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Difficult Run

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Everything posted by Difficult Run

  1. Monkeykat - You ROCK! Just wanted to say Thank You for creating the Scaredy Cat Films Benchmark Viewer. I use it all the time. Here's hoping your new mobile page is just as successful! ~ Mitch ~
  2. Not as pretty as others posted, but here's one I found while looking for HW0240: T.T. STA. NO. 16-K 1927 (Transit Traverse Station Number 16-K) I'd say this can be traced back to a single manufacturer supplying disks to the USGS. (Gotta wonder what chemistry they used). Side note: Why the CGS set their own mark 60 feet away, about 6 feet lower and just 15 years later eludes me. ~ Mitch ~
  3. Welcome to the benchmark hunting forum! Yes! - The chimney is the benchmark, a good example of an intersection station. Observations from other stations with known latitude and longitude were used to compute the lat/long of this mark using triangulation. Other kinds of intersection stations are radio masts, church spires, water towers, etc. You can read more about them here: Intersection Stations Benchmark Hunting FAQs ~ Mitch ~
  4. On December 21st, 1969 a close relative of mine along with another USGS surveyor reset the South Pole. I believe this was the third time it was done! (Roald Amundsen was the first in about 1911 or 1912.) Here's an article from the "The School Times", dated May 15th, 1970 published by the New York Times. Here's a few mementos he brought back: All mail from the South Pole station was stamped with this. Bronze replica of the mark given at retirement. I'll be happy to sell this replica for $6,000! (Pretty similar to the 1976 Bicentennial monument) ~ Mitch ~
  5. Weren't these the "freebies" given by DaveD at the benchmarker's meeting about 5 years ago? I still have mine and occasionally look at them for fun. ~ Mitch ~
  6. One of our regulars has done just that: Benchmark Viewer It's THE best! ~ Mitch ~
  7. I think BillWallace nailed it. ~ Mitch ~
  8. Bad news... My oldest recovery is now nineteen years younger. HIGH KNOB 1865 was not set in 1865, but in 1884. - A snippet from the 1884 CGS Annual Report confirms this: Compare the photos of KELLER 1884 and HIGH KNOB 1865: Thanks to BDT for posting his drill hole/chiseled triangle on another thread! - You rock! What about STRASBURG? - Artman found it in 2006. Now, two questions remain, one for PapaBear and the other for DaveD: 1) Since HIGH KNOB was set in 1884, is it considered a true Eastern Oblique Arc Station? (and would this apply to KELLER 1884 and STRASBURG?) 2) Can the datasheet for HIGH KNOB 1865 be corrected and renamed "HIGH KNOB 1884" since the DS is clearly in error? ~ Mitch ~
  9. Niiice find there BillWallace! Isn't it funny that the 1933 survey party set their mark 27 inches away from the station they couldn't find? Something similar happened with my recovery of High Knob 1865. The 1957 survey crew couldn't find the old station, and set a new disk about 8½ feet away. Here's the pic: Notice that this chiseled triangle/drill hole is identical to KELLER 1884 that BDT found? Yep. - Both were set in the same year by (CHS). Makes me wonder how many more 1884 marks are out there... ~ Mitch ~ EDIT: (CHS) = According to the 1884 CGS Annual Report, Sub assistant C.H. Sinclair determined the latitude and longitude of Covington, Va. 2ND EDIT: It wasn't Covington, but Strasburg, Va. - Doh!
  10. Nicely done Apollo! With those two finds, you're no longer a noob. ~ Mitch ~
  11. Who knew a Schonstedt would play like a ?Here's the Wikipedia webpage. ~ Mitch ~
  12. I remember this discussion about two or three years ago. Seems to me that the points were scaled using UTM, right? Lots of times the numbers (digits) got transposed and caused many errors. If NGS Surveyor or someone would like to do a writeup on this, it would make pretty interesting reading. ~ Mitch ~
  13. A pole is an old surveying term for distance and is equal to a rod, or 16.5 feet. Could this be the distance the surveyor was trying to say? From The Free Dictionary: a. A linear measure equal to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters). Also called pole. ~ Mitch ~ Edit: My observation is probably waaay off base here, but hey, it's a thought.
  14. Dixie, Sounds like you indeed had a great day. On the other hand, I've been shoveling snow for the past 24 hours, like the rest of Virginia. ~ Mitch ~
  15. Yayyyyy! - I got 32 out of 40 correct, which makes me 'average'. Congrats to all the winners, ~ Mitch ~
  16. Email sent as well. - Good luck to everyone. ~ Mitch ~
  17. Sage advice indeed! ... and don't forget to have fun hunting them. ~ Mitch ~
  18. Hi mjcongleton, Welcome to Benchmark hunting, you're off to a great start! You asked about old maps, there are two websites I highly recommend: http://historical.mytopo.com/ and http://www.historicaerials.com/ Here's the London, Ohio map which was surveyed in 1905 and reprinted in 1940: 1940 Map of London, Ohio Have fun and keep us posted, ~ Mitch ~ EDIT: Thought you were looking for a mark with adjusted coordinates, (triangulation station). My bad. - Deleted the story on finding one.
  19. Wow SouthPawaz! Your recovery almost rivals a PapaBear Adventure®. - Nicely done! I especially liked the 1910 Flat Triangulation Station disk on Baldy. NGS Surveyor would be interested in that also. Had trouble seeing the arrow. You've got to post a detailed report when you find the circled cross at CUYAMACA RESET. ~ Mitch ~
  20. Not exactly a typo, but an amusing story... JV4351 I found a similar situation on a nearby station, but it'll take a little time to find it again. ~ Mitch ~
  21. Agreed. - If GS would disclose their side of the story, there would be none. Unfortunately TPTB choose not to.
  22. No, they axe murdered. You could also interpret that the plaque was erected by Joshua Browning and John Tucker...
  23. So.... did Joshua Browning and John Tucker murder Isham and Sarah Stewart?
  24. This is an excellent question and the answer is probably buried in an NGS publication... somewhere ... (NGS Surveyor, we appreciate your efforts and hope you'll find a definite answer soon). Here's my interpretation: For 'solid' objects such as power poles, signs, fence posts, trees and such, I've measured from the closest edge. Doing so eliminates the guesswork or calculation of defining a center point on so called 'solid' object. When it comes to 'soft' objects, (for the lack of a better word), measuring from the center line makes more sense. These 'soft' objects would include roads, trails, streams, manhole covers or anything you could walk across. The only exception I can think of is a river where measurements to the center might be a wee bit difficult. That's my take. ~ Mitch ~
  25. Nicely done LSUfan! When you go back again, be sure to add as many measurements as possible including the distances from the RMs to the centerline of the road. It's possible that one of the reference marks was disturbed by road widening or mowing. On any recovery, I'll give the mark a "kick" to make sure it hasn't been broken off below grade. Sure enjoyed the fun of watching your recovery efforts from afar. ~ Mitch ~
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