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343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
February 1918 Motor Cycle reported on a visit to Norton Motors. Mr Norton had stated that he expected three post-war models, the 3.5 hp 490 cc TT with belt drive (for the 'speed merchant'), and two utility mounts, one with detuned TT engine, and the other being the Big Four for very heavy solo or sidecar work, both of these with three-speed Sturmey-Archer countershaft gearbox and all chain drive. It was also stated that he had been experimenting with aluminium pistons, and that Norton had produced a book of driving hints which also contained details of their Military and Empire models.
In May 1918 Norton stated in one of their adverts that 'The ministry are taking the whole of our present output, | 8,500 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
but we have a waiting list' - this advert also uses the "Unapproachable Norton" phrase. Few Norton WD models appear in the For Sale column of The Motor Cycle after the war, suggesting they were shipped abroad, apparently one order going to the Russian Army . The 1913-1917 Red Book listing UK Motor, Marine and Aircraft production shows Norton dropped from a full range in 1916, to only the Military Big Four in 1917.
# Inter-War years.
Norton resumed deliveries of civilian motorcycles in April 1919 with models aimed at motorcyclists who enjoyed the reliability and performance offered by long-stroke single-cylinder engines with separate gearboxes.
Norton also resumed racing and in 1924 the Isle | 8,501 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
of Man Senior TT was the first win with a race average speed over 60 mph, rider Alec Bennett. Norton won this event ten times until they withdrew from racing in 1938.
J.L. Norton died in 1925 aged only 56, but he saw his motorcycles win the Senior and sidecar TTs in 1924, specifically with the 500 cc Model 18, Norton's first overhead valve single.
Designed by Walter Moore, the Norton CS1 engine appeared in 1927, based closely on the ES2 pushrod engine and using many of its parts. Moore was hired away to NSU in 1930, after which Arthur Carroll designed an entirely new OHC engine destined to become the basis for all later OHC and DOHC Norton singles. (Moore's move to NSU prompted his former | 8,502 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
staff to quip NSU stood for "Norton Spares Used") The Norton racing legend began in the 1930s. Of the nine Isle of Man Senior TTs (500 cc) between 1931 and 1939, Norton won seven.
Until 1934 Norton bought Sturmey-Archer gearboxes and clutches. When Sturmey discontinued production Norton bought the design rights and had them made by Burman, a manufacturer of proprietary gearboxes.
# Second World War.
Norton started making military motorcycles again in 1936 after a tender process in 1935 where a modified Norton 16H beat contenders. From 900 in 1936 to 2000 in 1937, Norton was ahead of the competition as war loomed, and there was good reason in terms of spares and maintenance for the military | 8,503 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
to keep to the same model. Between 1937 and 1945 nearly a quarter (over 100,000) of all British military motorcycles were Nortons, basically the WD 16H (solo) and WD Big Four outfit with driven sidecar wheel.
# Post-war.
The Isle of Man Senior TT successes continued after the war, with Nortons winning every year from 1947 to 1954.
After the Second World War, Norton reverted to civilian motorcycle production, gradually increasing its range. A major addition in 1949 was the twin cylinder Model 7, known as the Norton Dominator, a pushrod 500 cc twin-cylinder machine designed by Bert Hopwood. Its chassis was derived from the ES2 single, with telescopic front and plunger rear suspension, and an | 8,504 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
updated version of the gearbox known as the "lay-down" box. More shapely mudguards and tanks completed the more modern styling to Nortons new premium model twin.
Norton struggled to reclaim its pre-WWII racing dominance as the single-cylinder machine faced fierce competition from the multi-cylinder Italian machines and AJS from the UK. In the 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, the first year of the world championship, Norton made only fifth place and AJS won. That was before the Featherbed frame appeared, developed for Norton by the McCandless brothers of Belfast in January 1950, used in the legendary Manx Norton and raced by riders including Geoff Duke, John Surtees and Derek Minter. | 8,505 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
Very quickly the featherbed frame, a design that allowed the construction of a motorcycle with good mass-stiffness distribution, became a benchmark by which all other frames were judged.
Norton also experimented with engine placement, and discovered that moving the engine slightly up/down, forward/back, or even right/left, could deliver a "sweet spot" in terms of handling. Motorcycle designers still use this method to fine-tune motorcycle handling.
In 1951 the Norton Dominator was made available to export markets as the Model 88 with the Featherbed frame. Later, as production of this frame increased, it became a regular production model, and was made in variants for other models, including | 8,506 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
the OHV single-cylinder machines.
Manx Nortons also played a significant role in the development of post war car racing. At the end of 1950, the English national 500 cc regulations were adopted as the new Formula 3. The JAP Speedway engine had dominated the category initially but the Manx was capable of producing significantly more power and became the engine of choice. Many complete motorcycles were bought in order to strip the engine for 500 cc car racing, as Norton would not sell separate engines.
The racing successes were transferred to the street through cafe racers, some of which would use the featherbed frame with an engine from another manufacturer to make a hybrid machine with the | 8,507 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
best of both worlds. The most famous of these were Tritons - Triumph twin engines in a Norton featherbed frame.
# AMC.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the racing successes Norton was in financial difficulty. Reynolds could not make many of the highly desired Featherbed frames and customers lost interest in buying machines with the older frames. In 1953 Norton sold out to Associated Motorcycles (AMC), who owned the brands AJS, Matchless, Francis-Barnett and James. In 1962 the Norton factory in Bracebridge Street, Birmingham was closed and production was moved to AMC's Woolwich factory in south-east London.
Under AMC ownership a much improved version of the Norton gearbox was developed, to | 8,508 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
be used on all the larger models of AJS, Matchless and Norton. Again, the major changes were for improved gear selection.
In September 1955 a 600 cc Dominator 99 was launched.
The 1946 to 1953 Long Stroke Manx Norton was initially SOHC, the DOHC engine becoming available to favoured racers in 1949. The Short Stroke model (1953 to 1962) had bore and stroke of . It used a dry sump 499 cc single-cylinder motor, with two valves operated by bevel drive, shaft driven twin overhead camshafts. Compression ratio was 11:1. It had an Amal GP carburettor, and a Lucas racing magneto. The 1962 500 cc Manx Nortons produced at 6,780rpm, weighed , and had a top speed of .
In 1960, a new version of the road-going | 8,509 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
Featherbed frame was developed in which the upper frame rails were bent inwards to reduce the width between the rider's knees for greater comfort. The move was also to accommodate the shorter rider as the wide frame made it difficult to reach the ground. This frame is known as the "slimline" frame; the earlier frames then became known as the "wideline".
The last Manx Nortons were sold in 1963. Even though Norton had pulled out of Grand Prix racing in 1954, the race-shop at Bracebridge Street continued until 1962, and the Manx became a mainstay of privateer racing, and even today are highly sought after, commanding high prices.
On November 7, 1960 the first new 650 cc Norton Manxman was launched | 8,510 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
for the American market only. By September 1961 the Norton 650SS appeared for the UK market, the 750 cc (Atlas). By April 20, 1962 for the American market as they demanded more power, but the increases to the vertical twin engine's capacity caused a vibration problem at 5500 rpm. A 500 cc vertical twin is smoother than a single-cylinder, but if the vertical twin's capacity is enlarged vibration increases. The 750 Norton Atlas proved too expensive and costs could not be reduced. Financial problems gathered.
There was an export bike primarily for use as a desert racer, sold up until 1969 as the Norton P11, AJS Model 33, Matchless G15 and Norton N15 which used the Norton Atlas engine in a modified | 8,511 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
Matchless G85CS scrambler frame with Norton wheels and front forks. This bike was reputed to vibrate less than the Featherbed frame model. AMC singles were also sold with Norton badging in this era.
Also during this period Norton developed a family of three similar smaller-capacity twin cylinder machines: first the Norton Jubilee 250 and then the Navigator 350 and the Electra 400, which had an electric starter. These models were Norton's first use of unit construction. The engine was an entirely new design by Bert Hopwood and the frame and running gear were from the Francis-Barnett range, also owned by AMC. These machines had a reputation for poor reliability.
# Norton-Villiers.
By the late | 8,512 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
1960s, competition from Japanese manufacturers and a rapidly declining home market had driven the whole British motorcycle industry into decline. In 1966 AMC became insolvent and was reformed as Norton-Villiers, part of Manganese Bronze Holdings Ltd.
The 750 Norton Atlas was noted for its vibration. Rather than change engines Norton decided to change the frame, and the isolastic-framed Norton Commando 750 was the result.
In 1967 the Commando prototype was shown at the Earls Court Show in November, and introduced as a production model for 1968. Its styling, innovative isolastic frame and powerful engine made it an appealing package. The Commando easily outperformed contemporary Triumph and | 8,513 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
BSA twins and was the most powerful and best-handling British motorcycle of its day. The isolastic frame made it much smoother than the Atlas. It used rubber bushings to isolate the engine and swing arm from the frame, forks, and rider. However, as the steel-shims incorporated in the Isolastic bearings wore, often from rusting, the bike became prone to poor handling – fishtailing in high-speed turns.
The "Combat" engine was released in January 1972 with a twin roller bearing crank, 10:1 compression and developing at 6,500 rpm. Reliability immediately suffered, with frequent and early crank-shaft main-bearing failures, sometimes leading to broken crankshafts. Older engines had used one ball-bearing | 8,514 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
main bearing and one roller bearing main bearing but the Combat engine featured two roller bearings in a mistaken belief this would strengthen the bottom-end to cope with the higher power-output. Instead the resultant crank-bending caused the rollers to "dig-in" to the races, causing rapid failure. This fragility was particularly obvious when measured against the reliability of contemporary Japanese machines. This problem was solved by specifying a heavier duty type of roller bearing, of 'superblend' fame, later in the 1972 production year.
The Commando was offered in several different styles: the standard street model, a pseudo-scrambler with upswept pipes and the Interstate, packaged as a | 8,515 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
tourer. Electric start was introduced on the Mark III in 1974. Sales were respectable but the company declined financially and became insolvent in 1975. In 1976 a Norton with a US-flag theme on the tank could be purchased for US$1,976.
# Norton Villiers Triumph.
In 1972 BSA was also in financial trouble. It was given UK Government help on the condition that it merged with Norton-Villiers, and in 1973 the new Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT) was formed. The Triumph Motorcycles name came from BSA's Triumph subsidiary. In April 1973 an 8.5:1 compression 828 cc "850" engine was released with German FAG SuperBlend bearings. These, featuring slightly barrel-shaped rollers, had been introduced on late | 8,516 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
model 750 cc engines to cure the Combat engine's problems of crank-flex and the consequent digging-in to the bearing-surface of the initial cylindrical bearing rollers. This model produced at 6,250 rpm but the stated power does not give a true picture of the engine performance because increased torque seemed to make up for the reduced horsepower.
In 1974 the UK's outgoing Conservative government of Edward Heath withdrew subsidies, but the incoming Labour government of Harold Wilson restored them after the General Election. Rationalisation of the factory sites to Wolverhampton and Birmingham (BSA's Small Heath site) caused industrial disputes at Triumph's Coventry site; Triumph would go on as | 8,517 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
a workers cooperative alone. Despite mounting losses, 1974 saw the release of the 828 Roadster, Mark 2 Hi Rider, JPN Replica (John Player Norton) and Mark 2a Interstate. In 1975 the range was down to just two models: the Mark 3 Interstate and the Roadster, but then the UK Government asked for a repayment of its loan and refused export credits, further damaging the company's ability to sell abroad. Production of the two models still made was ended and supplies dwindled.
1973 also saw the start of development on a new machine with a monocoque pressed steel frame, that also included a 500 cc twin, stepped piston engine called the 'Wulf'. However, as the Norton Villiers Triumph company was again | 8,518 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
in serious financial problems, development of the 'Wulf' was dropped in favour of the rotary Wankel type engine inherited from BSA.
# Wankel engine.
In the 1980s, the company went through several incarnations – mainly because the name was popular and now owned by several parties. In liquidation from NVT the global rights were split between (at least) Norton UK, Germany, America and Rest of the World. MidWest acquired the rights for light aviation use and at Staverton Airport the MidWest AE series was an aero engine developed from the twin-rotor engine.
The brand was relaunched on an ambitious scale in Shenstone near Lichfield in 1988. The new models succeeded in racing – winning the Senior | 8,519 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
TT in 1992 – but they moved rather more slowly in the commercial market. The company had some success making the Wankel-engined Interpol 2 motorcycle for civilian and military police forces and the RAC. This led to a civilian model in 1987 called the Classic.
Subsequent Norton Wankels were water-cooled. The Commander was launched in 1988 and was followed by the Spondon-framed F1. This model was a de-tuned replica of Norton's RCW588 factory racing machines which won many short distance races, but had many reliability issues requiring frequent servicing i.e. changing the primary drive chain every 100 miles.
1988 saw a new team brought in to replace Brian Crighton's team, to try to improve the | 8,520 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
model and reduce some of its reliability issues. The team, headed by ex Honda-team manager Barry Symmons, Honda engineer Chris Mehew and chassis specialist Ron Williams, were tasked with producing a chassis that could be produced cheaply and an engine which would have a long term reliability. The chassis, designed by Ron Williams and made by Harris Products, was based on Yamaha's Delta box stamped panels. However, in spite of many innovative solutions from Chris Mehew, the team's efforts to improve the reliability of the engine could not succeed to a commercially saleable level. The team quickly realized that placing an engine generating 1100 °C exhaust temperatures was not the item to place | 8,521 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
under a petrol tank.
The team's project - renamed the NRS 588 - did win the 1992 Isle of Man TT, ridden by Steve Hislop, as well as North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix races ridden by Robert Dunlop. Whilst in Northern Ireland, the team met Professor Gordon Blair, one of the foremost automotive engineers from Queen's University Belfast. Prof Blair commented that the Japanese had abandoned development of the motorcycle variant of the Wankel engine on two main counts: 1. As the team had realised, there was just too much heat to be confined in a motorcycle chassis. 2. The pollution created by the engine burning both oil for lubrication and fuel for power was just too great to meet the impending | 8,522 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
pollution regulations without a large and expensive exhaust scrubbing system. In his TV Series on British industry, Sir John Harvey-Jones commented that the company was governed more by heart than head and the Racing team were the only ones worth saving.
The F1 was succeeded by the restyled and slightly less expensive F1 Sport. Chief Executive Phillippe LeRoux attempted to diversify the company to a group with interests in property and leisure, meanwhile supply of Norton Classic was being delayed by supply problems with petrol tanks and headlight shells.
At this point the UK Department of Trade and Industry started to investigate improprieties in the investments of financier Philippe LeRoux | 8,523 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
and his associates following which LeRoux resigned his position as Chief Executive.
In a move to manage an outstanding debt of ₤7 million, in 1991 David MacDonald was appointed Chief Executive at the behest of the Midland Bank. McDonald sold the company to the Canadian company "Wildrose Ventures" in 1993 for around half a million pounds.
Head of Wildrose Ventures, Nelson Skalbania, reformed the company as Norton Motors (1993) Ltd., putting his daughter Rosanda in place as General Manager at the Shenstone site. The new ownership attempted to reclaim from public exhibition premises and place for auction with Sothebys ten historic motorcycles, estimated at the time to be worth £50,000, including | 8,524 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
a 1904 Triumph first exhibited in 1938, which had been variously distributed to National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Science Museum, London and Coventry Transport Museum.
This proved controversial as the museums had assumed the loans had been made on a permanent basis, and former Chief Executive David MacDonald stated "Without doubt anything which existed before 1984 does not belong to the present company. The assets were simply not transferred"
Wildrose Ventures was ordered by the Alberta Stock Exchange to cease trading. In 1994 ownership of the company reverted to Aquilini Investments as Skalbania was unable to repay the money he had borrowed to purchase the company. The Skalbania connection | 8,525 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
was reported as being severed by July of that year
By 1996 the service side of the Shenstone site was closed and transferred to a small factory at Rugeley, Staffordshire. The focus of manufacture was moved to the manufacture of components for light aircraft engines based on the rotary design.
It was reported in 2005 that a group of former Norton employees built nine F1 Sport models from existing stocks of parts.
# The Donington Park revival.
During the late 1990s, Kenny Dreer of Oregon evolved from restoring and upgrading Commandos to producing whole machines. He modernised the design and in the early 2000s went into series production with the 961 Commando, but then suspended operations | 8,526 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
in April 2006.
After fifteen years of US ownership the Norton brand was secured by Stuart Garner, UK businessman and owner of Norton Racing Ltd. Garner established a new Norton factory at Donington Park to develop the Dreer-based machine. The new Norton is a 961 cc (), air- and oil-cooled pushrod parallel twin with a gear-driven counterbalancer and a 270° crank (a concept pioneered on the Yamaha TRX850). The machine, a single-seat roadster styled after the earlier Commando models, has a claimed rear-wheel power output of , giving a top speed of over .
The new operation at Donington Park began limited production of a motorcycle based on the Kenny Dreer 961 Commando. The new motorcycle only | 8,527 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
shared the outline of the Dreer bike; all aspects of the motorcycle were re-designed in order to move into production. An updated and revised version of the rotary machine first produced in the 1980s is also being developed. The company logo was altered by "doing away with the double crossing of the 't, in use since 1924, thereby "honouring the very first configuration of the identity, designed by [James] Norton and his daughter."
In January 2011 it was announced designer Pierre Terblanche had departed Piaggio/Moto Guzzi to join Norton. In August 2011 UK minister Vince Cable announced that the Government was underwriting a £7.5 million bank loan to Norton, to promote secure cash flow for their | 8,528 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
export sales. Garner responded that this finance would allow Norton to double annual production from 500 to 1,000 machines.
# Donington Hall.
Norton acquired Donington Hall in Castle Donington, North West Leicestershire as its new corporate headquarters in March 2013. This office and engineering facility is situated behind Donington Hall in a modern building complex, known as Hastings House. The Donington Hall site includes 26 country acres surrounded by parkland and ancient deer park.
Norton Motorcycles purchased Donington Hall (formerly the head quarters of British Midland International) from British Airways for an undisclosed sum, and will vacate the current Norton factory at Donington | 8,529 |
343193 | Norton Motorcycle Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norton%20Motorcycle%20Company | Norton Motorcycle Company
ehind Donington Hall in a modern building complex, known as Hastings House. The Donington Hall site includes 26 country acres surrounded by parkland and ancient deer park.
Norton Motorcycles purchased Donington Hall (formerly the head quarters of British Midland International) from British Airways for an undisclosed sum, and will vacate the current Norton factory at Donington Park, which has about 40 employees. Shifting operations from Donington Park will be carried out in phases so as to not interfere with either production or distribution of Norton's bikes.
# See also.
- List of Norton motorcycles
# External links.
- Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd official website
- Military Norton page | 8,530 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
Ralph Wilson
Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the founding owners of the American Football League (AFL), the league with which the NFL merged in 1970, and was the last of the original AFL owners to own his team. At the time of his death he was the oldest owner in the NFL, at age 95, and the third-longest tenured owner in NFL history (over 54 years, behind the 63 years George Halas owned the Chicago Bears and almost equal to the 55 years Art Rooney owned the Pittsburgh Steelers, although Rooney's | 8,531 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
ownership and team operations were interrupted in the 1940s due to some complicated dealings). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
# Career.
Wilson grew up in Detroit, Michigan, the son of salesman Ralph Wilson Sr. and his wife, Edith Cole.
He graduated from the University of Virginia (where he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity) and attended the University of Michigan Law School. He was a 1936 graduate of Detroit University School, now University Liggett School. During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters. After the war ended, he took over his father's insurance business and invested in Michigan area mines and | 8,532 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
factories. He eventually purchased several manufacturing outlets, construction firms, television and radio stations, and founded Ralph Wilson Industries.
A minority owner of the Detroit Lions, Wilson got wind of Lamar Hunt's plans for a new league, the American Football League, to challenge the NFL. He tried to put together a team in Miami, but was turned down. His next choice was Buffalo, where the AFL's first choice of owner, Pat McGroder, had declined to start a team. In September 1959, Wilson sent Hunt a telegram with the words, "Count me in with Buffalo.” He named his new team the Bills, after a previous team that had played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. On | 8,533 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
October 28, 1959 the Buffalo Bills officially became the seventh AFL team. Wilson made professional football a resounding success in a "small market", signing such stars as Cookie Gilchrist, Jack Kemp, and Tom Sestak and Hall of Famers Billy Shaw and O. J. Simpson.
He was a guiding force in AFL policies that ensured success, such as gate and television revenue sharing. As one of only three AFL owners to be on relatively solid financial ground (along with Hunt and Bud Adams), Wilson lent the financially troubled Oakland Raiders $400,000 and was also willing to lend money to Billy Sullivan of the New England Patriots. Wilson helped keep those franchises afloat, likely saving the entire league | 8,534 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
from folding (the AFL was unique among professional football leagues in that not a single AFL franchise folded in its history). In November 1963, Wilson along with then Raiders general manager Al Davis lobbied successfully to have AFL games postponed the Sunday after President John F. Kennedy's assassination; NFL games were played as scheduled.
Wilson was most concerned about his team's financial solvency and was largely indifferent to the Bills' on-field success; O. J. Simpson later noted of his contract negotiations with the Bills that when Simpson's agent told Wilson of Simpson's potential to make the team a championship contender, Wilson shot back "What good would a championship do me? | 8,535 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
All that means is everybody wants a raise."
In 1989, after league commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement, Wilson was on the six-member committee who was tasked with nominating potential candidates for the open position. Wilson's nominee, his former quarterback Jack Kemp, declined to pursue the post, as he had already taken a position in the U.S. Cabinet. (The job ultimately went to league attorney Paul Tagliabue.)
After the original naming rights deal on the Bills' current stadium expired in 1998, the facility's name was changed from Rich Stadium to Ralph Wilson Stadium; it would not receive its current name of New Era Field until 2016, after his death and the subsequent sale of | 8,536 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
the team. According to an article on msn.com, Wilson, described as "stubborn", turned down numerous naming rights deals for the stadium.
Wilson was one of the league's most outspoken owners, even near the end of his life. Wilson voted against the Cleveland Browns' relocation to Baltimore in 1995. He publicly rebuked NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in an open letter in 1998 over league policy, which disallowed criticism of referees, after poor officiating had a direct impact on a Bills loss that season. He was one of two owners (the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Brown being the other) to oppose the league's former (pre-2011) collective bargaining agreement. (Wilson and Brown were commended for their | 8,537 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
foresight when the agreement later led to the 2011 NFL Lockout.) He also negotiated a deal to have his team play home games in Toronto from 2008 until 2014.
Wilson retired from the position of president in 2001, giving operational control to General Manager Tom Donahoe; Wilson retook control of the team's operations in 2006. Wilson again retired as team president, this time surrendering all control of the team's operations to Russ Brandon, on January 1, 2013. He continued to consult with Brandon on team and league operations up until his death.
# Personal life.
Wilson maintained a permanent residence in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan with his wife, Mary McLean, whom he met in 1989. He had | 8,538 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
three daughters from his first marriage to Janet McGregor Wilson, two of whom became involved in team business: Linda Bogdan (1948–2009), Pro Football's first female scout, was the franchise's Corporate Vice President until her death. Another daughter, Christy Wilson Hofmann, served as a consultant in the area of merchandising. The third daughter, Edith "Dee Dee" Wilson Jr., was never involved with the franchise. The highest ranking relative in the organization was Mary Owen, Wilson's niece, who served as Vice President of Strategic Planning until the team was sold. Wilson and his first wife divorced in 1970 after 26 years of marriage and shortly after their youngest child turned 19.
Beginning | 8,539 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
in the 1990s, Wilson maintained a small, but very valuable, art collection, including works by Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and Alfred Sisley; his collection was valued in the tens of millions of dollars.
Wilson was a 1992 inductee of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He was a 33rd degree Scottish Rite Freemason.
## Declining health and death.
Wilson broke his hip in a fall at his home in July 2011, causing him to miss the Bills' home opener for the first time in franchise history. The injury left him wheelchair-bound. He issued a statement saying that he was undergoing physical therapy and hoped to attend at least one game during the season. Wilson also stated that he was "very surprised" | 8,540 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
at the team's 41-7 victory over Kansas City in Week 1. He was hospitalized in August and early September 2012 with an unspecified infection and missed the entire 2012 season. In April 2013, Wilson was reported as "doing really well," with a statement that he hoped to make the 2013 home opener.
Wilson died at his home on March 25, 2014 of natural causes at the age of 95. His estate held the franchise in trust until its sale to Buffalo Sabres owner Terrence Pegula and his wife in September 2014. The proceeds from the sale were used to form an endowment for the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, which funds charitable causes in the Buffalo and Detroit areas, in accordance with Wilson's instructions | 8,541 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
for the money set forth prior to his death. The organization was overseen for a few months by his niece Mary Owen until its sale to the Pegulas was completed on October 8, 2014.
# Pro Football Hall of Fame.
On January 31, 2009, Wilson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with former Buffalo Bills defensive end Bruce Smith. The Hall of Fame game, played the day after the 2009 inductions, strayed from the usual AFC–NFC format and instead was contested by two original American Football League teams: the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers). This matchup was announced after Wilson was elected. Like Wilson, Titans owner Bud Adams was the only owner | 8,542 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
his team has ever had, and the two were the only living members of the "Foolish Club", the founders of the original eight AFL teams. Wilson and Adams are two of only four men who have owned a professional football franchise continuously for fifty years (George Halas, who owned the Chicago Bears from 1920 until his death in 1983, is the third, and William Clay Ford Sr., Wilson's neighbor, who owned the Detroit Lions from 1961 to 2014, is the fourth).
The Hall of Fame game on Sunday, August 9, was a kickoff to the 2009 season, which would have been the 50th season of play for the AFL, if the NFL had not merged with it. Wilson was officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, | 8,543 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
August 8, 2009 with ESPN icon Chris Berman acting as his "presenter". Wilson was scheduled to receive his Hall of Fame ring in a halftime ceremony during the Bills game against the Cleveland Browns on October 11, 2009. However, Wilson cancelled the event at the last moment, without notifying the press or fans, and no explanation was given. It was widely speculated that Wilson cancelled the event out of fear of being booed by Bills fans for the team's chronic poor performance on the field and a series of highly unpopular managerial decisions. He was eventually presented with the ring on November 1.
Wilson donated US$2.5 million to the construction of a "Pro Football Research and Preservation | 8,544 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
Center" at the Hall of Fame; the facility was named in Wilson's honor on August 13, 2012.
# Thoroughbred racing.
Wilson was also involved for a number of years in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing both as a breeder and as an owner in France and the United States. He bred Santa Anita Derby winner Jim French, as well as two-year-old European superstar Arazi, winner of the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and European Horse of the Year. Another horse, Outta Here, raced in the 2003 Kentucky Derby and finished in seventh place.
# Philanthropy.
- The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. School of Education, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York.
- The Mary & Ralph Wilson Jr. Hospice Inpatient Unit of Hospice | 8,545 |
343209 | Ralph Wilson | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ralph%20Wilson | Ralph Wilson
ilson Jr. School of Education, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York.
- The Mary & Ralph Wilson Jr. Hospice Inpatient Unit of Hospice Buffalo is named after him.
- The Wilson Building, Cheektowaga, New York.
- Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Athletic Field at the NFL/Youth Education Town-Boys & Girls Club at the Dick & Sandy Dauch Campus in Detroit, Michigan.
- Ralph C Wilson Jr. Foundation
- Two $100,000,000 posthumous donations, in honor of Wilson's 100th birthday, to the park systems in Buffalo and Detroit respectively; the former is the largest philanthropic donation in Western New York history
# See also.
- List of American Football League players
- KCIT
- KICU-TV
- WEVV-TV
- WWTV | 8,546 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
Austin Princess
The Austin Princess is a series of large luxury cars that were made by Austin and its subsidiary Vanden Plas from 1947 to 1968. The cars were also marketed under the Princess and Vanden Plas marque names.
The Princess name was also used as follows:
- From October 1959, the name Princess was used on a deluxe version of BMC's full-sized executive cars badged as an Austin Westminster, Vanden Plas Princess and Wolseley 6/99-6/110
- From October 1962, Princess was used on a deluxe version of the Austin/Morris 1300.
- From September 1975, Princess was used as a name for mass-produced family cars in Leyland's 1800/2200 former Austin/Morris/Wolseley range.
# Naming.
The first "Austin | 8,547 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
Princess" A120 was launched in 1947 as the most expensive flagship model in the Austin range at the same time as the A110 Austin Sheerline (designed during the war) which body was built on the same chassis at Longbridge, the A110 produced 10 less horsepower being fitted with a single carburetter. Both cars always had bodies that were massive and heavy in appearance. The Princess (model code A120) featured a body by the coachbuilder Vanden Plas and was a large saloon or limousine. The car was offered with two distinct interiors. The "DM" or limousine type had a sliding glass partition between the driver and rear passengers plus picnic tables, and the "DS" was the saloon. The saloons were successful | 8,548 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
as a top-executive car, many Princesses (and Sheerlines, for that matter) were bought for civic ceremonial duties or by hire companies as limousines for hire. The standard saloon weighed almost two tons, was 16 ft 9 inches long and 6 feet 1¼ inches wide on a 10-foot 1¼-inch (the short) wheelbase.
The Princess model was updated over the years through Mark I (A120), Mark II (A135) and Mark III versions, the largest variation being the introduction of the long-wheelbase version in 1952 with a longer body and seven seats: apart from that the bodywork and running gear hardly changed, nor did the 4-litre straight-6 engine. The radiator was fairly upright in old-fashioned style and the car had separate | 8,549 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
front wings, but these cars were always more modern in style than the equivalent-sized Bentley or Rolls-Royce and, for the saloon, the price was little more than two-thirds of the Rolls-Royce.
From August 1957 the Austin part of the badging was dropped so it could be sold by Nuffield dealerships. From May 1960, the Vanden Plas name was added in front of "Princess".
# Austin Princess I, II and III.
In 1947, Austin produced two virtually identical chassis, one for the A110 (later A125 Sheerline, built entirely by Austin at their Longbridge factory) and the A120 (later A135) chassis used by Vanden Plas to produce the Princess at their Kingsbury works (North London). Although Vanden Plas was | 8,550 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
by now wholly owned by Austin and much of the running gear and instrumentation was the same in the two cars, the Princess was the Austin flagship, with a higher specification leather, wool and burr walnut interior.
The original Princess was powered by a 3.5-litre straight-six engine. This was enlarged to a 4.0-litre unit without further modifications. The Princess was often built to order. Customers could specify the colour required and a range of different setups were available. These included triple or single carburetors and twin or single exhaust systems. Whilst the sportier multiple carb version performed better, it achieved only 12 to 14 mpg. The single carburetor version gave slightly | 8,551 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
better fuel consumption. Performance was good for a car of its size, with a top speed of and acceleration 0 to 60 mph in 20 seconds.
In 1950, the Limousine version was introduced. The chassis length and passenger area were enlarged to enable a pair of drop down seats to be mounted on the rear of the front seats and a glass division was standard.
These early cars are now extremely rare, especially the saloon versions. Many of the saloons were converted for use as taxis in the late 1950s, fitted with Perkins diesel engines for better economy. The 3993cc 6-cylinder engine was also fitted, as a petrol option seldom taken up, to the Austin and Morris normal-control (i.e. "bonneted") WEK and WFK | 8,552 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
commercial vehicles.
During the life of this model (in 1952), Austin became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC).
# Austin Princess IV and Princess IV.
The Austin Princess IV was introduced in 1956. Offered in Saloon and Touring Limousine models, this replacement for the former Sheerline and A135 only stayed in the catalogue until 1959; 200 were built.
The last A135 Mark 3 had been priced at five times the price of an Austin A30. The new IV had to be priced at 6.5 times the price of an Austin A30, at which price there was almost no demand. The name was shortened in August 1957 when the car lost its "Austin" designation, now being branded simply as the Princess IV so it might be sold | 8,553 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
by either Morris or Austin dealers. "The Times" tested the Princess IV and reported on it at some length in early February 1959.
The Princess IV was discontinued in 1959 and replaced in the catalogue by a much smaller model, an upgraded Austin Westminster (Pininfarina-designed Vanden Plas Princess see below), which retailed at little more than 40 per cent of the Mark IV's price.
An Austin Princess IV was road tested by "The Autocar" magazine on 3 October 1958, as No.1703 in the series. The engine was rated at 150 bhp (gross) and it returned a maximum speed of 98.7 mph, under the test conditions prevailing.
# Austin Princess, Princess and Vanden Plas Princess Long Wheelbase Limousine (or Saloon).
The | 8,554 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
Austin A135 Princess Long Wheelbase Saloon (DS6) and Limousine (DM4) were introduced in 1952. The automatic transmission and power steering from Princess IV were fitted from 1956. The marque name was changed from Austin to Princess in August 1957, and then to Vanden Plas from July 1960. The long wheelbase models continued to be built by hand in limited numbers as the Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre Limousine, until 1968. All now being parts of British Leyland, the Jaguar Mark X-based Daimler DS420 was initially produced at the Vanden Plas works in Kingsbury, North London then replaced the Vanden Plas Princess within the new, slightly rationalised range. This had been foreseen in 1966 when British | 8,555 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
Motor Holdings (BMH) had brought BMC and Jaguar together, and stopped development at Vanden Plas of the potential successor car. The limousine was luxuriously appointed with lots of polished wood, optional mohair rugs and radio with controls in the armrest. Among the long list of available extras were monograms and a flagstaff. The driving compartment was separated from the rear of the car by a division with an optional telephone for the passengers to communicate with the driver. The driving seat was finished in leather but the rear seats were trimmed in cloth, the usual arrangement on many luxury cars of the time. Though not as durable as leather, cloth was considered kinder to passengers' | 8,556 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
clothes. To increase seating capacity two occasional seats could be folded out of the floor.
The car had independent coil suspension at the front with semi elliptic leaf springs and anti roll bar at the rear. The cam and peg type steering gear had optional power assistance.
An Austin A135 Princess Long-wheelbase Limousine tested by "The Motor" magazine in 1953 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 23.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £2480 including taxes.
An automatic Limousine was tested by the British magazine "The Motor" in 1962 and had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 23.5 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test | 8,557 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
car cost £3,473 including taxes.
# Vanden Plas Princess 1100/1275/1300.
The Vanden Plas Princess 1100 was launched in 1963 as a luxury variant of the BMC ADO16. Production of the Princess 1100 and subsequent 1275 and 1300 models ended in 1974 with 43,741 examples produced.
# Princess (ADO71).
The final use of the "Princess" name was for the Princess 1800 / 2200 of 1975–78 and the Princess 2 1700 / 2000 / 2200 of 1978–81. This was not badged as an Austin on the home market (although it was badged as such in New Zealand), but was sometimes confused with one because for the first year of its life it was marketed (variously) as the Austin, Morris, and Wolseley 18–22 Series. It was succeeded | 8,558 |
343212 | Austin Princess | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austin%20Princess | Austin Princess
d the Princess 2 1700 / 2000 / 2200 of 1978–81. This was not badged as an Austin on the home market (although it was badged as such in New Zealand), but was sometimes confused with one because for the first year of its life it was marketed (variously) as the Austin, Morris, and Wolseley 18–22 Series. It was succeeded by the Austin Ambassador in 1982 and thus marked the end of the Princess marque, although the Vanden Plas name continued as the most luxurious trim level in the Rover SD1 range.
# External links.
- 1957 Austin Princess IV Sales Brochure Saloon and Touring Limousine and Austin Long Wheelbase Limousine (or Saloon)
- 1958 Austin Princess IV Saloon
- Photos of earlier production | 8,559 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
A12 road (England)
The A12 is a major road in England. It runs north-east /south-west between London and the coastal town of Lowestoft in Suffolk and follows a similar route to the Great Eastern Main Line. A section of the road between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth became the A47 in 2017, and this forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E30 (prior to 1985 it was the E8). Unlike most A roads, a significant portion of the A12 (together with the A14 and the A55) has junction numbers as if it were a motorway.
The 84 km section of the A12 through Essex has sections of dual two lanes and dual three lanes with eight changes in width between the M25 to Ipswich. It was named as Britain's worst road because | 8,560 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
of "potholes and regular closures due to roadworks" in a 2007 survey by Cornhill Insurance. The A12 is covered by the Highways Agency A12 and A120 Route Management Strategy.
Starting just north of the Blackwall Tunnel where it connects end on to the A102, it heads north through Bow and Hackney Wick, then northeast through Leyton and Romford, then into Essex, passing Brentwood and Colchester. In Suffolk, it passes Ipswich and Saxmundham, then follows the coast through Lowestoft before entering Norfolk, passing through Gorleston-on-Sea and ending at Great Yarmouth, as of February 2017, the route was renumbered between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft to become the A47 so the road now terminates at | 8,561 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
the Bascule Bridge south of Lowestoft town centre.
# History.
The A12 was formed in 1922 as part of the Great Britain road numbering scheme, and initially the route went from Stratford to Gallows Corner along the present A118 road before continuing to Great Yarmouth. This section in London was rerouted to run on Eastern Avenue by the mid-1940s, and extended to follow the current route from Blackwall Tunnel along the East Cross Route, (previously the A102(M) & A106), the M11 link road in 1999.
The route from London to Essex has long been important, with Old Ford being the location of an ancient Celtic crossing of the River Lea. The route was altered slightly by the Romans who created a paved | 8,562 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
road from London to Colchester, which was part of "Inter V" on the Antonine Itinerary, and parts of this were used by a turnpike road, the Great Essex Road. The crossing of the Lea moved to its current location at Bow around 1110 when Matilda, wife of Henry I, ordered a distinctively bow-shaped, three-arched bridge to be built over the river. A map from 1766 shows a route from London to Lowestoft which follows much of the current A12.
The "Ipswich to South Town and Bungay Turnpike Trust" was established in 1785, operating between Ipswich and Great Yarmouth. The trust was wound up in 1872 following the arrival of the East Suffolk Line which was fully operational between the two towns in 1859. | 8,563 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
Following the demise of the Turnpike trust, responsibility reverted to parish responsibility until the new county councils took over in 1889.
A new section of the A12, known as the "M11 link road" or "A12 Hackney-M11 Link Road", was built in the early 1990s in the face of the major M11 link road protest and finally opened in October 1999. The section of road had originally been proposed in 1903 in a Royal Commission on London Traffic. A public inquiry had been held in September 1961 and a further three public inquiries, a Parliamentary Bill and a High Court challenge had been required before the work started.
Initiated in 2000, the London to Ipswich Multi-modal study reported its conclusions | 8,564 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
late in 2002.
In 2008 improvements were made to the junction between the A12 and the M25 to increase slip-road capacity, in particular for clockwise M25 traffic turning north onto the A12, and to ease congestion on the Brook Street Roundabout (serving the M25, A12 and local Brentwood traffic as the A1023).
The bascule bridge in Lowestoft, built in 1972, was refurbished in spring 2008.
Essex County Council carried out its own inquiry into the road in 2008 (see below for details).
Work on a £12.4m scheme for the a new junction on the A12 at Cuckoo Farm, Colchester adjacent to the Colchester Community Stadium started in December 2009. It was promoted by Essex County Council who prepared plans | 8,565 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
in 2001. and received funding from the Community Infrastructure Fund. It opened on 16 December 2010.
The section of A12 between Brentwood and Ipswich and previously between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, which is now classified as a Southern extension of the A47 was classed as a major trunk road, and therefore managed by Highways England, whereas the section between Ipswich and Lowestoft was de-trunked in 2001 and therefore passed control over from Highways England to Suffolk County Council, hence why this section is primarily single carriageway and poorly invested in, therefore the A12 has only now been labelled as a main trunk road between Brentwood and Ipswich with the Northern half after | 8,566 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
the A14 being deemed a non-primary extension, and a lesser important road.
# Bypasses.
The Eastern Avenue was built in the 1920s as a bypass for the section between Romford and Ilford, meeting what was the A11 at Leytonstone. It was numbered A106 until the 1930s when it became part of the A12.
The long Brentwood bypass was opened in November 1965.
A bypass for Chelmsford was first included in the roads programme in 1968. Draft orders for the southern bypass were published in 1974, however the public inquiry in 1975 suggested that the government should re-examine the appropriateness of a 'central route' and the government delayed the road. In 1979 the government announced that it would proceed | 8,567 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
with the southern dual two lane route which opened in 1986.
Ipswich's 'Southern by-pass' via the Orwell Bridge was opened in 1982. This section was later designated as part of the A14.
The Martlesham bypass (previously known as the Kesgrave and Martlesham Bypass) was completed in 1987/1988 as was the Saxmundham bypass.
A white paper, "Roads for Prosperity", published in 1989, proposed to widen the Chelmsford Bypass and the section from Hatfield Peverel to Witham to dual 3 lane; it also proposed widening the section from Saxmundham to Lowestoft and from Wickham Market to Farnham to dual 2 lanes. It also included a 'new route from the M25 to Chelmsford' as a dual two lane road following the | 8,568 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
proposed route of the M12 motorway.
The Department for Transport published "Trunk roads, England, into the 1990s" in May 1990 which included ten proposed developments for the A12 between the M25 and Lowestoft including the M12 motorway between M25 and the Chelmsford bypass, Chelmsford bypass widening and improvements on the sections from Hatfield Peverel to Marks Tey, Four Sisters to Stratford St. Mary, Martlesham to Wickham Market, Wickham Market to Saxmundham, the bypass around Saxmundham, Saxmundham to south of Wrentham, South of Wrentham to Kessingland and the Lowestoft relief road.
A public inquiry in the 'Saxmundham to Wickham Market bypass' was held in 1995 but this road has not been | 8,569 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
built.
# M12 motorway.
During the 1960s there were plans for an M12 motorway (also known as the South Woodford – Chelmsford Motorway) which would have run from the North Circular at the base of the current M11 motorway joining the A12 south of Chelmsford or at Brentwood. The North Circular was to be upgraded to motorway-standard as part of Ringway 2 and be designated as the M15 motorway. The M11 was to have provided a motorway standard road into central London past Ringway 1 terminating at the Angel, Islington. The M12 motorway was never built, although the junction of the M11 with the north circular was designed to accommodate it.
Plans for the M12 motorway were withdrawn in March 1994 following | 8,570 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
a review of the trunk roads programme.
# Route.
## London.
The A12 starts just north of the Blackwall Tunnel at a junction with the A102 and the A13. From here to past Ipswich (including the entire section through London) the road is a dual carriageway. North of the junction, the A12 heads northwards as a 2/3 lane dual carriageway mostly at street level. This stretch of road is known as the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach. This stretch ends at the triple-layer interchange with the A11 at Bow Road where it becomes the East Cross Route. This is mainly a 3/4 lane dual carriageway built mainly on flyovers and underpasses and was built in the late 1960s, previously called the A102(M).
The | 8,571 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
road turns North Eastwards at the unfinished Hackney Wick Interchange where the carriageways split and the northbound carriageway has a right hand entrance. When the London Ringways plan was being proposed, a motorway (North Cross Route) was to end here and the M11 was meant to extend from its current terminus on the A406 through this junction and to Angel.
The A12 heads to Lea.
The section from the Lea Interchange to Leytonstone, also known as the M11 Link road, was built in the 1990s in the face of a major road protest. During this work the old section as far as Wanstead was rebuilt as a dual carriageway. Prior to that, the A12 started at the Green Man Roundabout at Leytonstone, and was | 8,572 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
single carriageway west of Wanstead Underground station. It now has an underpass at that roundabout, which again is a junction with the old A11.
East of Wanstead, the A12 runs roughly due east. It is known as Eastern Avenue, then Eastern Avenue West and Eastern Avenue East, built in the 1920s as a bypass for the section of the Roman road from Colchester to London running through Ilford and Romford (today's A118). The eastern end of the Eastern Avenue is Gallows Corner in the London Borough of Havering, just east of Romford. The junction also marks the start-point of the A127 Southend Arterial Road, also 1920s vintage. At the roundabout, an extemporised two-lane flyover still provides priority | 8,573 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
for A12 eastbound to A127 traffic (and vice versa). However, the A12 now veers roughly north-eastward, because it starts to follow the course of the Roman road; the Romans started building this road from Colchester, their original capital for the province. However, the stretch from Gallows Corner to the junction with the M25 motorway, called Colchester Road, is still perfectly straight. The M25 junction is number 28; it also marks where the A12 crosses the boundary from London to Essex.
## Essex.
Originally, the A12 followed the route of the Roman road closely and so was fairly straight, but there are now several town bypasses, so the road through Essex now has several meanders. The A12 formerly | 8,574 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
went through Brentwood, Mountnessing, Ingatestone, Margaretting, Chelmsford, Boreham, Hatfield Peverel, Witham, Kelvedon, Copford, Stanway and Colchester, but these are all now bypassed, and the A12 is close to motorway standard for its whole length in Essex. Now, the A12 is behind the suburb of Chelmer Village.
It is this stretch of the A12, particularly between Chelmsford and Colchester, which has led to the poor reputation for surface quality of the A12. This is mainly for its bumpy or potholed surface, mostly due to worn concrete surfaces. In an ongoing process these sections are being relaid with tarmac, however some sections including the Kelvedon bypass, and between Copford and Stanway | 8,575 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
have yet to be resurfaced.
Built in 1982, the A12 Colchester bypass provides an uninterrupted dual carriageway where the national speed limit of 70 mph applies. Before 1982, the A12 took a route much closer to Colchester itself, and although still a bypass it consisted of urban single carriageways with roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. The old bypass is still in existence – the western half now forms part of the A1124 and the eastern half part of the A133.
## Suffolk.
The Suffolk stretch of the A12 starts with the Capel St Mary by-pass. Originally the route from the Northern end of this bypass ran through the villages of Washbrook and Copdock and into Ipswich. When Ipswich's Southern | 8,576 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
by-pass was built in the early 1980s, the route picked up from the northern Capel St Mary junction (now numbered 32b), to pass to the West of the original line – this allowed the relevant ground works and interchanges to be completed with minimal traffic disruption. The old dual carriageway through Washbrook and Copdock is blocked off at White's Corner and was renumbered to be the C475. A footpath still exists which enables passage underneath the A14.
The old route through Ipswich was renumbered as the A1214 following construction of the Ipswich Southern By-pass. The old route is more locally known by the road names, notably "London Road" to the Town Centre and Woodbridge Road out the other | 8,577 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
side. The Ipswich Southern By-pass allows the A12 to overlap the A14 to Seven Hills Interchange, from the Copdock junction, where the A12 reappears and heads North. As the A14 the road passes over the large Orwell Bridge with total length of 1,287 metres. This has a summit at 43 metres above the river giving a humped feel with reduced visibility for traffic. There are at-grade roundabout junctions past BT Adastral Park at Martlesham and around the Woodbridge bypass.
For most of its remaining length through Suffolk the A12 is a mostly single carriageway road, and in many places its speed limit is less than the national limit, for example as it passes through towns and villages. During 2003/2004 | 8,578 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
some of these speed restrictions were further reduced from to . There are, though, a few stretches of dual carriageway between the Woodbridge bypass and Lowestoft (at Wickham Market, Saxmundham, Wangford and Kessingland). This section of the A12 was detrunked in 2001 as part of the Highways Agency's streamlining of its Trunk Road Network. Control was therefore passed to the local authorities. Just south of Blythburgh, the old milestone shows it is to London.
The A12 ran through Lowestoft for about on urban limited roads. However, as of June 2006, the A12 now follows the course of the new single carriageway Southern Relief Road that joins the original A12 at Lowestoft bascule bridge. A further | 8,579 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
impediment is the harbour bridge, which has three lanes, the centre lane operating as a one-way addition to whichever direction of flow is deemed greater. The presence of these bridge choke points can cause serious disruption to north-south trunk traffic, especially when local traffic is added during rush hours. An adequate bypass for Lowestoft would need to be well to the west, even to the west of Oulton Broad (the body of water), and its route would have to consider the great areas of marshland in that area. For that reason an often discussed compromise is a third bridge, crossing Lake Lothing, linking the sections of urban spine-road that run approximately along the western edge of Lowestoft.
## | 8,580 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
Norfolk.
From February 2017, the A12 no longer reaches Norfolk as it terminates in Lowestoft. Before February 2017, From a point just south west of the mouth of the River Yare, northwards to the point where it crosses the River Yare in Great Yarmouth, the A12 followed the route originally used by the railway line from Lowestoft to its terminus north of Breydon Bridge at Vauxhall Roundabout where the A47 previously terminated.
# Proposed Improvements.
In November 2008 the government announced a £60 million technology package including variable message signs, CCTV, Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras and automatic incident detection sensors embedded in the road surface to improve journey | 8,581 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
reliability, reduce delays and give better information to drivers. Work is due to start in 2011/12.
A bypass for various villages was proposed in 1986 as part of the government's 1989 Roads for Prosperity white paper which detailed many road schemes across the country. Suffolk county council considered a bypass for the villages of Farnham, Stratford St Andrew, Glemham and Marlesford for the 2006 Local Transport Plan. The scheme will not be implemented until after 2016. Essex county council has put forwards plans for a bypass of Chelmsford connecting Junction 19 of the A12 to the A131. Plans to upgrade additional sections of the A120 into a dual two-lane carriageway were scrapped in 2009.
# | 8,582 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
2008 inquiry.
In response to this increasing congestion Essex County Council announced it would hold an A12 inquiry which was tasked with deciding how to improve the A12 and prevent the congestion. The inquiry was headed by Sir David Rowlands, KCB, a former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport, with Professor Stephen Glaister, Dr David Quarmby and Lord Whitty, all with significant knowledge of the transport sector.
The inquiry began taking submissions in April 2008. The Inquiry, the first ever local council sponsored inquiry into a major trunk road, heard from 24 organisations and 36 witnesses over three days including Department for Transport and Highways Agency officials, | 8,583 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
MPs, local and regional agencies and authorities, the emergency services, business and motoring groups. Comments were also received from over two hundred members of the public and through a petition organised by the Essex Chronicle newspaper. The commissions finding were published in July 2008 and its outline recommendations are:
- the A12 as far as Ipswich should be brought up to modern dual 2-lane standards (where not already dual-3), with urgent priority given to the Hatfield Peverel – Marks Tey section
- substandard lay-bys should be replaced; one or more locations off but near the A12 should be identified for secure HGV parking, and an HGV overtaking ban should be trialled
- a wide range | 8,584 |
343187 | A12 road (England) | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A12%20road%20(England) | A12 road (England)
ons off but near the A12 should be identified for secure HGV parking, and an HGV overtaking ban should be trialled
- a wide range of short term practical measures should be introduced to improve safety and reduce driver stress, such as selective speed limits and better information for drivers, and to improve the recovery from incidents and closures
- a New Route Management Strategy should be drawn up by the Highways Agency, in collaboration with local stakeholders, and an ‘A12 Alliance’ should be formed to consolidate and sustain the momentum for improvement
# External links.
- Society for All British Road Enthusiasts entry for the A12
- Traffic flow on A12 Redbridge Roundabout (RedRag) | 8,585 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
Marilyn vos Savant
Marilyn vos Savant (; born 1946) is an American magazine columnist, author, lecturer, and playwright. She was listed as having the highest recorded intelligence quotient (IQ) in the "Guinness Book of Records", a competitive category the publication has since retired. Since 1986, she has written "Ask Marilyn", a "Parade" magazine Sunday column where she solves puzzles and answers questions on various subjects. Among them was a discussion of the Monty Hall problem, to which she postulated an answer in 1990.
# Biography.
Marilyn vos Savant was born Marilyn Mach on August 11, 1946, in St. Louis, Missouri, to parents Joseph Mach and Marina vos Savant. Savant says one should keep | 8,586 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
premarital surnames, with sons taking their fathers' and daughters their mothers'. The word "savant", meaning someone of learning, appears twice in her family: her grandmother's name was Savant; her grandfather's, vos Savant. She is of Italian, Czechoslovak, German, and Austrian ancestry, being descended from the physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach.
As a teenager, Savant worked in her father's general store and wrote for local newspapers using pseudonyms. She married at 16 and divorced ten years later. Her second marriage ended when she was 35.
She went to Meramec Community College and studied philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis but quit two years later to help with a family | 8,587 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
investment business. Savant moved to New York City in the 1980s to pursue a career in writing. Prior to starting "Ask Marilyn", she wrote the "Omni I.Q. Quiz Contest" for "Omni", which included intelligence quotient (IQ) quizzes and expositions on intelligence and its testing.
Savant married Robert Jarvik (one developer of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart) on August 23, 1987, and was made Chief Financial Officer of Jarvik Heart, Inc. She has served on the board of directors of the National Council on Economic Education, on the advisory boards of the National Association for Gifted Children and the National Women's History Museum, and as a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Toastmasters | 8,588 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
International named her one of "Five Outstanding Speakers of 1999", and in 2003 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from The College of New Jersey.
# Rise to fame and IQ score.
Savant was listed in the "Guinness Book of World Records" under "Highest IQ" from 1986 to 1989 and entered the Guinness Book of World Records Hall of Fame in 1988. Guinness retired the "Highest IQ" category in 1990 after concluding IQ tests were too unreliable to designate a single record holder. The listing drew nationwide attention.
Guinness cited vos Savant's performance on two intelligence tests, the Stanford-Binet and the Mega Test. She took the 1937 Stanford-Binet, Second Revision test at age | 8,589 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
ten. She claims her first test was in September 1956 and measured her mental age at 22 years and 10 months, yielding a 228 score. This figure was listed in the "Guinness Book of World Records"; it is also listed in her books' biographical sections and was given by her in interviews.
Alan S. Kaufman, a psychology professor and author of IQ tests, writes in "IQ Testing 101" that "Miss Savant was given an old version of the Stanford-Binet (Terman & Merrill 1937), which did, indeed, use the antiquated formula of MA/CA × 100. But in the test manual's norms, the Binet does not permit IQs to rise above 170 at any age, child or adult. As the authors of the old Binet stated: 'Beyond fifteen the mental | 8,590 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
ages are entirely artificial and are to be thought of as simply numerical scores.' (Terman & Merrill 1937). ...the psychologist who came up with an IQ of 228 committed an extrapolation of a misconception, thereby violating almost every rule imaginable concerning the meaning of IQs."
Savant has commented on reports mentioning varying IQ scores she was said to have obtained.
The second test reported by Guinness was Hoeflin's Mega Test, taken in the mid-1980s. The Mega Test yields IQ standard scores obtained by multiplying the subject's normalized z-score, or the rarity of the raw test score, by a constant standard deviation, and adding the product to 100, with Savant's raw score reported by | 8,591 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
Hoeflin to be 46 out of a possible 48, with a 5.4 z-score, and a standard deviation of 16, arriving at a 186 IQ. The Mega Test has been criticized by professional psychologists as improperly designed and scored, "nothing short of number pulverization".
Savant sees IQ tests as measurements of a variety of mental abilities and thinks intelligence entails so many factors that "attempts to measure it are useless".
She has held memberships with the high-IQ societies Mensa International and the Mega Society.
# "Ask Marilyn".
Following her listing in the 1986 "Guinness Book of World Records", "Parade" ran a profile of her along with a selection of questions from "Parade" readers and her answers. | 8,592 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
"Parade" continued to get questions, so "Ask Marilyn" was made.
She uses her column to answer questions on many chiefly academic subjects; solve logical, mathematical or vocabulary puzzles posed by readers; answer requests for advice with logic; and give self-devised quizzes and puzzles. Aside from the weekly printed column, "Ask Marilyn" is a daily online column that adds to the printed version by resolving controversial answers, correcting mistakes, expanding answers, reposting previous answers, and solving additional questions.
Three of her books ("Ask Marilyn", "More Marilyn", and "Of Course, I'm for Monogamy") are compilations of questions and answers from "Ask Marilyn". "The Power of | 8,593 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
Logical Thinking" includes many questions and answers from the column.
# Famous columns.
## The Monty Hall problem.
Savant was asked the following question in her September 9, 1990 column:
This question is called the Monty Hall problem due to its resembling scenarios on the game show "Let's Make a Deal;" its answer existed before it was used in "Ask Marilyn". She said the selection should be switched to door #2 because it has a chance of success, while door #1 has just . To summarize, of the time the opened door #3 will indicate the location of the door with the car (the door you had not picked and the one not opened by the host). Only of the time will the opened door #3 mislead you into | 8,594 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
changing from the winning door to a losing door. These probabilities assume you change your choice each time door #3 is opened, and that the host always opens a door with a goat. This response provoked letters from thousands of readers, nearly all arguing doors #1 and #2 each have an equal chance of success. A follow-up column reaffirming her position served only to intensify the debate and soon became a feature article on the front page of "The New York Times". "Parade" received around 10,000 letters from readers who thought that her workings were incorrect.
Under the "standard" version of the problem, the host always opens a losing door and offers a switch. In the standard version, Savant's | 8,595 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
answer is correct. However, the statement of the problem as posed in her column is ambiguous. The answer depends on what strategy the host is following. If the host operates under a strategy of only offering a switch if the initial guess is correct, it would clearly be disadvantageous to accept the offer. If the host merely selects a door at random, the question is likewise very different from the standard version. Savant addressed these issues by writing the following in "Parade" magazine, "the original answer defines certain conditions, the most significant of which is that the host always opens a losing door on purpose. Anything else is a different question."
She expounded on her reasoning | 8,596 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
in a second follow-up and called on school teachers to show the problem to classes. In her final column on the problem, she gave the results of more than 1,000 school experiments. Most respondents now agree with her original solution, with half of the published letters declaring their authors had changed their minds.
## "Two boys" problem.
Like the Monty Hall problem, the "two boys" or "second-sibling" problem predates "Ask Marilyn", but generated controversy in the column, first appearing there in 1991–1992 in the context of baby beagles:
When Savant replied "one out of three", readers wrote the odds were 50–50. In a follow-up, she defended her answer, saying that "If we could shake a pair | 8,597 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
of puppies out of a cup the way we do dice, there are four ways they could land", in three of which at least one is male, but in only one of which none are male.
The confusion arises here because the bather is not asked if the puppy he is holding is a male, but rather if either is a male. If the puppies are labeled (A and B), each has a 50% chance of being male independently. This independence is restricted when at least A or B is male. Now, if A is "not" male, B "must" be male, and vice versa. This restriction is introduced by the way the question is structured and is easily overlookedmisleading people to the erroneous answer of 50%. See Boy or Girl paradox for solution details.
The problem | 8,598 |
343218 | Marilyn vos Savant | https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marilyn%20vos%20Savant | Marilyn vos Savant
re-emerged in 1996–97 with two cases juxtaposed:
Savant agreed with the teacher, saying the chances were only 1 out of 3 that the woman had two boys, but 1 out of 2 the man had two boys. Readers argued for 1 out of 2 in both cases, prompting follow-ups. Finally she began a survey, asking female readers with exactly two children, at least one of them male, to give the sex of both children. Of the 17,946 women who responded, 35.9%, about 1 in 3, had two boys.
## Errors in the column.
On January 22, 2012, Savant admitted a mistake in her column. In the original column, published on December 25, 2011, a reader asked:
Her response was:
The correctness of the answer depends on how the question | 8,599 |
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