All Good Things Must Come to an End …

Due to a number of reasons, I’ve decided that this was my last day to actively post on Washington Kaleidoscope. I’d like to thank everyone that’s joined me on this journey, and tell you to fear not … there are still plenty of fish in the sea.

I’ll continue to post items of Washington’s past and present on Greater Greater Washington. I encourage you to check that blog out if you haven’t already done so. Its got some great stuff.

If you have been reading Kaleidoscope because you are interested in Park View news, history, and such, you can continue to follow those posts on my new blog Park View, D.C. I’ll also slowly cross post relevant Park View items from Kaleidoscope over to the new blog as time permits.

If you have just been enjoying the random observations, street art, and the like, there are plenty of other blogs out there that post such items, and I’m sure you’ll find one you like (although, I won’t promise that the occasional street art or neon won’t show up on the new blog … I like them too much).

So whether we meet again or part company at this juncture … so long, and thanks for all the fish!

Streetcars in the City

The Washington Bisiness Journal came out with an article today, D.C. wants to revive streetcar plan, which starts out:

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty’s transportation director is trying to rejuvenate plans to return streetcars to the District by preparing to search for federal funding, seeking support among elected officials and forming a dedicated management team.

Streetcar tracks are being laid along South Capitol Street in Anacostia and H Street NE near Capitol Hill, for two pilot lines first planned under former Mayor Anthony Williams but long since delayed. Two years ago, Fenty’s former director of transportation planned for the Anacostia line to be up and running by 2009 with three cars the city had already purchased. Now officials are shooting for 2012. And D.C. still has not determined how to accommodate the ban on overhead wires in the areas governed by the L’Enfant Plan, including downtown and inner neighborhoods such as the H Street corridor.

Later in the article, it includes the text:

Simultaneously Klein, the founder and former CEO of the On the Fly food service, is trying to bolster support for a much larger network of lines along some of the city’s heavily trafficked corridors, such as K Street and Georgia Avenue NW and 8th and M streets SE.

It will be interesting to watch how this issue develops.

This Date in History

August 2, 1909: Park View easily beat Petworth in the Suburban League before a large crowd. The winners hit the ball hard and at opportune times. Six two-base hits were made. Several of these would have gone for triples, but a ground rule limited all hits to two bases.

Entry Door Restoration

While the photo on the left is admittedly a little rough, its good enough to give an accurate idea of the horrible, horrible door that greeted you when you entered our house when we first moved in. The image on the right is what we’ve replaced it with.

I’d say that the first obstacle you have to overcome is finding a door the correct size. It is only relatively recently that doors and windows started to come in standard sizes. That means that you are rarely able to buy a door right of the floor and install it in an old house.

We were lucky to find an original door to our street that a neighbor was willing to part with. Of course, they were willing to sell the door because it was in rough shape. With a lot of work — which included repairing broken and missing wood, having the leaded glass rebuilt, and replacing the larger panes with security glass — the door was finally able to be installed.

I know its a lot more work than most folks would do, but having a door that is appropriate to the house was worth it.
You can see some in process shots after the jump

An efficient way to paint doors – Fine Homebuilding Tip

I saw this tip in the September 2009 issue of Fine Homebuilding … and I think its brilliant!!! I’ve been refinishing a lot of doors, and have more to do than I’ve completed.

One of the things that holds me up by at least 3 days is the varnishing stage, where I’ve had to work one side at a time. That also has lead to a bit more of a drip along the edge between one side and the other.

When I saw this tip, I thought, WOW. Being able to do both sides at the same time would solve a few problems AND speed up the process.

Preview – An efficient way to paint doors – Fine Homebuilding Tip

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Then and Now: 519 and 521 Rock Creek Church Road

Then: 519 and 521 Rock Creek Church Road, NW, newly completed and offered for sale in this ad from May 29, 1910. Ranging from $4,950 to $6,250, the only major differences in these homes besides the price is the size of the lot and the choice of smooth stucco, textured stucco, and red brick.

Now: 521 Rock Creek Church Road sold on March 26, 2009, for $525,000. It was originally listed nearly a year earlier for $703,500, if memory serves.

Vintage Ride of the Week: 1937 Plymouth

Other than this being a 1937 Plymouth, I don’t know anything more specific. There is a lot of information here if you can figure out which data is relevant to this sedan.

I was surprised to see this car on the 400 block of Newton over the weekend. At first I thought maybe someone had driven in for the Caribbean Festival on Saturday, but then I saw it was still there on Sunday.

Either way, it was a beautiful car.

More images after the jump

Fenty: 4 Killed in Deadliest Crash in Metro History; Rescues Still Underway|ABC 7 News

Fenty: 4 Killed in Deadliest Crash in Metro History; Rescues Still Underway|ABC 7 News

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In additions to the link above, the Washington Post has the following:

Two Red Line Metrorail trains collided this evening between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations, killing at least four people and injuring scores of passengers in what authorities called the transit system’s deadliest crash ever. The trains struck with such force that part of one vaulted on top of the other. Read the entire article, including maps and images, here>>

Naval Observatory ca. 1907