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Naming Of Stations


Zhanna

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This passage from the Manual of Geodetic Triangulation may be of interest:

 

Specifications For Marks

 

3. Naming of stations. - The triangulation party normally uses the name assigned by the reconnaissance party unless there is some reason for changing it. Correct spelling of the name should be checked locally before the mark is stamped. The correct name as stamped on the mark will be used throughout the records.

 

The name of the locality is preferable but the name of the property owner may be used for the designation of the station. To avoid ill feeling, it should be made certain that the station is actually on the named property, and that the owner's name is correctly spelled.

 

Double names should be avoided if practical as they cause extra work throughout the recording and computing. Also the double name including the word "peak," or "mountain," or "point," is not usually necessary, since the description should state that the station is on a peak or mountain or point of that name.

 

Names of stations of other organizations should be retained exactly as stamped on that organization's station mark. If additional azimuth or reference marks are established by a party of this Bureau, the stamping should include the original station name, the initials of the other organization, and the year in which the additional marks are established.

 

If the name of a recovered intersection station (not marked with a bronze disk) is incorrect, the correct name should be typed in the heading of Form 525b. The first statement in the body of the note should then list any previous triangulation names of the same object, as well as map names and any other names in current usage.

 

from "Manual of Geodetic Triangulation" by F.R. Gossett, 1959

Special Publication No. 247

U.S.Department of Commerce

 

~Zhanna

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In addition to the thrill of hunting and finding benchmarks, I enjoy attempting to figure out the "name" given to a station. Sometimes, it is obvious. "Funeral" generally is near a funeral home, and "cemetary" generally incorporates the presence of a burial ground into the directions.

 

A variation is to use the name of a headstone. "Stephenson" (EZ4756) for example, is near his marker. Likewise, "Matt" (EZ6671) is a few paces from the Matthews family's resting place.

 

"Whistle" probably will be near the present or former intersection of a road and rail line, and the "whistle" sign (containing two long horz. lines, one short, and another long) will be a clue.

 

Don't be quick to jump to conclusions, however. "Crappie" (AB2908) is at a popular fishing spot on Jordan Lake (NC), with no privy in sight. "Juice" (EZ6665) has no relation to a beverage; instead, it can be found at the base of a high-voltage power line pole. "Beware" (EZ6401) is not a warning, but refers to a nearby sign.

 

Some names suggest that the surveyor was having a bad day. I hope the placer of "SNAFU" (AB2907) was nearly through working for the day. And does his location description hint at what created the frustration? The last line reads, "Area of mark is subject to flooding."

 

Paul

Cary, North Carolina

 

P.S. Surveyors occasionally honor a member of their profession. Check out the photo of AB6821 to see a monument to a well-known North Carolina Registered Land Surveyor.

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My favorite is OYES, a mark near the Pennsylvania town of Ono, and possibly named after the now defunct O Yes hotel and restaurant, or perhaps predating it and an attempt at humor by the crew. There is (actually, was--I am almost sure it is destroyed) an ONO station already established, oddly enough, very close to the location of the O' Yes Restaurant. I wonder if the crew ate there when setting the line of marks that extend along this highway in 1942 and used it as the name for the next station along the line, having a good laugh, or how they came to name it that.

Codorus was named after a nearby, but not REAL nearby creek, Lincoln most likely after nearby US Route 30, which was the Lincoln Highway, and Box after the York Corrugated Box factory where it was located.

 

Matt

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From the description, the crew had too many beers :rolleyes: when they mounted it. 24-inch rod doesn't sound too stable.

 

TB0965'THE STATION MARK, A STANDARD MNHD BRASS DISK STAMPED---BEER 1977---,

TB0965'IS SET ON THE TOP OF A 3/4 INCH DIAMETER BY 24 INCH LONG IRON PIN THAT

TB0965'IS FLUSH WITH THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND. THE MARK IS 73.5 FEET

TB0965'SOUTHEAST OF THE CENTERLINE OF TRUNK HIGHWAY 71, 6.19 FEET NORTHEAST

TB0965'OF A NAIL AND DISK ON THE EAST SIDE OF A TWIN 8 INCH BIRCH TREE, 8.62

TB0965'FEET SOUTH OF A NAIL AND DISK ON THE WEST SIDE OF A 6 INCH POPLAR

TB0965'TREE, AND 30.2 FEET EAST-SOUTHEAST OF A STEEL WITNESS POST. NO

TB0965'UNDERGROUND STATION MARK WAS SET FOR THIS STATION.

 

Don't try to find this station. Minnesota DOT claims it was destroyed.

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What are the rules for assigning a PID to a station? I notice that most stations in a particular area start with the same two alphabetic characters -- here in Dallas most are "CSxxxx" -- but in the same area there will also be an "ABxxxx" or "AFxxxx" or something else. What are the rules for this? What information, if any, is "encoded" in the PID's first two characters?

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Computer generated by time entered into the system. The only relevance they have to any area is in the fact that those were all loaded at the same time when the DB was created in the 80's. Like entering all the data and doing a sort by area.

 

Do I know this for a fact, No but it makes more sense that the black helicopter theory.

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MarkDuster,

 

MW0902 was Monumented By the CG&S in 1948 for Geodetic Survey purposes.

 

MW0925 was monumented by the USGS, a different agency having a different mission, in 1971, and elected to register their Bench Mark in the NGS Database.

 

Possible reasons for the USGS to do this could be that they feel that they needed a Station placed where they put it for their own reasons, They may feel that Where they put it is the actual name of the peak. They may not have realized that when the engineers of the NGS name a disc they are not necessarily concerned about officially naming a place, even though they may in fact use a place name to name a disc.

 

One thing is certain. When we sort out the missions of the two organizations, we find that the NGS is concerned with Geodetic Control of the Country, and the USGS is concerned, in part, with the proper naming of places in the country.

 

In this case, the CG&S back in the day found what they felt was a good place up high to conduct their work and called it a name for record keeping purposes, and the USGS went up to the location they did to accurately name a specific location.

 

Perhaps the USGS engineer just wanted to add it to the NGS database as an additional resource in the area, beyond that, my other guesses would become too speculative.

 

Rob

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Evenfall, you are probably right in most cases but this one is interesting because the USGS mark is a bench mark disc marked HORSE PK RS 1932 and is on the peak called Stephens Butte on the map. The NGS mark is an USC&GS disk and is on the peak called Horse Peak on the map. I think that in 1932 the USGS got the name of the peak wrong.

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MarkDuster,

 

That Map has good info on it, which I wasn't privy to. I was just basing my thoughts off the datasheets, and I don't have any local knowedge of that area... ( it is a job keeping up with mine! ) But I'll stand with what I said... NGS tries to name with whatever is most logical, and the 1971 report, tying their 1935 BM into the NGS database is well, different for them to do it, but not odd for the NGS to commadeer a USGS Monument for their own Bench use, so I dunno...

 

But the Map sure is telling... Either way, the NGS had no data for this Station prior to 1971, and nearly 20 years after their first visit to the general area.

 

I like it. Sounds fun! Who knows! Go Recover them!

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