![]() | A fact from Sky Ride appeared on Wikipedia's
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The following material was stashed in the body of the article, commented out. As the original author of this article, I put it there thinking I'd like to try to make use of it later. Since that doesn't seem to be common practice, (someone just deleted it and I had to fish it out of the history) I'm bringing it here so it does not get lost/forgotten:
.
(was Meigs field for a while ... now being redeveloped after Mayor Daley had Meigs Field bulldozed)
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.861954,-87.605066&spn=0.024078,0.040851&hl=en
I have a family heirloom, a U.S.Patent granted to William Lindsay Hamilton, his heirs relating to "Ropeways and the like". I understand that William Hamilton designed the Transporter Bridge. The Patent number is 1501333 and was granted in Washington on 15th July, 1924
Signed
Archie Hamilton Glasgow, Scotland, U.K 81.102.38.183 20:23, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
I propose that the reference to "transporter bridge" in the first paragraph of the article be changed to "aerial tramway" and that the second paragraph be deleted. While the Sky Ride has been identified as a transporter bridge in a number of verifiable sources, such as (and perhaps most notably) Structurae, it is clearly not a transporter bridge but is instead an aerial tramway. The Sky Ride violates the most basic concept of a transporter bridge, the desire to transport passengers, vehicles, and cargo at the grade of the surrounding terrain without building a bridge deck at grade, in order to leave the bridged waterway unobstructed. This is accomplished by a rigid elevated superstructure carrying a rolling truck which in turn supports a gondola which is, by cables or less often by a rigid structure, suspended back down to grade level. In the Sky Ride, the gondolas are (a) at the level of the superstructure, not at grade, (b) are attached directly to, not suspended from, the rolling trucks, and (c) passengers ascend to the superstructure level by elevators. One of the sources cited by the article, niederelbe.de (more properly, Die Welt der Schwebefähren), clearly says, albeit in German, that the Sky Ride is not a transporter bridge, but is instead a "cable car." Some close-up photos of the Sky Ride gondolas and cable system are available at www.worldfairs.info. TransporterMan ( talk) 15:59, 10 November 2009 (UTC)
This should remain listed as a transporter bridge. Please see page 666 in Popular Mechanics Vol 59 No. 5 (May 1933). This article and the associated illustration clearly discuss that the Sky Ride is intended as a model for future bridges. Quoting page 669: "If the cables were enlarged, the elevators replaced by larger lifts, ... and the rocket cars were designed to accomodate vehicles, the entire system would become an aerial ferry ... capable of carrying loaded trucks and automobiles." - ¢Spender1983 ( talk) 04:08, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
Proposed Draft: Add a new paragraph immediately following the second paragraph and just above the Contents box which would read (without italics):
Lar, if you have some additional "sources that cite it as 'one of only two transporter bridges ever built in the US'" we could cite them here as well. (That's not a challenge, BTW, just a suggestion.) I'm going to go ahead boldly and add an external link to the picture page. TransporterMan ( talk) 16:51, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
![]() |
I'm a Nitwit | |
TRANSPORTERMAN ( TALK) admits an act of WikiIdiocy. |
Re the external link, there's also a very good collection of detailed images at SAIC (Search Result on "Sky Ride Image"), but they're non-free images and I don't know how, if it's possible at all, to link to the search result page without violating #9 of WP:ELNO, whereas linking to the individual image pages would seem to violate #3 of WP:ELPOINTS. TransporterMan ( talk) 17:33, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
Ref for Transporter bridge - Here is a reference for transporter bridge. It's only a snippet view in Google books, but it's enough to show that a reliable secondary source called it a transporter bridge. Engineering News-Record Feb 8, 1934. Quote: "Successful construction and operation of the Skyride transporter bridge at the Century of Progress was a tribute to model testing work, which formed a conspicuous part of the design procedure." - ¢Spender1983 ( talk) 04:36, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
Thanks, guys, for the article cleanup and inclusions. I think this is done. TRANSPORTERMAN ( TALK) 14:05, 16 November 2009 (UTC)
I have found the smoking gun and it has shot me. I am reverting the edit made by Lar to insert the language which I requested. As it turns out, I was right that the Sky Ride was a aerial tramway, but I was wrong, too, in that it is both an aerial tramway and a transporter bridge. I have now found two or three authoritative references, written during the heyday of transporter bridges, which clearly indicate that some, or all, aerial tramways were considered to be transporter bridges. They are:
It is thus clear that contemporary sources clearly considered at least some aerial tramways to be transporter bridges. What's not clear at this remove is whether they considered all, or just some, aerial tramways to be transporter bridges. It's not that aerial tramways were new or novel at this time (see this history). A clue might be found in Tyrrell's comment that the car on the Knoxville cableway moved at a steep incline. It may be that the engineers and architects of the day only considered near-horizontal aerial tramways, such as that at Devil's Dyke, as transporter bridges, but considered those which scaled heights to be a structure type unto themselves. (As can be seen from the American Engineer and Railroad Journal description, the fact that the Knoxville cableway not only scaled a height but also served to cross a river probably added to its ambiguity.)
Whatever the explanation, it is indisputably clear that the architects and engineers of the time considered some aerial tramways to be transporter bridges. I and Die Welt der Schwebefähren are, therefore, clearly wrong about the Sky Ride not being a transporter bridge and I am boldly reverting Lar's inclusion of the language I previously requested because it is misleading. I apologize to Lar and ¢Spender1983 for the trouble I've put them to (and also for this talk page edit being non-concise). TRANSPORTERMAN ( TALK) 16:47, 17 November 2009 (UTC)
Text about the number of transporter bridges in the US can then be moved to the history section. I think this is more engaging than the current lead. It also explains why the article is in both the amusement ride category as well as the transporter bridge category. Thoughts? - ¢Spender1983 ( talk) 20:06, 17 November 2009 (UTC)The Sky Ride was an attraction built for the Century of Progress Exposition (or World's Fair) in Chicago, Illinois (located near what became Meigs Field) in 1933. It was a transporter bridge (or aerial tramway), designed by the bridge engineering firm Robinson & Steinman, that ferried people across the lagoon in the center of the fair. It was demolished after carrying X,XXX,XXX riders during the run of the fair. The Sky Ride had an 1,850-foot (564 m) span and two XXX-feet tall towers, making it the most prominent structure at the fair. Suspended from the span, 215 feet (66 m) above the ground, were rocket-shaped cars, each carrying 36 passengers.
![]() | A fact from Sky Ride appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the
Did you know column on 3 January 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:
| ![]() |
![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
The following material was stashed in the body of the article, commented out. As the original author of this article, I put it there thinking I'd like to try to make use of it later. Since that doesn't seem to be common practice, (someone just deleted it and I had to fish it out of the history) I'm bringing it here so it does not get lost/forgotten:
.
(was Meigs field for a while ... now being redeveloped after Mayor Daley had Meigs Field bulldozed)
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.861954,-87.605066&spn=0.024078,0.040851&hl=en
I have a family heirloom, a U.S.Patent granted to William Lindsay Hamilton, his heirs relating to "Ropeways and the like". I understand that William Hamilton designed the Transporter Bridge. The Patent number is 1501333 and was granted in Washington on 15th July, 1924
Signed
Archie Hamilton Glasgow, Scotland, U.K 81.102.38.183 20:23, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
I propose that the reference to "transporter bridge" in the first paragraph of the article be changed to "aerial tramway" and that the second paragraph be deleted. While the Sky Ride has been identified as a transporter bridge in a number of verifiable sources, such as (and perhaps most notably) Structurae, it is clearly not a transporter bridge but is instead an aerial tramway. The Sky Ride violates the most basic concept of a transporter bridge, the desire to transport passengers, vehicles, and cargo at the grade of the surrounding terrain without building a bridge deck at grade, in order to leave the bridged waterway unobstructed. This is accomplished by a rigid elevated superstructure carrying a rolling truck which in turn supports a gondola which is, by cables or less often by a rigid structure, suspended back down to grade level. In the Sky Ride, the gondolas are (a) at the level of the superstructure, not at grade, (b) are attached directly to, not suspended from, the rolling trucks, and (c) passengers ascend to the superstructure level by elevators. One of the sources cited by the article, niederelbe.de (more properly, Die Welt der Schwebefähren), clearly says, albeit in German, that the Sky Ride is not a transporter bridge, but is instead a "cable car." Some close-up photos of the Sky Ride gondolas and cable system are available at www.worldfairs.info. TransporterMan ( talk) 15:59, 10 November 2009 (UTC)
This should remain listed as a transporter bridge. Please see page 666 in Popular Mechanics Vol 59 No. 5 (May 1933). This article and the associated illustration clearly discuss that the Sky Ride is intended as a model for future bridges. Quoting page 669: "If the cables were enlarged, the elevators replaced by larger lifts, ... and the rocket cars were designed to accomodate vehicles, the entire system would become an aerial ferry ... capable of carrying loaded trucks and automobiles." - ¢Spender1983 ( talk) 04:08, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
Proposed Draft: Add a new paragraph immediately following the second paragraph and just above the Contents box which would read (without italics):
Lar, if you have some additional "sources that cite it as 'one of only two transporter bridges ever built in the US'" we could cite them here as well. (That's not a challenge, BTW, just a suggestion.) I'm going to go ahead boldly and add an external link to the picture page. TransporterMan ( talk) 16:51, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
![]() |
I'm a Nitwit | |
TRANSPORTERMAN ( TALK) admits an act of WikiIdiocy. |
Re the external link, there's also a very good collection of detailed images at SAIC (Search Result on "Sky Ride Image"), but they're non-free images and I don't know how, if it's possible at all, to link to the search result page without violating #9 of WP:ELNO, whereas linking to the individual image pages would seem to violate #3 of WP:ELPOINTS. TransporterMan ( talk) 17:33, 12 November 2009 (UTC)
Ref for Transporter bridge - Here is a reference for transporter bridge. It's only a snippet view in Google books, but it's enough to show that a reliable secondary source called it a transporter bridge. Engineering News-Record Feb 8, 1934. Quote: "Successful construction and operation of the Skyride transporter bridge at the Century of Progress was a tribute to model testing work, which formed a conspicuous part of the design procedure." - ¢Spender1983 ( talk) 04:36, 14 November 2009 (UTC)
Thanks, guys, for the article cleanup and inclusions. I think this is done. TRANSPORTERMAN ( TALK) 14:05, 16 November 2009 (UTC)
I have found the smoking gun and it has shot me. I am reverting the edit made by Lar to insert the language which I requested. As it turns out, I was right that the Sky Ride was a aerial tramway, but I was wrong, too, in that it is both an aerial tramway and a transporter bridge. I have now found two or three authoritative references, written during the heyday of transporter bridges, which clearly indicate that some, or all, aerial tramways were considered to be transporter bridges. They are:
It is thus clear that contemporary sources clearly considered at least some aerial tramways to be transporter bridges. What's not clear at this remove is whether they considered all, or just some, aerial tramways to be transporter bridges. It's not that aerial tramways were new or novel at this time (see this history). A clue might be found in Tyrrell's comment that the car on the Knoxville cableway moved at a steep incline. It may be that the engineers and architects of the day only considered near-horizontal aerial tramways, such as that at Devil's Dyke, as transporter bridges, but considered those which scaled heights to be a structure type unto themselves. (As can be seen from the American Engineer and Railroad Journal description, the fact that the Knoxville cableway not only scaled a height but also served to cross a river probably added to its ambiguity.)
Whatever the explanation, it is indisputably clear that the architects and engineers of the time considered some aerial tramways to be transporter bridges. I and Die Welt der Schwebefähren are, therefore, clearly wrong about the Sky Ride not being a transporter bridge and I am boldly reverting Lar's inclusion of the language I previously requested because it is misleading. I apologize to Lar and ¢Spender1983 for the trouble I've put them to (and also for this talk page edit being non-concise). TRANSPORTERMAN ( TALK) 16:47, 17 November 2009 (UTC)
Text about the number of transporter bridges in the US can then be moved to the history section. I think this is more engaging than the current lead. It also explains why the article is in both the amusement ride category as well as the transporter bridge category. Thoughts? - ¢Spender1983 ( talk) 20:06, 17 November 2009 (UTC)The Sky Ride was an attraction built for the Century of Progress Exposition (or World's Fair) in Chicago, Illinois (located near what became Meigs Field) in 1933. It was a transporter bridge (or aerial tramway), designed by the bridge engineering firm Robinson & Steinman, that ferried people across the lagoon in the center of the fair. It was demolished after carrying X,XXX,XXX riders during the run of the fair. The Sky Ride had an 1,850-foot (564 m) span and two XXX-feet tall towers, making it the most prominent structure at the fair. Suspended from the span, 215 feet (66 m) above the ground, were rocket-shaped cars, each carrying 36 passengers.