Jump to content

theoriginalkj

Full Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    117

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

theoriginalkj's Achievements

(8/32)

32

Reputation

  1. theoriginalkj
    I thought the train went entirely way too slow through for the new Red line. There were several overpasses and steep turns, which I understand it will go slower through, but I thought it went TOO slow through both of them. It felt like it went 5 mph through the turns, which it should be able to handle much faster than that. I also thought it went too slow through the residential areas. Lastly, I was surprised that the train had to stop, twice even, at such places as the 610-North loop underpass, where it clearly had no preferential treatment to crossing automobile traffic. My entire thought was it that this is a much slower mode of transportation than a bus. I think the UH Downtown station southward generally makes fairly decent time as a transportation medium, the new Red line north of UH Downtown is horribly slow. I also thought the Burnett Station seemed very out of place, stuck 3 stories up on an overpass. Hmm.....
  2. theoriginalkj
    No, I'm not a Metro Rail operator. Just a fan and held the camera against the class back of the driver cab, nice and stable.
  3. theoriginalkj
    Houston Metro Rail - Red Line video (from north terminus to downtown) I recorded this HD video of the new Metro Rail Red line going from it's Northline Mall terminus into downtown Houston, sped up by a factor of 4X to make it more interesting... Enjoy...
  4. theoriginalkj
    Does anyone have information on what is happening to the old Robert E Lee Elementary school off I-45, at 2101 South Street? Workers have torn down the shell of the school a month ago but have since re-framed it and begun cleaning up and rebuilding it's innards...
  5. theoriginalkj
    Happy Friday... I was stunned when I found this, but would you believe that there is an old section of the original alignment of Braes Bayou right in the middle of the Texas Medical Center, hiding in plain sight? I found it today while walking by MD Anderson and the University of Texas School of Nursing building. The UTSN building is at the SE corner of Bertner and Holcombe. Just east of this building is a small park, which contained the homestead of a family that saw the TMC growing all around it and decided to give their 1 acre of land to the TMC under the stipulation that it be left as a park. At the north end of this park, about 15 feet from Holcombe, is a 20 foot deep gully that extends the full length of the park, west to east. After calling my brother, Texas Freeway (http://www.texasfreeway.com) owner/webmaster and doing some research online, it appears that this little 20 foot deep gully is perhaps the only remaining section of the original Braes Bayou, PRE Army Corp of Engineers re-alignment, dredging, concreting that took place in the 50's. See, the original Braes Bayou winded incessantly across Houston in a path that had to have taken water 2-3 times longer to pass through Houston's, so the ACoE decided to straighten the bayou's to provide more direct water drainage, and foliage elimination to provide less resistance. This little section of the bayou is visible in GoogleEarth historical imagery as well as TOPO maps on www.historicaerials.com going back to 1915 that show the winding alignment in this direct spot, adjacent to present day Holcombe Blvd. It would post some snap-shops in HistoricAerials or GoogleEarth to show this comparison, but I am short on time right now - perhaps another faithful HAIF poster can put some up? Kevin
  6. theoriginalkj
    I know somebody who's grandpa used to work at the Shamrock Hotel and owns one of their original guest room avocado green rotary telephones.... It's one of their prized possessions....
  7. theoriginalkj
    Yes, that is the forgotten "Lamb Rd", mentioned on at least one of the Houston maps on texasfreeway.com.
  8. theoriginalkj
    I have seen all this info detailed here, and more, but I haven't seen anything that clearly defines where structures and buildings were on the property.
  9. theoriginalkj
    Highland Park was, at the turn of the century, a thriving park and promenade that Houstonian's would flock to for outdoor entertainment. According to the website http://houstorian.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/highland-park//, Highland part included a lake with leisure boating, places to eat, rides, and even a shooting range. Today, much of the land of Highland Park sits right where I-45 and I-10 join just NW of downtown Houston, but considerable unchanged land of the original Highland Park still exists on both the west and east side of I-45. I'm fascinated by the former existence of this grand outdoor entertainment venue that opened in 1903 and today not an ounce of it seems to exist. I've explored the land that's there today and compared it against the postcards that show it's grand existence and cannot seem to make heads-or-tales of just exactly where anything was of the park. Does anyone have any more details about where building and structures where of Highland Park? Certainly some evidence of the park still exists today, but I can't find it... Kevin
  10. theoriginalkj
    The photo here was taken at the NW corner of Milam and Texas, facing SW toward Jones Hall. The photo was taken from the front entrance of the Houston Chronicle at 801 Texas and shows the destruction of the buildings across the street to make way for Chase Tower.
  11. theoriginalkj
    There's already a book for that, called Houston Then & Now, available on Amazon NEW for $14. LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Houston-Then-Now/dp/1592231373/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251848450&sr=8-1
  12. theoriginalkj
    Here's a few photos showing Mading's Drugs (one 'D' not two) and Meyers Brothers, as well as a few arials. All of these are from 1957, the year it opened.
  13. theoriginalkj
    Thank you for that historic arial. If you follow the apparent old road of Old Main down the rest of the way, it does look like it comes all the way to the other side of the hedges from Highway 90. It even turns abruptly to the left and faces Highway 90, but doesn't come in contact with it. Hmm...
  14. theoriginalkj
    Yes. I tried finding some old photos of the Brocksteins building, in hopes that perhaps a good shot of the Domain Privee might be in the background - but to no avail. The only shot I have found is the Houston Chronicle burn photo posted last week. I'd love a better shot of what the place looked like in it's hay-day. On a completely seperate note (and I know this has been covered here) does anyone know FOR SURE whether or not Old Main Street road that cross the railroad tracks down at the end of the street here, whether or not it curved south and crossed the railroad tracks a SECOND time and joins up with Highway 90!? Some maps indicate that it did, most maps indicate that it didn't. There are remnants of the old Main Street road bed across the tracks to clearly follow it but there is no actual evidence that the road ever crossed the tracks again and met Highway 90. Does anyone know for certain?
  15. theoriginalkj
    Here is an article from the January 2, 1976 Houston Chronicle detailing the final demise of the 'Domain Privee' structure at 11000 Old Main. Apparently built in 1940 and closed in mid-1951, the structure sat abandoned for another 25 years until being burned to the ground in a fire.
×
×
  • Create New...