Well it's been a few months since I've done anything to the 2000 Ford E-350 handicap equipped Goshen Coach. I'm writing today to help myself find some inspiration to make some much needed repairs. I'm looking at a company called http://allpointsbus.com out of New York to secure some needed parts.
First off I need a up/down switch for the Braun Millenium Lift. as mine doesn't like to go up all the time or very often, depending on how you look at it.
Secondly I need 4 of them red handles that keep the emergency escape windows closed as all of mine are ripped off.
Lastly as far as small parts go I need a 3 point latch for one of the rear doors as it's just a 1 point latch right now.
We were recently looking at new vehicles to replace our aging bus, but the fuel economy improvements of a new vehicle won't pay off in even 10 years between our bus and a new car. But our highest candidate was the Vehicle Production Groups MV-1 with it's rated 15 MPG it wouldn't have never paid off over our current 10-12 MPG. If you've followed along with me in the past you'd know that I've done quite a few improvements/modifications to our 10 foot tall 10,000 pound rig none to any serious improvement but I increased the horsepower tremendously without losing MPG. Another car we were looking at was the Honda Element X-WAV conversion which is very awesome but about $15,000.00 more expensive then the MV-1.
Well I hope in the next week to have parts in my hand or on the way to repair these items so that I can check them off my list. Let me know what you think or about your wheelchair vehicle or bus in the comments below I'd love to read about what some of you are doing to keep your rigs on the road.
Goshen Adventures along the Ohio River
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
A few repairs I'm hoping to tackle in the coming few days on the 2000 Ford E-350 Wheelchair bus
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Vehicle Production Group's MV-1 wheelchair accessible vehicle
Well I've been wanting to write about this car for some time as we have been following it since it was first shown on Leno's Garage. First off you have to not think of this as a car as it's been built to truck specifications. It's built ontop of a frame like a truck and not unibody. It's been built to withstand commercial duty as a taxicab.
Well it's recent setback with Mayor Bloomberg of New York City's hyper critical comments about wheelchair users and this wheelchair vehicle not withstanding. It has soo much potential and a reasonable starting price, compared to upfit wheelchair vehicles.
As far as a consumer I have 1 problem with this vehicle and I don't understand why it is. The EPA claims are 15MPG highway 10MPG city. I don't understand this since it's using a modern ford powertrain which garners in the 20's in pickup trucks. I'm hoping in the near future to find out what has caused this real problem especially in todays world of ever increasing fuel prices.
Now for were this car crosses our path here at Goshen Adventures. We recently decided we wanted to go see this car so we picked the Independence Expo in Orlando, FL as VPG's MV-1 was signed up to be there. We travel 840 miles in our 2000 Ford E350 diesel towing our 30' travel trailer which is outfitted for a wheelchair user. Upon checking in we asked where the MV-1 was as that was going to be my first stop only to find out that they pulled out in order to have all the cars at the press conference where they gave away car #1. This was a cool press conference but you can see not everyone was happy with it.
Now something you have to understand here is that our current vehicle the ex fleet 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach bus runs on diesel and is just bad as all get out and loaded with so much power it can excellerate up a mountain towing a 30 foot trailer, but it gets 8-10MPG loaded or unloaded it doesn't matter so the 15 mpg is not just 50% better as the price of gasoline is 50 cents cheaper than diesel (another sore spot with me as diesel is a less refined product then gasoline) so it's more like a 70% economy improvement for us. Not to mention the price point of $40,000.00 for the vehicle brand new is $18,000.00 less then our next favorite vehicle the Honda Element X-WAV. We can buy a lifetimes worth of gas with that 18,000.00 don't you know.
The final thing I want to know is that this vehicle is built like a truck with truck drivetrain the V8 from the ford F150. What will it take to make this car tow my 30' trailer like the cars of similar specs did in the 70's. I've just really got to see one, and hopefully get some answers from one of their engineers sometime on this car.
Well I'm going to wrap this up here, but let me know in the comments what your favorite wheelchair vehicle is and why.
Friday, October 14, 2011
1st serious road breakdown with the Goshen Coach
I've previously discussed our 2000 Ford E350's Carrier Transicold system in some detail before.
We recently spent some time on the road with our wheelchair bus pulling a 30 foot toy hauler trailer that we have stripped out all the stuff in the "toy" area and now have an electric hospital bed and enough room to maneuver a hoyer lift around. Our target was 840 miles away in Orlando Florida at the 2011 Independence Expo. Keep in mind that our rig is an aging ex-fleet operated rig but it has a good heart LOL
Being in a wheelchair and travelling away from home has some inherit risks. Probably the most major one is that if you break down and need a tow you are going to be left on the side of the highway because tow trucks aren't equipped with wheelchair lifts or ramps. With this in mind I travel with enough tools and old spare parts I can stuff on board. Our first problem, a recurring one which is quite frustrating to diagnose, is the Braun Millenium Lift in our truck will fold/unfold/go down with no problems what so ever. But ever so often it won't go up. Half of our trip this is how the lift acted. I jump the main relay on the lift to ground and if your not careful it will raise and fold in one motion. What bothers me about this configuration is that they are switching the ground to make it operate, which means if it shorts out it's not going to blow a fuse and be safe, it's going to raise and fold in keep on pumping! Ok so I'm digressing from what I was wanting to say. Needless to say this problem although annoying I can overcome.
We travel to florida, make the expo, spend some time at Disney World, traded pins, trick or treated at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and head home. Our Hopped up 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel performing admirably with our 53' Truck and Trailer rig. We make it to 45 miles from home and start smelling smoke... Well I hope it's outside, but it's not going away and it's starting to burn my eyes. So here's where you get scared truck is 8 feet wide lift sticks out another 4-5 feet and it takes another 3 feet to get on/off the lift when it's on the ground so you need 14-16 feet of space for the truck and egress, the Interstate has sloping grassy area beyond the emergency parking strip on the side. So do I stop immediately taking up the main lane at night and most likely get rear ended at 80mph? no I think not... I push on the gas and hit the next exit, blast through the red lights, and pull into a truck stop well away from the pumps and everyone else but where someone will quickly call the fire department if flames kick up after I stop. I shut down and get Sarah in her wheelchair off the bus. Now fortunately no flames kicked up, the smoke died away after I shut the motor down, Sarah's is off the bus so I start inspecting the problem. I open the hood and the serpentine drive belt is sheared. This is where the spare parts kick in. I have the previous belt stowed away (the belt is a non stock at every parts store I've ever checked, meaning you break down at night and on the 2nd day if your lucky you can get one) I install the new belt but notice what broke it, the Air Conditioner pulley is free and rattling around in the A/C clutch confines and it has a good 3/4" of play. I fire up the truck and the a/c pulley is rubbing on the bolts on the front of the compressor and throwing sparks so I shut back down. I make some calls and the closest place I can find to park our rig was 10 miles away, speculating the life of the belt I figured it would snap in route, but we could probably make it with one cooling off period, so best case belt holds, we are there in 12 minutes, worse case belt breaks and we are there in 2 hours or so. Fortunately the belt held and we were able to get our rv set back up and camp out for a few more days. Both the compressor and the belt were non stock items at the part store, so it took us about 3 days to get back on the road and travel that last 40 miles to make it home.
Anyway, the compressor has been on about a week, I did not plug in the electrical connector to it at the time as I just really needed something that would make the drive belt function for the water pump, alternator and fan. So today I take the time to charge the system back up. the system holds:
10 - 12 oz cans of R134a
Sam's Club had R134a by the case of 12 cans for 76 bucks so I had a couple of cans to spare and still saved money vs the typical 9 bucks a can everywhere else.
It's always something to think about when your travelling with a wheelchair traveller is what to do if you get broke down away from home.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Independence Expo
We are thinking seriously about hitching up the Goshen Coach to our newely acquired 30 foot Campmaster Toy Hauler Camper (We very quickly realised with an open mind that a toy hauler is a premade handicap capable RV!) and heading south, way south, to Orlando Florido. They are having an Independence Expo there September 23rd and 24th http://www.independenceexpo.org/ Which should be a really awesome place to get hands on experience with equipment that the local suppliers never seem to know anything about.
If anyone has seen one of the MV-1's please leave me message about the experience. As for us we are looking at our funding to see if we can swing a 1,500 mile round tripper with the current diesel prices.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Who Wouldn't Want to Make Money Shopping at Home PLUS a $5.00 Sign-up Bonus!?!?
This is so easy!
Click on the following link for ebates
First, create a login and you will get a $5.00 credit!!
All you have to do to get this free $5.00 is to click through them to one of your favorite online retailers, everybody is there, and purchase $25.00 worth of products within 3 months of signing up! You will earn cash back on that purchase so you get a discount for doing this too. Once you have done that, click on the above link again if you want, and go to "My Ebates" up at the top of the page. Enter your name and address where you want them to send you your check. They pay out every 3 months that you shop with them.
So take advantage of sale prices and other offers, and on top of that earn cash back! There is no software to install, no toolbars or search bars... none of that stuff. There are no fees of any kind.
There is nothing to lose on this one except to stop paying full price for everything!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach Part 4
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach Part 4
Quick recap of events in part 1, part 2 and part 3. I have a 2000 Ford E350 cutaway chassis cab powered by the powerful 7.3L powerstroke turbo diesel and a Goshen Coach body. I had a failure with my Carrier Transicold A/C air conditioning unit. This one wasn't as severe as some of the ones I had in the past but it effectively took the air down. What happened again was that the Carrier system takes out the factory condensor mounted in front of the radiator and places a larger one in a box located on the drivers side just behind the drivers door. It is cooled by 3 fans in the case of mine the Carrier CM-3, which pull a vacuum on the box the condenser is in drawing air from the side of the truck and exhausting the air under the truck. the rearward of my 3 fans locked down taking out the fuse for all 3 fans, newer models have each fan individually fused so that this hopefully won't happen.
So today Lasseter came through for me and my new fan arrived via UPS which is good as I payed a premium buying it from them. After diagnosing any electrical damage and replacing a fuse in the cabin that allows the fans to have power. I installed the new fan fired up the truck and felt the cold air blowing out!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Irvin S Cobb Bridge Run Paducah KY Brookport IL
The Irvin S. Cobb Bridge, completed in 1929, is currently a steel decked two lane bridge on US 45 that connects Brookport, IL to Paducah, KY. The original pavement was concrete, but was removed approximately 40 years ago to make maintenance easier. The main span, a Parker through truss, is 711.0 feet, which is the second longest simple truss span in the world. The rest of the bridge is made up of three Warren pony trusses on the approaches and nine polygonal, subdivided Warren through trusses. The bridge, which has a deck width of 19.7 feet and a vertical clearance of 14.1 feet has a total length of 5385.8 eeft.
Built by:
- Harrington, Howard and Ash
- Rouse Construction Co.
- Union Bridge & Construction Co.
- Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Bridge was originally a toll bridge, with the toll booth located in the corner on the Illinois approach where the bridge is widened. The toll booth was finally removed in 1954 after 25 years of collecting tolls.
Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (June 23, 1876 – March 11, 1944) was an American author, humorist, and columnist who lived in New York and authored more than 60 books and 300 short stories. Cobb was born and raised in Paducah, Kentucky, where the events and people of his childhood became the basis for much of his later works. He started in journalism on the Paducah Daily News at age seventeen, and became the nation's youngest managing news editor at nineteen.
I created the following video of the bridge to try and catch some of that "Blues Brothers" feel of running down Chicago's Lower Whacker Drive. I, of course didn't get anywhere close to that, but it was fun to make and I think works kind of well to give you a feeling of flying across the bridge.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach Part 3
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach Part 3
Well as previous discussed here in part 1 and here in part 2, I ordered the replacement condenser fan for my Carrier Transicold CM-3 condenser. I found 3 sources for the complete fan Thermoking (which was the cheapest at $100.00 but they didn't have one in stock), Omega (the most expensive at $152.50) and LASSETER BUS & MOBILITY in Lewisville, TX (which had one in stock and said they would ship it today, was the one I bought).
The Lasseter fan was $129.15 but cost me $167.48 with tax and shipping 3 day fedex. The incidental charges were not so incidental I must say. Although I have to say my truck was built in 2000, so if my 3 fans are that old then to have 1 go out now is not bad.
Stay tuned as I wait for 3 business days to get my part and get my bus a/c back cold again.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach Part 2
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach Part 2
Well I inspected the electric fans on the Carrier Transicold Condenser on my 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach and sure enough 1 of the 3 was locked up. Yesterday I detailed what happened and what I thought was my suspicions. In my case its the rearward most fan out of the 3 that was locked up. So I pulled it off and it was just packed full of junk I don't know if it's road debris or motor/bushing dust but it was full of it. I was hoping to take the motor apart to see if I could clean it and oil it up and get the air back going immediately but I couldn't find my torx driver set to extract the electric motor from the fan assembly. Due to the way the system is made the fans pull a vacuum on the back side of the condenser so all three have to be working. I suppose, and this is what I'm going to do if motor won't come back to life long enough to get a replacement procured for a decent price. I will make myself a cutout from plywood and block off the 3rd fan in order for the other 2 fans to pull atleast some air across the condenser so that I can have A/C again.
The thing I'm going to need to do is to pull the other 2 fans and take them apart and clean and oil them up as they appear to be quite expensive somewhere over $100.00 ea. The following is the parts list of the motors from the Carrier Transicold Manual. 1 & 2 I believe are the same part just different numbers and I think this is a complete fan assembly. 3 is for the electric replacement motor for the fan. And 4 is the little metal clip that holds the fan blade onto the motor.
- 54-00618-01 Fan & Motor Assy, Vector, 12V W/Fuse, (No Repl. Motor)
- AC401-110 Assembly, Fan, 12 VDC
- 54-50080-00 Motor, Fan, 12 VDC
- 44-50024-00 Clip, Fan Blade
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach
Carrier Transicold problems 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach
Well Summertime is here and my air conditioning on our bus has gone down. You see I have an auxilary Air Unit mounted at the rear of the van, a Carrier Transicold system. This system utilizes the Ford factory air compressor and accumulator and the front evaporator, but they have taken out the factory condenser that mounts in front of the radiator and installed a much larger one on the side of the bus just behind the drivers door. All this in order to put in a large evaporator in the rear of the bus to give auxilary air.
The 2nd evaporator, A Carrier EM-1, at the rear of the bus is cooled by an expansion valve mounted just before it. The front evaporator is still cooled by the factory orifice.
In September 2009 I replaced the compressor and the factory AC Accumulator and the Orifice. June 2010 I replaced the Expansion Valve on the rear Evaporator and the Carrier Filter/Dryer mounted on the Condenser.
The Carrier Condenser CM-3 on my bus is supposed to be cooled by 3 electric fans mounted under the bus on the backside of the condenser. One of those fans was rattling the other day and later I noticed the fans weren't running and the air in the cabin suddenly went hot and the a/c compressor was apparently so hard to turn from the high pressure that it glazed the serpentine belt. So I've surely blown a fuse. And unfortunately those 12v electric fans must not be too common as I can usually find carrier parts on ebay for on the cheap. I think I am down to 1 fan which isn't very good and the cheapest I've seen those Carrier fans was $105.00 ea.
I am going to try and fully diagnose the fan problem tomorrow and see just how many fans have gone bad as I'm pretty sure the minimum amount I have to buy is 2 right now and I may have to buy all 3 to get it back good and cold.
I'll make a future post after I've acquired new fans and got it all back working again. I look forward to hearing about your problems keeping your Powerstroke Diesels on the road and working properly in the comments below.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
You have to be confident in yourself before you can have anything.
I just wanted to take a moment to talk about a friends blog today. She's a bright aspiring young lady with lots of dreams. She has a blog about positive self talk and actions. Please take a few minutes and check it out! I've asked her to write a couple of paragraphs to give an overview of what it is she is trying to say:
"You have to be confident in yourself before you can have anything.Follow this link to read more: You have to be confident in yourself before you can have anything.
Being confident in yourself isn’t as easy as looking in the mirror and saying that you are pretty and successful. That’s just where it starts. But when you can’t even look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are, and you can’t figure out a single thing you have done right, you need a little help. I believe that each and every person, man or woman, teens or elderly, should feel great about themselves.
We all have our flaws, we all have our weaknesses, but being able to overlook them, and find the greatness in ourselves is when you truly can enjoy your life. I’m here to lift you up and help you find yourself, your true beauty. There is nothing better than being able to wake up, and feel like you can conquer the world. That’s what I want to do for you.
Each day, reading a short post about how I am living each day to the fullest, doing my best to have a positive effect on people, can turn your day around. It can give you a new outlook on life. If you don’t feel like it is helping, keep reading, it’s about hitting the ‘switch’ that sparks your mind to be inspired."
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The Ohio River is on the rise again!
This will be missed by most and hopefully can be disregarded by everyone else. But just as The Mischievous Ohio River was about to drop below flood stage. She's trending up again! At 6pm today the Brookport, IL guage showed what shouldn't be happening, after plateauing at 37.9' on the Brookport guage at 4pm by 9pm the river is at 38.1'. Flood stage at brookport is at 37' by the way.
Current predictions shows the river at 39.6' on 5/31/2011 with an upward sloping graph, which means the river is going to keep going up for some time afterwards. I must stress early this month we crested at 57.0' with a lot of devastation, and it would seem impossible to do this twice. But I'm going to be keeping my eyes on the river here as at 60'-10" water would be on my floorboards.
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=pah&gage=brki2
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
My favorite Pandora.com radio station.
I listen to quite a bit of internet radio and have fine tuned this radio station down pretty good. It has a lot of creedence, moody blues and an excellent selection of filler music.
My Favorite Pandora Radio Station
Pandora allows you to create your own personal radio stations initially around a single song or single artist. As you listen you thumb up and thumb down songs and it builds up a fingerprint of what you like. For an understanding of how Pandora works by allowing you to fine tune your stations please check out the following wikipedia article: Wikipedia Article
Pandora is advertising based but I'm going to share a secret. If your listening to it with firefox and you have adblocker addon installed there are no commercials just music!
Friday, May 20, 2011
My New Storage Building
This evening, I have spent several hours pricing shelves but they kept getting too expensive. Looks like I'm going to have to build my own shelves, which I'm not too excited about, but will manage.
Delivered by a Powerstroke Ford F350
Yard really was dry enough to back into!
Cool hydraulic articulated trailer action
Building is sitting on the rear piers
Cool articulated telescoping trailer action!
Trailer is coming out.
Pulling out from underneath the building
Using the trailer to elevate the front of the building in order to set the rest of the piers.
1 hour after delivery and building is sitting on all 12 piers and ready to go to work!
If you need one of these things give Jessica at River Hills Rentals a call at 270-628-9350
update: I got my shelving installed
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Harrah's Metropolis RiverBoat Casino May 15th 2011 Ohio River Flood Cleanup part 3
Harrah's Metropolis RiverBoat Casino May 15th 2011 Ohio River Flood Cleanup part 3
Part 3 of 3! Another video showing the boat and hotel are still surrounded by water, but they have some paths for trucks to get in now and Harrah's is working doubletime to clean up and get back open as soon as the water and repairs will allow.
Harrah's Metropolis RiverBoat Casino May 15th 2011 Ohio River Flood Cleanup part 2
Harrah's Metropolis RiverBoat Casino May 15th 2011 Ohio River Flood Cleanup part 2
Well this is Part 2 of 3. This video shows the effort to clean the debris from the roads and make them look clean again and ready.
Harrah's Metropolis RiverBoat Casino May 15th 2011 Ohio River Flood Cleanup part 1
Harrah's Metropolis RiverBoat Casino May 15th 2011 Ohio River Flood Cleanup part 1
Harrah's started cleanup in earnest last night in order to open up as soon as the water will let them. As the water goes down the people you can see are cleaning the mud and debris off the parking lots. The people you can't see are replacing floor coverings and drywall and making other repairs. This one is going to be a 3 part post.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Photos: What are these little bug hunting hovering birds
What are these little bug hunting hovering birds. Up until today I only thought that hummingbirds could hover, but these little guys are holding in place and targeting bugs in the grass then diving in and grabbing them.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Finally the Ohio River is really starting to lower
Finally the Ohio River is really starting to lower.
After cresting at 57', The Ohio River is down to 55.6' now. I know 1.4' doesn't sound like much but it means 3 more roads are opened in town (North Avenue, Metropolis Street, and 8th Street), and almost all 4 lanes of highway 45 south going out of town are back open.
Because of the detonation of the Bird's Point Levee and the subsequent opening of the New Madrid Floodway it spared us from the devastation of 60.5' of water. Again 3.5 feet doesn't sound like much but it would have meant the town would have been fragmented in several locations with no way to navigate other then by boat.
I have included a picture of the latest graph of the Brookport Illinois hydrograph as of the time of this posting and the link http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=pah&gage=brki2
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The evacuation of Metropolis Nursing and Rehab Nursing Home Metropolis IL
The evacuation of Metropolis Nursing and Rehab Nursing Home Metropolis IL due to the flooding of the Ohio River.
On the morning of Monday, May 2, 2011, I was watching TV just like I do pretty much every other day. However, on this day, my TV watching was cut short by a knock at the door of my room at Metropolis Nursing & Rehab Center in Metropolis, Illinois. I've been staying there since October 18, 2009 due to my arthritis and impending surgeries.
The person on the other side of the door came in when I acknowledged them. It was Lori Abbott, the activities director and she said that she needed to talk to me. She proceeded to tell me that because of the rising flood waters, the facility was evacuating the residents and that some residents would be going as far as 4 hours north to a “sister facility”. The rest of the day's happenings are kind of a blur, because it happened so fast.
While plans had been in the works for me to return home, we didn't have the equipment there yet. Also, our house doesn't sit too far from the river and we were afraid that I'd be stranded in the house, should the waters get to the house. I immediately called Brett and told him what was going on and he and I thought it would be a good idea to try to get into the facility that my grandfather is living in, located in Marion, Illinois. This facility was already booked because of people being evacuated elsewhere though. My next choice was a facility in Herrin, Illinois so that I would be close to my dad. At first, I thought this was a good idea, but then I got to thinking about the likelihood of my dad coming to see me every day. The likelihood was pretty slim and therefore, wouldn't really know anyone. I finally was able to go to a facility in Effingham, Illinois called Lakeland Nursing Center. This facility is located about 2-1/2 to 3 hours north of Metropolis, and is a “sister facility” to ours and had quite a few residents from MNRC already being relocated to here. Plus, some of the staff was sent along to help with the care of the residents. I thought this was a major plus, because I would be around people that I knew.
All day on Monday, our facility was in a chaotic state with families coming in to take some residents home for what the Administration was saying would only be two to three days and with other residents being put in buses to head to other facilities. Medicines had to be gathered up for each and every resident and clothes and other belongings had to be packed for the resident to take along with them. It was just crazy!
S.M.A.R.T. (Southern Most Area Rural Transit) buses started coming to transport residents at about 4pm and the last one didn't depart the facility until almost 12am on Tuesday. I know this, because I was on that bus. I was a nervous wreck, because I was leaving familiar territory and heading hours from my family, unsure of when I was going to return. I was (and still am) quite proud of myself at how I was able to keep myself halfway calm. Other residents were not that way and who could blame them? Some were being taken from the only place they call “home” and taken to a strange place. The ride on the bus was a quiet one and the driver of the bus was fun and kept things calm for us passengers.
We arrived at our destination at approximately 3:30am and were greeted by all sorts of staff from Lakeland Nursing Center. They had already received some residents from earlier buses and were anxious to help us with our belongings and to help us get settled in to a bed to finally get some sleep.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Metropolis IL Ohio River Flood 2011 May 9th Railroad bridge
Metropolis IL Ohio River Flood 2011 May 9th Railroad bridge
Harrahs Metropolis Riverboat Casino Underwater May 9th 2011
Harrahs Metropolis Riverboat Casino Underwater May 9th 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Finally fixed my charging system!
I finally fixed my charging system on the 2000 Ford E350 Goshen Coach. Previously I've talked about this here: http://goshen-adventures.blogspot.com/2011/03/aggravating-truck.html and here: http://goshen-adventures.blogspot.com/2011/04/still-using-battery-charger.html
Anywho a friend came by and gave me an assist into tearing into this 7.3 Powerstroke diesel van to get the alternator off. And fortunately for me it failed the test at the parts store and as it turned out it was under warranty. see here: http://goshen-adventures.blogspot.com/2011/02/august-11th-2010.html So today I put the remanufactured alternator on and I can check that problem off my list.
The other day we also fixed the drivers door where it was striking the fender. We loosened the fender and shoved it forward. Cory told me the door hinges are absolutely worn out though, so next thing on the list is to replace the drivers door hinges.
On a positive note, I should get my storage building this week 12x20 and this will allow me to clean out my garage to where I can work on some projects again!
That's all for my truck update.
Midnight report nightvision drive May 7th 2011 Metropolis flood water logged streets Ohio River Flood
Midnight report nightvision drive May 7th 2011 Metropolis flood water logged streets Ohio River Flood
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Olmsted IL Lock and Dam Ohio River Flood May 6th 2011
Olmsted IL Lock and Dam Ohio River Flood May 6th 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Aerial Video of the birds point levee MO and cairo IL and wyklyffe KY
Aerial Video of the birds point levee MO and cairo IL and wyklyffe KY
Olmsted IL Illinois Lock and Dam 53 and Olmsted Lock and Dam. May 6th 2011 Ohio River Flood waters
Olmsted IL Illinois Lock and Dam 53 and Olmsted Lock and Dam. May 6th 2011 Ohio River Flood waters
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Friday, May 6, 2011
Check out brettfiles on Youtube!!
I've been very busy documenting the 2011 flood here in Southern Illinois. Please check out some of my videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/brettfiles
Photos of Flood damaged Fort Massac State Park
I hiked into Fort Massac State Park dodging all the standing water of the backed up Ohio River to take a few pictures and videos of the flood encircled historic fort.
George Rogers Clark Plaque finally put back on a proper mounting like it was in 1907 and off the rock where water would pool up on it. Notice the river is at the top of the wall in the background.
The Ohio River flowing at a wicked pace of about 10mph
I24 bridge Highwater channel span
Fort Massac State Park with flood waters surrounding it.
If you followed this fence on down into the water you would eventually get to the boat launch ramp.
Fort with water encircling it. The water is flowing in the moat in a clockwise fashion at about 1mph
Picture taken out the riverside gate of the fort showing how high the water is.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Historic Ohio River Flood Metropolis IL Illinois Spence Apartments under water
Historic Ohio River Flood Metropolis IL Illinois Spence Apartments under water
May 5th 2011
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EPIC Ohio River flood of Fort Massac State Park Metropolis Illinois first state park
EPIC Ohio River flood of Fort Massac State Park Metropolis Illinois first state park
May 5th 2011
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Unionville Massac County IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial Video 2011 May 4th
Unionville Massac County IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial Video 2011 May 4th
Kincaid Indian Mounds Massac County IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial Video 2011 May 4th
Kincaid Indian Mounds Massac County IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial Video 2011 May 4th
Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site
Brookport IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial Video 2011 May 4th
Brookport IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial Video 2011 May 4th
Metropolis IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial 2011 May 4th part 2
Metropolis IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial 2011 May 4th part 2
Metropolis IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial 2011 May 4th part 1
Metropolis IL Illinois Ohio River Flood Aerial 2011 May 4th part 1
Departure Metropolis Municipal Airport km30 runway 36 May 4th 2011
Departure Metropolis Municipal Airport km30 runway 36 May 4th 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Metropolis IL Illinois Ohio River flooding disaster 2011 May 3rd tour
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Tuesday, May 3, 2011
2011 May 3rd Midnight report of Ohio River Flood level out my back door nightvision Metropolis IL
2011 May 3rd Midnight report of Ohio River Flood level out my back door nightvision Metropolis IL Illinois
Flood Levels have hit the alley behind my house
US Army Corps of Engineers had just breached the Birds Point levee to open up the New Madrid Floodway to the waters of the Mississippi River.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Historic Metropolis Il Ohio River flooding drive through May 1st 2011
Historic Metropolis Il Ohio River flooding drive through May 1st 2011
The rain won't let up and the water keeps rising into the 100 year floodplain. A lot of us are uneasily watching the water levels.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Aerial photos of Metropolis IL April 2011 Ohio River Flood
Aerial photos of Metropolis IL April 2011 Ohio River Flood
Cook Coal Terminal
Honeywell
Railroad bridge
Harrah's Metropolis Riverboat Casino parking lots
Harrah's Metropolis Riverboat Casino
Harrah's Metropolis Riverboat Casino
Dorothy Miller Park
Dorothy Miller Park
Teco and Kotter Readymix
Kotter Readymix and old laidlaw
Fort Massac State Park
Overview of Metropolis Fort Massac in foreground
Overview of Metropolis Fort Massac in foreground
I24 Bridge
I24 Bridge and Kentucky
Fort Massac State Park and Kentucky
Dorothy Miller Park and Kentucky
Dorothy Miller Park and Kentucky
Harrah's Metropolis Riverboat Casino
Harrah's Metropolis Riverboat Casino
Harrah's Metropolis Riverboat Casino
