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IND Culver Line

The IND Culver Line (formerly BMT Culver Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, extending from Downtown Brooklyn south to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. The local tracks of the Culver Line are served by the F service, as well as the G between Bergen Street and Church Avenue. The express tracks north of Church Avenue are used by the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction. The peak-direction express track between Ditmas Avenue and Avenue X has not seen regular service since 1987.

The line is named after Andrew Culver, who built the original Culver Line that preceded the current subway line. The present-day line was built as two unconnected segments operated by the Independent Subway System (IND) and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The northern section of the line, between Jay Street–MetroTech and Church Avenue, is a four-track line that was built for the IND in 1933, running primarily underground except for a short elevated section over the Gowanus Canal.

The southern section, between Ditmas Avenue and Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, was originally built for the BMT in 1919–1920 as a three-track elevated structure between Ninth Avenue in Sunset Park and Avenue X, and as a two-track elevated structure south of Avenue X. A ramp in the neighborhood of Kensington, which opened in 1954, connects the segments between the Church and Ditmas Avenues stations. The segment of the BMT line between Ninth and Ditmas Avenues remained as the Culver Shuttle until it was closed in 1975 and later demolished.

The elevated part of the Culver Line south of Church Avenue, which operated as part of the BMT until 1954, now carries only the F, a former IND service, and is chained and signaled as part of the IND. However, BMT radio frequency B1 is used on the elevated portion south of Church Avenue.

Extent and service
The following services use part or all of the IND Culver Line:

The Culver Line is served by the as a local for its entire length, though <F> trains run express between Jay Street and Church Avenue in the peak direction. The portion of the route from Bergen Street south to Church Avenue is also served by the Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown service. Both routes run at all times.

There are two express tracks on the northern part of the route and one on the southern, with express stations distributed along the line. However, express service has only operated once on the line from 1968 to 1987. Restoration of express service has been thwarted by budget shortages, passenger opposition, and a serious signal fire at Bergen Street in 1999. The issue came to a head in June 2007, when a petition for express service reached 2,600 signatures and gained media attention. The Culver Line underwent repairs from 2009 until early 2013, during which the express tracks were replaced and rehabilitated which may facilitate future express service.

Jay Street to Church Avenue
The subway portion of the IND Culver Line was originally designated the Brooklyn Line but has also been called the Smith Street Line, Church Avenue Line, South Brooklyn Line, and various other names. The express tracks beneath Prospect Park are sometimes referred to as the Prospect Park Line.

The line begins at the four-tracked Jay Street–MetroTech station, where the IND Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue lines interchange and continue as the Culver and Fulton Street lines respectively. Running under Smith Street south of the station, the Culver tracks split into local and express tracks, with the two express tracks ramping down to the lower level of Bergen Street, while the local tracks merge with the IND Crosstown Line tracks from Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street before entering the upper level. Between Jay Street and Bergen Street, the line passes under both the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and the Fulton Line tracks curving east into Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street, requiring a deeper tunnel and extensive ventilation systems.

At Carroll Street, the express tracks ramp up to rejoin the local tracks, and all four tracks rise onto the Culver Viaduct, curving onto Ninth Street. East of Fourth Avenue station towards Park Slope, the tracks become a subway once again. Past 7th Avenue, the local tracks diverge, curving south to 15th Street and Prospect Park West, while the express tracks take a direct route beneath Prospect Park. This is one of two places in the subway where the express tracks diverge from the local tracks, the other being on the IND Queens Boulevard Line between 65th Street and 36th Street. The express tracks rejoin the right-of-way at approximately Terrace Place and Prospect Avenue, running on a lower level under Prospect Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway near the Prospect Park Parade Grounds, then rise up as the line curves onto McDonald Avenue. The line then parallels the route of the original Culver Line surface railroad into Church Avenue station, the last stop of the original IND service.

A single track in both directions, connecting from the local and express tracks in each direction, then ramps down to the four-track Church Avenue Yard, used as a relay and storage facility for trains. The four mainline tracks ascend to the Culver Ramp on McDonald Avenue between Cortelyou Road and Avenue C, which connects the subway portion of the IND Culver Line with the former BMT Culver Line elevated structure. Despite being a part of the IND Division, the Culver elevated portion is controlled by BMT radio dispatch, so train operators change between the IND (B-2) and BMT (B-1) radio frequencies at this point.

Culver Viaduct
The northern section of the Culver Line is a four-track line, entirely underground except for Smith–Ninth Streets and Fourth Avenue stations. The two stations sit on a massive one-mile long steel and concrete viaduct which spans the Gowanus Canal between 9th and 10th Streets. This structure is now referred to as the Culver Viaduct or Culver Line Viaduct, the only portion of the original IND subway to be elevated, and the only section other than the now-demolished World's Fair Railroad to be outdoors. The viaduct was constructed due to the depth of the canal (15 feet at its deepest point), due to the topography of the Park Slope neighborhood, and to avoid local stores in the area. Otherwise, a tunnel carrying the line would have to have been built below both the canal and the BMT Fourth Avenue Line (necessitating stations deep below the ground); or Ninth Street would be raised above grade level to pass over the canal and BMT subway.

Both underground options were considered expensive and impractical, and the viaduct was estimated to save $12 million in construction costs when it was selected in 1927. During planning, the viaduct's height was later increased from 60 ft to around 90 ft, due to now-defunct navigation regulations for tall-mast shipping. Because of this, Smith–Ninth Streets was built at an elevation of 87.5 ft, the highest subway station above ground level in the world. Fourth Avenue, meanwhile, is actually at a lower elevation and altitude than the Seventh Avenue underground station.

For most of its history, G service has terminated at Smith–Ninth Streets, relaying using the express tracks and switches at Fourth Avenue. This occasionally caused delays to F service, and prevented express service from being operated. In 2009, the G's terminus was moved to Church Avenue in order to complete renovations on the viaduct. In July 2012, the G extension was made permanent.

Ditmas Avenue to Coney Island

At Ditmas Avenue, the Culver Ramp ends and the underground line becomes elevated. This is a three-track Dual Contracts elevated on the former BMT line over McDonald (formerly Gravesend) Avenue. Just before the station, the southbound local track merges into the southbound express track, while the northbound express track becomes the El's bidirectional center express track. During the 1990s and 2000s, the center express track in this section was occasionally used for non-revenue testing. After Avenue X station, a ramp diverges to the surface for access to the Culver Yard of the Coney Island Yards complex. At this point the Culver Line narrows to a two-track structure bearing one more station–Neptune Avenue–before curving into West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium station on Coney Island.

Formally, the Culver Line ends as the track curve enters the lower level of the double-decked station along the BMT Brighton Line's right-of-way, and the chaining track designation changes from IND tracks B1 and B2 to BMT tracks A1 and A2 of the Brighton Line. However, there is no longer a connection to the Brighton Line at this point, and for all practical purposes the Culver Line continues into tracks 5 and 6 of the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue Terminal.

BMT Culver Line (1875–1954)
The original Culver Line was opened by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad and was named after the railroad's builder, Andrew N. Culver. The line ran along the surface of McDonald Avenue (then Gravesend Avenue) from Greenwood Cemetery (where it connected with horse car lines including the Vanderbilt Avenue Line, operated by the PP&CI until 1886 ) to the Culver Depot in Coney Island, on June 25, 1875. The PP&CI began serving the Union Depot at 36th Street, where transfer could be made to the Fifth Avenue Elevated, on June 7, 1890, by using the Prospect Park and South Brooklyn Railroad from a junction at Parkville.

During a period of Long Island Rail Road control, from 1893 to 1899, a ramp at 36th Street was opened in 1895, allowing Brooklyn Elevated Railroad trains to operate over the Culver Line to Coney Island. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), by then the owner of the Brooklyn Elevated, leased the Culver Line (to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad) on June 18, 1899, and began using it to take not only elevated trains but also trolleys to Coney Island.

As part of Contract 4 of the Dual Contracts, between the city and the BRT, a three-track elevated railway was built above the Culver Line. The line, formally known as Route 49, or the Gravesend Avenue Line, was to run from the Fifth Avenue Elevated at Tenth Avenue and 37th Street, above private property south of 37th Street, and then south over Gravesend Avenue to Coney Island. At Ninth Avenue, the elevated replacements for the Culver Line and West End Line met, with access from both lines to the Fifth Avenue Elevated and Fourth Avenue Subway to the northwest.

Construction of the route was done in four sections: Section 1, 1-A, 2, and 3. Section 1-A extended from a location on the west building line of Tenth Avenue between 38th Street and 37th Street to a location 372 feet east of the building line on Tenth Avenue, running in an open cut and then a fill over Tenth Avenue. Section 1 extended from a point 372 feet east of the building line on Tenth Avenue to, over private property and 37th Street, and Gravesend Avenue to a location 530 feet south of the intersection of Gravesend Avenue and the southern building line of 22nd Avenue. Section 2 stretched from here along Gravesend Avenue to Avenue X, and Section 3 continued from here south along Shell Road and West 6th Street to a point near the southern line of Sheepshead Bay Road, where it would connect with the Brighton Line for access to Coney Island.

The contract to construct Section 2 was awarded to Oscar Daniels Company for $863,775 on July 10, 1915. Work was to be completed in eighteen months. On September 8, 1915, the contract to construct Section 1 was awarded to Post & McCord for $877,859. Work on the section was to be completed in fifteen months. On January 23, 1917, a contract to construct Section 1-in four months A of the line was awarded to Thomas Dwyer for $42,268.

At 3:00 a.m. on March 16, 1919, the first portion of the new elevated structure opened from Ninth Avenue southeast and south to Kings Highway. Except for the omission of a station at 15th Avenue, all of the station locations from the surface line were preserved as elevated stations. The Culver Line was operated as a branch of the Fifth Avenue Elevated, with a free transfer at Ninth Avenue to the West End Line into the Fourth Avenue Subway. An extension to Avenue X was opened at noon on May 10, 1919. The line, the last of the four to Coney Island, was completed on May 1, 1920, at which time the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was forced to cut the fare from ten to five cents.

This construction tied into the existing lower level of the BMT Brighton Line east of West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium. Some Culver Line (5) trains began using the Fourth Avenue Subway to the Nassau Street Loop in Lower Manhattan when that line opened on May 30, 1931; the Fifth Avenue Elevated was closed on May 31, 1940, in conjunction with the unification of the transit system under city operations. Trolleys continued to use the surface tracks on McDonald Avenue until October 30, 1956.

IND Brooklyn Line (1933–1954)
One of the goals of Mayor John Hylan's Independent Subway System (IND), proposed in the 1920s was a line to Coney Island, reached by a recapture of the BMT Culver Line. To connect this line to the Eighth Avenue Line–the main trunk of the IND–a subway line was to run from Brooklyn Borough Hall south under Jay Street, Smith Street, Ninth Street, and several other streets to Cortelyou Road (later Church Avenue) and McDonald Avenue, just north of the Ditmas Avenue elevated station. A ramp would then lead onto the elevated BMT Culver Line.

This line was variously known as the Culver Line Extension, Culver−Smith Street Line, Smith Street Line, Smith Street–Prospect Park Line, Smith–Ninth Street Line, Jay–Smith–Ninth Street Line, Church Avenue Line, Prospect Park–Church Avenue Line, Prospect Park–Coney Island Line, Brooklyn Line, or South Brooklyn Line, though it was often simply referred to as the Brooklyn portion of the IND. As originally designed, service to and from Manhattan would have been exclusively provided by Culver express trains, while all local service would have fed into the IND Crosstown Line.

By 1927, it was decided to build a truss bridge over the Gowanus Canal and a viaduct over Ninth Street due to cost considerations, replacing earlier plans for a deep river tunnel. This resulted in the only above-ground section of the original IND. The first short section of the line opened on March 20, 1933, taking Eighth Avenue Express trains (and for about a month from July to August  trains) south from Jay Street to Bergen Street. The rest of the line opened on October 7, 1933, to the "temporary" terminal at Church Avenue, three blocks away from the Culver elevated at Ditmas Avenue. In 1936, the A was rerouted to the IND Fulton Street Line and trains from the Queens Boulevard line replaced them. On July 1, 1937, the connection to the IND Crosstown Line opened and trains were extended to Smith-Ninth Streets. E trains were replaced by the on December 15, 1940, after the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened.

As part of the various proposed extensions of the IND Second System, the IND Culver subway was planned to facilitate a spur line to Bay Ridge, with a connection to the incomplete Staten Island Tunnel intended for the BMT Fourth Avenue Line. A 1931 proposal had the line travel south from Smith–Ninth Streets station through Red Hook and Gowanus to Saint George Terminal. A 1933 plan would have branched off between Smith–Ninth Streets and Fourth Avenue, then run down Second Avenue in Bay Ridge to the tunnel. Like other IND lines, this route would have been in direct competition with the then-privately operated Fourth Avenue Subway.

The final proposal from the 1939 Second System plan proposed an extension down Fort Hamilton Parkway and/or Tenth Avenue towards the tunnel, with continued service to 86th Street in Bay Ridge near the BMT Fourth Avenue Line station. This route would have diverged near the Fort Hamilton Parkway and Church Avenue stations. In 1940, proposals emerged to connect the IND with the BMT West End Line near its Fort Hamilton Parkway station; the 1946 Board of Transportation plans featured both the West End connection and the extension to 86th Street. None of these proposals were ever constructed.

Culver Ramp
Taking over operations, or "recapturing", the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) Culver Line elevated structure in order to institute IND service to Coney Island was a high priority of New York City planners. Recapture proved unnecessary since the Culver Line and the rest of the BMT and Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) passed into City hands in 1940 as a result of the unification of the three companies. The new connection would create a one-fare ride for IND passengers to Coney Island, and eliminate congestion on the BMT's Fourth Avenue Subway. At the time, the IND had no direct connections to the rest of the subway system. Around 1940, a temporary ramp was installed to connect the underground IND Culver Line to the street-level South Brooklyn Railway, underneath the BMT Culver Line; this connection was used to deliver some IND rolling stock.

The proposed Culver Ramp, also referred to as the Culver Line Connection, would allow passenger service between the underground Church Avenue and elevated Ditmas Avenue stations. Construction began in June 1941, and was expected to be completed by the end of the year. The ramp was expected to cost $2 million, and along with new signals, and rehabilitation of the Culver elevated and lengthening of its stations to IND standards, the total cost of the project was estimated at over $11 million. 170 subway cars were purchased for $8.5 million for the extension of IND service. Two substations, a signal tower, a fourth track at Ditmas Avenue, and an additional stairway at Ditmas Avenue were all completed as part of the project. McDonald Avenue was also widened between Avenue C and Cortelyou Road to facilitate the ramp.

Though the ramp was nearly complete, including rails and signal work, construction was halted later that year because of America's entrance into World War II. When the project was restarted in 1946, completion was delayed further due to continued material shortages and a lack of rolling stock to facilitate the new service. On October 30, 1954, the connection between the IND Brooklyn Line at Church Avenue and the BMT Culver Line at Ditmas Avenue opened. This allowed IND trains to operate all the way to the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue terminal.

IND Culver Line (1954–present)
Following the completion of Culver Ramp, Concourse Express trains (which formerly terminated in Manhattan) replaced  service, and were sent over the new connection as the first IND service to reach Coney Island. The service was announced as Concourse–Culver and advertised as direct Bronx–Coney Island service. BMT Culver Line (5) trains were truncated to Ditmas Avenue, the south end of the connection, operating through to Manhattan via the Nassau Street Loop during the day, and terminating at Ninth Avenue at other times. This Culver Shuttle became full-time on May 28, 1959,  and was closed on May 13, 1975,  replaced by a transfer to the B35 bus route. The elevated portion has been re-chained as part of the B2 (IND) division, but still uses B1 (BMT) division radio frequencies.

On November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection opened and D trains were rerouted via the Manhattan Bridge and the BMT Brighton Line to Coney Island. F trains were extended once again via the Culver Line. From June 1968 to 1987, the Culver Line featured express service during rush hours. F trains ran express in both directions between Bergen Street and Church Avenue, while G trains were extended from Smith–Ninth Streets to Church Avenue to provide local service. Express service on the elevated portion of the line to Kings Highway operated in the peak direction (to Manhattan AM; to Brooklyn PM), with some F trains running local and some running express.

Express service between Bergen and Church ended in 1976, and between Church and Kings Highway on April 27, 1987, largely due to budget constraints and complaints from passengers at local stations. Express service on the elevated Culver Line was ended due to necessary structural work, and was supposed to be restored after the $50 million project's completion in 1990, but never restored. With the end of express service, Bergen Street's lower level was taken out of service. Following renovations to the station in the 1990s, the lower level was converted into storage space and is not usable for passenger service in its current state.

In 1986, the New York City Transit Authority launched a study to determine whether to close 79 stations on 11 routes, including the segment of the Culver Line south of either Kings Highway or Avenue U, due to low ridership and high repair costs. Numerous figures, including New York City Council member Carol Greitzer, criticized the plans.

Rehabilitation
In 2007, the MTA announced that several portions of the Culver Line would be undergoing extensive rehabilitation. The first renovation involved repairs of the elevated Culver Viaduct (including the Smith–Ninth Streets and Fourth Avenue stations) and modernization of the interlockings at Bergen Street, 4th Avenue, and Church Avenue. The B5 layup track was removed as part of the project. This also allowed the G train to be extended from its longtime terminus at Smith–Ninth Streets to a more efficient terminus at Church Avenue beginning in July 2009. The project was completed in 2013.

Stations along the three-tracked stretch of the Culver Line were renovated until July 30, 2018 (excluding Ditmas Avenue and the northbound platform of Avenue X, which were rehabilitated in 2015–2016), with the center track being used to bypass closed stations. The Coney Island-bound platforms were rehabilitated between June 7, 2016, and May 1, 2017 (May 8 for Avenue U and Avenue X). During the second phase of the project, beginning on May 22, 2017, the Manhattan-bound platforms were closed between Avenue U and 18th Avenue until July 30, 2018. The interlocking at Kings Highway is scheduled to be modernized as part of the 2020–2024 MTA Capital Program, and the modernization could include the reinstallation of the necessary track switches. A switch will be added between the express track and the northbound local track south of Avenue P.

In July 2019, online newspaper The City discovered that the MTA had allocated $660,000 in its 2015–2019 Capital Program for a design study to make patches to the Culver Viaduct, whose renovation was completed in 2016. The study would determine how to fix the premature deterioration of structural braces, unsatisfactory drainage, and leaking expansion joints. Funding will be provided in a future capital program.

Express service
Around the time the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project was announced in 2007, a petition to restore express service along the line gained attention, due to increasing ridership on both the F and G services in Brooklyn. The petition, which gained over 2,500 signatures by June 2007 and nearly 4,000 by September, proposed to restore express service by making the Church Avenue extension of the G permanent and extending the (eliminated in 2010) from its Manhattan terminus to Brooklyn, sharing the Rutgers Street Tunnel with the F.    The G extension was made permanent in July 2012, freeing up the express tracks formerly used to relay trains.

In 2015, some rush-hour peak-direction F trains started skipping local stops between Jay Street and Fourth Avenue, and the MTA used expanded rush-hour express service (from Jay Street to Church Avenue) in both directions in the summers of 2016 and 2017. In May 2016, the MTA announced that half of all rush-hour F trains may start running express in both directions in fall 2017; however, because of rolling stock and track capacity limitations, the train frequency on the rest of the F route would remain the same. With an increase in rolling stock caused by the introduction of the R179s, one more train per hour could be run on the F. The operation of half of the F trains as express would result in operational improvements, with faster service, as southbound F trains would no longer be delayed by terminating G trains discharging at Church Avenue.

Overall, the F express will result in an overall reduction of 27,000 minutes during the AM rush hour and 13,000 minutes during the PM rush hour. The change in service will decrease service at local stations, reducing in longer wait times, but it will help riders in South Brooklyn with the longest commutes. F express trains would be slightly more crowded than current F trains, but the F locals would be less crowded. PM rush hour express service would lead to much larger exit surges from less frequent F local trains at Bergen Street and Carroll Street, leading to significant congestion at one staircase at Bergen Street, and moderate congestion at one staircase at Carroll Street. Relieving the congestion, would entail widening the staircases and installing ADA-required elevators that would cost approximately $10 million per station. The possibility of reopening the Bergen Street lower level was looked at as part of the study for the reintroduction of F express service; the reopening would require significant and expensive reconstruction, including making the station ADA accessible, the reconstruction of platform stairs, improved lighting and communications, waterproofing and concrete repairs, among other things. Since the rehabilitation would cost $75 million, the lower level was not reopened.

In July 2019, the MTA announced that it planned to run four rush-hour express F trains per day, two in each direction, starting in September 2019. The trains would run in the peak direction, toward Manhattan in the morning and toward Brooklyn in the evening. The trains would make an intermediate stop at Seventh Avenue between Jay Street–MetroTech and Church Avenue and bypass a total of six stations. This service is represented with a diamond <F>, similar to the symbol used on other peak-direction express services. Peak-direction express service between Church Avenue and Kings Highway was not restored due to limitations caused by current track configurations, as the switches at Kings Highway previously used were removed in the 1990s.

Automation
In order to test the interoperability of the communications-based train control (CBTC) systems of different suppliers, CBTC equipment was installed on the southbound express track between Fourth Avenue and Church Avenue, as part of the automation of the New York City Subway. The total cost was $99.6 million, with $15 million coming from the 2005–2009 Capital Program and $84.6 million from the 2010–2014 Capital Program. The installation was a joint venture between Siemens and Thales Group, and was used to test the track's new signaling on R143s and R160s that were already equipped with CBTC. Though the estimated completion date was scheduled for March 2015, it was completed in December 2015. The installation was expected to be permanent.

Test trains on the track were able to successfully operate using the interoperable Siemens/Thales CBTC system. That system became the standard for all future CBTC installations on New York City Transit tracks. A third supplier, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc., was given permission to demonstrate that its technology could be interoperable with the Siemens/Thales technology. The $1.2 million Mitsubishi contract was approved in July 2015. If Culver Line express service was implemented in 2017 as it was proposed, the express service would not initially have used CBTC, and testing of CBTC on the express track would be limited to off-peak hours.

In 2017, the MTA started testing ultra-wideband radio-enabled train signaling on the IND Culver Line. The ultra-wideband train signals would be able to transmit more data wirelessly in a manner similar to CBTC, but can be installed faster than CBTC systems. The ultra-wideband signals would have the added benefit of allowing passengers to use cellphones while between stations, instead of the current setup where passengers could only get cellphone signals within the stations themselves.

As part of the MTA's 2015–2019 Capital Program, CBTC is being installed on the section of the line between Church Avenue and West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium, replacing 70-year old signals. The contract for the installation of CBTC and the modernization of the Ditmas Avenue and Avenue X interlockings, was awarded in February 2019 to Tutor Perini for $253 million. Substantial completion of the project was expected in August 2022. As part of the project, switches north of Ditmas Avenue will be removed, and will be replaced by two new interlockings directly south of Church Avenue and a new interlocking north of 18th Avenue.

Avenue X interlocking will be reconfigured. , 80% of wayside signaling equipment had been installed, a relay room was completed, steel and concrete floors at the Ditmas Avenue signal facility were installed, all signal cables were installed, and piling and grade beam installation at the Avenue X signal facility were completed. To allow the CBTC project to enter its next phase, F service was suspended south of Church Avenue during most weekends starting in early 2020. Work to install CBTC continued into 2021.

In December 2022, the MTA announced that it would award a $368 million design–build contract to Crosstown Partners, a joint venture between Thales Group and TC Electric LLC, to install CBTC along the length of the G route. The contract includes not only the Crosstown Line between Court Square and Bergen Street, but also the Culver Line between Bergen Street and Church Avenue. Upon the completion of the contract, the entire G route and much of the F route would be CBTC-equipped.

title: IND Culver Line


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Timothy J. Sullivan

Timothy Jackson Sullivan (born April 15, 1944) was the twenty-fifth president of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. On July 1, 2005, he was succeeded by Gene Nichol, former dean of the law school at the University of North Carolina.

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title: Timothy J. Sullivan


text: User talk:82.49.184.175

title: User talk:82.49.184.175


text:
Portal talk:The arts/to do

 Recommendations to improve the page  List includes recommendations with replies/status.

 * Consult Portal, Portal guidelines, and Portal instructions for ways to further improve the portal.

title: Portal talk:The arts/to do


text:
Prajñā (Buddhist monk)

Prajñā (, 734 ), was a 9th-century Buddhist monk born in Kapisa, near modern Kabul, Afghanistan.

He visited Tang China and contributed several important retranslations of Sanskrit sutras into Chinese. Some of his main works are:

 * The Avatamsaka Sutra
 * The Heart Sutra
 * The Mahayana Sutra of Mind Meditation from the Jataka tales

Prajñā reportedly befriended the Japanese monk Kūkai, future founder of Shingon Buddhism, during his pilgrimage to China. He is said to have helped Kūkai learn and understand Sanskrit source texts.

According to the Zhenyuan Catalogue, Prajñā translated a work known as the Satparamita Sutra into Chinese with the help of the Christian monk Jingjing. This work does not survive.

title: Prajñā (Buddhist monk)


text:
John Payne (singer)

John Timothy Payne (born 29 September 1958 in Luton, England) is an English musician, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Asia from 1991 to 2006 before subsequently spinning off into Asia featuring John Payne. Additionally, he is a member of Dukes of the Orient, The Rock Pack, and formerly GPS.

John Payne became the frontman of Asia in 1991 at the invitation of founder member Geoff Downes, replacing vocalist/bassist John Wetton. During Payne's tenure, Asia released eight studio albums, several live albums and toured internationally. Apart from his vocal and bass duties, he is a guitarist, photographer, composer, recording engineer and record producer. He was also a co-creator and formerly part of the Las Vegas production Raiding the Rock Vault at the Las Vegas Hotel.

Biography
His first band were called Moonstone. They toured the UK in the late seventies, opening for well-known groups such as Argent.

In 1986, he recorded a silver selling record with the band CCCP in Scandinavia. CCCP was a group that featured John on lead vocals with Johnny Cash's stepdaughter Carlene Carter sharing vocal duties.

He provided backing vocals on several solo albums by Roger Daltrey, including Under a Raging Moon (1985) and Can't Wait to See the Movie (1987).

Back in England, he and keyboardist Andy Nye (from the Michael Schenker Group) formed The Passion, enlisting the services of drummer Clive Burr (Iron Maiden), bassist Mel Gabbitas and the ex-Mike Oldfield guitarist Ant Glynne.

Payne was considered for a position in ELO Part II on guitar and vocals. For a year prior to joining Asia in 1991, he was chosen to replace Jeff Lynne as the lead vocalist in ELO, later to be named ELO Part II, but left because of protracted negotiations over the name.

Asia
After the departure of John Wetton, Geoff Downes invited Payne to join the band as lead singer, bassist, co-writer and co-producer. Payne and Geoff Downes continued together as Asia for 15 years, with several line-ups around them, until they stuck with Guthrie Govan (guitar) and Chris Slade (drums) in 1999. This line-up persisted through 2005, when Slade departed to be replaced by Jay Schellen.

Asia featuring John Payne
In 2009, Govan was replaced by Mitch Perry and North American touring has continued through 2010. Work began on a studio album, originally called Architect of Time, but this would eventually be released under the new band name of Dukes of the Orient. A live album Extended Versions by Asia featuring John Payne, was released in fall 2007, drawn from a December 2005 live show in Sweden with Downes, Schellen, Payne and Govan.

An EP entitled Military Man was released with re-recordings of Payne-era Asia tracks: "Military Man" and "Long Way from Home", plus an Erik Norlander solo composition, "Neurosaur". Tracks were performed by Govan, Payne, Norlander and Schellen.

In 2014, a CD entitled Recollections was released, a cover album of UK progressive rock songs. As well as producer, vocalist and bassist, Payne played most of the keyboards and some guitars. He was joined by Moni Scaria, Jeff Kollman and Jay Schellen. The video for the first single "Eye in the Sky" was shot in Vegas and includes an appearance from Alan Parsons.

Dukes of the Orient
Around 2017, Payne and Norlander reunited to form the group Dukes of the Orient as a new band name for the material that had been 10 years in the making as an Asia Featuring John Payne project. Their self-titled debut was released in February 2018 via Frontier Records, featuring Scaria and Kollman on guitars from Asia Featuring John Payne, plus former members Bouillet, Govan (guitar) and Schellen (drums). The album features the former single, "Seasons Will Change," originally released by Asia Featuring John Payne in 2012. Following the death of singer John Wetton and for clarity with the Downes-led Asia, Payne and Norlander decided these recordings should be as a new band. Their second album, Freakshow, was released on 7 August 2020.

TV, film and stage
In 2007, Payne played the part of Parson Nathaniel in the touring production of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. In 2016, Payne began composition of original work for Steve Gustafson. This work is in support to Gustafson's creation, via his Experience Based Learning zipline business, of an independent Reality TV show surrounding the zip line adventure tourism market entitled Zip Away!

The Rock Pack
In January 2014, Payne created the touring show "The Rock Pack". In this show Payne interviews iconic rock singers from major classic rock bands and performs their hits with them. It included vocalists past and present from such bands as Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Journey, Santana, Toto, Kansas and The Tubes.

Studio albums

 * Aqua (1992)
 * Aria (1994)
 * Arena (1996)
 * Archiva 1 (1996)
 * Archiva 2 (1996)
 * Rare (1999)
 * Aura (2000)
 * Silent Nation (2004)

Live albums

 * Live at the Town & Country
 * Live Acoustic
 * Live in Philadelphia
 * Live in Osaka
 * Live in Köln
 * America: Live in the USA

Live DVD

 * "America: Live in the USA" (2003)

Live albums

 * Extended Versions, also released as Scandinavia (2007)

Studio albums

 * Military Man (EP) (2009)
 * Recollections: A Tribute to British Prog (2014)

Dukes of the Orient

 * Dukes of the Orient (2018)
 * Freakshow (2020)

Roger Daltrey

 * Under a Raging Moon (1985)
 * Can't Wait to See the Movie (1987)
 * Martyrs & Madmen (1997)
 * Just a Boy
 * Gold

Intelligent Music Project III

 * Touching The Divine (2015)

Intelligent Music Project IV

 * Sorcery Inside (2019)

Intelligent Music Project V

 * Life Motion (2020)

Intelligent Music Project VI

 * The Creation (2021)

John Payne

 * "Fly Away" b/w "Coming Home" 45 RPM single, Arrival Records (1984)
 * "Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" (1984)
 * "Ride the Storm" (American Way film soundtrack, film also titled Riders of the Storm in some countries), released as a single b/w "Take the Money" (1987)
 * Different Worlds cd compilation of solo work and work with ASIA and GPS, Voiceprint (2007)
 * "Decoding the Lost Symbol" part of the Architects of Time project, CD EP (2009)

GPS

 * Window to The Soul (2006)
 * Two Seasons: Live in Japan, Volume 1 Live release (2012)
 * Two Seasons: Live in Japan, Volume 2 Live release (2012)

The Passion (with Andy Nye)

 * The Passion Voiceprint (2007)

Geoff Downes NDO

 * Vox Humana (1993)
 * World Service (1999)

CCCP

 * Let's spend the Night Together (1986, reissued on cd 2007)

Lunatica

 * Edge of Infinity (2006)
 * Farewell My Love (2009)

Lisa LaRue

 * Transformation 2012 (2009)
 * World Class (2009)
 * Fast and Blue (2011)

Other Collaborations

 * "That's When The Crying Starts" with the band Stringer, Arrival records (1982)
 * "The Secret Affair" with the band Jupiter Red (1983)
 * "Baby Won't Phone" with the band Quadrascope (1983)
 * Bite The Bullet with the band Bite the Bullet (1989)
 * "Dark Horse" with the band That'll Be The Day (2002)
 * "Killer on the Loose" with Billy Sherwood, part of the A Tribute to Thin Lizzy project (2008)
 * "Beyond the Horizon" with the super-group project Roswell Six from Kevin J. Anderson and ProgRock_Records (2009)
 * "Firewolfe" – Debut album (2011). Mixing and mastering.
 * "The Mystic Technocracy" and "Loving the Alien" (a David Bowie cover), part of The Mystic Technocracy – Season 1: The Age of Ignorance album by Docker's Guild (2012)
 * "Lucky No. 7" – album by Ted Wulfers (2012). Backing Vocals on "Jade In My Pocket" and "Stars."

title: John Payne (singer)


text:
Biblical archaeology

Biblical archaeology is an academic school and a subset of Biblical studies and Levantine archaeology. Biblical archaeology studies archaeological sites from the Ancient Near East and especially the Holy Land (also known as Land of Israel and Canaan), from biblical times.

Biblical archaeology emerged in the late 19th century, by British and American archaeologists, with the aim of confirming the historicity of the Bible. Between the 1920s, right after World War I, when Palestine came under British rule and the 1960s, biblical archaeology became the dominant American school of Levantine archaeology, led by figures such as William F. Albright and G. Ernest Wright. The work was mostly funded by churches and headed by theologians. From the late 1960s, biblical archaeology was influenced by processual archaeology ("New Archaeology") and faced issues that made it push aside the religious aspects of the research. This has led the American schools to shift away from biblical studies and focus on the archaeology of the region and its relation with the biblical text, rather than trying to prove or disprove the biblical account.

The Hebrew Bible is the main source of information about the region of Palestine and mostly covers the Iron Age period. Therefore, archaeology can provide insights where biblical historiography can't. The comparative study of the biblical text and archaeological discoveries help understand Ancient Near Eastern people and cultures. Although both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are taken into account, the majority of the study centers around the former.

The term biblical archaeology is used by Israeli archaeologists for popular media or an English speaking audience, in reference to what is known in Hebrew as "Israeli archaeology", and to avoid using the term Palestinian archaeology.

History
The study of biblical archaeology started at the same time as general archaeology and obviously its development relates to the discovery of highly important ancient artifacts.

Stages
The development of biblical archaeology has been marked by different periods:

 * Before the British Mandate in Palestine: The first archaeological explorations started in the 19th century initially by Europeans. There were many renowned archaeologists working at this time but one of the best known was Edward Robinson who discovered a number of ancient cities. The Palestine Exploration Fund was created in 1865 with Queen Victoria as its patron. Large investigations were carried out around the Temple in Jerusalem in 1867 by Charles Warren and Charles William Wilson, for whom Jerusalem's "Wilson’s Arch" is named. The American Palestine Exploration Society was founded in 1870. In the same year a young French archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, arrived in the Holy Land in order to study two notable inscriptions: the Mesha Stele in Jordan and inscriptions in the Temple of Jerusalem. Another personality entered the scene in 1890, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, who has become known as the "father of Palestine archaeology". In Tell-el-Hesi, Petrie laid down the basis for methodical exploration by giving a great importance to the analysis of ceramics as archaeological markers. In effect, the recovered objects or fragments serve to fix the chronology with a degree of precision, as pottery was made in different ways and with specific characteristics during each epoch throughout history. In 1889 the Dominican Order opened the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem, which would become world-renowned in its field. Such authorities as M-J. Lagrange and L. H. Vincent stand out among the early archaeologists at the school. In 1898, the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (German Oriental Society) was founded in Berlin, a number of its excavations were subsequently funded by Emperor William II of Germany. Many other similar organizations were founded at this time with the objective of furthering this nascent discipline, although the investigations of this epoch had the sole objective of proving the veracity of the biblical stories.
 * During the British Mandate in Palestine (1922–1948): The investigation and exploration of the Holy Land increased considerably during this time and was dominated by the genius of William Foxwell Albright, C. S. Fischer, the Jesuits, the Dominicans and many others. This era of great advances and activity closed with a flourish: the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran in 1947 and its subsequent excavation, which would in large part be directed by the Frenchman Roland de Vaux.
 * After the British Mandate: 1948 marked the start of a new social and political era for the Holy Land with the foundation of the State of Israel and the entrance on the scene of the Israeli archaeologists. Initially their excavations were limited to the territory of the state, but after the Six-Day War they extended into the occupied territories of the West Bank. An important figure in the archaeology of this period was Kathleen Kenyon, who directed the excavations of Jericho and the Ophel of Jerusalem. Crystal Bennett led the excavations at Petra and Amman’s citadel, Jabal al-Qal'a. The archaeological museums of the Franciscans and the Dominicans in Jerusalem are particularly notable.
 * Biblical archaeology today: Twenty-first century biblical archaeology is often conducted by international teams sponsored by universities and government institutions such as the Israel Antiquities Authority. Volunteers are recruited to participate in excavations conducted by a staff of professionals. Practitioners are making increasing efforts to relate the results of one excavation to others nearby in an attempt to create an ever-widening and increasingly detailed overview of the ancient history and culture of each region. Recent rapid advances in technology have facilitated more scientifically precise measurements in dozens of related fields as well as more timely and more broadly disseminated reports.

Schools of thought
Biblical archaeology is the subject of ongoing debate. One of the sources of greatest dispute is the period when kings ruled Israel and more generally the historicity of the Bible. It is possible to define two loose schools of thought regarding these areas: biblical minimalism and maximalism, depending on whether the Bible is considered to be a non-historical, religious document or not. The two schools are not separate units but form a continuum, making it difficult to define different camps and limits. However, it is possible to define points of difference, although these differences seem to be decreasing over time.

Selected discoveries
Detailed lists of objects can be found at the following pages:
 * List of inscriptions in biblical archaeology
 * List of burial places of Abrahamic figures
 * List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, List of New Testament papyri and List of New Testament uncials
 * List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources

Biblical archeological forgeries
Biblical archaeology has also been the target of several celebrated forgeries, which have been perpetrated for a variety of reasons. One of the most celebrated is that of the James Ossuary, when information came to light in 2002 regarding the discovery of an ossuary, with an inscription that translated to "Jacob, son of Joseph and brother of Jesus". In reality the artifact had been discovered twenty years before, after which it had exchanged hands a number of times and the inscription had been added. This was discovered because it did not correspond to the pattern of the epoch from which it dated.

The object came by way of the antiques dealer Oded Golan, who was accused by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) of forgery, but after a 7 year trial he was acquitted on the grounds of reasonable doubt. Another item that came from the same dealer was the Jehoash Inscription, which describes repairs to the temple in Jerusalem. The authenticity of the inscription is debated.

Biblical archaeology and the Catholic Church
There are some groups that take a more fundamentalist approach and which organize archaeological campaigns with the intention of finding proof that the Bible is factual and that its narratives should be understood as historical events. This is not the official position of the Catholic Church.

Archaeological investigations carried out with scientific methods can offer useful data in fixing a chronology that helps to order the biblical stories. In certain cases these investigations can find the place where these narratives took place. In other cases they can confirm the veracity of the stories. However, in other matters they can question events that have been taken as historical fact, providing arguments that show that certain stories are not historical narratives but belong to a different narrative genre.

In 1943, Pope Pius XII recommended that interpretations of the scripture take archaeological findings into account in order to discern the literary genres used.

"[...] the interpreter must, as it were, go back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East and with the aid of history, archaeology, ethnology, and other sciences, accurately determine what modes of writing, so to speak, the authors of that ancient period would be likely to use, and in fact did use. [...]Let those who cultivate biblical studies turn their attention with all due diligence towards this point and let them neglect none of those discoveries, whether in the domain of archaeology or in ancient history or literature, which serve to make better known the mentality of the ancient writers, as well as their manner and art of reasoning, narrating and writing.[...]"

Since this time archaeology has been considered to provide valuable assistance and as an indispensable tool of the biblical sciences.

Expert commentaries
"[...]'the purpose of biblical archaeology is the clarification and illumination of the biblical text and content through archaeological investigation of the biblical world.'"

Archaeologist William G. Dever contributed to the article on "Archaeology" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. In this article he reiterates his perceptions of the negative effects of the close relationship that has existed between Syro-Palestinian archaeology and biblical archaeology, which has caused the archaeologists working in this field, particularly the American archaeologists, to resist adoption of the new methods of processual archaeology. In addition he considers that: "Underlying much scepticism in our own field [referring to the adaptation of the concepts and methods of a "new archaeology", one suspects the assumption (although unexpressed or even unconscious) that ancient Palestine, especially Israel during the biblical period, was unique, in some "superhistorical" way that was not governed by the normal principles of cultural evolution".

Dever found that Syro-Palestinian archaeology had been treated in American institutions as a sub-discipline of bible studies, where it was expected that American archaeologists would try to "provide valid historical evidence of episodes from the biblical tradition". According to Dever "the most naïve [idea regarding Syro-Palestinian archaeology] is that the reason and purpose of "biblical archaeology" (and, by extrapolation, of Syro-Palestinian archaeology) is simply to elucidate facts regarding the Bible and the Holy Land".

Dever has also written that: "Archaeology certainly doesn't prove literal readings of the Bible...It calls them into question, and that's what bothers some people. Most people really think that archaeology is out there to prove the Bible. No archaeologist thinks so. [...] From the beginnings of what we call biblical archaeology, perhaps 150 years ago, scholars, mostly western scholars, have attempted to use archaeological data to prove the Bible. And for a long time it was thought to work. William Albright, the great father of our discipline, often spoke of the 'archaeological revolution.' Well, the revolution has come but not in the way that Albright thought. The truth of the matter today is that archaeology raises more questions about the historicity of the Hebrew Bible and even the New Testament than it provides answers, and that's very disturbing to some people."

Dever also wrote: "Archaeology as it is practiced today must be able to challenge, as well as confirm, the Bible stories. Some things described there really did happen, but others did not. The biblical narratives about Abraham, Moses, Joshua and Solomon probably reflect some historical memories of people and places, but the 'larger than life' portraits of the Bible are unrealistic and contradicted by the archaeological evidence.... I am not reading the Bible as Scripture... I am in fact not even a theist. My view all along—and especially in the recent books—is first that the biblical narratives are indeed 'stories,' often fictional and almost always propagandistic, but that here and there they contain some valid historical information..."

Tel Aviv University archaeologist Ze'ev Herzog wrote in the Haaretz newspaper: "This is what archaeologists have learned from their excavations in the Land of Israel: the Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel. Perhaps even harder to swallow is that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, which is described by the Bible as a regional power, was at most a small tribal kingdom. And it will come as an unpleasant shock to many that the God of Israel, YHWH, had a female consort and that the early Israelite religion adopted monotheism only in the waning period of the monarchy and not at Mount Sinai."

Other scholars have argued that Asherah may have been a symbol or icon in the context of Yahwism rather than a deity in her own right, and her association with Yahweh does not necessarily indicate a polytheistic belief system.

Professor Israel Finkelstein told The Jerusalem Post that Jewish archaeologists have found no historical or archaeological evidence to back the biblical narrative on the Exodus, the Jews' wandering in Sinai or Joshua's conquest of Canaan. On the alleged Temple of Solomon, Finkelstein said that there is no archaeological evidence to prove it really existed. Professor Yoni Mizrahi, an independent archaeologist, agreed with Israel Finkelstein.

Regarding the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said: "Really, it’s a myth,... This is my career as an archaeologist. I should tell them the truth. If the people are upset, that is not my problem."

Other scholars dispute these claims. In his 2001 book The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable and Relevant? Evangelical Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser, Jr. included a chapter entitled, "Does Archaeology Help the Case for Reliability?" Kaiser states: "[T]he study of archaeology has helped illuminate the Bible by casting light on its historical and cultural location. With increasing clarity, the setting of the Bible appears more vividly within the framework of general history.... by fitting biblical history, persons, and events into general history, archaeology has demonstrated the validity of many biblical references and data. It has continued to cast light, whether implicitly or explicitly, on many of the Bible's customs, cultures, and settings during various periods of history. On the other hand, archaeology has also given rise to some real problems with regard to its findings. Thus, its work is an ongoing one that cannot be foreclosed too quickly or used merely as a confirming device." Kaiser goes on to detail case after case in which the Bible, he says, "has aided in the identification of missing persons, missing peoples, missing customs and settings." He concludes: This is not to say that archaeology is a cure-all for all the challenges brought to the text--it is not! There are some monstrous problems that remain--some created by the archaeological data itself. But since we have seen so many specific challenges over the years yield to such specific data in favor of the text, a presumption tends to build that we should go with the text until definite contrary information is available. This methodology that says that the text is innocent until proven guilty is not only recommended as a good procedure for American jurisprudence, but it is recommended in the area of examining the claims of the Scripture as well.

Collins comments upon a statement by Dever:

"“there is little that we can salvage from Joshua’s stories of the rapid, wholesale destruction of Canaanite cities and the annihilation of the local population. It simply did not happen; the archeological evidence is indisputable.”This is the judgment of one of the more conservative historians of ancient Israel. To be sure, there are far more conservative historians who try to defend the historicity of the entire biblical account beginning with Abraham, but their work rests on confessional presuppositions and is an exercise in apologetics rather than historiography. Most biblical scholars have come to terms with the fact that much (not all!) of the biblical narrative is only loosely related to history and cannot be verified."

"As a young student, I heard a series of lectures given by a famous liberal Old Testament theologian on Old Testament introduction. And there one day learned that the fifth book of Moses (Deuteronomy) had not been written by Moses—although throughout it it claims to have been spoken and written by Moses himself. Rather, I heard Deuteronomy had been composed centuries later for quite specific purposes. Since I came from an orthodox Lutheran family, was deeply moved by what I heard—in particular, because it convinced me. so the same day I sought out my teacher during his hours and, in connection With the origin of Deuteronomy, let slip the remark, 'So is the fifth book of Moses what might be called a forgery?' His answer was, 'For God's sake, it may well be, but you can't say anything like that.'I wanted to use that quotation in order to show that the results of historical scholarship can be made known to the public—especially to believers—only with difficulty. Many Christians feel threatened if they hear that most of what was written in the Bible is (in historical terms) untrue and that none of the four New Testament Gospels was written by the author listed at the top of the text."

title: Biblical archaeology


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Idjut crew

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE. dbenbenn | talk 20:14, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Idjut crew
A group of some college students. Vanity, unverifiable, etc. - RedWordSmith 07:02, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
 * Utter nonsense. Delete.  RickK 07:36, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, not notable - 1 Google hit, possible vanity. Megan1967 08:23, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep [This is by Scpivo21 whose all edits are related to this article jni 13:45, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)]
 * Delete Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:18, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Pure crap. jni 13:45, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, vanity campus prank. Wyss 19:46, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete You obviously don't have to have brains to go to college. JimmyShelter 20:59, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, Idjut sounds suspiciously like idiot. Inter 21:03, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, Interesting and creative. Obviously a well established society of intellectuals.
 * The above by User:134.126.203.100. RickK 00:19, Feb 9, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Nn. Carrp | Talk 01:41, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I'd give them points for creativity if only they'd taken the time to read the blurb about not writing about yourself. For shame.  Made me smile, though.  Delete anyway. - Lucky 6.9 00:44, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * delete--User:Boothy443 | comhrÚ 23:39, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Nonsense. Oleg Alexandrov 00:37, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Power cable

A power cable is an electrical cable, an assembly of one or more electrical conductors, usually held together with an overall sheath. The assembly is used for transmission of electrical power. Power cables may be installed as permanent wiring within buildings, buried in the ground, run overhead, or exposed. Power cables that are bundled inside thermoplastic sheathing and that are intended to be run inside a building are known as NM-B (nonmetallic sheathed building cable).

Flexible power cables are used for portable devices, mobile tools, and machinery.

History
The first power distribution system developed by Thomas Edison in 1882 in New York City used copper rods, wrapped in jute and placed in rigid pipes filled with a bituminous compound. Although vulcanized rubber had been patented by Charles Goodyear in 1844, it was not applied to cable insulation until the 1880s, when it was used for lighting circuits. Rubber-insulated cable was used for 11,000-volt circuits in 1897 installed for the Niagara Falls power project.

Mass-impregnated paper-insulated medium voltage cables were commercially practical by 1895. During World War II several varieties of synthetic rubber and polyethylene insulation were applied to cables.

Typical residential and office construction in North America has gone through several technologies:

 * Early bare and cloth-covered wires installed with staples
 * Knob and tube wiring, 1880s–1930s, using asphalt-saturated cloth or later rubber insulation
 * Armored cable, known by the genericized trademark "BX" - flexible steel sheath with two cloth-covered, rubber-insulated conductors - introduced in 1906 but more expensive than open single conductors
 * Rubber-insulated wires with jackets of woven cotton cloth (usually impregnated with tar), waxed paper filler - introduced in 1922
 * Modern two or three-wire+ground PVC-insulated cable (e.g., NM-B), produced by such brands as Romex
 * Aluminum wire was used in the 1960s and 1970s as a cheap replacement for copper and is still used today, but this is now considered unsafe, without proper installation, due to corrosion, softness and creeping of connection.
 * Asbestos was used as an electrical insulator in some cloth wires from the 1920s to 1970s, but discontinued due to its health risk.
 * Teck cable, a PVC-sheathed armored cable

Construction
Modern power cables come in a variety of sizes, materials, and types, each particularly adapted to its uses. Large single insulated conductors are also sometimes called power cables in the industry.

Cables consist of three major components: conductors, insulation, protective jacket. The makeup of individual cables varies according to application. The construction and material are determined by three main factors:
 * Working voltage, determining the thickness of the insulation;
 * Current-carrying capacity, determining the cross-sectional size of the conductor(s);
 * Environmental conditions such as temperature, water, chemical or sunlight exposure, and mechanical impact, determining the form and composition of the outer cable jacket.

Cables for direct burial or for exposed installations may also include metal armor in the form of wires spiraled around the cable, or a corrugated tape wrapped around it. The armor may be made of steel or aluminum, and although connected to earth ground is not intended to carry current during normal operation. Electrical power cables are sometimes installed in raceways, including electrical conduit and cable trays, which may contain one or more conductors. When it is intended to be used inside a building, nonmetallic sheathed building cable (NM-B) consists of two or more wire conductors (plus a grounding conductor) enclosed inside a thermoplastic insulation sheath that is heat-resistant. It has advantages over armored building cable because it is lighter, easier to handle, and its sheathing is easier to work with.

Power cables use stranded copper or aluminum conductors, although small power cables may use solid conductors in sizes of up to 1/0. (For a detailed discussion on copper cables, see: Copper wire and cable.). The cable may include uninsulated conductors used for the circuit neutral or for ground (earth) connection. The grounding conductor connects the equipment's enclosure/chassis to ground for protection from electric shock. These uninsulated versions are known are bare conductors or tinned bare conductors. The overall assembly may be round or flat. Non-conducting filler strands may be added to the assembly to maintain its shape. Filler materials can be made in non-hydroscopic versions if required for the application.

Special purpose power cables for overhead applications are often bound to a high strength alloy, ACSR, or alumoweld messenger. This cable is called aerial cable or pre-assembled aerial cable (PAC). PAC can be ordered unjacketed, however, this is less common in recent years due to the low added cost of supplying a polymeric jacket. For vertical applications the cable may include armor wires on top of the jacket, steel or Kevlar. The armor wires are attached to supporting plates periodically to help support the weight of the cable. A supporting plate may be included on each floor of the building, tower, or structure. This cable would be called an armored riser cable. For shorter vertical transitions (perhaps 30–150 feet) an unarmored cable can be used in conjunction with basket (Kellum) grips or even specially designed duct plugs.

Material specification for the cable's jacket will often consider resistance to water, oil, sunlight, underground conditions, chemical vapors, impact, fire, or high temperatures. In nuclear industry applications the cable may have special requirements for ionizing radiation resistance. Cable materials for a transit application may be specified not to produce large amounts of smoke if burned (low smoke zero halogen). Cables intended for direct burial must consider damage from backfill or dig-ins. HDPE or polypropylene jackets are common for this use. Cables intended for subway (underground vaults) may consider oil, fire resistance, or low smoke as a priority. Few cables these days still employ an overall lead sheath. However, some utilities may still install paper insulated lead covered cable in distribution circuits. Transmission or submarine cables are more likely to use lead sheaths. However, lead is in decline and few manufacturers exist today to produce such items. When cables must run where exposed to mechanical damage (industrial sites), they may be protected with flexible steel tape or wire armor, which may also be covered by a water-resistant jacket.

A hybrid cable can include conductors for control signals or may also include optical fibers for data.

Higher voltages
For circuits operating at or above 2,000 volts between conductors, a conductive shield should surround the conductor's insulation. This equalizes electrical stress on the cable insulation. This technique was patented by Martin Hochstadter in 1916; the shield is sometimes called a Hochstadter shield. Aside from the semi conductive ("semicon") insulation shield, there will also be a conductor shield. The conductor shield may be semi conductive (usually) or non conducting. The purpose of the conductor shield is similar to the insulation shield: it is a void filler and voltage stress equalizer.

To drain off stray voltage, a metallic shield will be placed over the "semicon." This shield is intended to "make safe" the cable by pulling the voltage on the outside of the insulation down to zero (or at least under the OSHA limit of 50 volts). This metallic shield can consist of a thin copper tape, concentric drain wires, flat straps, lead sheath, or other designs. The metallic shields of a cable are connected to earth ground at the ends of the cable, and possibly locations along the length if voltage rise during faults would be dangerous. Multi-point grounding is the most common way to ground the cable's shield. Some special applications require shield breaks to limit circulating currents during the normal operations of the circuit. Circuits with shield breaks could be single or multi point grounded. Special engineering situations may require cross bonding.

Liquid or gas filled cables are still employed in distribution and transmission systems today. Cables of 10 kV or higher may be insulated with oil and paper, and are run in a rigid steel pipe, semi-rigid aluminum or lead sheath. For higher voltages the oil may be kept under pressure to prevent formation of voids that would allow partial discharges within the cable insulation. Liquid filled cables are known for extremely long service lives with little to no outages. Unfortunately, oil leaks into soil and bodies of water are of grave concern and maintaining a fleet of the needed pumping stations is a drain on the O+M budget of most power utilities. Pipe type cables are often converted to solid insulation circuit at the end of their service life despite a shorter expected service life.

Modern high-voltage cables use polyethylene or other polymers, including XLPE for insulation. They require special techniques for jointing and terminating, see High-voltage cable.

Flexibility of cables (stranding class)
All electrical cables are somewhat flexible, allowing them to be shipped to installation sites wound on reels, drums or hand coils. Flexibility is an important factor in determining the appropriate stranding class of the cable as it directly affects the minimum bending radius. Power cables are generally stranding class A, B, or C. These classes allow for the cable to be trained into a final installed position where the cable will generally not be disturbed. Class A, B, and C offer more durability, especially when pulling cable, and are generally cheaper. Power utilities generally order Class B stranded wire for primary and secondary voltage applications. At times, a solid conductor medium voltage cable can be used when flexibility is not a concern but low cost and water blocking are prioritized.

Applications requiring a cable to be moved repeatedly, such as for portable equipment, more flexible cables called "cords" or "flex" are used (stranding class G-M). Flexible cords contain fine stranded conductors, rope lay or bunch stranded. They feature overall jackets with appropriate amounts of filler materials to improve their flexibility, trainability, and durability. Heavy duty flexible power cords such as those feeding a mine face cutting machine are carefully engineered — their life is measured in weeks. Very flexible power cables are used in automated machinery, robotics, and machine tools. See power cord and extension cable for further description of flexible power cables. Other types of flexible cable include twisted pair, extensible, coaxial, shielded, and communication cable.

An X-ray cable is a special type of flexible high-voltage cable.

title: Power cable


text:
Talk:Abbey Road Studios

Studio two during the 1960's
The console installed for most of the 60's and most used by The Beatles was the REDD.51, not the REDD.17. The REDD.17 was replaced by the REDD.37, the first console built by EMI with four track mixing in mind. By 1964, The 37 was replaced with the REDD.51 which lasted in Studio Two until Nov. 1968.

This is all described in great detail in the extensive "Recording The Beatles" book. Pg. 68 & 113.

Someone please correct. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.156.55.39 (talk) 01:35, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Though this article lists the AMI Neve and SSL consoles that the studio now uses, it should also dicuss the far more important in-house custom made REDD series consoles, particulary the the legendary REDD. 37 and REDD.51 consoles that were used in the glory days of the 60s. Unlike the ubiquitous newer consoles, these vintage desks were specially engineered, developed, and hand made by EMI exclusively for its own studios.  These consoles were made of all hand-wired valve (vacuum tube) circuitry and are often revered as some of the best sounding consoles ever made.  It would be simply too expensive today to use the level of quality of circuitry (per channel) that these employed, because consoles today are expected to have, usually, 72 or more channels and way more controls and inputs.  You could also mention the famous EMI TG custom made desks (with discreet solid state ciruits) used in the 70s, which were also custom engineeered and made in house. These were also renowned for thier sound quality.    Garagepunk66 (talk) 06:51, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Album cover
Stand outside the studios this summer and I betcher that within half an hour you will see some tourists walking across that crossing with a friend taking their photo.

The article says that the crossing was moved somewhat to the east in the 70's. I don't know. On the beatles cover you can spot some lid of a gas or electrical device in the street, at the edge of the picture on the white bar that Ringo is stepping on with his left foot. I was at Abbey Road on 6 May 2010 and it is still there, in the same spot in the white bar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by FZ (talk • contribs) 14:46, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

This is a very good point; I was there in October 2010 and didn't notice the little box thing on "Ringo's bar" in the crosswalk, but looking at a photo I took, it is there, exactly where it appears on the album. Was the crosswalk actually moved? This page says it was moved "east", but it seems like "south" would be a more accurate description. What is the source for saying it was moved? The evidence seems to point to the contrary. Someone should get to the bottom of this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.240.84.129 (talk) 05:30, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

See my "moved crossing" post lower on this page. Galenfott (talk) 07:10, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Columbia link
I think the link to Columbia Records is confusing. It links to a page discussing the history of the U.S. Columbia records. I believe that EMI actually merged with a UK company which had been affiliated with the American company, but was not actually a part of it. But I don't know this with enough certainty and detail to feel confident in changing the page myself. Does someone with better knowledge want to take a crack at it?--David Fell 09:46, Apr 13, 2005 (UTC)

No mention of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's cover of The Abbey Road EP? How come?

Ha ha
"The Shadows rejuvenated the studios, breaking with convention, originating overnight recording sessions, allowing new recording techniques. The group opened up the studios to loud, heavy guitar driven music, allowing an easy entrance for the lighter sounds of the Beatles. "

or

"The Beatles rejuvenated the studios, breaking with convention, originating overnight recording sessions, allowing new recording techniques. The group opened up the studios to loud, heavy guitar driven music. "

so which is it? Did they both "rejuvinate" the studio with new recording techniques? J Shultz 22:58, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I'm going to delet both until someone can give a definite (sourced) answer. -MBlume 00:32, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

POV
I wholeheartedly agree with every word of this paragraph, but that doesn't mean it's not POV:

Starting with their first (heavily laid down) loud and racous (compare 'Twist and shout' with 'Move it') album 'Please please me', through the pop (non R&B copied formula) dominated "A hard days night', the folky/country 'The Beatles for sale', 'Help', 'Rubber soul', The beuatifully pop drenched 'Revolver', the ground breaking "Sgt Peppers", the birth of Rock's "White album", through to the swan song 'Abbey Road', It was the Beatles who broke with tradition, changing recording techniques, and forever changing the boundries of what was considered Popular music. Inventing flanging, backwards recording, automatic double tracking, and the first band to use feedback on a recording, The Beatles utilised Abbey Road studios to full effect.

-MBlume 00:34, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Help!
Can someone please rescue this poor tortured paragraph (third in History section): Stevage 08:57, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Starting with their first (heavily laid down) loud and racous (compare 'Twist and shout' with 'Move it') album 'Please please me', through the pop (non R&B copied formula) dominated "A hard days night', the folky/country 'The Beatles for sale', 'Help', 'Rubber soul', The beuatifully pop drenched 'Revolver', the ground breaking "Sgt Peppers", the birth of Rock's "White album", through to the swan song 'Abbey Road', It was the Beatles who broke with tradition, changing recording techniques, and forever changing the boundaries of what was considered Popular music.
 * look up about an inch. I'm sorry, I fully agree with the whole paragraph, but it's really really obvious POV - MBlume 00:13, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

With all due respect
With all due respect, I would suggest modifying the following paragraph:

''The chief mastering engineer at Abbey Road was Chris "Vinyl" Blair, who started his career early on as a tape deck operator. He worked his way up the ranks to get to the top. A highlight of Blair's career was receiving an award for Radiohead's Kid A. Blair died on November 7, 2005.''

I can understand including a reference to Mr Blair, possibly some sort of detail as to how many years he spent at Abbey Road, rather than just the fact that he died on such and such date. I don't want to delete it as it obviously means something to someone. 83.180.184.252 02:39, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

recordings
Am slightly concerned that the article page may in time become just a list of people/bands that have recorded at Abbey Road. While such a chronological list might be of interest, and I personally think it might, I suggest it be drawn up on a separate article page. The main article could keep the references to those who have had a long-lasting relationship with the studios (e.g. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc.) while linking to the chronological list for specific albums, dates, track listings, etc. Likewise for the film references. Feedback please. 83.180.184.252 02:56, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

 * The article is definitely becoming just a list of albums and film soundtracks recorded at Abbey Road. What can be done about this? --Technopat 22:39, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Spin it off into a List of artists and albums recorded at Abbey Road Studios? That should concentrate this article on the studios themselves, and provide an opportunity for those wishing to reproduce the studio log-book. I agree the most significant should also be put into a prose section in this article (limited to - say - 10). Kbthompson 09:05, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Agreed. If you're willing to set up the spin-off page, I'll make the chronological list of recordings and soundtracks. Shall we wait for a couple of weeks for other opinions? Regards, --Technopat 22:03, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

 * Agreed. This is arguably the most famous recording studios on the planet.  The number of people that have or want to record there would make this list miles long.  It needs to be a separate spin off to preserve the main articleGreenshinobi (talk) 23:28, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Abbey road relic
what's considered to be the Abbey Road's relic,don't you know?I've heard it is,but I don't know exactly —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.149.1.228 (talk) 19:37, 14 March 2007 (UTC).

List
As per discussion above, re. excessive length of article, etc., have moved the list of film scores recorded to List of film scores recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Will do similar with albums when find time. Please help. Regards, --Technopat 23:09, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Set up spin-off for List of Pink Floyd albums recorded at Abbey Road Studios and deleted said albums from main body of text. Regs. --Technopat 12:02, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Architecture category
Removing from 1831 in Architecture and adding to 1813 in Architecture. Some sources give 1831 as the construction of the building, however I'm willing to go with the article. MartinSFSA (talk) 06:51, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Removed
Oasis recorded their 2008 album, Dig Out Your Soul, in Abbey Road, the first time they have recorded a full album there. They attempted to record 1997's Be Here Now but got thrown out because, according to Noel Gallagher, "They were too young and a bit mad back then".

Dig Out Your Soul was originally going to be recorded at the Boardwalk in Manchester where Oasis originally rehearsed, but apparently Liam said to Noel, "Fuck that, let's do it at Abbey Road. We're all Beatle-heads, and they did all their stuff there." --Technopat (talk) 06:10, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

"moved" crossing
I edited the page to remove the fallacy that the famous zebra crossing has ever been moved. See my webpage at http://www.grundoon.com/Abbey_Road.html for photographic evidence. And it's worth noting that according to the History page, the edits about the moving of the crossing were made on April Fools' Day, 2008. Galenfott (talk) 17:49, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Beatles RfC
You are invited to participate in an RfC at Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation/The Beatles on the issue of capitalising the definite article when mentioning that band's name in running prose. This long-standing dispute is the subject of an open mediation case and we are requesting your help with determining the current community consensus. Thank you for your time. For the mediators. ~ GabeMc  (talk 00:08, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

Loudspeaker models
Ainsley117 wrote that Altec speakers are featured. As far as I can figure, the studio monitors at Abbey Road Studios are various, but they do not currently feature Altecs.
 * Studio One: "The monitoring is provided by three B&W Nautilus 800D Loudspeakers and five HTM1 rear speakers fully configured for surround monitoring up to 7.1 channels."
 * Studio Two: "...the room houses a Bowers & Wilkins 5.1 surround monitoring system. A wide variety of nearfield speakers are also available."
 * Studio Three: "The room has Quested stereo monitoring in addition to a 5.1 B&W 800D set up."
 * Penthouse Studio: "Monitoring is provided by five B&W Nautilus 800D speakers."
 * Studio 52: "...B&W and Adams monitoring."

This shows that the majority of monitoring loudspeakers are Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) with some Quested and Adams. Everything else at Abbey Road is reduced to "also available". Altec loudspeakers cannot be said to be in prominent use at Abbey Road Studios. Binksternet (talk) 16:30, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Abbey Road Studios. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20121102094723/http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/July%201979/125/750999/AUDIO+NEWS to http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/July%201979/125/750999/AUDIO+NEWS

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 19:36, 29 August 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 06:28, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

When did the studio change names?
An article in the November 2012 issue of Sound on Sound states "EMI Studios... was officially renamed Abbey Road Studios in 1970". Meanwhile, in Kenneth Womack's 2019 book Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles (Cornell University Press), he states the following: "When he was promoted as the operation's general manager in 1974, Ken Townsend began the process of rebranding EMI Studios as Abbey Road Studios. Made official in 1976, the rechristening proved to be a deft marketing move that has ensured the building's much-deserved global fame. (p. 237)." Womack's source may be chapter one of Brian Southall and Ruper Perry's 2009 book Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire (Omnibus), but it's hard to tell from his endnote formatting (I don't have access to Southall and Perry's book). Womack interviewed Townsend and numerous other people associated with the studio for the book.

I've looked through WorldRadioHistory.com to see if there were any contemporary articles in the 1970s detailing the name change, but I've come up empty. The only pre-1975 article I've found referencing "Abbey Road Studios" is in the 12 February 1972 issue of Disc and Music Echo magazine, where Paul McCartney calls it "E.M.I's Abbey Road Studios" (p. 8). Can anyone find any more sources that might shed more light on the change?  Tkbrett  (✉) 17:37, 27 June 2022 (UTC)

Please - more info about...
... the non-pop musical artists. Classical music, spoken word, comedy... 123.243.150.168 (talk) 01:25, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Abbey Road Studios