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USS Skylark (ASR-20)

USS Skylark (ASR-20) was a Penguin-class submarine rescue ship of the United States Navy.

The ship was laid down in July 1945 as the Navajo-class fleet tug Yustaga (ATF-165) by the Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. of Charleston, South Carolina. While under construction Yustaga was redesignated a submarine rescue ship on 11 October 1945, assigned the hull designation ASR-20 on 13 November 1945, and renamed Skylark on 5 December 1945. She was launched on 19 March 1946, sponsored by Mrs. H. C. Weatherly, and was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, berthed first at Charleston and later at New London, Connecticut, until 1 March 1951, when she was finally commissioned.

1951–1962
Following restricted availability at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Skylark conducted her shakedown cruise and training out of Norfolk, Virginia, during July. The ship then returned to New London and operated out of that base, practicing submarine rescues and serving as a target recovery ship for submarines conducting torpedo-firing drills. In April 1952, the ship temporarily moved south to relieve USS Petrel (ASR-14) as rescue vessel at Key West, Florida, while the latter ship underwent an overhaul. In June, she returned north to New London to resume her former duties. During January and February 1953, Skylark was overhauled at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; and, after refresher training at Newport, Rhode Island, during March and April, she spent May at Norfolk filling in for USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) while the latter ship went into the shipyard for overhaul. In June, she returned to New London and carried out her training schedule until October when she again headed back to Norfolk to substitute for Kittiwake, while the latter participated in "Operation Springboard." Upon the conclusion of that brief assignment, she resumed her New London-based routine. In February and March 1954, Skylark engaged in her own share of "Operation Springboard" exercises, providing services to Atlantic Fleet submarines during the annual training evolution. She returned to New London late in March and resumed her usual duties. In September, the ship entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for a two-month overhaul.

Until the beginning of 1962, Skylark continued the pattern of duties described above. She operated out of New London the majority of the time but, periodically, did temporary duty elsewhere, notably at Norfolk and Key West, taking over briefly the duties of Kittiwake or Petrel when either ship was incapacitated due to repairs. She also operated regularly in the West Indies during the annual "Springboard" exercises. The one notable exception to that pattern occurred in January and February 1955 when she assisted USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the Navy's first nuclear-powered submarine, in completing her builders' trials.

1962–1973
At the beginning of 1962, Skylark began a new phase of her career when regular deployments to the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean became a normal aspect of her activities and continued to be for the remainder of her naval service. She embarked upon the first such cruise on 8 January 1962. During that assignment, she served as flagship of Task Force (TF) 69 and participated in the search for an Air Force jet fighter which crashed at sea near Málaga, Spain. On 7 May 1962, she returned to New London and resumed her duties with the Atlantic Fleet. In April 1963, she was working closely with the USS Thresher (SSN-593) when the submarine sank during diving tests, and Skylark issued the first distress call following the incident. Skylark also participated in the search for the submarine which was conducted for several days after the loss. In July 1963, she was deployed to the Mediterranean once more and again served as flagship of TF 69. That cruise lasted until late October, and Skylark re-entered New London on 2 November. Nineteen months of duty out of her home port, along the Atlantic coast of the United States, followed her return home.

On 7 July 1965, the submarine rescue vessel stood out of New London once more, bound for the Mediterranean and duty in support of 6th Fleet submarines. During the latter portion of that cruise, Skylark served for several weeks at the ballistic missile submarine base located in Holy Loch, Scotland, before returning home to New London on 29 October. During the remaining eight years of her Navy career, the ship alternated duty along the Atlantic coast of the United States with deployments to the Mediterranean and to the submarine base at Holy Loch.

In the spring of 1968, she participated in the unsuccessful rescue attempt and search for USS Scorpion (SSN-589), the second American nuclear-powered submarine to be lost at sea.

During the period 1970-1972, Skylark, under command of LCDR A.J. Smith, participated in many experimental test operations, including towing and escorting deep-diving research nuclear submarine NR-1, and in 1971 the feasibility of towing submerged fast attack nuclear submarines with a 3-inch nylon hawser and the further feasibility of using a quick-release mechanism on the bow of the submarine while the tow was in progress, tested as a method of taking a submarine to a designated position through possible hostile waters without detection of a submarine not under her own power.

Her only other major departure from her routine came in June 1972 when she participated in NATO Exercise "Pink Lace" before beginning a scheduled deployment to Holy Loch and the Mediterranean in July. That deployment in the summer and fall of 1972 saw Skaylark deploy with the submarine tender USS Fulton, and virtually the entire Submarine Squadron 10 for which Fulton served as flagship. During the early part of the deployment, Skylark performed operational exercises with both U.S. and U.K. boats out of Faslane, Scotland, and researched alternate egress possibilities from Holy Loch into the North Sea. In the Mediterranean, she participated in the founding of the NATO naval base in La Madellena, Italy, where she, Fulton and members of Submarine Squadron 10 created a permanent mid-Mediterranean base of operations. Skylark also performed joint submarine rescue practice four-point moor operations with an Italian Navy ASR out of Sicily. She returned to New London on 18 November 1972, completing the last deployment of her career.

Skylark received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period 1 March 1971 to 1 December 1972.

Decommissioning and sale
On 30 June 1973, Skylark was decommissioned, and her name was struck from the Navy List. On that same day, she was sold to Brazil through the Security Assistance Program (SAP).

In Brazilian service, 1973–1996
Skylark was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy as Gastao Moutinho (K.10) in 1973.

In 1989, Gastão Moutinho was reclassified as an auxiliary ship, and redesignated U.20. Based at the naval base of Aratu, it was placed under the control of the Commandant of the 2nd Naval District, carrying out coastal patrols, supporting other ships, and restocking the radio beacon of Abrolhos, amongst other missions. On 18 September 1996, Gastão Moutinho was deactivated, having sailed 175822 nmi and spent 1,626 days at sea during her service in the Brazilian Navy.

Awards

 * Meritorious Unit Commendation
 * National Defense Service Medal (two awards)

title: USS Skylark (ASR-20)


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South Coast railway line, New South Wales

The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra Railway) is a commuter and goods railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry in New South Wales, Australia. Beginning at the Illawarra Junction, the line services the Illawarra and South Coast regions of New South Wales.

Opening in segments between 1884 and 1893, the South Coast railway line was built primarily to service the Coal Cliff Colliery, in which colonial government ministers and legislators were shareholders and as an economic link between the Illawarra and Sydney. It later connected the later industrial works at Port Kembla to the greater metropolitan freight railway network in Sydney. The line also serves as a public transport link for residents in St George, Sutherland and the Illawarra. The 56-station, 153 km line is owned by the NSW government's Transport Asset Holding Entity, with passenger services on the line provided by Sydney Trains' Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line service in suburban Sydney and by NSW TrainLink's South Coast Line service in the Illawarra.

Initial proposal
The idea for a railway between Sydney and the Illawarra area was first raised in the 1870s. At that time, railways to the north, west and southwest of Sydney had already been constructed, and a committee of prominent citizens formed to investigate the idea felt that a railway might help to develop agricultural and mining potentials in the Illawarra. In 1873, the committee asked the Government Surveyor, R. Stephens, to examine the area between Sydney and Bulli for a suitable route. The suggested route led from Rozelle in inner-western Sydney (at the site of the former Balmain Power Station), crossing the Georges River at Tom Uglys Point, climbing the Gwawley Range on a steep gradient, then following the Port Hacking River towards Stanwell Park. The railway would connect to the main line at Petersham station. When Stephens went to survey the route, he encountered many difficulties with terrain, especially between Gymea Bay and the Port Hacking River, as well as along the river itself. Stephens noted his concerns about the Gymea Bay-Port Hacking route in a letter to the Engineer-in-Chief of the New South Wales Government Railways, John Whitton:

[The country] consists of a sort of plateau or tableland about 200 ft above sea-level, and deeply indented with numerous deep chasms and narrow ravines, the bed of whose creek is, to all intents and purposes, on the same level as the sea... Mr Carver, previous to my arrival, attempted to overcome the difficulty by heading up all the creeks, and he ran a trial line upwards of eight miles (13 km) in length, but this brought him to the summit of the range from which there was no getting down.

Similar things were written about the route along the River itself:

[There was] a confused jumble of huge boulders and rocks covered with thick brushwood closely interwoven with vines and creepers... a quarter of a mile per day of setting out is the most I can manage..."

Besides the terrain, problems were also found with the proposed descent from Bulli to Wollongong. Stephens found that any proposed railway would have required a series of zig zags to enable trains to climb the Illawarra escarpment. The committee presented the route to the New South Wales legislature in 1876, but despite a pledge of £740,000 by the legislature towards construction costs, and petitions from Kiama coal-miners, it was rejected.

Construction
The Government undertook no further surveys until 1880, when a new route was approved. This route originated near the inner-city locality of Macdonaldtown and ran to Kiama via the locality of "Bottle Forest", a distance of 109 km. The route selected comprises the present-day route, although minor deviations were made between Waterfall and Coal Cliff between 1915 and 1920. On 6 April 1881, Governor Augustus Loftus assented to Act 44 Vic. No. 28, which provided £1,020,000 for the construction of this railway, and proposed that the first section of 37 km, constituting approximately the present suburban route, be completed by 30 September 1884. Almost immediately, concerns were raised about the new route's viability, most specifically over the cost of tunnelling between Waterfall and Otford to reach Wollongong. Construction of the various sections was awarded by tender and commenced in October 1882. Work was suspended past the 24 km point at Como, and Government surveyors were instructed to re-survey Stephens' work on the original route. Their work allayed concerns about the new route: although the new route had more tunnelling, excavation and sharp curves, the total cost of the "Bottle Forest" route was estimated at £130,175 less than the original Port Hacking route. The Minister for Works eventually agreed on this new route, although construction was again briefly halted when the contractors refused to recommence work on the disputed section. With new contractors hired, the line was completed to Hurstville in 1884, Sutherland in 1885, s in 1886 and Clifton through to Wollongong and North Kiama (Bombo) in 1887. The missing Waterfall to Clifton section comprised four large brick-arch culverts (and many small ones) and eight tunnels with a total length of over 4 km, delaying its opening until 1888. The section between Kiama and Bomaderry (servicing Nowra) opened in 1893.

According to the official papers on the line's construction, when the line first opened for trains between Sydney and Sutherland construction was not quite complete, so excursion services initially ran on weekends only until the entire line was handed over. The first official train ran within the modern-day suburban area on 9 December 1885, although the line was closed once again between December 1885 and January 1886 to permit testing on the new bridge over the Georges River.

Track amplification
The line was originally constructed as double track between Illawarra Junction (near Macdonaldtown) and Hurstville with single track thereafter; however, its rising use meant that the line required duplication soon afterwards. The line was duplicated between Hurstville and Loftus Station (with the exception of the Como bridge over the Georges River) in April 1890, then southward to Waterfall by 12 December 1890. The section of track between Illawarra Junction and Hurstville was quadruplicated between 1913 and 1925.

After duplication in 1890, the original lattice-girder Como Bridge across the Georges River was laid as gauntlet track. This arrangement remained in place for many decades, causing a notorious bottleneck on the line, until the New South Wales Government commissioned John Holland & Co to build a new bridge in 1969. Construction of the new bridge, made of prestressed concrete box girders, commenced in 1969 and was first used by the 18:17 service from Como on 19 November 1972. The old bridge, as well as a former alignment of the line between Mortdale and Oatley replaced in 1905, is now used as a rail trail for pedestrians and cyclists.

Duplicated track now continues to Unanderra, except for the section through the Clifton Tunnel.

Deviation
Many goods trains were routinely divided at Stanwell Park and taken through to Waterfall in stages, effectively increasing the number of train movements on the line. The increasing congestion and steepness led to construction of a double track deviation, which opened between Waterfall and Helensburgh in 1914, Helensburgh and Otford in 1915, and Otford and Coalcliff (bypassing the by now infamous Otford Tunnel) in 1920. The deviation avoided the steep grades with a more winding route featuring sharp curves, deep cuttings, new tunnels and a curved viaduct over Stanwell Creek that required three million bricks in its construction. The old route's ruling grade of 1 in 40 was faced by up (Sydney bound) trains almost all the way between Stanwell Park station and Otford. Although the new route was 5 km longer it reduced the ruling grade from 1 in 40 to around 1 in 80. Many stations in this section were closed or rebuilt on the new alignment

The Helensburgh Tunnels refer to a series of seven, now abandoned, tunnels between Waterfall and Otford. These tunnels, approximately 3257 m in total, were built between 1884 and 1886 and were part of the original alignment of the rail line. They were abandoned by 1920 when the new line was built.

The main problem was the 1550 m-long Otford Tunnel, which took the railway through Bald Hill from the coast at Stanwell Park to the Hacking River valley. The steep grade and tight clearances meant that soot, smoke and heat could become unbearable, especially when a south-easterly wind blew into the southern portal or when a train stalled in the tunnel.

A Mr B. Chamberlain wrote about a stalled passenger train in 1890: "Even with the windows closed, the carriages were filled with smoke and steam, women fainted and children screamed until the train backed down to Stanwell Park, and was finally staged up to Otford in two trips."

Regarding the crew, Chamberlain wrote: "While the passenger with closed windows in an up train had an unpleasant journey... the unfortunate enginemen underwent a shocking ordeal. On tender engines both knelt on the footplate, coats over heads, to breathe the air coming from under the engine, the apron plate being raised for this purpose. Though the air was hot from passing around or through the ash pan, it was nonetheless welcome."

Attempts were made to overcome the problem with a ventilation shaft and chimney in the early 1890s and a blower system installed in 1909.

List of tunnels
The full list of the Helensburgh Tunnels is: The Clifton Tunnel is an eighth tunnel in this section and built around the same time as the Helensburgh Tunnels. Unlike the others it remains in use and is the only single track section between Sydney and Unanderra.

The Metropolitan Tunnel features the first Helensburgh railway station at its northern end. The station was opened on 1 January 1889 and closed in 1915 when a new station was built on the current line. In May 1928, the colliery completed the conversion of the Metropolitan tunnel to a reservoir by plugging the southern end with concrete and used by the Metropolitan Colliery as a reservoir until town water was connected. It now features a glow worm population.

Electrification
The Illawarra line was the first railway electrified in New South Wales, and was built in conjunction with the construction of the City Railway between Central and St James, opening on 1 March 1926, a few months before the line was connected to the new underground railway. By November 1926 the electric overhead had passed Sutherland and continued to the branch line constructed to the Royal National Park. The line between Loftus and Waterfall remained unelectrified until 1980 and was serviced by steam and then CPH railcars. The Government decided to continue electrification to Wollongong, and the wires were extended to Waterfall on 20 July 1980 and on to Wollongong in January 1986. Further works saw electrification extended to Dapto in 1993 and Kiama in 2001. The Kiama to Nowra section remains unelectrified. With the cessation of electrically hauled freight trains in the late 1990s, the Port Kembla freight lines have been dewired although the masts remain in place.

Other modifications
New stations that opened along the line include Coledale in 1902, North Wollongong in 1915, N in 1916, Wombarra in 1917, and Towradgi in 1948. Stations to have closed include Clifton in 1915, Yallah and Toolijooa in 1974, Omega and Jaspers Brush in 1982, and Lilyvale in 1983. Dunmore was also closed in November 2014, replaced by Shellharbour Junction, after rising commercial and residential development in Flinders and Shell Cove and their distance from Dunmore station, prompted the Government of New South Wales to build a replacement station closer to the area of urban growth.

In 1917 the Thirroul Locomotive Depot opened to service the steam trains on the South Coast line and it closed in 1965.

Major structural problems with the Stanwell Creek viaduct were identified in late 1985, with one span close to collapsing and another badly cracked, requiring substantial repairs and stabilising work.

Description of route

The Illawarra line commences at the Illawarra Junction just south of Redfern station. Here, a dive-under allows inter-city services from the Illawarra line to cross underneath the main suburban railway lines to access Sydney Terminal. From the Illawarra junction, four tracks head south through the stations of Erskineville and St Peters to Sydenham. Immediately north of Erskineville, the Illawarra lines are connected to the Illawarra Relief Lines which emerge from underground. These lines form the Eastern Suburbs line which opened in 1979. Heading south from Erskineville, the easternmost pair of tracks are the Up and Down Illawarra lines which usually carry the T4 Illawarra Line passenger services.

The westernmost pair of tracks are the Up and Down Illawarra local tracks which usually carry T3 Bankstown Line services and T8 Airport & South Line express trains operating via Sydenham. To the west of the four tracks between Erskineville and Sydenham there is a reservation for a further pair of tracks with partially constructed platforms at Erskineville and St Peters stations.

At Sydenham, six platforms are provided, with T3 Bankstown Line services generally using the westernmost pair (platforms 1 and 2), T8 Airport & South Line peak hour services using the inner pair (platforms 3 and 4) and T4 Illawarra Line services using the easternmost pair of platforms (platforms 5 and 6). South of Sydenham, the Bankstown railway line branches off in a westwards direction. The Botany Goods Line crosses over the Illawarra line via a flyover. The line then reaches Tempe station, before crossing the Cooks River.

South of the Cooks River lies Wolli Creek station, constructed by the NSW State government in 2000 to provide an interchange between the Illawarra line and the newly privately built Airport Link to the east, an extension of the East Hills line, connecting via a new tunnel under the Illawarra line, which then branches off to the west. The Illawarra line continues south as four tracks through a rock cutting to the stations of Arncliffe, Banksia and Rockdale. Rockdale station has five platforms, platform 1 (the most westerly platform) is currently unelectrified and disused but was previously a terminating point for electric passenger trains. South of Rockdale, the line passes through Kogarah which has a shopping centre built overhead. The line then makes a westerly turn, heading through Carlton and Allawah.

The next station is Hurstville, which is where the four-track section ends and terminating facilities are provided. Like Kogarah, Hurstville has a shopping centre built above the platforms. South of Hurstville, the line becomes two tracks with bidirectional signalling. The line passes through Penshurst and Mortdale. At Mortdale is the Mortdale Maintenance Depot which lies on the eastern side of the tracks with access points from the south of the station. The line then continues to Oatley which has a set of points allowing trains to be turned-back. The line then crosses the Georges River over the Como bridge, which opened in November 1972 replacing an older single track iron lattice bridge which still exists to the east of the present structure and is used as a cycleway. The line enters the Sutherland Shire, passing through Como station (which was moved to its present, new site with the opening of the new bridge in 1972), and Jannali before reaching Sutherland.

At Sutherland, three platforms are provided. The Cronulla line branches off in an eastwards direction south of the station. The former short branch line to Woronora Cemetery branched in a westerly direction at the south of the platforms. The line opened on 28 July 1900 and closed on 27 August 1944. The line then continues south through Loftus, Engadine, and Heathcote. South of Loftus, the former Royal National Park line branched off, this has now been converted into a tram line connecting to the Sydney Tramway Museum, and connections to the mainline have been severed. The final station for the operation of suburban services is Waterfall station. At Waterfall, there is a train stabling yard and a train turnback (shunting road) south of the station. South of Waterfall is the site of the 2003 Waterfall train disaster.

The line then heads south through the challenging terrain of the Royal National Park and Illawarra escarpment. The line makes a steep descent down to Wollongong. The original alignment through the towns of Helensburgh and Lilyvale which opened in 1888 was bypassed by a new route in 1915. A new station at Helensburgh was subsequently opened with the new alignment. A set of points allows the turnback of trains at Helensburgh. The line then proceeds through several tunnels down the Illawarra escarpment through the hamlets of Otford, Stanwell Park and Coalcliff.

South of Coalcliff, the line becomes single track as it passes through the Clifton Tunnel, before becoming double track again near Scarborough station. The line then proceeds south through the northern suburbs of Wollongong, then Wollongong and its southern suburbs. A terminating platform is provided at Thirroul, which is used to terminate peak hour services from Sydney, as well as local services.

At Coniston the double track ends with an electrified branch line heads east to Port Kembla. At Unanderra, the line to Moss Vale branches off to head west over the Illawarra escarpment to join the Main South line. The line continues south through Kembla Grange Racecourse where a simple platform serves the adjoining racecourse. The line then reaches Dapto where a passing loop is provided. Dapto was the southern extent of electrification until 2001.

The line passes south through Albion Park (where another crossing loop is provided) to reach Kiama the extent of electrification. South of Kiama, the line continues as a single track non-electrified line through rolling dairy pastures via several tunnels to the towns of Gerringong and Berry before arriving at its terminus at Bomaderry on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River. At Bomaderry, sidings connect to the Manildra Group's starch mill.

An extension of the line to the Jervis Bay area had been proposed as early as 1911. In April 1971, the State Government announced the line would be extended to Jervis Bay if a proposed steelworks were built.

Bankstown line
The Bankstown line was initially opened as a branch line from the Illawarra Line to Belmore Station in February 1895, although it was soon extended through to Sefton to the Main South line on 16 July 1928.

East Hills line
The East Hills Line was first recommended to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works in 1916, as an alternative route when the Bankstown Line was being constructed, the line opened to Kingsgrove on 21 September 1931, and to East Hills three months later on 21 December 1931. It was connected to the Main Southern line near Glenfield station on 21 December 1987. The East Hills line experienced a major change in 2000 when the Airport line opened. This saw most East Hills trains using the new line to access the city, providing relief to the section of the Illawarra line between Sydenham and the city.

Cronulla line

A single track tramway line between Sutherland and Cronulla, with four stations and a goods siding, opened on 12 June 1911. By 1932 the tramway had closed. Competing bus services had begun to run with unrestricted competition, and the tram line by this time was so full with services that trams often ran late due to holdups at the crossing loops and passengers missed their connections at Sutherland. The line suffered large losses in its later years, and the effect of the Great Depression at the time forced it to cease its services, the last passenger service operating on 3 August 1931. The goods service continued until 12 January of the next year.

Although the closure of the tramway allowed planning to go ahead for a railway, the planning for the replacement railway line suffered various delays in the 1930s due to funding issues: the line's construction competed with a proposal to electrify the Illawarra Line to Waterfall, and there were disputes over the point at which the line would connect to the main line. Two early proposals to join the line at Como and north of Sutherland station were rejected. Local residents were also concerned that the railway would increase Council rates in the Cronulla area. Despite the delays, Parliament finally gave approval to the line on 2 March 1936, and a route with five new stations was surveyed that would connect with the main line at the southern side of Sutherland station. The new line was opened on 16 December 1939 by the Governor, Baron Wakehurst at a large ceremony at Cronulla station.

Although a crossing loop was installed at Caringbah and Gymea when the line was opened, the single track line prevented the expansion of services to the Cronulla peninsula, and so in the 1980s it was decided to duplicate a 3.5 kilometre section of the line between Gymea and Caringbah, with Gymea, Miranda and Caringbah all receiving island platforms. The new section was opened on 15 July 1985. In the 2000s, the remaining single track sections were duplicated. These opened on 19 April 2010.

Woronora Cemetery line
In 1897, land was set aside near Sutherland Station for a denominational cemetery; it was an alternative to a site at Kurnell, which would have required a long branch line. A single track line 822 m long was constructed next to the station and opened on 13 June 1900. A single 134 m platform and a loop for engines were included. The first funeral had taken place earlier that year, with the casket arriving by train from Mortuary station in the city. Due to the advent of the motor car and motorised funerals, funerals by train became rare, and the line eventually closed on 23 May 1947, with no funeral having taken place for some years beforehand. The line and platform were subsequently demolished and removed, and no remains, apart from the original formation coming from the main line, are visible today.

Royal National Park line
The large area of Crown Land now comprising the Royal National Park was gazetted as a National Park in 1879, only the second such area in the world. In 1886 the need for a training ground for the New South Wales infantrymen, riflemen and artillery, prompted the construction of a short branch line into the National Park. It opened on 9 March 1886 along with the extension of the Illawarra Line from Sutherland to Waterfall, and first served passengers at an army camp open day around a month later. The station featured a single station, originally called Loftus, with two terminal roads, several goods sidings and a loading bank to cope with the heavy artillery equipment. A regular service to the Park serving tourists commenced in May 1886, and a short section of the line was duplicated in 1899 to service the multiple trains that travelled there on weekends. When the Illawarra Line was electrified in 1926, this branch was included being the southern extremity until 1980.

Although the army camp closed after the Federation of Australia, the line continued to serve park visitors throughout the 20th century. There was also access to nearby Grays Point. In 1946 a second platform was added on the branch to serve the New South Wales State Scout Jamboree held between December 1946 and January 1947. The terminus was renamed The Royal National Park by June 1955, at the request of the Park's trustees.

The opening of the Cronulla Branch, the building of more roads to the area and other factors led to a decline of services on the branch. Despite a resurgence of passengers in 1978, when the station was rebuilt following the relocation of the Park's Visitors' Centre to the site of the original station, patronage declined to approximately three passengers per train. Until 1990 the line continued to receive regular trains on weekends but when passenger services were temporarily suspended in 1991 due to signalling problems on the branch, CityRail and the State Government decided to close the branch altogether, citing the lack of passengers. Although the branch lay dormant for some time, Parliamentary approval was subsequently given to the Sydney Tramway Museum to operate the line. The Museum converted the branch to light rail standards in order to run their trams on it, and the line was reopened on 1 May 1993, marketed as the ParkLink service. Trams run on the branch on Sundays and public holidays at hourly intervals.

Port Kembla line
At Coniston, an electrified branch line proceeds east to Port Kembla with three intermediate stations.

The line is double track as far as just west of Port Kembla North and is used by freight trains as well as local passenger services. A stabling yard is provided at Port Kembla for overnight storage of electric trains.

While the railway network at Port Kembla was built in 1916, stations and passenger trains servicing the surrounding suburbs did not operate until 5 January 1920, when the Port Kembla railway station was opened. A station at Cringila was added to the Port Kembla commuter branch in 1926, along with one at Port Kembla North, a decade later, in 1936. A railway station for workers at Port Kembla, named Lysaghts, after the nearby Lysaght steel plant, was also opened in 1938.

Unanderra – Moss Vale line
The Unanderra – Moss Vale line is a cross country railway line, branching from the Illawarra line at Unanderra and winding west up the Illawarra escarpment to join the Main Southern line at Moss Vale. The line was first proposed in the 1880s by residents of Moss Vale and local industry keen for a connection to the port at Port Kembla. Construction began on 26 June 1925, and the line opened on 20 August 1932.

Services
The South Coast line passenger services currently consist of electric double deck multiple unit trains that operate between Bondi Junction or Central and either Wollongong, Kiama or Port Kembla. Diesel shuttle trains connect at Kiama and operate to Bomaderry. Although electrified to Wollongong in 1985, several diesel trains operated between Sydney and Nowra until 1991, one of which was the South Coast Daylight Express, operated as a locomotive hauled train of Budd and Tulloch type passenger cars which included catering facilities.

Freight traffic usually operates only to the junction with the Metropolitan line at Tempe. A large amount of coal and a lesser amount of other freight are transported by rail on the line daily to and from Port Kembla, although freight trains are restricted from using the suburban lines during peak hours. South of Unanderra, freight trains serve the ballast quarries at Dunmore and Bombo while the only freight trains south of Bombo are to the Manildra Group's Bomaderry starch plant. As at October 2016, all services were operated by Pacific National. The only active coal mine on the line is served by a siding south of Otford. Most other coal trains come from the Gwabegar line in the state's Central West.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text: User talk:216.165.20.228

title: User talk:216.165.20.228


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Village of the Damned (1960 film)

Village of the Damned is a 1960 British science fiction horror film by Anglo-German director Wolf Rilla. The film is adapted from the novel The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by John Wyndham. The lead role of Professor Gordon Zellaby was played by George Sanders.

A sequel, Children of the Damned (1964), followed, as did a remake, also called Village of the Damned (1995).

Plot
In the British village of Midwich, Professor Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) is talking to his brother-in-law, Major Alan Bernard (Michael Gwynn), on the telephone when he, his wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley), and all the other villagers suddenly fall unconscious, as do the animals and other people entering the village. The military establishes a cordon around Midwich; Bernard and the military discover that a caged canary becomes unconscious upon being placed in the village's border, but regains consciousness when removed. They then send in a man wearing a gas mask, but he, too, falls unconscious and is pulled back with rope. The man awakens and reports experiencing a cold sensation just before passing out. The pilot of a military reconnaissance plane is contacted and asked to investigate. When he flies below 5,000 feet, he loses consciousness and the plane crashes. A five-mile exclusion zone around the village is established for all aircraft. After approximately four hours, the villagers regain consciousness, and all are apparently unaffected by the time-out that had temporarily cut Midwich off from the rest of the world.

Two months later, all Midwich women and girls of child-bearing age, including Anthea, are discovered to be pregnant, sparking many accusations of both adultery and premarital sex. Doctor Willers (Laurence Naismith) deduces that all the expectant women and girls conceived on the same day as the time-out. The accusations of adultery and premarital sex fade as the extraordinary nature of the pregnancies is discovered, with seven-month fetuses appearing after only five months. All the pregnant women and girls give birth on the same day. Their children have an unusual appearance, including "arresting" eyes, odd scalp hair construction and colour (platinum blond), and unusually narrow fingernails. As the children grow and develop at a rapid rate, it becomes clear they also have a powerful telepathic bond with one another. They can communicate with each other over great distances, and as one learns something, so do the others.

Three years later, the children are precocious, physically and mentally the equivalent of children four times their age. Their behaviour has become even more unusual and striking. They dress impeccably, always walk as a group, speak in an adult manner, and behave maturely, but they show no conscience or love, and demonstrate a coldness to others, causing the villagers to fear and shun them.

Zellaby, whose "son" David is one of the children, attends a meeting with British Intelligence to discuss them. There, he and Bernard learn that Midwich was just one of several places on Earth where time-outs happened, all on the same day and resulting in similar children: in a northern Australian town, all the children died within ten hours of birth; in an Eskimo community, the members killed the children, believing they were not theirs; in Mongolia, the men killed both the children and their mothers; in Russia, all the children survived and are being educated. The men theorise that the children themselves are of extraterrestrial origin. Zellaby is at first eager to work with the children, and gains permission to teach them in the hopes of learning more about them.

The Midwich children begin to exhibit the power to read minds and to force people to do things against their will. There have been a number of villagers' deaths since the children were born, many of which are considered unusual, and some citizens believe the children are responsible. This is confirmed when the children are seen killing a man-who had accidentally hit one of them with his car-by making him crash into a wall, and again when they force his suspicious brother to shoot himself.

The children are placed in a separate school building where they will learn and live. While the children continue to exert their will, Bernard informs Zellaby that the Soviet government has wiped out its country's population of children by firing a nuclear shell at the Russian village where they lived; the villagers were also killed as no warning had been given to deprive the children knowledge of the attack. A group of Midwich men form an angry mob and march to the school, only for the children to force one of them to burn himself to death. When Bernard confronts the children, they tell him nothing can stop them and use their power on him, sending him into shock.

Zellaby compares the children's resistance to reasoning with a brick wall and uses this motif as self-protection against their mind-reading after their inhuman nature becomes clear to him. When Bernard recovers, Zellaby sends him and Anthea on a road trip to London. Zellaby then takes a hidden time-bomb to a session with the children and tries to block their awareness of the device by visualizing a brick wall. The children scan Zellaby's mind, eventually breaking down his mental wall and discovering the truth seconds before the bomb detonates, consuming the building in flames and killing everyone in the house, including Zellaby. Anthea, upon realizing that Zellaby was planning something drastic, drives back to Midwich, and a distance away, she and Bernard watch the school explode.

Development
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the film rights in June 1957, prior to the novel's publication. Milo Frank was assigned to produce and John Lupton was announced as a possible star.

By December, the title had been changed to Village of the Damned and Russ Tamblyn, who appeared as the lead in MGM's Tom Thumb (1958), was named as a possible star. In January 1958, MGM president Joseph R. Vogel announced the film would be among the movies made by the studio that year. Robert Stevens signed to direct.

The film was originally intended as an American production, to be filmed at the MGM studios in Culver City, California. Stirling Silliphant wrote a script with Ronald Colman slated as the lead,  but Colman died in May, 1958. (His widow, actress Benita Hume, married actor George Sanders in 1959, and Sanders was cast in the role meant for Colman.)

In September 1958, Michael Rennie said he was being considered for the lead. In October, Mel Dinelli was reportedly working on a script. In January 1959, Julia Meade signed to play a lead role.

Move to UK
In November 1959, production of the film was transferred to the MGM-British Studios and George Sanders was cast in the lead role.

Six weeks before filming was to begin, the project was passed to television director Wolf Rilla. He thought the script by Stirling Silliphant "needed a lot of work to make it realistic. It was written by an American who had not gained a great deal of knowledge concerning English life; it just rang false." Rilla was told he had a single weekend to make changes so he and Ronald Kinnoch, now the producer, collaborated. "I still don't think the script was as good as it could have been but there simply wasn't time," said Rilla.

The film had a shooting schedule of six weeks and a budget of £82,000. Most filming took place at MGM's Borehamwood Studio but it was also shot on location in the village of Letchmore Heath, near Watford, approximately 12 mi north of London. Local buildings such as The Three Horseshoes Pub and Aldenham School were used during filming.

Rilla used a "very low-key documentary manner. It made, I think, the strange happenings even stranger... the horrors were so much more horrible because they were so much more normal.".

The glowing-eye effect, when the children used their mental powers, was achieved by creating animated overlays of a bright white iris; this created a bright glowing iris with a black pupil when optically printed into the film. This technique was used mostly on freeze-frame shot to create the required effect; the only sequence of live motion processed in this way was the scene in which David tells Alan Bernard to "leave us alone" where the eye effect appears as David speaks. The other time David's eyes go from normal to glowing on screen (after one of the girl children is nearly run down by a car), a two shot of the girl and David, is a composite shot split by a slightly jagged black line; the half with the girl is live motion, and you can see her hair moving in the breeze, whereas the half with David is a freeze frame with the eye effect added.

A similar split screen effect is used during the first scene of a boy and girl using their powers to stop their 'brother' stealing a puzzle box; the close ups of the mother holding the boy as his eyes begin to glow and she turns to look at him are achieved as above this time without a black line separating the freeze frames of the boy from the live motion of the mother. The final effect of the children's eyes zooming out of the flames of their burning school house utilized multiple exposures of a model head with glowing eyes which the camera zoomed in on.

For the original release of the film in Britain, censors required the glowing eye effects not be used in the British version of the film to get an 'A' certificate rather than an 'X'- so. a UK version without the glowing eyes was produced, in which effects show that during the final sequence, in the close-ups, the kids widen their eyes as they attack Zellaby's mind, unlike the freeze frames with added glowing eyes used in the American prints. Another example is a slight smile that David makes after setting one of the villagers on fire in the UK print; the freeze frames of the American print do not contain such subtle detail. This print also has a credit for being filmed at MGM's British studios that is not on the American prints.

Theatrical release
Given an 'A' certificate by the British censors, the film opened in June 1960 at The Ritz cinema in Leicester Square, London. According to director Wolf Rilla, it soon attracted audiences, and cinema goers queued round the block to see it. In December of the same year it was released New York and Los Angeles; it became a sleeper hit for MGM in the US.

Home media
MGM first released the VHS format on April 27, 1995. The film was also released on DVD by Warner Home Video on August 10, 2004, and on Blu-ray by Warner Archive Collection on July 21, 2018.

Box office
According to MGM records the film earned $1.4 million in the US and Canada and $775,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $860,000. Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.

Critical reception
The 18 June 1960 edition of The Guardian praised the story as "most ingenious" and Rilla as applying "the right laconic touch." Positive reviews also appeared in The Observer (by C.A. Lejeune): "The further you have moved away from fantasy, the more you will understand its chill"; and The People (by Ernest Betts), "As a horror film with a difference, it'll give you the creeps for 77 minutes." Dilys Powell in The Sunday Times stated on 20 June 1960: "Well made British film: the effective timing, the frightening matter-of-factness of the village setting, most of the acting, and especially the acting of the handsome flaxen-haired children (headed by Martin Stevens) who are the cold villains of the piece."

American critics were also in favour of the film. The Time reviewer called it "one of the neatest little horror pictures produced since Peter Lorre went straight" and questioned the wisdom of MGM's low-profile release strategy. While not willing to call it a horror classic, Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote, "as a quietly civilized exercise in the fear and power of the unknown this picture is one of the trimmest, most original and serenely unnerving little chillers in a long time." The film received a small but positive mention in the Saturday Review which called it "an absorbing little picture that you may yet be able to find on some double-feature bill." Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of a possible four stars, calling it "[an] eerie, well-made chiller." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93%, based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Chilling performances and a restrained, eerie atmosphere make this British horror both an unnerving parable of its era and a timeless classic." The climactic scene in which the children break down Zellaby's mental brick wall is #92 on the Bravo miniseries 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

Sequel and remake
An MGM-British sequel, Children of the Damned, directed by Anton M. Leader, was released in 1964 with a smaller group of six children (each one from a different nation: China, India, Nigeria, the Soviet Union, the United States and the UK). Although their powers are similar, the theme and tone are nearly opposite, with the children in the sequel being portrayed as sympathetic characters.

A US-produced remake was released in 1995 by Universal. Also titled Village of the Damned, the film was directed by John Carpenter and moved to a contemporary time period and an American setting. It was not well received by critics.

title: Village of the Damned (1960 film)


text:
Talk:Fahad Ensour

VFD
On 5 April 2005, this article was nominated for deletion. The result was keep. See Votes for deletion/Fahed Abul Ethem Nsour for a record of the discussion. – ABCD 00:32, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Fahad Ensour


text: Category:Greeting cards

title: Category:Greeting cards


text:
Incense and Peppermints (album)

Incense and Peppermints is the debut album by psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. Released in October 1967, it reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200 album charts during a 24-week run and included the band's No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Incense and Peppermints".

Background
In addition to the band's six official members, the album features the flute playing of Steve Bartek, who co-wrote four of the album's songs with bass player George Bunnell.

The tracks "The World's on Fire", "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow", and "Incense and Peppermints" were all featured in the motion picture Psych-Out, along with a new song, "Pretty Song from Psych-Out", which later appeared on the band's second album, Wake Up...It's Tomorrow.

A compilation album of the same name (albeit spelled with an ampersand) was released by MCA in 1990. The album has been released on CD in Japan and (more recently) on Sundazed Records.

Side 1

 * 1) "The World's on Fire" (S.A. Clock) – 8:21
 * 2) "Birds in My Tree" (George Bunnell, Steve Bartek) – 1:53
 * 3) "Lose to Live" (Mark Weitz, S.A. Clock) – 3:13
 * 4) "Strawberries Mean Love" (Bunnell, Bartek) – 3:01

Side 2

 * 1) "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" (Bunnell, Bartek) – 3:05
 * 2) "Paxton's Back Street Carnival" (Bunnell, Bartek) – 2:01
 * 3) "Hummin' Happy" (Bunnell, Randy Seol) – 2:25
 * 4) "Pass Time with the SAC" [Instrumental] (S.A. Clock) – 1:21
 * 5) "Incense and Peppermints" (John S. Carter, Tim Gilbert) (uncredited: Mark Weitz, Ed King) – 2:47
 * 6) "Unwind with the Clock" (Lee Freeman, Ed King) – 4:10

Japanese CD bonus track

 * 1) "The Birdman of Alkatrash" (Weitz)

Personnel
with:
 * Mark Weitz – organ, piano, harpsichord, vocals
 * Randy Seol – drums, bongos, vibraphone, vocals
 * Ed King – lead guitar, vocals
 * Lee Freeman – rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals
 * George Bunnell – bass, vocals
 * Gary Lovetro – bass, vocals
 * Steve Bartek – flute (uncredited)
 * Greg Munford – lead vocals on "Incense and Peppermints" (uncredited)
 * Gene Gunnels - drums, cowbell on Incense and Peppermints (uncredited)

Technical
 * Paul Buff – engineer
 * Ed Caraeff – photography

title: Incense and Peppermints (album)


text:
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare, progressive and systemic disease that typically results in cystic lung destruction. It predominantly affects women, especially during childbearing years. The term sporadic LAM is used for patients with LAM not associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), while TSC-LAM refers to LAM that is associated with TSC.

Signs and symptoms
The average age of onset is the early-to-mid-30s. Exertional dyspnea (shortness of breath) and spontaneous pneumothorax (lung collapse) have been reported as the initial presentation of the disease in 49% and 46% of patients, respectively.

Diagnosis is typically delayed 5 to 6 years. The condition is often misdiagnosed as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The first pneumothorax, or lung collapse, precedes the diagnosis of LAM in 82% of patients. The consensus clinical definition of LAM includes multiple symptoms:
 * Fatigue
 * Cough
 * Coughing up blood (rarely massive)
 * Chest pain
 * Chylous complications arising from lymphatic obstruction, including
 * Chylothorax
 * Chylous ascites
 * Chylopericardium
 * Chyloptysis
 * Chyluria
 * Chyle in vaginal discharge
 * Chyle in stool
 * Angiomyolipomas (fatty kidney tumors) are present in about 30% of patients with sporadic LAM and up to 90% of patients with TSC-LAM. Angiomyolipomas can sometimes spontaneously bleed, causing pain or low blood pressure.
 * Cystic lymphangiomas or lymph nodes with hypodense centers, which mimic necrotizing lymphomas, ovarian or renal cancers, or other malignancies can occur in the retroperitoneum, pelvis or mediastinum.

Lung destruction in LAM is a consequence of diffuse infiltration by neoplastic smooth muscle-like cells that invade all lung structures including the lymphatics, airway walls, blood vessels and interstitial spaces. The consequences of vessel and airway obstruction include chylous fluid accumulations, hemoptysis, airflow obstruction and pneumothorax. The typical disease course displays progressive dyspnea on exertion, spaced by recurrent pneumothoraces and in some patients, chylous pleural effusions or ascites.

Most people have dyspnea on exertion with daily activities by 10 years after symptom onset. Many patients require supplemental oxygen over that interval.

Genetics
LAM occurs in two settings: in the disease tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC-LAM) and in a sporadic form, in women who do not have TSC (sporadic LAM). In both settings, genetic evidence indicates that LAM is caused by inactivating or "loss of function" mutations in the TSC1 or TSC2 genes, which were cloned in 1997 and 1993, respectively. The TSC1 gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 9 (9q34) and the TSC2 gene is located on the short arm of chromosome 16 (16p13). TSC-LAM occurs in women who have germline mutations in either the TSC1 or the TSC2 gene.

Sporadic LAM is primarily associated with somatic TSC2 gene mutations. Germline and somatic mutations in LAM include many types of mutations spread across the genes, with no clear "hot spots," including missense changes, in-frame deletions and nonsense mutations. Because of the large size of the genes (together they have more than 60 exons) and because mutations can be located virtually anywhere within the genes, mutation detection is often challenging.

On a cellular basis, LAM cells carry bi-allelic inactivation of the TSC2 genes, consistent with the "two-hit" tumor suppressor gene model. The second hit event in LAM cells is often loss of the chromosomal region containing the wild-type copy of the TSC2 gene; this is referred to as loss of heterozygosity or LOH. LOH can be detected in microdissected LAM cells, in angiomyolipomas and lymph nodes from women with LAM, and in circulating LAM cells (cells in blood and urine).

Angiomyolipomas and pulmonary LAM cells from women with the sporadic form of LAM carry identical mutations in TSC2. This, together with the fact that recurrent LAM after lung transplantation carries the same TSC2 mutations as the original LAM, has led to the "benign metastasis" hypothesis that LAM cells can migrate or metastasize from one site to another.

Pathophysiology
A variable percentage of cells within the LAM lesion contain mutational inactivation of the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1 or TSC2) tumor suppressor genes. TSC1 mutations cause a less severe clinical phenotype than TSC2 mutations. The discovery of TSC1/2 gene function as negative regulator of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) led to successful use of rapamycin analog sirolimus in clinical trials and FDA approval of sirolimus for treatment of LAM.

TSC1 and TSC2 form a tumor suppressor complex that regulates mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling complex by directly controlling the activity of the small GTPase Rheb via the GTPase activating protein (GAP) domain of TSC2. Rheb binds to Raptor and controls the activity of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) that directly phosphorylates p70 S6 kinase (S6K1) and 4E-BP1. mTOR forms two physically and functionally distinct multiprotein complexes: the rapamycin-sensitive mTORC1 and the rapamycin-insensitive mTORC2. MTORC1 consists of five proteins including Raptor that positively regulate mTOR activity. MTORC2 consists of six proteins including mTOR and Rictor, which defines the activation level of mTORC2  and modulates the assembly of the actin cytoskeleton through Rho GTPases,   and Rac1 is required for mTOR activation. In TSC2-null and human LAM cells, Rho GTPase activity is required for cell adhesion, motility, proliferation and survival. Loss of TSC1/TSC2 in LAM induces uncontrolled LAM cell growth and increases LAM cell viability. Upregulation of STAT1 and STAT3   and autophagy are known mediators of LAM cell viability and survival.

LAM cells behave, in many ways, like metastatic tumor cells. LAM cells appear to arise from an extrapulmonary source and migrate to the lung. Increased LAM cell migration and invasiveness is rescued by TSC2 re-expression. The cellular and molecular mechanisms of neoplastic transformation and lung parenchymal destruction by LAM cells remain unknown. Lung remodeling may be mediated by an imbalance between matrix degrading metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their endogenous inhibitors TIMPs. The invasive cell phenotype in LAM is associated with TIMP-3 downregulation and TSC2-dependent upregulation of MMPs.

Clinical and histopathological evidence demonstrate the lymphatic involvement in LAM. The prevailing hypothesis is that LAM lesions secrete the lymphangiogenic factor VEGF-D, recruit lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) that form lymphatic vessels and induce lung cysts. VEGF-D serum levels are increased in LAM compared to other cystic lung diseases, including pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, emphysema, Sjögren's syndrome, or Birt–Hogg–Dubé syndrome. VEGF-D levels correlate with the severity of LAM, evaluated as a measure of CT grade (the abundance of chylous effusions and lymphatic involvement). VEGF-D is a secreted homodimeric glycoprotein and a member of the VEGF family of growth factors, is known for its role in cancer lymphangiogenesis and metastasis. Proteolytic processing of VEGF-D affects cognate binding to VEGFR3. Histopathologically, LAM lesions are surrounded by cells that stain for VEGFR3, the lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1 (LYVE-1) and podoplanin. VEGF-D binds to the receptor protein tyrosine kinases VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-349 in humans, and to VEGFR3 in mice. Surprisingly, knock-out of VEGF-D in mice has little effect on lymphatic system development. Nevertheless, during tumorigenesis VEGF-D promotes formation of tumor lymphatic vessels and facilitates metastatic spread of cancer cells. However, little is known about a role of abnormal lymphatics and VEGF-D in LAM pathogenesis.

Diagnosis
LAM can come to medical attention in several ways, most of which trigger a chest CT. Thin-walled cystic change in the lungs may be found incidentally on CT scans of the heart, chest or abdomen (on the cuts that include lung bases) obtained for other purposes. HRCTs of TSC patients reveals that about 20% of women have cystic change by age 20 and about 80% of women have cystic changes after age 40. LAM is sometimes revealed by chest CT in patients who present with an apparent primary spontaneous pneumothorax, but more often CT scanning is not ordered (in the United States) until recurrences occur. Progressive dyspnea on exertion without the exacerbations and remissions that are characteristic of asthma or COPD sometimes prompt a chest CT. A review of the CT by an expert familiar with LAM may increase diagnostic accuracy. Chylothorax can also bring LAM to attention.

In some cases, a LAM diagnosis can be made with confidence on clinical grounds (without biopsy) in patients with typical cystic changes on high resolution CT scanning of the lung and findings of tuberous sclerosis, angiomyolipoma, lymphangioleiomyoma, chylothorax or serum VEGF-D > 800 pg/ml.

If none of these clinical features are present, a biopsy may be necessary to make the diagnosis. Video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy is the most definitive technique, but transbronchial biopsy has a yield of over 50% and can also be effective. The safety of the latter procedure in patients with diffuse cystic disease and the profusion of cystic change that predicts an informative biopsy are incompletely understood, however. Cytology of chylous fluids, aspirated abdominal nodes or lymphatic masses can also be diagnostic.

Diagram 1 outlines a proposed algorithm for the diagnosis of LAM.

Chest radiograph
The chest radiograph may appear relatively normal, even late in the disease, or may suggest hyperinflation only. As the disease progresses, the chest radiograph often demonstrates diffuse, bilateral and symmetric reticulonodular opacities, cysts, bullae or a "honeycomb" (i.e., pseudo fibrotic) appearance. Pleural effusion and pneumothorax may be apparent. Preservation of lung volumes in the presence of increased interstitial markings is a radiographic hallmark of LAM that helps distinguish it from most other interstitial lung diseases, in which alveolar septal and interstitial expansion tend to increase the lung's elastic recoil properties and decreased lung volumes.

Computed tomography
The high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest scan is better than the chest radiograph to detect cystic parenchymal disease and is almost always abnormal at the time of diagnosis, even when the chest radiograph and pulmonary function assessments are normal. The typical CT shows diffuse round, bilateral, thin-walled cysts of varying sizes ranging from 1 to 45 mm in diameter. The numbers of cysts varies in LAM from a few to almost complete replacement of normal lung tissue. The profusion of cysts tends to be milder in patients with TSC-LAM than S-LAM, perhaps explained in part because TSC-LAM patients typically receive earlier screening. Pleural effusions are seen on CT in 12% of patients with S-LAM and 6% of patients with TSC-LAM. Other CT features include linear densities (29%), hilar or mediastinal lymphadenopathy (9%), pneumothorax, lymphangiomyoma, and thoracic duct dilation. Ground-glass opacities (12%) suggest the presence of interstitial edema due to lymphatic congestion. In patients with TSC, nodular densities on HRCT may represent multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia (MMPH) made up of clusters of hyperplastic type II pneumocytes. MMPH may be present in males or females with TSC in the presence or absence of LAM, but not in patients with S-LAM. MMPH is not typically associated with physiologic or prognostic consequences, but one case of respiratory failure due to MMPH has been reported.

Ventilation-perfusion scans
In one study ventilation-perfusion scans were abnormal in 34 of 35 LAM patients. The most common abnormality was nonspecific diffuse heterogeneity, usually grossly matched. These authors also described an "unusual," "speckling pattern" on the perfusion images in 74% of patients, consisting of "small, often peripheral collections of radioisotope."

Positron emission tomography
LAM and AML lesions do not typically exhibit increased uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose on positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. Other neoplasms (or sources of inflammation) should therefore be considered in known or suspected LAM cases in which FDG-PET results are positive.

Abdominal imaging
Abnormalities on abdominal imaging, such as renal AML and enlarged lymphatic structures, are also common in LAM. Fat density within a renal mass is pathognomonic of AMLs. AMLs are more prevalent and more frequently bilateral and large in patients with TSC-LAM than in patients with S-LAM. AML size correlates with the prevalence of pulmonary cysts in patients with TSC. One study CT imaged 256 patients with S-LAM and 67 with TSC-LAM. Renal AMLs were present in 32% of patients with S-LAM and 93% of patients with TSC-LAM. Hepatic AMLs were present in 2% of patients with S-LAM and 33% of patients with TSC-LAM. Ascites was uncommon, seen in fewer than 10% of patients with LAM. Abdominal lymphangiomatosis, often containing both cystic and solid components, were seen in 29% of patients with S-LAM and 9% of patients with TSC-LAM.

Central nervous system imaging
Central nervous system abnormalities, such as cortical or subependymal tubers and astrocytomas, are common in patients with TSC, including those with TSC-LAM, but are not found in women with S-LAM. Moss and associates reported that women with S-LAM and TSC-LAM may have an increased incidence of meningioma, but the significance of that finding has been challenged.

Pulmonary function studies
Pulmonary function testing in patients with LAM may be normal or may reveal obstructive, restrictive or mixed patterns. Obstructive physiology is the most common abnormality. Quality-controlled lung function data were collected prospectively by the NHLBI Registry, a five-year study of patients with LAM in centers around the United States. Spirometry revealed obstructive changes in about 57% of patients and normal results in 34%. Restriction, defined as a total lung capacity less than the lower limit of normal, was seen in 11%. Hyperinflation was present in about 6%. The average residual volume was 125% of predicted when measured by plethysmography, but was only 103% of predicted determined with gas dilution methods, suggesting significant air trapping in noncommunicating airspaces. Approximately 25% of patients with obstructive physiology may demonstrate bronchodilator responsiveness but may be less in more severe obstruction. The obstructive physiologic defect in LAM is primarily attributable to airflow obstruction. The earliest change in initial pulmonary function testing in various case series was abnormal gas transfer, as assessed by the diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO), described in 82% to 97% of patients. It is not unusual for DLCO to be reduced out of proportion to forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). Reduction in DLCO and increase in residual volume are generally considered to be LAM's earliest physiologic manifestations.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing in a much larger cohort of patients with LAM revealed a reduced maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and anaerobic threshold in 217 patients. Exercise-induced hypoxemia was found even in patients who did not have resting abnormalities in FEV1 and DLCO. In most patients, exercise was thought to be ventilation limited, owing to airflow obstruction and increased dead-space ventilation.

Disease progression is usually accompanied by a progressive obstructive ventilatory defect. Decline in FEV1 is the most commonly used parameter to monitor disease progression. Although resting pulmonary hypertension appears to be unusual in LAM, pulmonary arterial pressure often rises with low levels of exercise, related in part to hypoxemia. One study reported an increase in intraparenchymal shunts in dyspneic patients with LAM, which may contribute to resting and exercise hypoxemia.

Pathology
Grossly, LAM lungs are enlarged and diffusely cystic, with dilated air spaces as large as several centimeters in diameter. Microscopic examination of the lung reveals foci of smooth muscle-like cell infiltration of the lung parenchyma, airways, lymphatics, and blood vessels associated with areas of thin-walled cystic change. LAM lesions often contain an abundance of lymphatic channels, forming an anastomosing meshwork of slit-like spaces lined by endothelial cells. LAM cells generally expand interstitial spaces without violating tissue planes but have been observed to invade the airways, the pulmonary artery, the diaphragm, aorta, and retroperitoneal fat, to destroy bronchial cartilage and arteriolar walls, and to occlude the lumen of pulmonary arterioles.

There are two major cell morphologies in the LAM lesion: small spindle-shaped cells and cuboidal epithelioid cells. LAM cells stain positively for smooth muscle actin, vimentin, desmin, and, often, estrogen and progesterone receptors. The cuboidal cells within LAM lesions also react with a monoclonal antibody called HMB-45, developed against the premelanosomal protein gp100, an enzyme in the melanogenesis pathway. This immunohistochemical marker is very useful diagnostically, because other smooth muscle-predominant lesions in the lung do not react with the antibody. The spindle-shaped cells of the LAM lesion are more frequently proliferating cell nuclear antigen positive than the cuboidal cells, consistent with a proliferative phenotype. Compared with cigar-shaped normal smooth muscle cells, spindle-shaped LAM cells contain less abundant cytoplasm and are less eosinophilic. Estrogen and progesterone receptors are also present in LAM lesions,  but not in adjacent normal lung tissue. LAM lesions express lymphatic markers LYVE-1, PROX1, podoplanin and VEGFR-3. The smooth muscle-like cells of AMLs are morphologically and immunohistochemically similar to LAM cells, including reactivity with antibodies directed against actin, desmin, vimentin, and HMB-45 as well as estrogen and progesterone receptors. Unlike the dilated airspaces in emphysema, the cystic spaces found in LAM may be partially lined with hyperplastic type II cells.

Treatment
An FDA-approved drug for treatment of LAM, the mTOR inhibitor sirolimus, is available for stabilization of lung function decline. Lung transplant remains the last resort for patients with advanced disease.

Treatment of pneumothoraces
Pneumothoraces in LAM patients tend to recur, especially after conservative management such as observation, aspiration or simple tube thoracostomy. Over 65% of LAM patients develop pneumothorax during the course of their illness, averaging 3.5 pneumothoraces in those who have at least one pneumothorax. The LAM Foundation Pleural Consensus Group advocated the use of a pleural symphysis procedure with the first pneumothorax, given the greater than 70% chance of recurrence. Chemical sclerosis, mechanical abrasion, talc poudrage and pleurectomy have been effective in patients with LAM, but mechanical abrasion is preferred for those who may require pulmonary transplantation in the future. About half of LAM patients who have undergone transplant have had a prior pleurodesis procedure, and more than 75% of those had had prior bilateral pleurodesis. Although pleurodesis is not a contraindication to transplantation, it can result in increased perioperative bleeding.

Treatment of chylothorax
Chyle does not generally cause pleural inflammation or fibrosis. Small stable chylous effusions rarely require intervention once the LAM diagnosis is made. Shortness of breath may mandate possibly repeated drainage. Sirolimus is effective for chylous effusions and most experts believe it should be used as the first line of therapy. Imaging the source of the leak with heavy T2-weighted MRI or contrast lymphangiography is an advised for refractory effusions. Some leaks are amenable to embolization through catheters threaded from groin lymph nodes into the thoracic duct. Thoracic duct ligation can be considered, but since thoracic effusions sometimes originate from ascites that are siphoned into the chest by the bellows action of the thorax, it is important to rule out an abdominal source before considering this option. Pleural symphysis may be required to prevent nutritional and lymphocyte deficiencies that can result from repeated taps or persistent drainage. Chemical pleurodesis is generally an effective therapy for chylothorax, as is mechanical abrasion and talc poudrage.

Treatment of renal angiomyolipoma
Renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs) may require embolization or cauterization for control of bleeding, a complication that is thought to be more common when tumor diameter exceeds 4 cm. The extent of aneurysmal change may determine bleeding risk. Serial abdominal imaging should be performed to assess AML size at 6- to 12-month intervals, at least until trends in growth are clear. Nephron sparing partial resections may be considered for very large tumors. Nephrectomy is sometimes required for tumors with intravascular extension or other reasons, but is rarely the approach of choice for AMLs that can be managed by less invasive means. Everolimus is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for AML treatment.

Treatment of lymphangioleiomyoma
Lymphangioleiomyomatoses are fluid-filled hypodense structures present in the retroperitoneal regions of the abdomen and pelvis in about 30% of LAM patients. They generally do not require intervention. Biopsy or resection can lead to prolonged leakage. mTOR inhibitors are effective at shrinking the size of lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and can lead to total resolution.

Medication
Sirolimus is an mTOR inhibitor that stabilizes lung function and improves some measures of life in LAM patients. It is approved by the FDA for use in LAM, based on the results of the Multicenter International LAM Efficacy and Safety of Sirolimus (MILES) Trial. MILES data supports the use of sirolimus in patients who have abnormal lung function (i.e. FEV1<70% predicted). Whether the benefits of treatment outweigh the risks for asymptomatic LAM patients with normal lung function is not clear, but some physicians consider treatment for declining patients who are approaching the abnormal range for FEV1. Sirolimus also appears to be effective for the treatment chylous effusions and lymphangioleiomyomatosis. The benefits of sirolimus only persist while treatment continues. The safety of long term therapy has not been studied.

Potential side effects from mTOR inhibitors include swelling in the ankles, acne, oral ulcers, dyspepsia, diarrhea, elevation of cholesterol and triglycerides, hypertension and headache. Sirolimus pneumonitis and latent malignancy are more serious concerns, but occur infrequently. Sirolimus inhibits wound healing. It is important to stop therapy with the drug for 1–2 weeks before and after elective procedures that require optimal wound healing. Precautions must be taken to avoid prolonged sun exposure due to increased skin cancer risk.

Treatment with another mTOR inhibitor, everolimus, was reported in a small, open-label trial to be associated with improvement in FEV1 and six-minute walking distance. Serum levels of VEGF-D and collagen IV were reduced by treatment. Adverse events were generally consistent with those known to be associated with mTOR inhibitors, although some were serious and included peripheral edema, pneumonia, cardiac failure and Pneumocystis jirovecii infection. Escalating doses of everolimus were used, up to 10 mg per day; higher than what is typically used clinically for LAM.

Serum VEGF-D concentration is useful, predictive and prognostic biomarker. Higher baseline VEGF-D levels predicts more rapid disease progression and a more robust treatment response.

Hormonal approaches to treatment have never been tested in proper trials. In the absence of proven benefit, therapy with progesterone, GnRH agonists (e.g., leuprorelin, goserelin) and tamoxifen are not routinely recommended. Doxycycline had no effect on the rate of lung function decline in a double blind trial.

Sirolimus is often effective as first-line management for chylothorax. If chylous leakage or accumulations persist despite treatment, imaging with heavy T2 weighted MRI, MRI lymphangiography or thoracic duct lymphangiography can be considered. Pleural fusion procedures can be considered in refractory cases.

Other management
Estrogen-containing medications can exacerbate LAM and are contraindicated. Agents that antagonize the effects of estrogen have not been proven to be effective for treatment, but no proper trials have been done. A trial of bronchodilators should be considered in LAM patients, because up to 17–25% have bronchodilator-responsive airflow obstruction. Oxygen should be administered to maintain oxyhemoglobin saturations of greater than 90% with rest, exercise and sleep. Bone densitometry should be considered in all patients who are immobilized and/or on antiestrogen therapies, and appropriate therapy instituted for osteoporotic patients. Proper attention should be paid to cardiovascular health following natural or induced menopause. Immunizations for pneumococcus and influenza should be kept up to date. Pulmonary rehabilitation seems to be particularly rewarding in young, motivated patients with obstructive lung disease, but studies to assess this intervention's effect on exercise tolerance, conditioning and quality of life have not been done.

Prognosis
Survival estimates vary, dependent on mode of presentation or ascertainment, and have generally trended upward, probably due to earlier recognition through more widespread use of CT scanning. In a recent population-based cohort survey, median survival was found to be 29 years. Data from earlier, large case series indicated that 38% to 78% of patients were alive at 8.5 years from the time of disease onset.

Patients typically develop progressive airflow obstruction. In a cohort of patients in the United Kingdom, 10 years after symptom onset, 55% of 77 patients were breathless walking on flat ground and 10% were housebound. The average annual rate of decline in FEV1 and DLCO in 275 patients studied in a single pulmonary function laboratory at the NHLBI was 75 ± 9 mL, and 0.69 ± 0.07 mL/min/mm Hg, respectively. In other series from Europe, the rate of decline in FEV1 was considerably higher, estimated at approximately 100 to 120 mL/yr. In the MILES trial, patients in the placebo group lost 134 cc/yr. There was some evidence in these studies that rate of decline in lung function correlates with initial DLCO, with menopausal status and high baseline VEGF-D.

Estimates of median survival vary from 10 to 30 years, depending on whether hospital-based or population-based cohorts are studied.

Epidemiology
LAM is almost completely restricted to women. While lung cysts consistent with LAM are reported in some men with tuberous sclerosis, very few of these men develop symptoms. The prevalence of LAM is estimated using data from registries and patient groups and is between 3.4 and 7.8/million women. The number of new cases each year is between 0.23 and 0.31/million women/year in the US, UK and Switzerland. The variation between countries and between adjacent states in the US, suggest that a significant number of women with LAM remain either undiagnosed or their symptoms are attributed to other diseases. Adult women with tuberous sclerosis are more likely to develop LAM than women without tuberous sclerosis. Cohorts of patients with tuberous sclerosis have been screened for LAM using CT scanning. In a retrospective study of adults with tuberous sclerosis, CT demonstrated lung cysts in 42% of 95 women and 13% of 91 men. In general, lung cysts were larger and more numerous in women than in men. In a further retrospective study of women with TSC who underwent CT scanning to detect LAM, 25% of those in their 20s had lung cysts whereas 80% of women in their 40s were affected, suggesting that the development of LAM is age dependent at least in tuberous sclerosis-related LAM. Although the prevalence of tuberous sclerosis at 1 in 6,000 births is much greater than that of LAM, most pulmonary clinics see more cases of sporadic than tuberous sclerosis–LAM: probably due to a combination of low levels of screening for LAM in tuberous sclerosis and in many, the absence of symptoms.

Female sex and tuberous sclerosis are the only known risk factors. Although use of supplemental estrogen is not associated with development of LAM, one study suggested that use of estrogen-containing contraceptive pills was associated with earlier onset.

It occurs in more than 30% of women with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC-LAM), a heritable syndrome that is associated with seizures, cognitive impairment and benign tumors in multiple tissues. Most LAM patients who present for medical evaluation have the sporadic form of the disease (S-LAM), however, which is not associated with other manifestations of tuberous sclerosis complex.

Mild cystic changes consistent with LAM have been described in 10–15% of men with TSC, but symptomatic LAM in males is rare. Sporadic LAM occurs exclusively in women, with one published exception to date. Both TSC-LAM and S-LAM are associated with mutations in tuberous sclerosis genes.

Pregnancy
Pregnancy has been reported to exacerbate LAM in some cases. However, the risk has not been rigorously studied. In a survey of 318 patients who indicated that they had had at least one pregnancy, 163 responded to a second survey focusing on lung collapse. A total of 38 patients reported a pneumothorax with pregnancy, consistent with an incidence of pneumothorax in pregnancy of at least 10% (38 of 318). In one third of patients, the pneumothorax during pregnancy led to the LAM diagnosis. Pneumothoraces were almost twice as frequent on the right as on the left, and four women presented with bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax. Most pneumothoraces took place during the second and third trimesters. This study and others suggest that pregnancy is associated with pleural complications in LAM patients. Few women with a known LAM diagnosis choose to become pregnant and patients in whom LAM is diagnosed during pregnancy rarely have baseline pulmonary function tests available, complicating resolution of this question.

Society
The LAM Foundation was founded in 1995 as a grassroots organization to provide patient advocacy and research funding. Today, the LAM Foundation provides support and education for women with LAM and their families, engages doctors and scientists to continue to learn more about the disease, and raises funds for the continued study of LAM. It seeks safe and effective treatments, and ultimately a cure, for lymphangioleiomyomatosis. It is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In popular culture
In "Lucky Thirteen", the fifth episode of the fifth season of House, Spencer (Angela Gots) was diagnosed with LAM, though later it was found to be a case of Sjögren's syndrome.

title: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis


text:
Simon the Tanner

Saint Simon the Tanner, also known as Saint Simon the Shoemaker (Ⲫⲏⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ Ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ Ⲡⲓⲃⲁⲕϣⲁⲣ; Ⲡⲓϩⲟⲙ, Ϧⲁⲣⲣⲁⲍ; سمعان الدباغ), is the Coptic Orthodox saint associated with the story of the moving the Mokattam Mountain in Cairo, Egypt, during the rule of the Muslim Fatimid Caliph al-Muizz Lideenillah (953–975) while Abraham the Syrian was the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Life
Simon the Tanner lived toward the end of the 10th century and many Coptic Christians in Egypt were engaged in handicrafts. Saint Simon worked in tanning, a craft known there till this day. This profession involved other crafts that depend on the process, from whence Simon carried several titles related to skins: Tanner, Cobbler, Shoemaker.

The miracle of moving the mountain
According to a traditional story, Caliph al-Muizz, who reigned during AD 972–975, used to invite religious leaders to debate in his presence. In one of those meetings in which the patriarch Abraham, also known as Pope Abraam, and a Jew named Yaqub ibn Killis (in another account of this story he was referred to as Moses) were present, Abraham got the upper hand in the debate. Plotting to take revenge, Ibn Killis quoted the verse where Jesus Christ said in the Gospel of Matthew: "He replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."", and demanded that the Pope prove that his religion is right by means of this. After hearing ibn Killis say this, the caliph asked Abraham "What sayest thou concerning this word? Is it your gospel or not?" The patriarch answered "Yes, it is in it." After hearing Abraham answer, the caliph demanded that this very miracle be performed by Abraham's hand or else he and all the Copts would be killed by the sword. The patriarch asked for three days to complete the miracle.

Abraham put together a group of monks, priests and elders. He told them stay in the church for three days for a penance. On the morning of the third day, Abraham was praying in the Hanging Church, when he saw Mary, mother of Jesus. The Holy Virgin told him to go to the great market. She said to him, "There thou wilt find a one-eyed man carrying on his shoulder a jar full of water; seize him, for he it is at whose hands this miracle shall be manifested." Abraham listened to Mary and went to the market where he met the man the Holy Virgin spoke of. The man was Simon the tanner, who had plucked out his eye because of a passage from the Bible: "If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."

Simon told Abraham to go out with his priests and all his people to the mountain with the Caliph and all his soldiers. Simon then told Abraham to cry out "O Lord, have mercy" three times and each time to make the sign of the cross over the mountain. The patriarch followed the words of Simon and the mountain was lifted. After the miracle was performed in the presence of the Caliph, the Pope turned left and right looking for Simon, but he had disappeared and no one could find him. The Caliph turned to Abraham and said "O Patriarch, I have recognized the correctness of your faith."

Shortly after the miracle took place, Al-Muizz decided to convert to Christianity, abdicated in favour of his son and entered a monastery. A baptismal font, large enough for the immersion of a grown man, was built for him in the Church of Saint Mercurius. This font still exists today at the site where Al-Muizz was converted and is known as "Maamoudiat Al-Sultan", 'Baptistery of the Sultan'. This story is rejected by influential Muslim historians such as Ahmad Zaki Pasha and Muhammad Abdullah Enan.

In commemoration of this miracle, the Coptic Orthodox Church observes three extra days of fasting before the beginning of the Nativity Fast.

Many more details of the story are found on a Coptic website, which claims that the miracle occurred on November 27, 979 AD.

Discovery of Saint Simon's relics
During the years of 1989–91, Coptic clergymen and archaeologists searched for the relics of the 10th century tanner and saint, Simon. Simon was apparently buried in the cemetery of al-Habash in Old Cairo; however, while searching for Simon's relics, his skeleton was discovered in the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Holy Virgin at Babylon El-Darag during its restoration. Simon's skeleton was discovered on August 4, 1991, about one meter below the surface of the church. What was of particular interest when finding his skeleton was that the hair on his head was still intact and had not disintegrated. The hair that was intact was only on the back of his skull and it was deduced that the man was bald in front and had thick hair on the back of his head.

In the church where Simon's skeleton was found there was a painting that depicted the Coptic Pope Abraham and a bald-headed tanner carrying two water jars. The bald-headed man is most likely Simon because he was known for carrying water jars to the poor. The painting further depicted some of the characteristics of the discovered skeleton. In a church nearby a pot was discovered and was dated to be more than 1000 years old. It is believed that this clay pot was the vessel that Simon used to carry water to the poor. The jar is now kept in the new Church of Saint Simon on Muquattam, Cairo.

Virgin Mary and St. Simon the Tanner Cathedral, Cairo
Coordinates: 30.03054°N, 31.27651°W

Virgin Mary and St. Simon the Tanner Cathedral in the Saint Samaan the Tanner Monastery is on the east bank of the Nile behind the Zabbaleen village. The Zabbaleen village where the garbage collectors of Cairo live. In 1969 the governor of Cairo decided to move all of the garbage collectors to the Mokattam. In 1987 there were approximately 15,000 people living in the Zabbaleen village.

Reaching the monastery is not an easy feat due to having to wind through the Zabbaleen village.

The Monastery of Saint Simon, Aswan
The Monastery of Saint Simon, Aswan does not seem have any direct connection with St Simeon. It is accessible by either crossing the desert from Qubbet el-Hawa or by sailing across the Nile from Aswan and then walking up the Wadi al-Qurqur. The monastery, which was originally dedicated to Anbâ Hadra of Aswân, was later renamed to Saint Simon.

It was built in the 7th century and reconstructed in the 10th century. By the 13th century, however, the monastery was in ruin; there was an inscription found there that said that a Mutammar Ali had visited in 1295 A.D. Although though the monastery was ruined, its main features were preserved.

One of the churches in the monastery had numerous Coptic inscriptions inside and there were slabs of stones giving the history of many of the monks that had lived there.

title: Simon the Tanner