Muscle Shoals

TVA Wilson Dam, Muscle Shoals, Alabama

The Wilson Dam was built in the early 20th century. It generates over 600 megawatts of electricity. The government needed gunpowder for the war, so they built this dam, the attached power house and two plants for producing nitrates. WW1 ended, and the need for gunpowder went away, so the plants were converted to making fertilizer. When WW2 came along, they went back to making gunpowder, and after that they went back to making fertilizer again.

Air View of Nitrate Plant No. 2 at Muscle Shoals, AL
Wilson Dam can be seen in the background.

There is still a fertilizer factory there, though it seems to be much reduced in scale.

I was reminded of this by the similarity to the Norsk Hydro plant in The Heavy Water War - hydro power being used to generate electricity which in turn is used to make fertilizer.

George Barber and John Britten

Britten V1000 Motorcycle

George H. Barber founded a dairy in Alabama back in the 1930's. He was an early proponent of pasteurization. Given the way the media treats the South these days, it's hard to believe that anything intelligent ever came out of Alabama, but here we are. George's son, George W., as befits the son of a rich man, took up automobile racing. Eventually he inherited his father's business and sold it for a large fortune. Now what's he gonna do? I know, he says, I'll open a museum, the Barber Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, Alabama.
    I had never heard of it before Stu told me about it. It's only been in business for 25 years or so, and it's in Alabama of all places. They have an impressive collection, including a Britten V1000 (picture above, sort of).
    John Britten designed and built his V1000 motorcycle in the 1990's in New Zealand. The thing is totally custom, engine, frame, suspension, body work, all hand made. They may have bought tires and maybe brakes and carburetors. Probably bought nuts, bolts and light bubs. Okay, I'm picking nits. The point is that John and his crew designed and built all the big, important stuff. And it would probably still be competitive today if anyone was willing to spend $1,000,000 for a racing bike. This YouTube video gives a good overview.