User:Vaoverland

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This barnstar is awarded in recognition of your outstanding contributions to William N. Page and its related rail company and biography articles. - Niteowlneils

This rotating barnstar is in recognition of your constant and tireless work to countless articles on Wikipedia. User:Brian0918

Barnstar of Diligence for tireless work on Wikipedia. Molotov

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This user is proud member of WikiProject Virginia.

Welcome to the home page for Wikipedian Vaoverland. I am especially interested in Virginia-related history, geography, and biographical topics and land transportation (highways, cars and buses, and railroads), and I am a member of Wikipedia:WikiProject Virginia.

I am a Wikipedia administrator (sysop). I currently monitor via my watchlist over 3,000 articles for quality and changes, and actively maintain some of them.

I have found that collaboration is one of the best things about Wikipedia. I try to be helpful to other contributors, and appreciate comments and communications which should be left on my Talk page (User Talk:Vaoverland).

Thanks, Mark in the Historic Triangle of Virginia.

Please click here to leave me a new message.

This is a Wikipedia user page.

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[edit] Who am I

a photo of me with my mother in November, 2004

My name is Mark Fisher, and I live in the Historic Triangle area on the Virginia Peninsula of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. Although I was born in Chicago, Illinois, the railroad capital of the United States, I have been living in Virginia since 1958. Since I was very small, I've always loved and been fascinated by transportation vehicles, including trains, streetcars, interurbans, trolley-buses, school buses, motorcoaches and all other types of buses, and automobiles. I am old enough to recall the very end of steam locomotives on major railroads. Shortly after arriving in Virginia, our family began visiting the many historic sites and I became very interested in the history and geography of Virginia.

My career has been mostly in bus transportation, and I enjoy almost anything bus-related. I started driving a school bus at age 16 while in high school, and while I was still attending community college, I moved into supervisory roles at Richmond City Public Schools, where I was trained in bus routing by a team of consultants hired by the school system. As the new busing program began in the fall of 1971, I became a full-time staff member in pupil transportation. I stayed with the school system for 4 more years, and worked various part-time jobs before jumping to the private-sector full-time in 1975. I have experienced a variety of part-time and volunteer work with broadcasting, advertising, wreckers, taxicabs, EMS ambulance service, and nursing home transport.

A Volvo articulated bus in contract service for Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, operated by Virginia Overland Transportation in 2003

My user name Vaoverland derives from Virginia Overland Transportation, a now-defunct bus company based in Richmond, Virginia of which I was a part-owner and was employed in management for 30 years (1973-2004). With a remarkable team of bus enthusiasts as employees over the years, my parents and I acquired a number of older small public service companies, some with roots in interurban streetcar operations in the early 20th century in the Richmond-Petersburg region of Virginia. We operated school buses, transit buses, and motorcoaches with substantial mostly school bus operations in Northern Virginia, in Richmond, Petersburg, and Hopewell in Central Virginia, Hampton and Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula, and Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth in South Hampton Roads at one time or another.

Our work included both government-operated and contract bus transportation, mostly in Virginia, including the yellow bus program of the entire school divisions at Petersburg and Hopewell, Head Start programs, welfare-to-work transport, paratransit, and special operations (i.e. designing and managing transport shuttle bus systems for special events). We also operated a bus dealership and sold over 3,000 new and used buses over a period of 28 years (1976-2004), over 2/3 of which were Wayne Corporation products. Although the business closed in 2004, a former Virginia Overland school transportation operation based in Norfolk sold in 1991 continues under other ownership in 2006.

My work included most aspects of bus operations and sales, including planning and proposal writing, motor vehicle accident investigation, driver training, and the vendor side of federal, state, and local governmental procurement. I was a member of the dealer council for Wayne Corporation and served as a director of the Virginia Motorcoach Association. I even had some experience lobbying the Virginia General Assembly regarding bus laws. (Like I said, I enjoy almost anything bus-related!). I started using computers around 1979, and eventually, worked extensively with GPS tracking and bus routing and scheduling applications. (Does anyone else remember the TRS-80 in their "senior" moments?)

An important part of my work with buses involved planning group trips and tours around Virginia (our company served mostly in-state destinations). I learned which attractions groups seemed to enjoy the most, as well as how to narrate guided tours. Since it easier to narrate a subject of which you are both knowledgeable and personally interested, I found myself doing additional research in libraries, by watching the "History Channel", and by Internet web searches. The latter activity led me to Wikipedia in 2003, and before long, I became a contributor to subjects for which I had information to add.

photo courtesy of Virginian Railway Enthusiasts on Yahoo

These days, in addition to working on Wikipedia articles, I do some other writing, and started and moderate five Yahoo! Groups on the Internet for bus and railway enthusiasts. I am especially proud of Virginian Railway Enthusiasts, which is in the top 3.5% of Yahoo! railway groups by membership (over 750 members). Some of our group members are actively involved in restoration and preservation activities in Virginia and West Virginia, and one group of retirees meets weekly to answer questions posed on the Internet from members on several continents. Large group seminars are held periodically. This Yahoo! group also includes a number of published authors. I also moderate 4 other Yahoo! special interest transportation groups, Richmond Rails, Circus Train, Juice Train Enthusiasts, and Wayne Bus Enthusiasts.

At home, I am currently a voluntary caregiver for a disabled elderly parent. I am also a night owl. Working on a computer from home seems to work very well with my family responsibilities. And while researching various Wikipedia articles, I find myself still in a "learning" mode on a variety of topics.

[edit] A Wikipedian with AADD, other milder mental conditions

I have adult attention-deficit disorder (AADD), as well as mild forms of both an auditory processing disorder and a motor skills disorder. These were not diagnosed until I was 44 years old! However, even when when I was very young, my Mom was effectively my ADD coach as she recognized many of my problems many years before anyone called it ADD (or ADHD these days). Trained as a school teacher, she helped be develop many coping skills (or "workarounds") which helped me accomplish things when I otherwise might have failed. Perhaps it is fitting and full circle that I am able to help care for her now.

Wikipedia has helped me learn more coping skills (or "workarounds"), such as using closed captioning on television to speed comprehension and spell checkers to correct my frequent typing transposition errors. Those errors resemble a frequent symptom of dyslexia, but isn't in my case; it is the motor skills disorder (i.e. coordination). The freeware ieSpell program (recommended by other Wikipedians) has proved to be a big help for me in correcting my transposition errors as well as spelling in general. When I see misspelling in an existing article, I will often run the ieSpell program, finding it to be quick, easy, and amazingly intuitive in suggesting replacement words.

Fortunately, I also have the AADD attribute of hyperfocus, so working on WP projects at my own pace is ideal for me. When I am "in gear", people say that I get a lot done. Often working one article leads to another (or two, or three), and so forth. During some sessions, I just let my interest and edits move in such an unplanned manner. It's like taking a Sunday ride without a specific destination: fun and relaxing. My home is in almost the exact geographic center of the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Around this area, you cannot go far without coming upon something both historic and interesting. Among my favorite rides, is the bucolic Colonial Parkway, which is nearby and offers beautiful views of wildlife and both the James River and York River, as well as the Jamestown Ferry. Both the Colonial Parkway and the Jamestown Ferry are a shunpiker's delight: no tolls or fees.

[edit] Favorite Quotation: To be a Virginian

One of my favorite quotations is:

"To be a Virginian, either by Birth, Marriage, Adoption, or even on one's Mother's side is an Introduction to any State in the Union, a Passport to any Foreign Country, and a Benediction from Above"

Not meeting any of those criteria, I nevertheless strive to someday be considered a Virginian, albeit a transplanted one. <gr>

[edit] My WP Interests and Contributions

For my Wikipedia interests and contributions, I am mostly focused on history and people, places and transportation subjects including buses, streetcars and railroads, and highways, bridges, etc. Geographically, I generally like topics with an orientation fairly close to Richmond, the Historic Triangle, Hampton Roads, and Virginia.

Writing for Wikipedia provides an opportunity to learn more about subjects which are interesting to me, including a few which have been part of my life. In July, 1956, I recall hearing the news about the collision at sea and sinking of the SS Andrea Doria, even though I was only 5 years old at the time. I was a bit closer to another disaster I have written about. On January 13, 1982, I was in Washington, D.C. working with a cold weather-related bus transportation problem when Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge and plunged into the Potomac River. For about 15 years, I was a franchised dealer for Wayne Corporation, a now-defunct bus manufacturer and leader in safety engineering, so working on that article and related ones has been a labor-of-love so to speak.

Since reading H. Reid's The Virginian Railway during my high school years, the 600 mile-long Virginian Railway built by mining engineer William Nelson Page and industrialist financier Henry Huttleston Rogers has always been my favorite railroad, although I have also have an interest in the James River and Peninsula subdivisions of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (now CSX), which I have lived within earshot of almost continuously since 1958!

When I was a community college student, I worked part time at several local radio and television stations such as WFMV and WWBT-TV in Richmond. My work with charter buses and tours stimulated my continuing interest in the American Civil War, Colonial Williamsburg,and Jamestown as well as many of the historical sites such as the James River Plantations. Railroad research led me to learn a great deal about William Mahone, and his cultured wife Otelia B. Mahone, who named a number of railroad towns along the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad from books she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott.

Back in 1992, I stopped my car to help an apparently wounded kitten lying in the roadway near my home in a freezing November rain. Its toes appeared badly mangled, although there was strangely no blood, so I took the little wet thing home and we called the emergency vet, expecting bad news. Instead, he pronounced the little kitty "A-OK". It turns out, she was a polydactyl cat, unlike any other I have ever shared space with (no one "owns" a cat!). What began as a simple arbitrary act of decency enriched my life. Anyway, I wrote an article and you can also learn about these amazing creatures at the preceding link. In the course of writing on subjects such as these, I have learned more and other writers in turn have been stimulated to contributing more, and so forth.

From my past work with touring school groups, I know for a fact that Wikipedia articles are used by teachers as a basis for school projects and for our Standards of Learning program in Virginia's schools. Thus, when composing and editing articles, I find it useful to try to visualize students of middle school or high school age, and I try to keep the content factual and interesting to read, and include some good internal and external links, especially multimedia ones when available.

If the subject can be presented as an interesting and maybe even exciting story, I would like the reader to be able to relate to some of the emotions the people involved experienced, if that is appropriate in the encyclopedia setting.

I have occasionally been contacted by new Wikipedians for advice, and I find such request flattering, since even though I am a Wikipedia administrator, I feel I am still learning myself. If I can help, I am glad to do so, or direct the request to another Wikipedian who can. I have met some fine folks in this manner.

[edit] About Writing for Wikipedia, sources

Most of what I write for Wikipedia is compiled from multiple sources, including other Wikipedia articles, books, magazines and periodicals, special collections, information including some special collections held by organizations such as Virginia Historical Society, Library of Virginia, West Virginia Historical Society, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Richmond City Public Library, Williamsburg Regional Library, and many others. I also do a lot of web searches on the Internet looking for specific information.

Depending upon my perception of the veracity of the information source, to the maximum extent possible, I try to verify something from more than a single source before including it in an article. I also look further when I find conflicting information, which usually amounts to misspelling or incorrect dates, particularly on older subjects and sources. I am grateful for the access I have to the writing of others, and try to cite sources as set forth in Wikipedia guidelines.

I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

	Multi-licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License versions 1.0 and 2.0
I agree to multi-license my text contributions, unless otherwise stated, under the GFDL and the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license version 1.0 and version 2.0. Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions under the Creative Commons terms, please check the CC dual-license and Multi-licensing guides.

Vaoverland 21:48, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Shortcomings in my WP work

I am generally more focused on content than format. I appreciate the editing of my work, especially misspelling and missing words (which spell checkers don't catch!). Categories are another weak area for me. I am seldom offended by edits of my work. To the best of my knowledge, only one article I started (out of about 2,000 so far) has ever been voted for deletion, and I don't disagree with that decision, as the encyclopedic setting was inappropriate for the content.

[edit] Talk pages

I often use an article's Talk page, and I am open to help or suggestions to make better articles for Wikipedia. That is more important to me than the need to change anything from the way I have done it. In other words, please HELP if you can make my work better, or guide me in doing so.

I am reminded that WP is all about collaboration. So, of course, it is always an "up" to see an article improved, whoever started or improved it.

[edit] Housekeeping duties

[edit] Vandalism

I am very reluctant to edit or delete the work of others, but will revert vandalism whenever I see it, especially on pages on my WP watchlist. Much like many other Wikipedians, I find entries from anonymous IP addresses to be red flags for possible vandalism. You don't have to do much to get a WP user account and the cost is free. I find most edits by registered users are sincere.

EXAMPLE: If you edit the article on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to add something stupid or mean such as "Lincoln was a tall idiot", it won't last long if I see it. On the other hand, if you were to type "Lincoln's Gettysburg address was 421 East Main Street", I might research whether old Abe ever lived in Pennsylvania before tampering with your edit.

[edit] Listing my contributions (my disclaimer)

I am listing on this page some of the WP articles I have been involved with including current and past work. Listing here does not necessarily mean that I started the article, although it is a pretty good indication I have contributed to it. While I take pride in some articles I started, I firmly believe that the best thing about writing for Wikipedia is collaboration. Of the five featured articles for which I was a major contributor, none were solely a work of mine. I have collaborated in over 2,000 Wikipedia articles, primarily on transportation, biographical, geographical or historical subjects, many involving Virginia or West Virginia, my strongest areas of interest.

[edit] Did You Know? new articles for the Main Page

I have been directly involved in 83 articles to date (77 of which I started) which have been featured on the Wikipedia Main Page in the Did You Know? (DYK) section, which presents short blurbs and links to new articles.

This DYK medal goes to Mark for not only his work on DYK but also in initiating the concept of this medal. --Gurubrahma 10:12, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Why I work on DYK articles

Working for this feature of WP is a good area to practice getting the most impact out of the fewest words, a skill which has always challenged (and often eluded) me. I especially enjoy working on the DYK section because the publicity during the time the blurb is presented draws readers and editors to the articles, which stimulates collaboration with other Wikipedian and first-time WP contributors, resulting in additional content, factual corrections, and sometimes a bit of controversy!

[edit] Listing of my DYK articles

Here is the list of my DYK articles in the order they appeared on Wikipedia's Main page:

School bus yellow has many links to other related articles I had started and/or added to earlier, such as school bus and Dr. Frank W. Cyr. The article benefited from some good tweaking by User:Niteowlneils.

Pioneer Zephyr later became a featured article. It was created by User:Slambo with whom I collaborate on railroad articles. I contributed some content, images, and started articles for some of the red links.

Sears Catalog Homes is an article about 100,000 mail-order houses sold in the United States between 1908 and 1940. Clusters are located in my early childhood home of Downers Grove, Illinois and are a favorite major tourist attraction at Hopewell, Virginia near where I currently reside. User: Brian0918 contributed to the article and the image used.

Carl G. Fisher which later became a featured article is about a man, who despite a sight-impairment disability, became a notable American entrepreneur, who helped develop sealed beam headlights, the Lincoln Highway (the first U.S. transcontinental paved roadway), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the resort city of Miami Beach, Florida. I was surprised to learn Wikipedia didn't already have an article on this remarkable man, who is regarded as one of the most influential in Florida history. Once again, the article benefited from some good tweaking by User:Niteowlneils.

Anthony T. Rossi is about an Italian-American businessman who operated a grocery store, began making gift boxes of Florida oranges, invented a process to pack pure chilled orange juice, and in 1947, founded Tropicana Products.

John S. Collins is about a Quaker farmer from New Jersey who came to southern Florida to grow vegetables and coconuts on a barrier island, and built 2.5 mile long wooden Collins Bridge across Biscayne Bay in 1913 which led to the development of Miami Beach.

coping skills is an article about a behavioral tool used to overcome adversity, disadvantage, or disability without correcting or eliminating the underlying condition.

Adult attention-deficit disorder (AADD) affects an estimated 30% of children who had Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including me. This DYK blurb led many readers to the article and the ADHD article, and there has been healthy new dialog on the Talk pages and new edits with more information from other contributors for both the articles as well.

Varina-Enon Bridge is a large cable-stayed bridge which carries Interstate 295 across the James River in Virginia which hosts an award-winning VDOT project to provide nesting locations for peregrine falcons which are tracked on a website. This is one of a number I have done on Virginia's bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnels.

Dr. Hunter McGuire was a physician who amputated General Stonewall Jackson's arm during the American Civil War and later helped found several hospitals and a prominent medical school in Richmond, Virginia.

Mountain Lake, one of only two natural lakes in Virginia, was the filming location for the fictional Kellerman's Resort in New York's Catskill Mountains for the 1987 feature film Dirty Dancing.

Galápagos tortoise is the largest living tortoise in the world, only native to the Galápagos Islands, where about 15,000 of them live.

Edgar Buchanan was a dentist before becoming an American actor with a long career in both movies and television, and is probably best remembered as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction and Green Acres television sitcoms of the 1960s.

Dismal Swamp Canal which runs along the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States.

James A. Bland (1854-1911) an African American musician and song writer wrote over 700 songs, including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" in 1878, which was later the official State Song of Virginia from 1940 to 1997.

Fisher Automobile Company in Indianapolis, Indiana is believed to have been the first automobile dealership in the United States.

Terri Irwin co-owner of the Australia Zoo and co-star of the The Crocodile Hunter series on television, began caring for injured wildlife as a child and ran her own rehab facility for 5 years before she met Steve Irwin.

the callsign of KFRC in San Francisco, California in the U.S. stood for "Known For Radio Clearness". In fact, when the AM radio station signed on with 50 watts in 1924, it was heard as far away as New Zealand, far exceeding anyone's expectations.

The Jeff Corwin Experience is an American television show about animals airing on the Animal Planet cable channel. Hosted by actor and conservationist Jeff Corwin, it reflects a "human coexistence with wildlife approach" which is in sharp conflict with poachers and past practices in many parts of the world.

Pal, owned by animal trainers Frank and Rudd Weatherwax, was the name of the first dog to portray Lassie.

the child actor Tommy Rettig, who starred as Jeff Miller in the first four seasons of the Lassie television series became a noted database software author as an adult.

George E. Studdy was a British artist best remembered for his creation of Bonzo the dog, a fictional character, in the early 1920s. A paper mâché Bonzo with a Crosley Pup AM radio is on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Madonna of the Trail is a series of monuments dedicated to the spirit of the pioneer woman in the United States. Created by German immigrant August Leimbach, 12 were placed from Maryland to California in 1928 and 1929.

one-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. All of the students met in a single room, and one teacher taught reading, writing and arithmetic to seven or eight grade levels of boys and girls.

a kid hack was a horse-drawn vehicle used for transporting children to school in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. This early form of school bus powered by both horses and mules, was usually loaded at the rear to avoid frightening the animals.

Perley A. Thomas was a Canadian millsmith who attended night courses, learned drafting and design skills, and became a renowned streetcar and bus manufacturer in High Point, North Carolina.

Lover's Leap is a name often given to a number of locations of great height where legends take place involving couples leaping to their mutual death.

Fred Gipson was an American author best remembered for creating a fictional dog featured in a book and the classic 1957 movie Old Yeller.

Showmen's Rest in Forest Park, Illinois is a 750 plot section of Woodlawn Cemetery where members of a circus troupe were interred following the Hammond circus train wreck in 1918.

Sarah Brady became an advocate of gun control and led actions to reduce gun violence after her husband White House Press Secretary James Brady sustained a disabling head wound during the Reagan assassination attempt in 1981.

Project Exile was a federal program started in Richmond, Virginia in 1997. By prosecuting illegal gun offenses in federal court, Project Exile helped to reduce gun violence in Richmond by 40 percent.

in 1945, entrepreneur Leonard Shoen founded U-Haul, first American cargo trailer-rental company.

change of venue is the legal term for moving a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publicity about a crime and/or the defendant(s).

Fort Story at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach, Virginia was the site of the first landing of the Jamestown settlers in 1607, and the Cape Henry Lighthouse, first in the U.S., in 1792.

the Emancipation Oak located on the campus of Hampton University is where the Virginia Peninsula's black community gathered in 1863 to hear the first Southern reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

Buckingham Branch Railroad in Central Virginia was formed in 1989 and has expanded from a 16-mile railroad to operate over 200 miles of track.

In 1855 the Howard Association of Norfolk, Virginia received contributions during the Yellow Fever Epidemic from the U.S. Gulf Coast areas and that 150 years later, they sent $50,000 of leftover funds to Louisiana to help with Hurricane Katrina relief.

The original Norfolk Southern Railway was a small regional railroad in Virginia and North Carolina for 98 years before it became the namesake of the current Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982.

Charles Butler McVay III, commander of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35), was blamed when it was lost at sea in 1945 and only finally exonerated by the United States Congress posthumously in 2000.

Green Spring Plantation in James City County was home of Sir William Berkeley, who served 3 non-consecutive terms as governor of the Virginia Colony, and for whom Berkeley Plantation is named.

the 18th century Governor's Palace, originally completed in 1722 and last occupied by Thomas Jefferson in 1780, was carefully reconstructed, opening in 1934 as one of the two larger buildings at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Lott Cary was an African American slave who became educated, bought his freedom, became a minister and physician, and helped found the Colony of Liberia in Africa in 1822.

Reverend Dr. James Blair of Scotland was a clergyman and missionary to the Virginia Colony, and is best known as the founder in 1693 of the College of William and Mary, where he served as President for 50 years.

Wash Woods was a lost town at Virginia's False Cape built by survivors of a shipwreck using cypress wood that washed ashore.

the contradictory term foot cavalry was first used to describe the rapid movement of infantry troops of General Stonewall Jackson during the American Civil War.

Norge, an unincorporated town in James City County, Virginia was established by Norwegian-American immigrants.

Varina Farms, the plantation of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, was site of the first successful cultivation of export tobacco in the Virginia Colony in 1612.

identical Norwegian Lady Statues commemorating a shipwreck are located in the sister cities of Moss, Norway and Virginia Beach, Virginia facing each other across the Atlantic Ocean.

the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 was one of the most destructive Nor'easters to ever impact the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States, killing 40 people, injuring over 1,000, and causing hundred of millions in property damage in 6 states.

American artist Samuel W. Rowse's lithograph of escaped slave Henry Box Brown emerging from a shipping box in 1849 was used to raise funds by anti-slavery activists for the Underground Railroad.

a voluntary caregiver is an unpaid spouse, relative, friend or neighbor of a disabled person or child who assists with activities of daily living.

the Busette, in 1973, was the first successful small school bus to be built on a cutaway van chassis with a low center of gravity and dual rear wheels. (This was a double header as both Busette and cutaway van chassis were new articles).

Rapidan Camp, the rustic mountain fishing retreat of U.S. President Herbert Hoover located near Big Meadows in Virginia was the forerunner of Camp David in Maryland. (This was another double header, as both Rapidan Camp and Big Meadows were new articles).

the Capitol in Williamsburg, Virginia was the first capitol building in America in 1705.

Seatack, Virginia, named for an "attack by sea" during the War of 1812, has an Internet "Tower Cam" in the Old Coast Guard Station Museum on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach.

flood walls are man-made vertical barriers that are designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway during seasonal or extreme weather events.

Oliver W. Hill, a civil rights attorney, worked against racial discrimination and helped end the doctrine of separate but equal during a period of massive resistance to integration in Virginia's public schools.

The Overseas Railroad completed in 1912 for 128 miles beyond the end of the Florida peninsula to Key West, was heavily damaged in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and not rebuilt.

Fort Dallas, a military post during the Seminole Wars, became the site of the new city of Miami, Florida in 1895.

Samuel Spencer, first president of the Southern Railway was killed in a train wreck in Virginia in 1906.

Bacon's Castle—a stronghold in Surry County during Bacon's Rebellion in the Virginia Colony in 1676—was never occupied by leader Nathaniel Bacon.

polydactyl cats, with extra toes as a genetic trait, were long considered good luck by many sailors, as the cats' extraordinary climbing and hunting skills were helpful in controlling shipboard rodents.

Samuel Andrews (1836-1904) was a English-born chemist and inventor whose request for investment capitol to build an oil refinery in 1862 led to a partnership with John D. Rockefeller and formation of the Standard Oil companies.

Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, New York was the historic 400 acre estate of Gilded Age millionaire William R. Coe.

Lamb Chop is a fictional sheep that was created by comedienne and ventriloquist Shari Lewis and first appeared on the children's morning television show Captain Kangaroo in 1957.

Grand Illumination is an outdoor ceremony involving the simultaneous activation of electric Christmas lights and is derived from an English tradition of placing lighted candles in the windows of homes and public buildings to celebrate a special event.

Caribbean Club in Key Largo, Florida was built by former millionaire promoter Carl Graham Fisher as "a poor man's retreat" and became famous as a filming site for the 1947 film Key Largo starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Fort Pocahontas in Virginia was constructed by African-American soldiers of the United States Colored Troops in 1864 and was used for on-location filming of the 2005 motion picture The New World.

Leif J. Sverdrup was a immigrant from Norway to the United States who became a civil engineer and led the project to build the 17 mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World after completion in 1964.

Lewis Adams, a former African American slave in Macon County, Alabama is known for helping found the normal school which later became Tuskegee University.

Jackson Ward is a historically African-American neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia where free African-Americans joined freed slaves and their descendents and created a thriving business community known as the "Black Wall Street of America."

over 5,000 Rosenwald Schools in the United States were built primarily for the education of African Americans with funds donated by Julius Rosenwald, who was part-owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Historic Jamestowne is a National Historic Site on Jamestown Island on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia operated by the Colonial National Historical Park of the U.S. National Park Service.

Werowocomoco was the chief village of the Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia where Captain John Smith of Jamestown was rescued from execution by Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan.

American sculptor Luis Jiménez, known for his large Southwestern and Hispanic polychromed fiberglass sculptures, was killed when a large piece of his work fell on him.

Artrain USA is a 5-car art gallery that tours the U.S. 11 months of the year, visiting small towns whose residents may not otherwise have a chance to see art up close.

Tsenacommacah was the name of the territory in eastern Virginia which was controlled by the Powhatan Confederacy at the time of the arrival of English colonists at Jamestown in 1607.

Church Hill Tunnel in Richmond, Virginia contains a steam locomotive and ten flat cars trapped in a collapse in October, 1925 which were never recovered.

a school bus crossing arm is a safety device intended to protect children from being struck while crossing in front of a school bus.

[edit] Good Articles

Wikipedia's Good Articles contain excellent content but are unlikely to become featured; they may be too short, or on too broad a topic, or on too specific a topic, or on a topic about which not much is known. What makes a good article?

A good article will share many characteristics with featured articles, and like featured content it must:

be well written
be factually accurate
use a neutral point of view
be stable
be referenced, and
wherever possible, contain images to illustrate it.

Good articles may not be as comprehensive as our featured articles, but should not omit any major facets of the topic.

[edit] List of Good Articles

I have been significantly involved with 11 Wikipedia Good Articles. Alphabetically, they are:

[edit] Featured Article Competition

I see the FA competition as sort of WP's Academy Awards. They are something you want to keep in mind in much of your work, and set the standards to measure by, but most good work still won't make it.

To quote from WP, "Wikipedia:Featured articles highlights Wikipedia articles judged to be particularly well-written and complete. They exemplify Wikipedia's very best work and represent what Wikipedia offers that is unique on the Internet. Before making the grade, a nominated article is subjected to a review and usually some enhancements and improvements from more than one writer. There are hundreds of thousands of articles on Wikipedia. Only about 1 in 900 achieves featured article status."

The Wikipedia featured article process is helping me improve my research and writing skills, as well as contributing to articles which I hope others will enjoy and learn from. I try to spend some time each week reviewing and critiquing the work of others, and I share suggestions and words of encouragement when I feel I can and should. I tend to withhold comments or votes unless I feel strongly.

My current score is 5-2 in FAC competition. I have not given up on my failed nominations, but will resubmit them only when I feel they are ready.

Featured Article Medal for great contributions to three or more articles that have a Wikipedia: Featured Article status

[edit] Gained status as Featured Articles

The five featured articles I have been involved substantially with were each collaborative efforts. I was the principal writer (but not the only contributor) for three, two of which I started, and I was a secondary writer on a fourth, and contributed substantial content to a fifth. Each would not have come up to FA standards without the work of multiple writers. They are:

William N. Page became a Wikipedia featured article in October, 2004. I have been working on research on Colonel William Nelson Page for several years, before I started writing for Wikipedia. This remarkable man was co founder of the Deepwater Railway and Tidewater Railway, which were combined to form the Virginian Railway (VGN) in 1907. While Page's partner, millionaire industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers, has received most of the published attention for building the VGN over the years, and it was he who put up the money and obviously helped determine a winning strategy, I believe that other VGN Enthusiasts and I have come to realize that Page's role was a crucial portion of their partnership. As a featured article candidate, the William N. Page article had lots of help from other WP contributors, including one who went to a local library and got some great information to fill in some gaps, which also led me to new sources. It has been an exceptional pleasure to add this man's story (and that of the building of the Deepwater Railway, Tidewater Railway, and of course, the Virginian Railway) to Wikipedia. User:Niteowlneils contributed significantly.

Battle of Hampton Roads became a Wikipedia featured article in December, 2004. Like most Virginia school children, long ago I learned about the famous American Civil War "Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac" which took place in 1862. However, a number of more recent events and work researching the Virginian Railway (which topped the U.S. Eastern Continental Divide at Merrimac, Virginia) and all the news about the locating and raising portions of the USS Monitor combined to renew my interest. In the article, and the related one about the CSS Virginia, the naming confusion regarding the Confederate ironclad warship has also been discussed. User:Brian0918 did a lot of work on the article, especially the campaign box for the Peninsula Campaign, images, and a much better map than the one I had found earlier. This article is much more about the ships and their innovative equipment than the north vs. south aspects of many Civil War subjects. It a timely Wikipedia article with the preservation efforts and display activity regarding the Monitor very much current events.

Carl G. Fisher became a Wikipedia featured article in March, 2005. This is an article I started when I came across a red link while working on another WP project. Carl Fisher was a child in Indiana with a severe a sight-impairment disability who got into bicycle and auto racing, who helped and promote sealed beam headlights, opened what is believed to be the first automobile dealership, and caused the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to became paved for safety reasons. He was the driving force behind the Lincoln Highway (the first U.S. transcontinental paved roadway), and the north-south Dixie Highway which led to Florida where he became a real estate developer and helped turn a barren and isolated beach area into the resort city of Miami Beach, Florida. Although he lost his fortune in the U.S. Stock Market Crash of 1929, and died in modest conditions while fighting alcoholism, considering himself a failure, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential in Florida history. As I believe seems true with better Wikipedia articles, this article benefited especially well from collaboration, with some good tweaking by User:Niteowlneils, help from User:slambo, and assistance with factual review and additional image sources by User:SPUI. The public domain images are from the U.S. Library of Congress and the Florida Photographic Collection.

Pioneer Zephyr became a Wikipedia featured article in March, 2005. This is an article created by User:Slambo with whom I collaborate on a number of railroad articles and Wikipedia:WikiProject Trains. I contributed some content, images, and started articles for some of the red links. However, my role was secondary to his efforts on this one, which also had a minor tune-up from User:Niteowlneils. The story is about the train that was the original "Silver Streak", which was the forerunner of streamlined Burlington Zephyr passengers trains, and the source of the name for two films (1934) and (1976). A fun article to write and read. The PZ and several related historic trains are on display for Wikipedia readers who want to go see them. I've seen the PZ in Chicago, and I really enjoyed the exhibit. Working on the article made me want to visit there again. Hope you also enjoy it!

SS Andrea Doria was featured on the Main Page in August, 2005. I was five years old when the famous passenger liner collided with another and capsized and sank in 1956. I read the first book about it, Collision Course by Alvin Moscow, in the early 1960s, and have always maintained an interest in the years since. Two newer books also focus on the incident, and reading all three provides great insight and balance No one ever determined for sure what cuased the collision, so each can form his/her own conclusion! This article was started by another, but I contributed substantially to content. It is a fascinating transportation-related subject, controversial to the present-day.

[edit] Featured articles: current candidates

None at this time. Vaoverland 21:06, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Featured Articles (not successful)

I was the principal writer (but not the only contributor) for two featured article candidates which did not achieve that status (yet). They are:

Auto Train which lacked written reference sources (all my research came from Internet sources only).

Virginian Railway article which was too much about building the railroad in comparison with its years of operation and later. The article was also too long as submitted. I am working to follow WP guidelines to break it into a major article with links to sub-articles, thereby making room to expand to cover the whole story of the railroad with better balance. I recently finished the work to create the first new sub-article, Building the Virginian Railway.

[edit] Featured Articles (potential)

The following are articles which I had identified as having future potential to be candidates to become Featured Articles. They have not yet been submitted.

Henry H. Rogers (already a WP Good Article) - For several years, I have been working on the article on industrialist and millionaire Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840-1909), a working class youth born and raised in Fairhaven, Massachusetts (a whaling town). In the spirit of Horatio Alger, he struck out with a small savings to find his fortune, worked hard and sacrificed, and became one of the principals of Standard Oil. As of a 1996 publication, he was considered one of the 25 most wealthy men of all-time in the United States. Although much has been written on this fascinating man, who was the Virginian Railway's co founder and financier, there has only been one true biography to-date. The more I learn about Henry Rogers, the more I want to learn (and perhaps write) more. While working on his article, I created a new one on his wife, Abbie G. Rogers, which had room for more information about their children. I learned a lot about the woman behind the man. After Abbie died, he cultivated friendships and financially mentored Mark Twain, Helen Keller, and did tremendous behind-the-scenes work with Dr. Booker T. Washington. I have added Rogers related information to the articles on each of them.

[edit] WikiProjects

WikiProject U.S. Roads

West East All

Project-wide news

Notice: Per Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Highways, move warring and mass moves on state highway pages away from the agreed upon conventions, can be considered a blockable offense.
WikiProjects for Indiana, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee are being considered; see WT:USRD for information.
Portal:U.S. Roads nominations needed.
Infobox road discussion at WT:USRD
Discussion regarding this template at WT:USRD