The Thompson Propeller Shop

As New Bedford suffered hard times in the 1930's, the remains of a torn-down mill was brought back to life.

By MLBaron

The Thompson Propeller Shop, built in 1937 remains strong and sturdy today as compared to any Henry Huttleston Rogers buildings in Fairhaven., and all from demolished materials from a factory that was torn down in New Bedford’s South End. From window frames, bricks and steel girders, the Thompson brothers who were already a waterfront fixture in the important propeller repair business designed and built the structure from the ground up with the recycled remains of what was likely the Kilburn Mill.

The Thompsons carried on the tradition from their father M.D.Thompson of Maine., who designed the "Thompson Feathering Propeller", a popular reversing prop that reversed the pitch automatically via hinged blades when the engine shifted into forward or reverse.

In 1961, Warren Thompson decided to retire and sold the business to Gunnar Gundersen, an engineer from Norway who still runs the shop today as Scandia Propeller., and yes, the famous Fairhaven waterfront icon - a shiny brass propeller still spins away on the corner of the building at Union and Water Streets.

FYI-When the Atlas Tack was finally torn down, the building’s high-quality bricks were crated up and recycled. The current market for a good brick is about $1.00 each.

To see more photos and enlargements visit this link at westislandweather.com

Be sure to enter the SLIDESHOW option for even a better experience.

Photos and story from the M.L.Baron Historic Archives c1987

The Story of Tommy's Boat, authored by The Thompson brother's dad, who started the business in Maine.

A steam shovel clears the lot

These sturdy window frames being set in place.

A handsome new building with a small sail boat out front. It's hard to believe that his structure was completely built of demolision material from a factory in New Bedford. The factory was very likely the Kilburn Mill torn down right around the time this was constructed.

Warren Thompson (above) installs the famous shiny brass propeller on the corner of his new shop. It was said that the spinning prop could be seen shining across the Acushnet River from Union St in New Bedford on sunny days.

Machinists at work Lunch break in the office

Illustration from Propeller Shop booklet. Warren Thompson's dad, M.D.Thompson of Maine was the inventor of the Thompson "feathering" Propeller. This remarkable invention allowed the prop blade to automatically change it's pitch when the thrust from the vessel's gears shifted from forward or to reverse.

A price list above for the propeller shop's services. Pretty steep prices considering the minimum wage was about .20 cents an hour at the time. Mr Thompson chuckled in an interview I had with him in the 80's when he revealed that during the rum running days, it was not uncommon to have a Coast Guard Revenue Cutter's propellers being serviced side by side with the rum-runners boat's. He said the "boys" in the shop made the pitch of the runners props a little better for performance and speed.

The late Warren Thompson, was well known in Fairhaven for being a dead-ringer look-alike for Col Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He played the role well and would venture into KFC Restaurants for laughs! We were good friends and he had many stories to tell. But none better than his legacy of being the owner of The Thompson Propeller Shop on Water St in Fairhaven. Enjoy this classic YouTube clip from The 1991 Fairhaven Homecoming Fair when I ran into him with his wife. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5kK9C8wh1Y

Last Thursday’s Rainbow Arced Over West Island

MLBaron - Skywarn Weather Spotter documents a rainbow event.

WEST ISLAND: The unstable atmosphere (last Thursday-May 5, 2011) was getting more agitated all day with increased amounts of virga that eventually reached the ground as scattered sheets of rain showers trained east in a narrow corridor. As a weather spotter I sensed that an interesting weather event was imminent.

Ominous sky to the north with training showers. Towering cumulus clouds build upwards.

I waited for over 3 hours with a front row seat on the causeway before my intuition came true - a rainbow appeared over West Island. With the sun breaking through at the end of the day and light showers still active, the ingredients of a rainbow coalesced perfectly over West Island.

Recipe for a rainbow, the sun angle about 40 degrees, "TOTO II" Skywarn GMC Mountain Bike on scene
and a band of light showers inbound.

No two people ever see the exact same rainbow because of the precise angle, however many witnessed a double-rainbow from the causeway as it arced over the island looking east.The phenomena lasted less than 2 minutes.

More pictures and more weather at westislandweather.com

Chasing Tornados - The Ultimate Extreme - and You’re Invited
By MLBaron - The West Island Weather Station

F5 Tours, Inc. doesn’t take you in a chubby bus with long vertical windows to see dead movie star’s homes or “Old Faithful”. You would be cramped aboard a storm chasing vehicle with storm spotters and tornado chasers headed right for trouble.

“We remove that anxiety and put you in a situation where you can learn how to chase in comfort. It takes a special kind of person to want to go on a storm chase.” says Andrew Revering, CEO of F5 Tours, Inc. “Our extreme winter is setting the stage for a record breaking tornado season.” said the veteran storm chaser. You know you’re in for some excitement when the tour guide asks you to sign a waiver and fill out a next of kin information card.
The company web site (http://www.f5tours.com/index.php) has more details and booking information. I’ll gladly post your video and photos on westislandweather.com when you come back.

If you saw TWISTER, a movie about a bunch of weather nerds ( nut cases ) chasing tornados it was not totally far fetched. A tornado can defy the laws of gravity with unbelievable catastrophic impact, however some exaggerated special effects in this movie insulted everyone’s intelligence. This is the kind of movie that the case becomes more useful for the VHS home movies you just transferred to DVD. The most outrageous scenes included a tanker truck suspended in mid air then exploding a few yards away. A cow slowly hovering by the chaser’s windshield - mooing along and then another cow. Later we found out it was the same cow. The chaser’s truck crashing through every room of a rolling house and smashing out the other side showed 4x4's could do anything. If this movie couldn’t get any dumber - Bill and “Jo” - divorcing storm chasers run for their lives as a huge F5 Tornado bares down on them in a corn field. They ended up in barn and decided it’s not safe. They find a long leather strap and secure themselves outside to a water pipe in a shed. The tornado blew away the shed and spun right over the couple as they went horizontal (hmmm) in the 150MPH wind. Then through all the blinding sandblasted debris; “Jo” with eyes wide open looked up into the center of the tornado and sees the blue sky and sun breaking through. As the twister heads away, debris and shingles keep falling from the sky. Bill and “Jo” are OK as their fellow storm chasers come to the rescue. You could say that some of the movie was based on eyewitness accounts who where “last-call” customers at The Bayside Lounge.

But seriously, an EF5 tornado like those that recently occurred down south removes everything in it’s path...everything. If you are not underground for safety in the path of one of these, you will leave this earth in a most violent way. There are indeed storm chasers that pursue tornados and provide important life-saving data and information to The National Weather Service and they invite you to come along!

Rare Rogue Thunderstorm Pounds SouthCoast

“What was that hail?”

(Email to MLBaron from Beth David Friday night 950PM)

Rare rogue Thunderstorm briefly pounds Southcoast (Friday February 18, 2011)

MLBaron westislandweather.com

WEST ISLAND - Not only were the locals caught off guard, the National Weather Service is stillscratching their head on this one. A rare February thunderstorm seemed to have perked up out of nowhere last Friday night. Residents were questioning each other about seeing flashes in the partially moonlit sky but couldn’t figure it out until the rumblings of thunder could be heard as the rogue storm came overhead without warning. The small but potent storm cell passed over Southcoast at over 60 MPH, bringing nickel sized hail, strong winds and vivid lightning. “At 930 PM EST National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a strong thunderstorm capable of producing 40 mph wind gusts and mouth... or about 11 miles southwest of New Bedford... moving east at 60 mph” This quote was the extent of the warning just 10 minutes before impact from the National Weather Service.

Just for the record other parts of the Northeast were impacted by this system with pockets of severe weather from CT to NH. A strong cold front ran into a warm moist air mass in which the contrast was extreme enough to create this brief but powerful storm event. .

Storm stats from westislandweather.com: Friday, Feb 18 945PM, nickel size hail reported from the Causeway. High Wind Gust: 50 MPH at 940PM, Barometer 29.19 at 935PM, .08" Rain. Moonlit skies w/ broken overcast at 1045PM.

More lightning photos by WIWS Member Eric Birkeland at this link

Frantic rush to stop out of control Gulf Gush as busy hurricane season looms,
Eastern Seaboard awaits it’s fate



By MLBaron / WIWS

Mike Gagne, a life long resident of North Fairhaven is a technician for the famed Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute based in Falmouth, MA. says WHOI is on scene for research purposes and not directly involved with the clean-up operations.

“There’s more on the way. The Oceanus had a maintenance period (many things that had to be done...) is heading down, and the others (ships) are working in different parts of the globe.”

“We are all collaborating our thoughts to try and stop this terrible mess. Working down there the smell is horrific- it's like working 24-7 tarring a road. Even our seasoned sailors are getting nauseous from the smell...” Gagne said.

Many in the health community at and near the spill scenes are concerned about the health hazards and ramifications of the noxious methane fumes from the oil exacerbated by the high heat index exceeding 106 degrees at times. Cleanup crews are being exposed to the extent that some hospitals are setting up decontamination tents outside their facilities for the anticipated high volume of patients.

Many are saying this is an environmental armageddon that has yet to fully unfold., especially with a looming hurricane season that is expected to be very active. Experts warn that The Gulf Stream will eventually make it's turn-around the peninsula of Florida making a trek up the Eastern seaboard including the Northeast coast. The extent and magnitude of that scenario is unknown.

Judging by the cleanup of The Exxon Valdez 1989 oil spill, it is estimated that for every day the Gulf gush continues add an additional 6 months for clean-up. Currently at 30 years and counting.

Look what a meager (in comparison) 100,000 gal spill did to West Island in 2003 - a Dixie cup spill compared to an Olympic size pool spill in the Gulf that's getting larger everyday: http://www.westislandweather.com/oilspill2003.htm

WORLDS 1st TWIN ENGINE HELO 1956 New Bedford, MA

HISTORIC FLOODS REAFFIRM FUTURE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS - Fairhaven, MA - AmericanTowns.com

HISTORIC FLOODS REAFFIRM FUTURE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS - Fairhaven, MA - AmericanTowns.com