashore - despite her vain attempt to warn the ship's crew.

A few days later, Jem comes to speak with Mary, who is locked in her room at the inn. With Jem's help, Mary escapes and goes to Altarnun to tell the vicar about Joss's misdeeds but he isn't at home. She leaves him a written note and then goes to the squire's home and tells his wife her story but Mrs. Bassat tells Mary that her husband already has the evidence to arrest Joss and has gone to do so. Mrs. Bassat has her driver take Mary to Jamaica Inn, where they arrive before the Squire's party. Mary goes inside and finds her uncle stabbed to death; the squire and his men arrive soon thereafter and discover Patience similarly murdered.

The vicar arrives at the inn, having received the note Mary left for him that afternoon, and offers her refuge for the night. The next day, Mary finds in his desk drawer a drawing by the vicar; she is shocked to see that he has drawn himself as a wolf while the members of his congregation have heads of sheep. The vicar returns and tells Mary that Jem was the one who informed on Joss. When he realises that she has seen the drawing, the vicar reveals that he was the true head of the wrecker gang and directly responsible for the murders of Joss and Patience. He then flees from the vicarage, taking Mary as his hostage under the threat of violence. The vicar explains that he sought enlightenment in the Christian Church but did not find it and instead found it in the practices of the ancient Druids. As they flee across the moor on horses to try to reach a ship to sail to Spain, Squire Bassat and Jem lead a search party with dogs that closes the gap, eventually coming close enough for Jem to shoot at the vicar, who throws himself off a cliff, and rescue Mary.

Mary has an offer to work as a servant for the Bassats and their two children, but instead plans to return to Helford. On the day of her return home, at the beginning of January, as she drives a cart on the moor, she comes across Jem, leading a cart with all of his possessions, headed in the opposite direction. After some discussion, Mary decides to abandon her plans to return to Helford to go with Jem out of Cornwall.

Adaptations

Film
 A film adaptation of the novel was produced in 1939, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara. The film differs from the book in some respects, with Francis Davey being replaced by Sir Humphrey Pengallan (Laughton). Du Maurier was not enamoured of the film.

Television
 Jamaica Inn (1983), an ITV miniseries starring Jane Seymour, Trevor Eve, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick McGoohan and was nearer the original story than the Hitchcock film.
 L'auberge de la Jamaïque (1995), a French TV movie starring Gilles Béhat and his daughter Alice Béat.
 Jamaica Inn (2014), a BBC miniseries starring Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew McNulty, Sean Harris, Joanne Whalley and Ben Daniels.

Radio
 9 April 1946 with Louise Allbritton, part of the Theatre of Romance series.
BBC Radio full cast adaptations:
 1939, adapted by Peter Stucley and produced by Michael Goodwin.
 1947, in five episodes, adapted by Jonquil Antony and produced by Ayton Whitaker.
 1950, in five episodes, adapted by Jonquil Antony and produced by Norman Wright.
 1966, in five episodes, adapted by Jonquil Antony and produced by Norman Wright.
 1975, in four episodes, adapted by Brian Gear and produced by Brian Miller.
 1983, adapted by Barry Campbell and directed by Derek Hoddinott. [unconfirmed]
 1984, in four episodes, adapted by Brian Gear and directed by Brian Miller.
 1991, in four episodes, adapted by Michael Bakewell and directed by Enyd Williams.
 2003, in four episodes, adapted by Michael Bakewell.
 2015, in 10 episodes, adapted by Sue Allen and produced by Rob Carter.

BBC Radio serialised solo readings:
 1946, in 20 episodes, read by Howard Marion-Crawford.
 1977, in 12 episodes, abridged and read by Delia Paton.
 1996, in 10 episodes, read by Jenny Agutter and produced by Jane Marshal.

Audiobooks:
 1983, Music for Pleasure abridged recording by Trevor Eve, the same year he starred in the ITV TV adaptation. Only issued on cassette.
 1992, Chivers Audio Books unabridged recording by Tony Britton. Originally issued on cassette, then in 2007 on MP3 by Audible
 1993, Random House Audiobooks abridged recording by Josie Lawrence, only issued on cassette.
 2004, Hodder Headline Audiobooks abridged recording by Samantha Bond, issued on cassette and CD.

Stage
 The first known stage adaptation of Jamaica Inn was scripted by Trevor Hedden and performed on tour by the Orchard Theatre Company in 1985. A second adaptation, by David Horlock, was first performed at Salisbury Playhouse in 1990.
 An adaptation by John King was performed at the Regent Centre in 1993 and was to be performed again in February 2009.
 A 2004 adaptation by Lisa Evans was also performed in 2007 and 2017.

In popular culture
 The track "Jamaica Inn" on singer Tori Amos's 2005 album The Beekeeper is a song about "a man and a woman falling out"; it references the du Maurier novel and the wreckers of north Cornwall.
 In a 12 June 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Neil Peart of the rock band Rush described how the theme of the wreckers plays throughout the band's 2012 studio release Clockwork Angels.
 The track "A Smuggler's Tale" from the album Albion of the British Melodic Hard Rock band Ten is based on the novel.

See also

 Kilmar Tor
 Brown Willy
 Rough Tor
 The Lighthouse at the End of the World

Notes

References

External links
 Review and plot summary at DaphneduMaurier.org

1936 British novels
Fiction set in 1815
British novels adapted into films
Doubleday, Doran books
English Gothic novels
British novels adapted into television shows
Novels by Daphne du Maurier
Novels and short stories set in taverns
Novels set in Cornwall
Novels set in the 1810s
Novels about pirates
Novels about smugglers
Victor Gollancz Ltd books

Jamaica Inn (novel)


Lower Yangtze Mandarin () is one of the most divergent and least mutually-intelligible of the Mandarin languages, as it neighbours the Wu, Hui, and Gan groups of Sinitic languages.  It is also known as Jiang–Huai Mandarin (), named after the Yangtze (Jiang) and Huai Rivers.  Lower Yangtze is distinguished from most other Mandarin varieties by the retention of a final glottal stop in words that ended in a stop consonant in Middle Chinese.

During the Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty, the lingua franca of administration was based on Lower Yangtze Mandarin. In the 19th century the base shifted to the Beijing dialect.

Geographic distribution

Lower Yangtze Mandarin is spoken in central Anhui, eastern Hubei, most of Jiangsu north of the Yangtze, as well as the area around Nanjing.  The number of speakers was estimated in 1987 at 67 million.

Subgrouping
The Language Atlas of China divides Lower Yangtze Mandarin into three branches:

Hongchao dialects
The largest and most widespread branch, mostly concentrated in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, with smaller areas in Zhejiang province. The best-known variety is Nanjing dialect.  Other cities in the area are Hefei in the west and Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and Yancheng in the east.
Tong-Tai / Tai–Ru
Mostly spoken in the eastern Jiangsu prefectures of Taizhou and Nantong (including Rugao).
Huang–Xiao
Mostly spoken in the prefectures of Huanggang and Xiaogan in eastern Hubei province and the area around Jiujiang in northern Jiangxi, with an island in western Hubei around Zhushan, and another in Anhui around Anqing.
There are also small islands of Jianghuai Mandarin (Jūnjiāhuà 軍家話) throughout Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Fujian provinces, brought to these areas during the Ming dynasty by soldiers from Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan during the reign of Hongwu Emperor.

The Huizhou dialects, spoken in southern Anhui, share different features with Wu, Gan and Lower Yangtze Mandarin, making them difficult to classify.  Earlier scholars had assigned to them one or other of those groups or to a top-level group of their own. The Atlas adopted the latter position, but it remains controversial.

Relations to other groups
The relationship of the Lower Yangtze Mandarin varieties to other varieties of Chinese has been an ongoing subject of debate. One quantitative study from the late 20th century by linguist Chin-Chuan Cheng focused on vocabulary lists, yielding the result that Eastern dialects of Jianghuai cluster with the Xiang and Gan varieties, whilst Northern and Southern Mandarin, despite being supposedly "genetically" related, were not in the original 35-word list. In the 100-word list they did cluster, albeit with other varieties.

Some Chinese linguists like Ting have claimed that Jianghuai is mostly Wu containing a superstratum of Mandarin;
for example, the frequency and usage of the postposition  as a postverbal aspect marker in the Taixing dialect of Jianghuai Mandarin can be seen as intermediate between Standard Mandarin, which tends to omit postverbal prepositions, and the Wu varieties, which tend towards omission of preverbal prepositions.

When vowels from Jianghuai Mandarin and Wu were compared to dialects from China's southeastern coast, it was concluded "that chain-type shifts in Chinese follow the same general rules as have been revealed by Labov for American and British English dialects."

Dialogue from literature published in Yangzhou, such as the 18th-century novel Qingfengzha (), contains evidence of a Jianghuai dialect being an expression of identity clearly differentiated from that of others: locals spoke the dialect, as opposed to sojourners, who spoke Huizhou dialect or Wu dialects. Large numbers of merchants from Huizhou lived in Yangzhou and effectively were responsible for keeping the town economically afloat.

Professor Richard VanNess Simmons has claimed that the Hangzhou dialect, rather than being Wu as it was classified by Yuen Ren Chao, is a Mandarin dialect closely related to Jianghuai Mandarin. Simmons claimed that, had Chao compared the Hangzhou dialect to the Common Wu syllabary that Chao developed, as well as to Jianghuai Mandarin, he would have found more similarities to Jianghuai than to Wu.

Phonology

A characteristic feature of Lower Yangtze Mandarin is the treatment of Middle Chinese syllable-final stops.  Middle Chinese syllables with vocalic or nasal codas had a three-way tonal contrast.  Syllables with stop codas (-p, -t and -k) had no phonemic tonal contrast, but were traditionally treated as comprising a fourth category, called the entering tone.  In modern Mandarin varieties, the former three-way contrast has been reorganized as four tones that are generally consistent across the group, though the pitch values of the tones vary considerably.  In most varieties, including the Beijing dialect on which Standard Chinese is based, the final stops have disappeared, and these syllables have been divided between the tones in different ways in different subgroups.  In Lower Yangtze Mandarin, however, the stop codas have merged as a glottal stop, but these syllables remain separate from the four tonal categories shared with other Mandarin varieties.  A similar development is also found in the adjacent Wu dialect group, and in the Jin group, which many linguists include within Mandarin.

In Lower Yangtze varieties, the initial  has merged with . These initials have also merged in Southwestern Mandarin, but as ; most other Mandarin varieties distinguish these initials. The Middle Chinese retroflex initials have merged with affricate initials in non-Mandarin varieties, and also in Southwestern Mandarin and most Lower Yangtze varieties. However, the Nanjing dialect retains the distinction, like northern Mandarin varieties. Most Lower Yangtze varieties retain a  initial, but in central Jiangsu (including Yangzhou) it has merged with . The Tai–Ru varieties of eastern-central Jiangsu retain a distinct  initial, but this has merged with the zero initial in other Mandarin varieties.

It has been claimed that the Jianghuai varieties of Mandarin around Nanjing are an exception to the normal occurrence of the three medials ,  and  in Mandarin, along with eastern Shanxi and some Southwestern Mandarin dialects.

Literary and colloquial readings

The existence of literary and colloquial readings is a notable feature of Lower Yangtze Mandarin.

History

The original dialect of Nanjing was the Wu dialect in the Eastern Jin dynasty. After the Wu Hu uprising, the Jin Emperor and many northern Chinese fled south. The new capital of Eastern Jin was created at Jiankang, now Nanjing. The Nanjing dialect started to transform into Jianghuai Mandarin from Wu. Further events, such as Hou Jing's rebellions during the Liang dynasty and the Sui dynasty invasion of the Chen dynasty resulted in Jiankang's destruction. During the Ming dynasty, Ming Taizu relocated southerners from below Yangzi and made Nanjing the capital. During the Taiping Rebellion, Taiping rebels seized Nanjing and made it the capital of the Taiping Kingdom. The fighting resulted in the loss of the population of Nanjing. Those events all played in role in forming today's Nanjing dialect.

Immigrants from Northern China during the middle of the Song dynasty moved south, bringing a speech type from which Northern Wu and Jianghuai reading patterns both derive from. The northern immigrants almost totally replaced from the original inhabitants on the Yangtze's northern bank. Jiang-huai, like other dialects of Chinese, has two forms for pronouncing words, the Bai (common, vulgar), and the Wen (literary). The Bai forms appear to preserve more ancient forms of speech dating from before the mass migration in the Song dynasty, which brought in the Wen pronunciations.

Jianghuai Mandarin was possibly the native tone of the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang and many of his military and civil officials.

In the early Ming period, Wu speakers moved into the eastern Tong-Tai-speaking region, and Gan-speakers from Jiangxi moved into the western Huang–Xiao region, influencing the respective Jianghuai dialects.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jianghuai-speakers moved into Hui dialect areas.

The Portuguese Chinese Dictionary (PCD), written by missionaries during the Ming dynasty, categorized several Jianghuai dialects with rounded finals. The eastern and southeastern variants of Jianghuai contain the rounded finals. The Nanjing dialect, on the other hand, is in another group.

Matteo Ricci's Dicionário Português-Chinês documented Ming dynasty Mandarin. A number of words appeared to be derived from Jianghuai Mandarin dialect, such as "pear, jujube, shirt, ax, hoe, joyful, to speak, to bargain, to know, to urinate, to build a house, busy, and not yet."

The "Guanhua koiné" of the early Ming era was based on Jianghuai Guanhua (Jianghuai Mandarin). Western missionaries and Korean Hangul writings of the Ming Guanhua and Nanjing dialect showed differences that pointed to the Guanhua being a koiné and mixture of various dialects, strongly based on Jianghuai.

Some linguists have studied the influence that Nanjing Jianghuai Mandarin had on Ming dynasty guanhua/Mandarin. Although the early Ming dynasty Mandarin/Guanhua was a koine based on the Nanjing dialect, it was not entirely identical, with some non-Jianghuai characteristics being found in it. Francisco Varo advised that to learn Chinese, one must acquire it from "Not just any Chinese, but only those who have the natural gift of speaking the Mandarin language well, such as those natives of the Province of Nan king, and of other provinces where the Mandarin tongue is spoken well."

Jianghuai Mandarin shares some characteristics with Ming dynasty Southern Mandarin.

Jianghuai Mandarin, along with Northern Mandarin, formed the standard for Baihua before and during the Qing dynasty until its replacement by Standard Mandarin. Baihua was used by writers all over China, regardless of the dialect spoken. Chinese writers who spoke other dialects had to use the grammar and the vocabulary of Jianghuai and Northern Mandarin for the majority of Chinese to understand their writing. By contrast, Chinese who did not speak southern dialects would not be able to understand southern dialects in writing.

Peking opera got its start in parts of Anhui and Hubei that spoke the dialect.

Jianghuai Mandarin is currently overtaking Wu as the language variety of multiple counties in Jiangsu. An example is Zaicheng Town, in Lishui County. Both Jianghuai and Wu were spoken in several towns in Lishui, with Wu being spoken by more people in more towns than Jianghuai. Wu is called "old Zaicheng Speech", and Jianghuai dialect is called "new Zaicheng speech", with Wu being driven rapidly to extinction. Only the elderly speak it to relatives. The Jianghuai dialect was present there for about a century even though all the surrounding areas around the town are Wu-speaking. Jianghuai was always confined to the town itself until the 1960s, but it is now overtaking Wu.

References

Works cited

Further reading

Mandarin Chinese

Lower Yangtze Mandarin


A thienodiazepine is a heterocyclic compound containing a diazepine ring fused to a thiophene ring.

If R1 and R2 are part of a triazole ring, the substance is called a "thienotriazolodiazepine."

The thienodiazepine structure forms the central core of some pharmaceutical and recreational drugs, including:
Bentazepam
Clotiazepam

Since thienodiazepines interact with the benzodiazepine receptor site, they typically have similar effects as benzodiazepines.

References

Thienodiazepines

Thienodiazepine


The National Association of Old IRA was a commemorative organisation made up of members of the Old IRA as opposed to the then current IRA, which was as now a proscribed organisation.

They marched in 1939 in a commemoration of the War of Independence.

Aims
As with other veterans organisations, they looked for the welfare of members, organising pensions, etc., and commemorating their fallen and battles and events of significance to membership.

References

Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)
Defunct organisations based in Ireland
Irish veterans' organisations

National Association of Old IRA


Charnwood Forest is an area in north-western Leicestershire, England, near Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville.

Although called a forest, it is extremely varied, with many different areas. It has 45 sites of geological or wildlife interest. Above all, it is the only site in Europe where the Ediacaran fossil Charnia is found.

The area has some extensive tracts of woodland. It is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It is generally 600 ft (180 m) and upwards. On its western side is an abandoned coalfield, with Coalville and other former mining villages. This is now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest. The M1 motorway cuts through Charnwood Forest.

The hard stone of Charnwood Forest has been quarried for centuries, and was a source of grind-stones. The granite quarries are of national importance and supply crushed stone ("aggregate") to much of southern Britain.

Charnwood Forest includes a National Nature Reserve (NNR), 19 SSSIs, four geological conservation sites of international importance, and another six conservation sites, 13 Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS), five local nature reserves (LNRs), and seven Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) nature reserves.

The Forest is an important recreational area with woodland walks, noted for their displays of bluebells in the early spring. Rockclimbing and walking are popular.

References

Forests of the United Kingdom
Leicestershire

Charnwood Forest


Thomas Walter Hayward (29 March 1871 – 19 July 1939) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the quality of his off-drive. Neville Cardus wrote that he "was amongst the most precisely technical and most prolific batsmen of any time in the annals of cricket." He was only the second batsman to reach the landmark of 100 first-class centuries, following WG Grace. In the 1906 English season he scored 3,518 runs, a record aggregate since surpassed only by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in 1947.

Career
Born on 29 March 1871 in Cambridge, Hayward came from a cricketing family: his grandfather, father and uncle had all played first-class cricket. Hayward himself made his debut for Surrey in 1893 and quickly established himself as an important part of the side, being capped in 1894 and receiving the accolade of Wisden Cricketer of the Year the following season.  Although primarily a batsman, Hayward took 481 wickets in first class cricket, taking 114 in the 1897 season. GL Jessop referred to him as an awkward bowler, who bowled wide of the crease and achieved unexpected nip off the wicket that seduced the unwary batsman into an injudicious stroke.

From 1895 through to his final season in 1914, Hayward never once failed to reach 1,000 first-class runs, passing 2,000 on ten occasions and twice (in 1904 and 1906) scoring over 3,000; his 1906 aggregate of 3,518 (at 66.37 with 13 hundreds) established a record which stood until surpassed by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in 1947. In 1898 he made his highest first-class score of 315 against Lancashire. In 1899 he and Bobby Abel put on 448 for Surrey's fourth wicket against Yorkshire. This remains the highest partnership for any wicket for Surrey. In 1900 he achieved the very rare feat of scoring 1,000 runs before the end of May.

Hayward's first Test match for England came on tour with Lord Hawke's side against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1895/96, and in his second Test (at Johannesburg) he hit 122 as England recorded an innings victory. In all he played 35 times for England scoring three hundreds, his last innings coming against Australia in 1909: run out for six to finish just one run short of 2,000 for his Test career. He scored 130 at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of the 1899 Ashes series, batting at number six. He came in at 47 for 4 and enabled the final total to reach 372. It was described as "one of the great Test innings" by Ralph Barker. He followed that up in the fifth Test, at The Oval, with 137, putting on 185 for the first wicket with FS Jackson. He headed the batting averages for both sides in this series, in seven innings scoring 413 runs at 68.83.

Once Jack Hobbs made his Surrey debut in 1905, he and Hayward formed an effective opening partnership for the county. The pair put on a hundred or more for the first wicket on 40 occasions. They only played together once for England, opening the innings when Hayward was recalled for what was to prove his final Test, at Lord's in 1909.

Despite a gradual decline in his athleticism in his later career, Hayward remained an effective batsman well into his forties, and in June 1913 he scored his hundredth first-class century, becoming only the second batsman (after W. G. Grace) to achieve this feat. He made his 104th and final hundred in August 1914 against Yorkshire at Lord's (where Surrey played several "home" matches after World War I had begun), but made just one in his last innings of all, against Gloucestershire back at The Oval and on grounds of age did not resume his career after the end of hostilities. Surrey won the County Championship in his final season. Hayward had the rare honour for a professional of the time of captaining the side for six matches in August when the regular captain, Cyril Wilkinson, was unavailable, in preference to the young amateurs Donald Knight and Percy Fender.

Although primarily known as a batsman, Hayward was also an effective bowler for his county in the middle of his career. In 1897 he did the "double", with 1,368 runs and 114 wickets, and in 1899 he took two hat-tricks. His best bowling of 8–89 was achieved against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1901.

Hayward was respected as a model professional. Of his final years with Surrey, David Lemmon wrote: "He was the senior professional in all aspects, setting down standards of behaviour which others violated at their peril. He led by bearing and by example."

He stood in one first-class match as an umpire, the 1920 game between Oxford University and Essex. He died on 19 July 1939 in Cambridge at the age of 68.

References

Further reading

External links

1871 births
1939 deaths
England Test cricketers
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1890 to 1918
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Players cricketers
Surrey cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Players of the South cricketers
Home Counties cricketers
Lord Hawke's XI cricketers
C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers
North v South cricketers
Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers
A. E. Stoddart's XI cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers
Cricketers from Cambridge

Tom Hayward


Roger Pinto Molina (23 April 1960 – 16 August 2017) was a Bolivian right-wing politician. Pinto was born in Santa Rosa, Beni. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, from the single-member constituency 67 in Pando (covering areas in the provinces Nicolás Suárez, Manuripi and General Federico Román) as a Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) candidate.

In 2005, Pinto was elected to the Senate as a Podemos candidate from Pando. He served as the head of the Podemos faction in the Senate. He was reelected to the Senate in 2009, as a candidate of Plan Progress for Bolivia – National Convergence.

Pinto was accused of involvement in the September 11, 2008 massacre in Porvenir. Until his death, he sought refuge in the Brazilian Embassy in La Paz. He was granted asylum in Brazil but was not given safe conduct by Evo Morales Government to leave Bolivia.

Molina was killed in a plane crash on 16 August 2017 in Brazil at the age of 58.

References

1960 births
2017 deaths
Aviation deaths
Bolivian politicians

Roger Pinto Molina


Melvin Bernard Blyth (born 28 July 1944) is an English former footballer who played for several clubs, including Southampton with whom he won the FA Cup in 1976, and Crystal Palace.

Norwich City and Scunthorpe United

Blyth started his football career with non-league Great Yarmouth. He then joined Norwich City, although he never made an appearance in the first team.

In October 1967, former Norwich manager, Ron Ashman, took up the reins at Scunthorpe United, then struggling at the foot of Division 3. He returned to his old club to sign several players, including Steve Deere, Geoff Barnard and Blyth to shore up the holes in the defence.

Scunthorpe were relegated at the end of the 1967–68 season and in July 1968, Blyth moved on to Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace

Blyth joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 1968 as an old-style wing-half, but he developed into a centre-back. He immediately became a regular member of Palace's 1968–69 Division 2 promotion side, and in their first ever match in Division 1, he scored Palace's first goal in the top flight with a looping header against Manchester United. He scored another goal the following Saturday, against Everton.

As Palace struggled in Division 1, regularly finishing just above the relegation zone, Blyth became a permanent fixture in the defence alongside John McCormick. He was deposed as centre back for a while by Roger Hynd. But after playing in midfield for much of the 1969–70 season he won his place back when Hynd was temporarily switched to the forward line. The contrasting styles of Blyth and McCormick made for a good mix, and the two of them stayed together until McCormick moved to Wealdstone in 1973.

On 2 September 1972, Blyth made a tackle on Newcastle United's Tony Green which ultimately ended his career, although Green later said that he felt any contact was accidental.

Palace eventually lost their fight to avoid relegation at the end of the 1972–73 season, under manager Malcolm Allison. The following season, Blyth had a long spell of injury as Palace went straight down into Division 3. Shortly after the start of the 1974–75 season, in the same week that Ian Evans arrived from QPR, Blyth was signed by Southampton for a fee of £60,000.

Southampton
Southampton paid £60,000 for Mel Blyth in September 1974 – he was one of Lawrie McMenemy's first over-30 signings. Blyth's impact in his first season at The Dell was such that he was voted the supporters' player of the year.

His effective partnership with Jim Steele was the mainstay of Saints' victorious FA Cup run of 1976, including beating his former club, Crystal Palace, in the semi-final.

By the end of the 1976–77 season, six of the twelve players from Saints Cup-winning side had left the club; Blyth was the seventh after he had argued with McMenemy about breaking up the cup-winning team too quickly. The arrival of Chris Nicholl, in 1977, signalled the end of 33-year-old Blyth's sojourn on the South coast and, after a brief return to Palace, on loan, he completed his League career with Millwall.

In total he made 136 appearances for Southampton, scoring seven goals.

Back to Crystal Palace

Blyth re-appeared in Palace's colours in November 1977, when Terry Venables signed him on loan, after Ian Evans, who had replaced him in 1974, had broken his leg.

In both stints at Palace, Blyth made 262 first team appearances scoring 12 goals.

Millwall

In the summer of 1978 he moved to non-league Margate, and then in November 1978, he moved on to Millwall, where he made a further 86 appearances.

Later career

In the 1978 close-season he played for Cape Town City, then managed by former Palace coach, Frank Lord. At Cape Town, he played alongside Mick Channon and Kevin Keegan. He later played for Houston Hurricane, before a spell in 1981 in Hong Kong with Bulova alongside Charlie George and Barry Daines (goalkeeper, formerly at Spurs). After falling out with the manager, Ron Wylie, Mel returned to England, ending his career at non-league Andover.

After football

Although he was an electrician by trade, Blyth later became a driving instructor but, by November 1990 he was running his own building firm in south London. In 2003, he was a director of a building company and also a part-time coach in Crystal Palace's schoolboy academy.

Honours

As a player
Southampton
FA Cup winner 1976

References

External links

1944 births
Living people
Footballers from Norwich
Men's association football defenders
English men's footballers
Great Yarmouth Town F.C. players
Norwich City F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Cape Town City F.C. (NFL) players
Margate F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
Houston Hurricane players
Bulova SA players
Andover F.C. players
English Football League players
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
English expatriate men's footballers
English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa
Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa
National Football League (South Africa) players

Mel Blyth


Pope John IV of Alexandria, 48th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

He became a monk in St. Macarius Monastery. He persevered in intense worship and was reputed for his ascetic life. He was chosen by Pope Michael, 46th Pope of Alexandria and ordained a priest for the Church of St. Mina. Pope Michael entrusted him to manage the affairs of the church and to lead the people and direct all its property and offerings. He excelled in his duties.

When Anba Mina, 47th Pope of Alexandria, departed, the bishops, the priests, and the scholars of the City of Alexandria gathered and nominated several monks. They wrote the name of each of them on a piece of paper, and the name of Father John was among them. The bishops prayed and celebrated the Divine Liturgy for three days. Then, on the third day, they brought a child to draw one of the names. They found it to be the name of this saint, Father John. They returned the paper, mixed it with the other papers, and brought another child, who drew the same paper. This was repeated a third time. They were sure that the Lord had chosen Fr. John to become the next pope. They took him and ordained him patriarch in 777 A.D. He shepherded his flock well. He always preached the people confirming them in the Orthodox faith. He was also merciful to the poor and the needy.

During his days, there was a famine, to the point that one measure of grain (a Bushel) was sold for two Dinari. Many poor from different beliefs gathered every day at his door. He delegated to his disciple Mark to use the money of the churches to feed the poor and satisfy their needs. He offered to everyone without distinction of faith until God removed this famine.

Anba John was dedicated to building many churches. When the time of his departure drew near, he called on the priests and said to them, "On the 16th of Tubah, I was born and was also ordained Pope, and on this day also I will depart from this world." When the bishops and the priests heard this, they wept and said, "Who would become our Father after you?" He said to them, "The Lord Jesus Christ has chosen my disciple Fr. Mark to this rank."

8th-century Coptic Orthodox popes of Alexandria

Pope John IV of Alexandria


Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot, formed in 2008, and of the all-instrumental outfit Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, formed in 2007. He worked with the Chicks on Taking the Long Way, an album that won five Grammy Awards in 2007.

Smith has recorded with Glenn Hughes, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty, Geezer Butler, Jennifer Nettles, Kid Rock, Jake Bugg, the Avett Brothers, Joe Satriani, Post Malone, Eddie Vedder, Lana Del Rey, Halsey and Dua Lipa. In 2010, joined by Dick Van Dyke and Leslie Bixler, he released Rhythm Train, a children's album which featured Smith singing and playing various instruments. In 2020, Smith co-wrote and performed as part of the backing band on Ozzy Osbourne's album, Ordinary Man, and again in 2022 on Patient Number 9.

Spin magazine placed Smith at #10 on their list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music" in May 2013. Readers of UK-based Rhythm magazine ranked Smith and Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea the fourth-greatest rhythm section of all time in their June 2013 issue. Smith is also known for his charity work especially with young musicians. He has been a lobbyist in support of music education in U.S. public schools. Smith is also the host of the PBS concert series Landmarks Live in Concert, which began in January 2017.

Early life
Smith was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the third child of Joan and Curtis Smith. He spent most of his childhood in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he graduated from Lahser High School in 1980. He started to play drums at age seven and grew up listening mainly to bands such as Rush, the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, the Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Kiss.

Chad did not receive formal drum lessons, and gained drumming experience by playing in school bands. He ran away from home when he was 15, but returned home after a summer.

Smith spent his early years in various rock bands, starting in high school with a band called Paradise, where they won the battle of the bands in Birmingham, Michigan, in 1977. That first band included members, Jay Yang (bass), Scott Porter (lead guitar) and Tom Auch (roadie).  Future bands included Pharroh and Michigan-based band Toby Redd. Pharroh's percussionist Larry Fratangelo, who also worked with Parliament-Funkadelic, introduced Smith to R&B and funk music and taught him how to play funk. Smith said, "I think up until then, I was a drummer. Once I studied with Larry, I turned into a musician." Funk drummers like David Garibaldi, Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, and Greg Errico caught his attention and influenced his style a lot. Later, Smith decided to move to California to pursue his musical aspirations.

Music career

Red Hot Chili Peppers (1988–present)
In 1988, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were looking for a replacement for their drummer D.H. Peligro, who had recently been fired. Already into the process of working on their fourth studio album and hiring new guitarist John Frusciante the band held open auditions for a new drummer. Smith was one of the last drummers to audition for the band and the band felt that on looks alone, Smith would be the wrong fit as he looked more hair-metal than punk. Nonetheless, the band was blown away by his audition. Singer Anthony Kiedis admired Smith and found his persistence impressive.

Smith joined the Chili Peppers in December 1988 and within a few months was recording his first album with the band, Mother's Milk. Smith reflected on joining the band in a 2012 interview by saying "I remember thinking, 'Oh, cool, they have a record deal. Great! I'd love to be in a band that has a record deal. We started playing, and right away we just hit it off musically. I was like, 'Man, this is a blast! These guys are great!' ... We were just doing what we do. We just jammed, which is what we still do today. It's very similar."

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats (2007–present)
In 2007, Smith, along with fellow Glenn Hughes alumni, guitarist Jeff Kollman and keyboardist Ed Roth, formed an all-instrumental band inspired by their shared love of 1970s funk and fusion. Still unnamed at the time, the group, rounded out by bassist Kevin Chown, debuted at the 2008 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The band has released two studio albums and a double live disc as Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats since its inception.

Chickenfoot (2008–present)
Following a lengthy world tour in support of Stadium Arcadium, the Chili Peppers decided to take a break in 2008. During this break, Smith joined the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot, whose other members are Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Michael Anthony. The group has released two studio albums, a live album and a box set to date with Smith. Due to touring commitments with the Chili Peppers in 2011, Smith was unable to tour with Chickenfoot and was replaced by Kenny Aronoff. In 2012, Smith rejoined Chickenfoot for a four-song encore and the band briefly reunited for only two shows on May 7, and May 8, 2016, at Harrah's Showroom at South Lake Tahoe.

During the show, the band debuted a new song titled "Divine Termination." In June 2016, Smith discussed the future of Chickenfoot touring and recording new music saying that "everyone has different things going on. We really enjoy playing together, but with my schedule I don't see us playing too much. I would love to make some new music with those guys, but we'd have to be in the same room at the same time. I just don't know. It's up in the air. I love playing with those guys, though. It's a real treat.

Other projects

Smith released 2010's Rhythm Train, a critically acclaimed children's album which he recorded with Dick Van Dyke and Leslie Bixler.

Smith released an app in March 2012, which is free mobile application for iPhone, iPad and Android devices and features his "Drummer GPS". The GPS section of the app spotlights drummers Smith has been influenced by and those he regards as some of the best modern drummers. In May 2013, he launched In Conversation with Chad Smith, his own podcast through MusicRadar where he interviews other musical artists.

Smith joined Sammy Hagar in the studio to work on music for his twelfth studio album. They were joined by guitarist Neal Schon from (Journey (band)) and bassist Michael Anthony and according to Hagar it was the rebirth of his 1980s band HSAS, which featured Schon and two other members.

In 2013, Smith joined jazz musician Jon Batiste and bassist/producer Bill Laswell to create a unique musical group to score a film that had yet to be written and will never be made. The album, The Process, was released on November 4, 2014.

Starting on January 20, 2017, Smith began hosting Landmarks Live in Concert, an eight-episode concert series on PBS in which Smith will sit down and discuss music with various artists. The first two episodes featured Alicia Keys and Brad Paisley.

Smith performs drums on the Lorne Balfe composed score for The Lego Batman Movie. The soundtrack for the animated film was released on February 3, 2017.

On May 28, 2018, Smith along with co-host and Yahoo Entertainment music editor Lyndsey Parker, began their own music radio talk show on SiriusXM titled VOLUME West which airs every Monday. The duo will talk music with artists, industry leaders,  friends and they will also interview their guests about their favorite songs, albums, and artists.

Smith performs drums on the Post Malone song "Take What You Want" from his third album Hollywood's Bleeding. The song also features Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and rapper Travis Scott. That collaboration with Post Malone led to the creation of Osbourne's 2020 album, Ordinary Man, which Smith co-wrote along with Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and producer Andrew Watt. Smith also performed drums on every track. On December 17, 2020, it was announced that the next studio album by Ozzy Osbourne was halfway done and would again feature Smith along with Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters.

On January 1, 2021, Post Malone during his Bud Light Seltzer Sessions New Year's Eve 2021 livestream show was joined by Smith, Slash from Guns N' Roses, Chris Chaney from Jane's Addiction and producer/guitarist Andrew Watt for a performance of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and "Rooster" by Alice In Chains. Smith contributed to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021, backing Miley Cyrus on her cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters".

Smith performs drums on Ozzy Osbourne's 2022 album, Patient Number 9. Smith also co-wrote two of the songs on the album.

Smith and Flea, Josh Klinghoffer collaborated with Morrissey on his upcoming album Bonfire of Teenagers, which was supposed to be released in February 2023, but in December 2022 it was announced that its future is in limbo, as Capitol Records decided not to release it.

Smith performs on seven of the songs and also co-wrote five songs on Iggy Pop's 2022 album, Every Loser. To promote the album, Smith will be part of Pop's backing band called The Losers which consists of Josh Klinghoffer, Duff McKagan and Andrew Watt.

Playing style
Smith's technique is recognized for its use of ghost notes, and his fast right foot.

He cites Buddy Rich, John Bonham, Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell, Bill Ward, Keith Moon, Stewart Copeland, Neil Peart, Ginger Baker, Roger Taylor and Topper Headon as influences on his drumming.

Charity work
Smith is an active supporter of a number of non-profit organizations including Surfer's Healing, SeriousFun Network, MusiCares, Silverlake Conservatory of Music, Guitar Mash NY, Camp Korey and Little Kids Rock which he discussed in an interview with Making Music Magazine.

In April 2013, Smith was asked by NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, to represent the music community by going to Washington, D.C. as a lobbyist in support of music education in US public schools. While in DC, Smith had the opportunity to meet with congressional leaders and share his experience as a student who learned his craft entirely within the public school system. Smith has since been invited back to lobby in April 2014 in support of public school music education.

In 2014, Smith joined Bystander Revolution a group that speaks out against bullying in schools and tries to find solutions. Smith released a few videos discussing his own childhood being bullied along with his son's recent experiences with bullies.

On May 21, 2014, Smith appeared along with other celebrities in Washington, D.C. at a White House talent show held by Michelle Obama which was organized to raise awareness for Turnaround Arts, a program enacted under the guidance of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH) to increase performance and achievement at some of the lowest-ranked schools in the country through arts education. Students from eight schools around the country participated in the show which featured musical theatre, spoken word and interpretative dance. President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance at the event. Smith adopted a school in Greenfield, California also lobbied Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner for increased funding for arts education and that it is a personal issue for him. Smith said "I didn't give a shit about science, math or English when I was in school and music was the only reason I wanted to go. It got me interested in other subjects and I would've never graduated without it. If kids can connect with some sort of art in some way, it will enrich their lives in ways they probably can't fully comprehend at the time." Earlier in the week, Smith was joined by former New York Yankee and musician, Bernie Williams at Savoy Elementary School in Washington, D.C. where together they taught a music class. "These are schools where the kids look down at their feet and have no hope and don't feel like they mean anything. They have no self-worth. They need something. This is not a photo-op and just throwing some money. You really roll your sleeves up and immerse yourself in the school." Smith said.

Smith appeared at Sammy Hagar and James Hetfield's 2nd annual Acoustic-4-A-Cure benefit concert in San Francisco, California on May 15, 2015. The benefit was held to raise money and awareness for the Pediatric Cancer Program at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. Smith was joined onstage by Pat Monahan of the band Train and comedian Adam Sandler for a performance of Aerosmith's "Dream On" and Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On".

The following day on May 16, 2015, Smith was honored by national nonprofit, Little Kids Rock at its annual Family Jam benefit at Facebook's Menlo Park campus for his work to help expand public schoolchildren's access to music education with the "Livin' The Dream Award". In a statement on receiving the award Smith said "It is such an honor for me to be recognized by an amazing charity like Little Kids Rock for supporting their work to keep music education thriving in our schools. Music has made such a tremendous impact in my life and I am blessed to be able to give that gift back to the next generation of music makers!"

Smith along with his Chili Peppers bandmates announced in September 2015 that they would be supporting Bernie Sanders in his campaign for the 2016 presidential election. In February 2016, the Chili Peppers performed on behalf of Sanders at his "Feel the Bern" campaign fundraiser.

On April 29, 2016, Chad Smith and Will Ferrell hosted the Red Hot Benefit Comedy + Music Show & Quinceanera. The benefit featured a performance by the Chili Peppers along with comedy acts selected by Ferrell and Funny or Die. A portion of the proceeds went to Ferrell's Cancer for College and Smith's Silverlake Conservatory of Music.

On February 12, 2018, Smith again teamed with Will Ferrell for his One Classy Night event at the Moore Theater in Seattle to help raise money for Cancer for College. Smith along with Ferrell, Mike McCready and Brandi Carlile performed songs by Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, R.E.M. and were joined by Eddie Vedder for a cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus". The event raised $300,000 in college scholarship money for students who have survived cancer, and has raised 2.3 million to date.

On October 6, 2018, Smith and Will Ferrell hosted Will Ferrell's Best Night of Your Life, a one night charity event in Los Angeles at the Greek Theater. The event, produced by Funny or Die, will benefit Cancer for College and feature many big-name celebrities. Smith also will assemble an MVP musical line up dubbed Chad Smith's Super Mega Funktastic Jam Rock All Stars which will feature his Chili Peppers bandmate Josh Klinghoffer, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band, Brad Paisley and Chris Martin of Coldplay.

On January 13, 2019, Smith along with the Chili Peppers performed at a benefit for victims of the recent deadly Woolsey Fire. "It was cool. It was fun. It was a good vibe, and we really appreciate all the people that came down and paid a lot of money — it wasn't a cheap ticket. But all the proceeds are going to the people that suffered from the fires and the families and everything that is involved in that." Smith said that the fires even put the band's recording of their twelfth album on hold saying "the house we were working in, there was no damage, it didn't burn down, but we couldn't get back in there. So that halted our [progress]. Myself and Anthony both live in Point Dume. Seventy houses in our neighborhood burned down. Ours was spared, luckily."

Visual art
In January 2020, Smith opened his first art exhibit, stating "The way that I want to interpret my feelings about playing the drums and playing music - I'm trying to put this in a different medium. [...] I love to express myself in any sort of creative way that I can, and doing this is another way to kind of take chances and take a risk, and I like to do that. I think it's important for any artist to do that- to keep trying new things. It's not your normal medium, you know. It's not like Bob Ross with an afro in front of the thing and painting," Smith said.

Personal life

Family and relationships
Smith has been married twice. Smith was married to Maria St John from 1992 to 1997 with whom Smith had a daughter, Manon (born 1997).

He also has two other children, Justin Smith (born 1998) and singer-songwriter Ava Maybee Cardoso Smith (born 2001) through other relationships.

In 2004, Smith married his second wife, architect Nancy Mack, with whom he has three sons, born 2005, 2009 and 2012. The family lives in Malibu, California.

Smith has two elder siblings, brother Bradley and sister Pamela.

Sexual misconduct

At a beach concert in 1990, Smith and his bandmate Flea picked a 20-year-old young woman, groped her, threw her into the sand, tried to take off her bathing suit, then Balzary knelt on her legs and yelled at her to perform a sex act. As a result, the men were ordered to apologize, pay a fine, and donate to a rape crisis centre.

Sobriety
Like some of his bandmates in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smith has struggled with substance abuse. He struggled with alcoholism and cocaine use for many years. He checked into a drug rehabilitation in 2008.

Sports
Smith is also an avid fan of his hometown Michigan sports teams, including the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.

Following the Red Hot Chili Peppers May 14, 2017, performance in Columbus, Ohio, Smith sang the University of Michigan fight song "The Victors". Smith's singing of the fight song made national news as the University of Michigan and Ohio State are longtime sports rivals. At shows in Ohio, Smith's drumset has sometimes featured the Michigan Wolverines logo. Smith and Flea have owned season tickets to the Los Angeles Rams since 2016.

Will Ferrell resemblance
Smith is widely known for his strong resemblance to actor and comedian Will Ferrell, who is almost six years younger, which he has acknowledged by wearing shirts reading "I Am Not Will Ferrell" in live performances. Smith said that the two first met during the premiere of the film The Ladies Man (2000). He said, "I'm looking at Will and thinking, 'People really think I look like him? I don't fucking look like that. He looks me up and down and says, 'You're very handsome,' and walks away. Totally deadpan. I was like, 'You're funny. You're funny. Both Smith and Ferrell have utilized the resemblance for various appearances together, including their own events for charity and a 2014 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which the duo faced off in a drum battle, which segued into a musical number by the Red Hot Chili Peppers performing a cover of Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", as a reference to the Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" skit, in which both Ferrell and Fallon starred. During a December 2022 Rams' home game in Los Angeles, the Rams' media team poked fun at the recurring gag after Smith made an appearance with the rival-Seattle Seahawks' drum line the week prior; displaying Smith next to a picture of Ferrell on the jumbotron.

Shark attack incident
While scuba diving on vacation near Wakaya Island on November 12, 1992, following the Red Hot Chili Peppers' tour of Australia, Smith was attacked by an approximately three-meter hammerhead shark. He was diving offshore when the shark began circling him. Smith attempted to keep still as the shark approached, then fended it off when it attempted to bite him. Afterwards, the shark swam away. The shark removed a "small chunk of skin" from his left arm.

Discography

Red Hot Chili Peppers
 Mother's Milk (1989)
 Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
 What Hits!? (1992)
 Out in L.A. (1994)
 One Hot Minute (1995)
 Private Parts: The Album (1997) (Band, minus Anthony Kiedis, performs with LL Cool J on the song "I Make My Own Rules") (1997)
 Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers (1998)
 Californication (1999)
 By the Way (2002)
 Greatest Hits (2003)
 Unearthed (Johnny Cash box set. Band, minus Anthony Kiedis, performs on the song "Heart of Gold") (2003)
 Red Hot Chili Peppers Live in Hyde Park (2004)
 Stadium Arcadium (2006)
 George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love (George Clinton album. Band performs on the song "Let the Good Times Roll") (2008)
 I'm with You (2011)
 2011 Live EP (2012)
 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP (2012)
 I'm Beside You (2013)
 2012-13 Live EP (2014)
 Cardiff, Wales: 6/23/04 (2015)
 The Getaway  (2016)
 Live in Paris (2016)
 Unlimited Love (2022)
 Return of the Dream Canteen (2022)

Glenn Hughes
 Songs in the Key of Rock (2003)
 Soulfully Live in the City of Angels (2004)
 Soul Mover (2005)
 Music for the Divine (2006)
 First Underground Nuclear Kitchen (2008)
 Resonate  (2016)

Chickenfoot
 Chickenfoot (2009)
 Chickenfoot III (2011)

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats
 Meet the Meatbats (2009)
 More Meat (2010)
 Live Meat And Potatoes (2012)

Joe Satriani
 What Happens Next (2018) (Smith performs drums on every track)

Josh Klinghoffer
 "Jeepster/Monolith" (2019) (Record Store Day exclusive 7" with Klinghoffer)

Ozzy Osbourne
 Ordinary Man (2020) (Smith performs drums on every track and co-wrote all of the songs)
 Patient Number 9 (2022) (Smith performs drums on every track and co-wrote nine songs)

Collaborative albums
 Rhythm Train with Leslie Bixler, Chad Smith and Featuring Dick Van Dyke – (2010)
 The Process, with Jon Batiste and Bill Laswell (2014)
 Earthling – Eddie Vedder (2021-2022) (Smith co-wrote the music in seven songs and performs the drums on nine tracks)

Other appearances

References

External links

Red Hot Chili Peppers official website
Rhythm Train
Chad Smith on Drum Channel
Chad Smith Interview with Sonifly.com
Chad Smith Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2020)

Red Hot Chili Peppers members
Chickenfoot members
1961 births
Living people
Musicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota
People from Richfield, Minnesota
Grammy Award winners
Musicians Institute alumni
American rock drummers
Musicians from Malibu, California
American jazz drummers
American funk drummers
American heavy metal drummers
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
Jazz musicians from Minnesota
American male jazz musicians
21st-century American drummers
Jazz musicians from California
Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats members

Chad Smith


The Remutaka Tunnel (spelled Rimutaka Tunnel before 2017) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line.

The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November 1955, is  long. It was the longest tunnel in New Zealand, superseding the Otira Tunnel in the South Island until the completion of the Kaimai Tunnel  near Tauranga in 1978. Remutaka remains the longest tunnel in New Zealand with scheduled passenger trains.

History
The tunnel was built as part of a deviation to replace the costly Rimutaka Incline and its Fell engines.

Background
The original route between Upper Hutt and Featherston was often the subject of criticism, even before it was built. In 1898 J. H. Dobson completed several surveys on behalf of the Public Works Department into possible alternatives. Conclusions reached in 1899 as a result of these surveys did little more than confirm previous opinions. One promising possibility was a  tunnel between Mangaroa and Cross Creek, which received so much attention that it nearly became the much-sought deviation. By 1900, however, it was realised that the cost of constructing such a tunnel could not be contemplated at that time.

It was not until the 1920s that significant campaigning for a replacement again prevailed on the government. In 1921-22 a feasibility study was conducted, including distances and estimated costs. Several routes were considered, including variations on previous ideas, but nothing more was done at the time; although a deviation of about 5 miles 48 chain (9 km) as the Wellington-Napier Line (Deviation) running generally to the south-eastward of the existing line was authorised by the Railways Authorisation Act, 1924.

The new Labour government of 1936 announced its intention to proceed with the Mangaroa to Cross Creek tunnel. Detailed surveys were completed in 1938/1939, but the project was again postponed due to World War II. The surveyed line was still shown on the 1947 edition of the one inch map.

After World War II it became a matter of urgency to consider a replacement. The H class locomotives were showing their age, the Incline was in bad shape, and maintenance costs were increasing. Between September 1945 and July 1947 four options were considered. It was accepted that no contour line could be the solution and that a tunnel under the Remutaka Ranges was the only satisfactory answer. The adopted route was the shortest route, a tunnel between Mangaroa and Lucena's Creek gully.

Construction
Construction commenced in 1948 when the Public Works Department started the tunnel with bores of  at the western end and  at the eastern end. A contract for completing the tunnel was let to a consortium of Morrison-Knudsen and Downer (MKD) on 7 May 1951. The work commenced at the west end in July 1951 and at the east end in August. The contract was expected to be completed in four years, but the headings met on 20 April 1954 with the concrete lining finished a month later. The tunnel was partly built using full face operation rather than the traditional heading and bench excavation. Much of the fill removed on the West (Hutt) side was used for the Maymorn station site.

About 600 people were employed by MKD (about 300 to 400 at any one time), plus 14 MOW engineers and inspectors. Most were single men and lived in huts at camps or a bunkhouse at the Mangaroa or Featherston portals, which had cookhouses and mess halls plus 20 houses each for married staff. There were three fatalities during tunnelling.

New Zealand Railways took possession of the tunnel on 1 February 1955, which also included approach formations and bridge piers, at which time track laying commenced. By October 1955 the signalling and centralised traffic control equipment had been installed and all the track was laid, except for a short section near Upper Hutt where the old line crossed the new line at a higher level. All traffic on the Upper Hutt to Featherston section was suspended after the arrival of the Carterton Show Day excursion train at Upper Hutt on the evening of 29 October. Over the next three days the old formation was removed, the cutting for the new formation completed and the remainder of the track laid. On 3 November 1955, the new line was opened and two special trains travelled from Wellington to Speedy's Crossing to the inauguration ceremony.

Design
The deviation's ruling grade is 1 in 70, compensated for curvature. The tightest curve is 400 metres (20 chain) radius. The tunnel rises at 1 in 400 from the western portal to the highest point on the deviation, roughly halfway through the tunnel, and then descends to the eastern portal at 1 in 180. It has an internal height of  and a width of ; it is lined with concrete with a minimum thickness of  inside the face of the excavation. When the tunnel holed through on 20 April 1954 the surveying error was found to be only . The tunnel was planned to reduce the distance between Upper Hutt and Featherston from  to .

After its completion, a  diameter vertical ventilation shaft was driven up from a point almost halfway through the tunnel. It reaches the surface beside the Remutaka Rail Trail near the former route's Pakuratahi Tunnel. The  high shaft was constructed after tests showed that the tunnel would not generate enough natural ventilation if diesel traction was used through the tunnel. Originally it had been envisaged that electric traction would be used by extending the 1500-volt DC overhead electrification beyond Upper Hutt to either Featherston or Masterton, but economic studies favoured diesel traction.

The new formation included two crossing loops; at the new Maymorn station (116 wagons) and the Rimutaka Loop (95 wagons) at the eastern portal of the tunnel. There are four bridges including a five-span  bridge across the Mangaroa River, and a tunnel and two underpasses near Maoribank.

The Maoribank Tunnel is  long; it was tendered separately in 1953 and constructed by MKD, work started in October 1953 and was completed in December 1954. On the eastern side where two short tunnels (220 metres (11 chain) and 180 metres (9 chain)) had been proposed through a spur, it was cheaper to lengthen the line by 140 metres (7 chain) and have open cuttings.

The construction of the Remutaka Tunnel consumed:
Gelignite: ,
Detonators: 327,850,
Diesel fuel: 3,182,264 litres (700,000 imp. gallons),
Cement: 26,163 tonnes (25,750 tons),
Aggregate: 87,837 metres3 (114,886 cu. yd), and
Timber: 15,820 metres3 (6,703,533 super feet).

Operation

Traction
The first locomotives to work through the tunnel were the DG class diesel-electric locomotives. The tunnel was too long for steam locomotives, making the Wairarapa Line the first fully dieselised line in New Zealand. Since 2015, the DFB class diesel-electric locomotives have been the primary traction used through the tunnel.

As a health and safety measure, staff on trains travelling through the tunnel carry gas detectors to detect the buildup of noxious gases. In May 2021, one of the morning peak Wairarapa Connection services was bus-replaced for a week, after two alarms detecting unsafe levels of nitrogen dioxide in the tunnel on one service.

There have been proposals to electrify the tunnel and the Wairarapa line as far north as Masterton as an extension of the Wellington suburban electrification. The tunnel was designed to enable catenary to be installed but this has not happened, and the catenary finishes just north of Upper Hutt station. In 2007, Greater Wellington Regional Council rejected a call to electrify the tunnel, on the basis that patronage did not justify the expenditure, and that the tunnel would "have to be made bigger."

Services

Passenger
Transdev Wellington operates passenger services named the Wairarapa Connection between Wellington and Masterton via the tunnel five times a day each way Monday to Thursday, six on Friday, and twice a day each way on Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays. Excursion trains also go through the tunnel, such as railway enthusiast specials and trains to the Toast Martinborough festival.

Steam-hauled excursions require diesel locomotives to provide motive power through the tunnel due to the danger from smoke in the tunnel's lengthy and confined conditions.

From 2014 diesel locomotives hauling passenger trains in long tunnels were required to have fire suppression equipment, following the Pike River Mine disaster inquiry. Initially, DC class locomotives were used for the Wairarapa Connection, then from 2015 the DFB class was used.

In 2021 an Upper Hutt man was charged with walking through the tunnel on 27 April, resulting in the cancellation of train services from 5.30 pm to 7 pm through the tunnel
 and an arrest warrant was issued after he failed to turn up in court.  He was eventually named in court for two charges.

Freight
The tunnel is used for freight from the Wairarapa to Wellington, notably logs from local pine forests and wood products from the Juken New Zealand Ltd timber mill at Waingawa, just south of Masterton.

See also
Remutaka Rail Trail, which follows the old Rimutaka Incline.

References

Citations

Bibliography

 Anon. (1950) "The Rimutaka Incline and Deviation, New Zealand", Railway Magazine, 96 (592: August), p. 543–547

External links

Rail transport in Wellington
Railway tunnels in New Zealand
Tunnels completed in 1955
1955 establishments in New Zealand
Transport buildings and structures in the Wellington Region

Remutaka Tunnel


Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet (1728 – 19 March 1795) was a British Army commander and the 1st Baronet of the Erskine of Torrie creation.

Background

Erskine was the son of Colonel the Honourable William Erskine of Torrie, Deputy Governor of Blackness Castle, Linlithgowshire, and grandson of David Erskine, second Lord Cardross.

Erskine first married Magdalen Myrton, daughter of Robert Myrton of Gogar, and then Frances Moray, daughter of James Moray of Abercairny.

His eldest son by his second wife, Frances, William, the 2nd baronet was a cavalry officer who committed suicide in Lisbon, Portugal in 1813 after a mental breakdown. He had another son, James, who was an officer in the 133rd (Fraser's) Foot, and became baronet on his elder brother's death.  His third son John, also became baronet, on the death of his brother James.

Erskine joined his father's regiment the 7th Dragoons in 1742 and served in the War of the Austrian Succession, seeing action at the Battle of Fontenoy, then in the Seven Years' War. By March 1759 he was in Germany with the rank of major in the 15th Light Dragoons, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel commanding the same regiment in 1762. Erskine performed exceptionally on the field at the Battle of Emsdorf and was able to present King George III with 16 colors captured by his regiment. For his prowess, Erskine was knighted.

American War of Independence

Erskine was posted to America in 1776 as a brigadier staff officer under Clinton, seeing action in the New York campaign and commanding the 7th Brigade at Long Island 27 August 1776.  In 1777 he was quartermaster-general to Lord Cornwallis. Erskine is credited with advising Cornwallis on the occasion of the Battle of the Assunpink Creek (also known as 'Five Mile Run') not to put off attacking the Continental Army on the night of 2 January 1777.  The Continental forces moved away by night, fighting the Battle of Princeton on 3 January.

Erskine was made colonel of the 80th Foot on 4 March 1777. Now a brigadier-general, Erskine accompanied British forces as second in command under General William Tryon with the assistance of General James Agnew on an inland raid against Patriot supply depots in Danbury, Connecticut.  After successfully destroying Patriot supplies, the British forces engaged and defeated Continental Army generals David Wooster, Benedict Arnold, and Gold S. Silliman and Patriot militiamen in the Battle of Ridgefield.  Erskine served in the Philadelphia campaign and then, following Sir William Howe's resignation in 1778, continued as quartermaster-general under Henry Clinton. Erskine went on to lead troops at the Battle of Monmouth and after that campaign was given command of the eastern district of Long Island. Erskine's last active duty in North America was commanding five infantry battalions and a cavalry squadron in pursuit of the Continental Army which was thought to be moving to Virginia in November 1778. Promoted major-general on 19 February 1779, Erskine sailed for London the same year.

Wars of the French Revolution

Erskine became colonel-in-chief of the 26th Foot (Cameronians) in 1782. On 28 September 1787 he was promoted lieutenant-general. He became a baronet in 1791. After the declaration of war with revolutionary France, he served on the staff of the Duke of York in the Flanders Campaign from late 1793. He was present with York at the Siege of Dunkirk from 25 August to 10 September, and commanded the retreat to Furnes after the Battle of Hondschoote. Erskine was given command of the army during York's absence through the Winter of 1793/1794.

At the opening of the spring campaign, he was given command of York's right wing in April 1794. He drove the French from Prémont on 16 April, but was unable to join York to complete the victory at Vaux. He commanded a column sent by Coburg to reinforce Clerfayt after the French breakthrough on 26 April, then commanded a 16-squadron cavalry reserve under York at the Battle of Tourcoing on 17–18 May. He again fought at Tournai soon after. Erskine commanded the 2nd (British) Line Corps in August.

Erskine died on 19 March 1795, aged 67, and is buried at Torryburn, Fife.

In the army he was nicknamed "Woolly" Erskine.

References

External links
Silverwhistle.co.uk

UShistory.org

|-

1795 deaths
1728 births
Military personnel from Edinburgh
British Army lieutenant generals
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
7th Queen's Own Hussars officers
British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
15th The King's Hussars officers
British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War
Cameronians officers

Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet