Who is "The Cyclones Insider?"

Cincinnati has been home to numerous minor league hockey teams and even one major league team, but probably the best known, and currently the only pro hockey team in town, is the Cincinnati Cyclones. While the current Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) are not the original franchise from 1990, this incarnation of the team recently won their leagues championship, the Kelly Cup, in 2008 and call the US Bank Arena downtown their home.


While reading up on the "Hockey Wars" that dominated Cincinnati in the late 90's/early 2000's when the city had two competing minor league hockey teams, I came across a blog called "the Cyclones Insider." After reading for a little bit, it became apparent that the blogs author, "Guido," was the zamboni driver for the Cyclones at US Bank Arena. This reminded me of a toy I had gotten from a Cyclones game as a kid:


What's a zamboni? Well for those who aren't hockey savy, here's a quick lesson: A zamboni is a machine that was developed by Frank Zamboni in 1953 for the purpose of resurfacing the ice. Today you can see them in use between periods at hockey games and the person behind the zamboni at the Cyclones games is the "Cyclones Insider" himself, Guido aka Mike Bianch.


After reading post after post on Mike's blog about the ice making process and his views on hockey, I thought it be cool to hang out with him and show what he does. Mike's "day job" is a police officer, but you can catch him between periods at the Cyclones game, riding the zamboni and sporting his trademark cap.


"...that [the hat] is in tribute to the original Cincinnati Stingers zamboni driver, Oliver Willis, nickname was "speedy." He always wore a hat like this." says Mike. "Old "Speedy" would always wave at us kids gathered around the glass when he came by, so I make it a point now to smile and wave at the kids when I can because it made such an impression on me."

- Mike prepares to give a young Cyclones fan a ride on his zamboni.
For Mike, the job is more than just resurfacing the ice in-between periods, it's an art. Mike comes in early, well before the first puck drops, and takes great care when preparing the playing surface. He says many visiting teams have commented on how much they like the ice at the US Bank Arena.

- Mike uses a thermal thermometer to gauge the temperature at center ice.
Mike was nice enough to not only let me hang out with him for the entire game, but he even let me ride on the zamboni during one of his pre-game cuts, something I always wanted to do as a kid.


I interviewed Mike during the "Throwback Night" held on Nov. 9th. Over 10,300 fans packed the US Bank Arena that evening. The same arena where Mike had watched the Cincinnati Stingers as a kid. With the recent championship in 2008 and the recent attendance increase, it seems hockey is alive and well in Cincinnati.

- Mike's 2008 Kelly Cup Championship Ring.
Check out the audio interview with Mike and more pictures in this new multimedia piece:



And make sure to check out Mike's blog: The Cyclones Insider.

Previous Update :: November 24, 2009 - Atrium 2 Has a Helluva View.

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Atrium 2 Has a Helluva View

It was noon this past Sunday when my ringtone, the theme song to the tv sitcom "Roseanne," blared across the room as I rubbed my eyes and woke up to my morning, most other people's afternoon.


Casey Coston (pictured above), a fellow streetcar supporter and broomball teammate, had invited myself and some other friends to check out the view from his office in the upper floors of Atrium 2.


With the completion of the 30 story Atrium 2 tower in 1984, the Atrium complex became perhaps the iconic symbol of Cincinnati's 1980's skyline.


Today, a new skyscraper is rising right next to it and the staggered, modernist balconies of the Atrium 2 tower provide an exclusive closeup view of not only Queen City Square's construction, but the surrounding area as far as your eye, or camera, can see.






Broadway Commons Before:
Broadway Commons After?:




Everyone's Favorite Abandoned Brewery:


Church of the Immaculata and St. Rose


Special thanks to Mr. Casey Coston for the tour.

Previous Update :: November 17, 2009 - The Forgotten Rail Station of Torrence Rd.

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The Forgotten Rail Station at Torrence Rd.

The sun was slowly going down on a summer evening as we drove the #1 Corolla Rager eastbound on Riverside Dr. Jeffrey and I already had a close encounter with a snake earlier that day whilst exploring in Lockland and we weren't having much luck finding anything else that evening. As I drove my Toyota affectionately named after a song by cKy, we noticed an old road that seemingly lead up into a dark jungle of brush. "Shit, let's check it out." We pulled over, turned around and parked on what was once Torrence Rd. The decaying asphalt path with exposed historic cobblestones seemed to lead nowhere...only one way to find out.


Turns out, the now unused Torrence Rd. used to connect Riverside Dr. up to Columbia Parkway, or to some other road leading up to the parkway, I wasn't able to find a specific history on the road itself. What I did find though, thanks to my buddy Seicer at Abandoned, was that there used to be a passenger rail station here, a stop on the Little Miami Railroad (LMRR). The LMRR was mostly owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad company who constructed a station at Torrence Rd. in 1907.

- The Pennsylvania Station at Torrence Rd. in the East End of Cincinnati circa 1907. St. Rose, the church in the first photograph, can just barely be see on the right of this picture.
Little remained of the uniquely constructed hillside station which closed in 1933. Overgrown by brush and patched up by bricks, the stone station bordered Torrence Rd. as Jeffrey and I made our way up.


Torrence Rd. lead to a barricade and a small path further into the woods which was graced by someone's discarded love seat and other forgotten trash. Instead of following this path, we climbed up the hill next to the station, wary of snakes. The earlier encounter with the serpent in Lockland had us feeling very uneasy about climbing into dense brush.

- Jeffrey leads the way.
Atop the hill was a clearing with two parallel railroad tracks. One track was rusted, but clear of obstructions, the other was overgrown and had clearly not seen service for some time.


Bordering the tracks was a large concrete wall that had once been the other side of the Torrence Rd. station. Embedded in the wall was some sort of engraving or sculpture.


A closer look at the ruin revealed the word "Cincinnati" etched into it's brick base.


While the rest of the sculpture had deteriorated too badly to see what it had once been.


Thinking maybe we had been the first to discover the old artwork, Jeffrey and I got pretty excited. A later return to the internet though, would find we weren't the first to come here. Dan over at Queen City Survey had been here back in February and had some great historical information on his site, which is where I found the historical photos like this one:

- The aforementioned sculpture can be seen partially illuminated by the sun just under the walkway in the above photography.

Continuing our look around the area, we stumbled upon a manhole and realized the grass we were standing on had actually grown up through the asphalt beneath it.


As we kept climbing the hill, more remnants of the forgotten road by the forgotten rail station could be found amongst a dense jungle of overgrowth wedged between two busy thoroughfares, Columbia Parkway and Riverside Dr.


A random branch sticking wildly up out of the ground served as a warning to any passersby that they ought to be careful of where they walk or they just might have fallen into another manhole, this one with no cover.


The forgotten remnants of Torrence Rd. eventually lead to a barricade alongside the busy Columbia Parkway where Jeffrey and I stood waving at motorists busy with their evening commute who looked confused at the two guys with cameras standing alongside the road.


Today, one of the two parallel tracks that had served the Little Miami Railroad is in light use via the Cincinnati Dinner Train. With the announcement that the Cincinnati stop of Amtrak's 3C Corridor connecting Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland will be at Lunken Airport, there is talk that maybe commuter trains will be run on this line to connect downtown to the new train station. While the Torrence Rd. station is long gone, could it's rails see regular passengers once again in the near future via an Eastern Corridor rail plan?


Make sure to also check out Queen City Survey's blog post on the abandoned rail station

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Previous Update :: November 14, 2009 - 49 Floors, 49 Stories to Tell.

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49 Floors, 49 Stories to Tell.

Sunset from the 49th floor observation deck of the Carew Tower on Friday the 13th.
(Click photo for larger version)

Hadn't been to the top of Cincinnati's tallest skyscraper since about a year ago. When I was a kid, the mid-1990's photographs of the previous riverfront, like this one, always stuck out in my mind. I just hope that the photographs I take today will have some relevance to someone in the future.

Previous Update :: November 10, 2009 - Stuff for Sale.

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Stuff for Sale :: Original FIrst Edition Prints

You know, nothing spruces up your home or says "I love you," "Happy Thanksgiving," "Merry Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza," or "Happy Birthday" quite like a photograph of an abandoned building. These photographs, taken over the past two years during adventures and exploration all over the area, would look pretty cool hanging on your wall:


These one-of-a-kind first edition prints were prominently featured in two local exhibitions and can now be yours! The 'Forgotten Cincinnati' exhibition featured photographs of abandoned amusement parks, railroad tunnels, churches, factories and even the Cincinnati Subway.


When I took the photos and the exhibition down, some of the frames got a little scratched up. Because of this, I've lowered their original price of $35.00 to $30.00. These 5x7 inch black and white prints come matted in a black wooden frame.


There are also 5"x7" prints available without the frames for just $20.00. View the full selection here.

'Exploring Cincinnati' is the current exhibition still on display at The Betts House. Since we only had so much room, I had two prints that I didn't get to display:


These photographs of the rusted rails at the former Riverside Amtrak Station heading towards the Cincinnati skyline and the crumbling remains of the Hudepohl Brewery represent two bygone eras in Queen City history. These detailed, full color 8.5 x 11 inch prints come framed and matted in a high quality metal frame just like the ones seen in the first picture of this post. They're available for just $45.00, a great price for some original, local art. Check out all my work currently available in the Queen City Discovery Store.

Additionally, nearly every photograph of mine featured on this site can be printed and shipped out to you. If you have a request, just shoot me an email and I'll do my best to accommodate it.

All print orders will be shipped out by me within 1-2 business days. Check out the full selection in the new QC/D store. Thanks for the support and I hope you see something you like!

Edit: The Subway T-Shirts have been temporarily removed from the store. This is due to the high shipping costs and dissatisfaction I've had with Zazzle.com I'm currently looking for some place local to sell them from. If anyone is interested or if you have any recommendations on companies, please email me.

Previous Update :: November 7, 2009 - Zombies Attack Cincinnati!.

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