Wednesday, December 05, 2007

"32 Million Dollar Renovation of The Stanford Court, a Renaissance Hotel"

"32 Million Dollar Renovation of The Stanford Court, a Renaissance Hotel", © PR-USA.net, December 5, 2007. (News Article)

"...Nob Hill, the home of the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel, rises 376 feet above the San Francisco waterfront and has long been associated with the elite. Described by Robert Lewis Stevenson in 1882 as the "hill of palaces", the hotel sits on the site where Leland Stanford, governor of California, president of the Central Pacific Railroad, and founder of Stanford University, built his grand mansion with its 2 story rotunda and series of themed parlors in the 1870's. The mansion, which was the largest private residence in the state, burned to the ground in the fire that followed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but the large granite and basalt wall that buttresses two sides of the block survived and still remains to this day. In 1912, the luxury Stanford Court Apartments was constructed and was later renovated into the Stanford Court. ... " [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]

Air compressor location

From: "Richard Gagnon" richg_1998@yahoo.com

I model 1890 and I have noticed in photos of locomotives of the time that the air compressor moved from the engineers side to the fireman's side but I have never seen any discussion on why and how it happened. Engines from say 1900 on mostly had the compressors on the fireman's side. Any more information on this subject?

—Richard

Railroad employment

From: Kjwaterworks04@aol.com

Why would people want to work on railroads? What were the benefits and advantages of the job?

Music programs

From: wowejeff@netscape.net

I was wondering if you have music programs at the museum, and? if so, can you please tell me who develops them?

—Jeff Barber