Richmond in Cranes

[plain]

3 minutes ago, eandslee said:

The sky cam zoomed in on the crane going up.  Those guys are crazy!

 

Lmao I'm sure they're getting paid the big bucks! At least I sure hope so. 

 

They're certainly not playing around. They said the crane is going up the weekend, and here we are!

[I miss RVA]

23 minutes ago, eandslee said:

The sky cam zoomed in on the crane going up.  Those guys are crazy!

 

WOW! Glad to see WTVR is getting in on the fun!

Think about this - despite the general graininess of the distance view of the Skycam - once, this bad boy is up - we'd technically be able to see THREE different cranes at THREE distinct locations: Soda Flats, VCU Tech building and Pinecrest/Parc View. THAT is pretty robust! I wish we could get a good hi-res drone picture from this vantage point.

[eandslee]

Now that's a beautiful shot right there!  Here's the crane fully assembled with the busy Broad Street to the right!

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, eandslee said:

Now that's a beautiful shot right there!  Here's the crane fully assembled with the busy Broad Street to the right!

FANTASTIC shot!! IS this from the WTVR skycam?

My friend, you have earned yourself a late-week nomination for this week's RVA/UP "YOU DA MAN" AWARD and the prestigious OFFICIAL SILVER PORT-A-POTTY trophy!! Well done, sir! 

Now, gentlemen - methinks its time to get some feet on the ground and grab some crane shots. Wonder if we can get shots of this AND the VCU crane in one picture? Or a distance shot showing this one and the Belleville crane?

[Ward Wood]

I’ll try and get one this week. What is this crane for? Hard for me to keep track of all the projects going on these days sorry guys. But that’s also why I am here lol.

[eandslee]

20 minutes ago, Ward Wood said:

I’ll try and get one this week. What is this crane for? Hard for me to keep track of all the projects going on these days sorry guys. But that’s also why I am here lol.

This crane is for Soda Flats on Broad St.

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, eandslee said:

Now that's a beautiful shot right there!  Here's the crane fully assembled with the busy Broad Street to the right!

Guys - is it just me or does Broad Street from this vantage point actually look like a REAL, LEGIT, "big city" thoroughfare?

There's just something about this photo that screams "big city" to me.  It's one of those long-standing things that RVA does - at times it visually punches WAY above its weight class. REALLY impressive, I must say!

[Hike]

13 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Guys - is it just me or does Broad Street from this vantage point actually look like a REAL, LEGIT, "big city" thoroughfare?

There's just something about this photo that screams "big city" to me.  It's one of those long-standing things that RVA does - at times it visually punches WAY above its weight class. REALLY impressive, I must say!

This stretch is very different. We watch CBS 6 news and nightly they show this live camera of Broad street. Remembering what was outside the doors of their newsroom and the transition to this is remarkable. Another item, seen beyond the crane, is the installed park at the science museum and the new deck. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Hike

[eandslee]

9 minutes ago, Hike said:

This stretch is very different. We watch CBS 6 news and nightly they show this live camera of Broad street. Remembering what was outside the doors of their newsroom and the transition to this is remarkable. Another item, seen beyond the crane, is the installed park at the science museum and the new deck. 

Also, in the upper right hand corner (close to the street), you can barely see the base of the other tower crane down the street (gray color).

Edited February 12, 2023 by eandslee

[I miss RVA]

21 minutes ago, eandslee said:

Also, in the upper right hand corner (close to the street), you can barely see the base of the other tower crane down the street (gray color).

Yes indeed - the VCU Tech Center crane! I'd love for us to get a few pictures with BOTH cranes CLEARLY in the photograph. Meaning we can see the booms of both.

[whw53]

Damit was going down Marshall behind her earlier. Good looking crane I'll say

Edited February 12, 2023 by whw53

[CitiWalker]

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, CitiWalker said:

Thanks SO much for taking and post these!  I think a silver port-a-potty will have to be shined up with your name on it.  Was this photo taken from Manchester?

I LOVE how the Pinecrest/Parc View actually sticks out above the Berkshire, even if only just barely. How close is this building to topping out?

[CitiWalker]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Thanks SO much for taking and post these!  I think a silver port-a-potty will have to be shined up with your name on it.  Was this photo taken from Manchester?

I LOVE how the Pinecrest/Parc View actually sticks out above the Berkshire, even if only just barely. How close is this building to topping out?

This was taken from the Manchester part of the city.  I just wanted to give a different visual perspective. 

[I miss RVA]

34 minutes ago, CitiWalker said:

This was taken from the Manchester part of the city.  I just wanted to give a different visual perspective. 

I thought it might be from Manchester. Sweet shots, my friend! I'm impressed that the Parc View actually is visible sticking up behind the Berkshire. I wonder how close this building is to being topped out?

Something important to keep in mind - particularly if the Grace Street corridor starts to actually come to pass: the Parc View is the first high-rise to be built in Monroe Ward in 51 years. I pray it will be the first of MANY to be built in Monroe Ward in the coming years.

Edited February 15, 2023 by I miss RVA

[ancientcarpenter]

On 2/11/2023 at 5:11 PM, eandslee said:

Now that's a beautiful shot right there!  Here's the crane fully assembled with the busy Broad Street to the right!

Beautiful shot... love to see the bus lanes like that. Looks so cool.

 

I must say, that Virginia Science Museum landscaping is so vanilla. I thought they were going to do something very cool like VMFA did with the green landscaping for people to be able to "escape" to and hang out. Instead, we got a corporate walking path. Ugh.

[Hike]

15 hours ago, ancientcarpenter said:

Beautiful shot... love to see the bus lanes like that. Looks so cool.

 

I must say, that Virginia Science Museum landscaping is so vanilla. I thought they were going to do something very cool like VMFA did with the green landscaping for people to be able to "escape" to and hang out. Instead, we got a corporate walking path. Ugh.

I think it’s the tree size, these are all young trees, once mature, which unfortunately could take decades to look like what is shown on the renderings and in the video, should look a lot different. I’m not sure of the variety, they could mature quicker, but will still take years, until then, it’s going to look like the corporate walking path you mentioned.  

 

 Video from their website - https://youtu.be/IBf0UHBTyxo

image from the video of the park illustrating mature trees.
 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Hike

[I miss RVA]

2 minutes ago, Hike said:

I think it’s the tree size, these are all young trees, once mature, which unfortunately could take decades to look like what is shown on the renderings and in the video, should look a lot different. I’m not sure of the variety, they could mature quicker, but will still take years, until then, it’s going to look like the corporate walking path you mentioned.  

 

 Video from their website - https://youtu.be/IBf0UHBTyxo

image from the video of the park illustrating mature trees.
 

 

Great rendering, and excellent point. Until the trees grow up and fill out, it really will resemble a corporate walking path.

Dunno - every time I see this perspective (looking from above) of the Science Museum (whether in a rendering such as this or in photographs) I still harken back to the days when it was Broad Street Station and LAMENT Amtrak closing it. Much as I'm thrilled we have the Science Museum -- for all these years I've STILL preferred that it had remained an active train station. How cool was it back in the day when Richmond was among the cities that had not just ONE active train terminal in the city - but TWO? Again, talk about punching WAY above our weight class, relative to overall city population.

[Hike]

12 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Great rendering, and excellent point. Until the trees grow up and fill out, it really will resemble a corporate walking path.

Dunno - every time I see this perspective (looking from above) of the Science Museum (whether in a rendering such as this or in photographs) I still harken back to the days when it was Broad Street Station and LAMENT Amtrak closing it. Much as I'm thrilled we have the Science Museum -- for all these years I've STILL preferred that it had remained an active train station. How cool was it back in the day when Richmond was among the cities that had not just ONE active train terminal in the city - but TWO? Again, talk about punching WAY above our weight class, relative to overall city population.

RVA has 2 locations that are pretty nice spots for a train station. If they kept Amtrak here, then what to do with the beautiful train station in Shockoe?  The science museum seems like a good fit in this building where the train shed in the bottom tried for years to be something else and really struggled. Now that it’s being used for train service and hopefully even more so, I think it worked out ok.  Also, some green space relief (once fully developed) on Broad street seems ok to me too. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Hike

[I miss RVA]

43 minutes ago, Hike said:

RVA has 2 locations that are pretty nice spots for a train station. If they kept Amtrak here, then what to do with the beautiful train station in Shockoe?  The science museum seems like a good fit in this building where the train shed in the bottom tried for years to be something else and really struggled. Now that it’s being used for train service and hopefully even more so, I think it worked out ok.  Also, some green space relief (once fully developed) on Broad street seems ok to me too. 

Prior to 1975, Broad Street Station AND Main Street Station were fully operational. They were closed once Amtrak built that par-boiled, "Plasticville" suburban "commuter-style" station out on Staples Mill. I didn't like it when it opened in '75 - and I've never liked it. And yes, I've traveled out of that station on a few occasions. HATED it. (I frankly see NO difference between the Staples Mill station and the commuter stations that pepper Chicagoland's Metra Rail commuter rail system.) It's NOT a station worthy of serving a city as its primary rail station.)

I felt even then that Amtrak were throwing away two PERFECTLY USEFUL and CLASSIC central-city rail terminals in favor of an on-the-cheap quick-stop suburban station that allowed them to bypass downtown and take trains through the city on the quick and cheap north-south via the Belt-Line. It was all about money. I hated it then - and I'm still salty about it.

Again - I love the Science Museum. I've been there MANY times way back when. Love what they did with the old train station - and agreed, it's a good fit. But it's always going to be Broad Street Station to me when I look at it from an aerial vantage point and can see the train sheds behind the building.

There's tremendous potential to ramp up rail service at MSS - but it's a shame they took out ALL of the spur tracks that went INTO the train shed. It's a shame that nowadays any/all trains have to be accessed OUTSIDE the terminal/train shed. That's a real bummer. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see how MSS gets significantly beefed up service throughout this decade and into the 2030s.

Edited February 18, 2023 by I miss RVA

[Hike]

4 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Prior to 1975, Broad Street Station AND Main Street Station were fully operational. They closed once Amtrak built the suburban "commuter-style" station out on Staples Mill. I didn't like it when it opened in '75 - and I've never liked it. I felt even then that Amtrak were throwing away two PERFECTLY USEFUL and CLASSIC central-city rail terminals in favor of an on-the-cheap quick-stop suburban station that allowed them to bypass downtown and take trains through the city on the quick and cheap north-south via the Belt-Line. It was all about money. I hated it then - and I'm still salty about it.

Again - I love the Science Museum. I've been there MANY times way back when. Love what they did with the old train station - and agreed, it's a good fit. But it's always going to be Broad Street Station to me when I look at it from an aerial vantage point and can see the train sheds behind the building.

There's tremendous potential to ramp up rail service at MSS - but it's a shame they took out ALL of the spur tracks that went INTO the train shed. It's a shame that nowadays any/all trains have to be accessed OUTSIDE the terminal/train shed. That's a real bummer. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see how MSS gets significantly beefed up service throughout this decade and into the 2030s.

Unfortunately, that train left the station, so to speak. With the current set up, I like how both stations are used, but yes, Staples Mill is a bad out. 

[blopp1234]

13 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Prior to 1975, Broad Street Station AND Main Street Station were fully operational. They were closed once Amtrak built that par-boiled, "Plasticville" suburban "commuter-style" station out on Staples Mill. I didn't like it when it opened in '75 - and I've never liked it. And yes, I've traveled out of that station on a few occasions. HATED it. (I frankly see NO difference between the Staples Mill station and the commuter stations that pepper Chicagoland's Metra Rail commuter train.) It's NOT a station worthy of serving a city as its primary rail station.)

I felt even then that Amtrak were throwing away two PERFECTLY USEFUL and CLASSIC central-city rail terminals in favor of an on-the-cheap quick-stop suburban station that allowed them to bypass downtown and take trains through the city on the quick and cheap north-south via the Belt-Line. It was all about money. I hated it then - and I'm still salty about it.

Again - I love the Science Museum. I've been there MANY times way back when. Love what they did with the old train station - and agreed, it's a good fit. But it's always going to be Broad Street Station to me when I look at it from an aerial vantage point and can see the train sheds behind the building.

There's tremendous potential to ramp up rail service at MSS - but it's a shame they took out ALL of the spur tracks that went INTO the train shed. It's a shame that nowadays any/all trains have to be accessed OUTSIDE the terminal/train shed. That's a real bummer. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see how MSS gets significantly beefed up service throughout this decade and into the 2030s.

The biggest advantage to MSS is also its biggest problem. That is the lack of area around the station for track expansion. With the slavery museum set to ab ur the property to the west and development closing in on the east, it makes it difficult to expand past 4 station tracks in the future if frequent regional rail plus further expanded Amtrak is added.

 

I have passed by MSS a few times recently and it looks like Amtrak has added signage to the west side of the station, which currently doesn’t see any trains. Seems like with the expansion of rail service to MSS they want to get ahead and add signage in preparation.

 

Also, Amtrak, Henrico and VPRA are looking at replacing the building for Staples Mill and building 2 new island platforms on the other side of the tracks from the current station. That hopefully should be done by 2035-2040 at the latest as studies are underway now.

Edited February 18, 2023 by blopp1234

[I miss RVA]

6 minutes ago, Hike said:

Unfortunately, that train left the station, so to speak. With the current set up, I like how both stations are used, but yes, Staples Mill is a bad out. 

Yes, that train indeed has left the station! 

I do agree - with the current setup - using both stations is a good thing - and it will be even better once the downtown river crossing is rebuilt and ALL trains are going through MSS.

[skinsfan]

One less T Crane to admire.  My brother began to take one down last night in Manchester. 

[I miss RVA]

The Commodore crane?