Com-Central.net

Skip this bit if it doesn't interest you!

In Detail:

1. Since I started (nearly 30 years ago) I've always tried to keep track of the various locations I've seen a tank, mostly for myself so I don't record a tank more than once just because it's moved. This information has been included in the text write-up for a tank, so the main change I am doing is to record this information in the database in such a way that it can be automatically searched for. This information is now visible in the table near the top of each profile page, and is mapped at the top of the page.

2. For many tanks, the only information on location history is its current location, so in these cases the map is a bit 'thin'. That led me to start researching manufacturer/factory information, and there the idea is that where we know nothing else about a tank's history, we can be pretty confident about where it started out in life. Each tank model now has information on its primary/biggest manufacturer/factory.

3. In a few cases, we know where a tank was manufactured and that it wasn't made by the biggest manufacturer, so it is possible to include this information with the tank and 'override' the default model manufacturer.


Here's an example of this override facility in use - most Pz IIIs were made by Daimler-Benz, so by default this is assumed to be the point of origin for any Pz III added to the database, but we know this one was actually made by MAN so the override is used:

UID109: Bovington PzIIIL


For the overall system to work I need to include information on every significant tank manufacturer/factory in the database, and that is what has taken most of the time. So far I have added the following to the database:

LocationID: Name, Country, Nationality
1100: Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) AG, Germany, German
1105: Daimler-Benz AG, Germany, German
1110: Krupp-Gruson Werk AG, Germany, German
1115: Altmärkische Kettenfabrik (Alkett) GmbH, Germany, German
1120: Krauss-Maffei GmbH, Germany, German
1121: Wegmann & Co, Germany, German
1125: Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover (MNH) GmbH, Germany, German
1130: Mühlenbau-Industrie AG (MIAG), Germany, German
1135: Henschel und Sohn, Germany, German
1140: Rheinmetall-Borsig AG, Germany, German
1145: Deutsche Eisenwerke AG, Germany, German
1150: Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG (VOMAG), Germany, German
1155: Deutsche Maschinenfabrik AG (Demag), Germany, German

3390: Vauxhall Motors Limited, England, British
3690: Leyland Motors, England, British

4910: Tokyo Gas and Electric Industry Company Limited, Japan, Japanese
4900: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited, Japan, Japanese

6325: Renault S.A., France, French/German (e.g. SPs)
6330: Hotchkiss et Cie, France, French/German (e.g. SPs)
6735: Lorraine, France, French/German (e.g. Lorraine Schlepper)

16900: Fahrzeug-und Motorenwerke (FAMO) GmbH, Poland, German
16910: Ostbau Werke, Poland, German

23830: Factory 37, Ukraine, Soviet

25910: Deutsche Eisenwerke AG, Czech Republic, German
25920: Ceskomoravsksa-Kolben-Danek (CKD), Czech Republic, Czech/German (as BMM)
25930: Skoda Works, Czech Republic, Czech/German

31500: Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG, Austria, German
31510: Steyr-Werke, Austria, German


These manufacturers cover all tanks in the database from 1 to 340, which is as far as I've got. I'm about to go on holiday - once I'm back I'll return to working on existing projects (i.e. Preserved Tanks in Italy, Switzerland and Britain) while aiming to continue in parallel adding manufacturers for the other tanks in the database as I have time.

Once the system is complete I will look at adding additional code, for example to list with each factory all the preserved tanks that were manufactured there. Similarly for all museums, similar code will list all tanks that used to be on display there (which can be very useful when trying to track down a tank that has moved around).

Hello Trevor,
The Dutch Leopard 2s were the serial starts with ''22'' are built at Maschinenbau Kiel (s/ns 22001 - 22167)

regards,
Lesley

Thats interesting, Lesley, thanks for that. I'll add an entry for Maschinenbau Kiel into the database - it'll be in a week or so's time as I go on holiday this weekend.

As a general note, I'm supposed to be getting a new ISP while I'm away (the timing's not good!) so if I disappear off the Net for a while it'll be because it the changeover went badly!

I'm back from holiday, to find the switchover to a new ISP (Sky.com) has gone very smoothly (I just plugged in the new router they supplied and it just worked, no passwords, code numbers or anything - that's never happened before!).

We had fun motorhoming around the Lake District. Of course, I took the opportunities that presented themselves and visited:

1) Imperial War Museum North (T-55 and T-34-85)
2) James Bond Museum (T-55)
3) RAF Museum Cosford (Centurion - probably Swiss, Leopard, Scorpion, Tracked Rapier, BMP, Saladin)

I'll put them all online once current projects are out of the way.

I had some time off this week so I've been able to do another upgrade to Preserved Tanks.com, building on the recent upgrade described above.

- TrevorLarkum

Since I started (nearly 30 years ago) I've always tried to keep track of the various locations I've seen a tank, mostly for myself so I don't record a tank more than once just because it's moved. This information has been included in the text write-up for a tank, so the main change I am doing is to record this information in the database in such a way that it can be automatically searched for. This information is now visible in the table near the top of each profile page, and is mapped at the top of the page.

Now as well as listing with each tank all the previous locations it has been, I've added code so that when you visit a location, all the tanks in the database are searched and a list is created of all the tanks that have previously been at that location.

Here are a couple of examples, just look below the write up for each section in the new Tanks Previously Here section:

Saumur Armour Museum

Aberdeen Proving Ground

The idea is very simple - if you are looking for a particular tank that you think might be at that location, as well as seeing what's there now you can easily check if it used to be there and if so where it is now. Of course the list will automatically get bigger and more comprehensive as I add more tanks to the database.

Trevor

Did you make any progress on the POI files you mentioned some time ago. I've converted the cordinates from my database into a .csv and a .ov2 file. As a user of a TomTom I could only test the ov2 file, the csv is based on your file. At the moment its all static, but I'm working on some code to make it dynamic. Files can be found here: www.afvregister.org/Download.aspx

All remarks are welkom

Tichenor

Tichenor,

Since putting up the Normandy POI file, I haven't progressed it further. I have thought of creating POI files dynamically, but I have a bunch of other upgrades to the website that are currently higher priority for me - partly because I haven't heard of anyone making use of my original file yet.

Regarding your POI file, I could check it for you if that would help. I would have to get it into the Navman software on my laptop at work and then into my satnav, but I'm happy to give it a go if that would be useful.

- trevor

Regarding your POI file, I could check it for you if that would help. I would have to get it into the Navman software on my laptop at work and then into my satnav, but I'm happy to give it a go if that would be useful.

If it's not to much trouble, please do. I've tested the TomTom version and that works.

Tichenor

Ok, I'll get on to it (but give me a few days).

- TrevorLarkum

Now as well as listing with each tank all the previous locations it has been, I've added code so that when you visit a location, all the tanks in the database are searched and a list is created of all the tanks that have previously been at that location.

The idea is very simple - if you are looking for a particular tank that you think might be at that location, as well as seeing what's there now you can easily check if it used to be there and if so where it is now. Of course the list will automatically get bigger and more comprehensive as I add more tanks to the database.

I have added some extra code specifically for locations that are factories. This provides two extra lists of links:

1) Specific tanks that are known to have been manufactured at that factory (clicking on a link takes you to the tank).
2) The models of tank that were known to have been manufactured at that factory (clicking on a link takes you to the list of preserved examples).

Some examples probably explain it best:

MNH, Hannover, Germany
MAN, Nuremberg, Germany
Krupp, Magdeburg, Germany
Nibelungen, St Valentin, Austria
Vickers, Elswick, England
ARE, Roanne, France
Skoda, Pilsen, Czechoslovakia

Similar results can be found for the longer list of factories posted above.

- Tichenor

- trevor

Regarding your POI file, I could check it for you if that would help. I would have to get it into the Navman software on my laptop at work and then into my satnav, but I'm happy to give it a go if that would be useful.

If it's not to much trouble, please do. I've tested the TomTom version and that works.

Tichenor

Tichenor, I loaded it into the satnav software on my laptop and it gave an error (something like "one or more POI locations not recognised"). However, I then downloaded it from there to the satnav, and it said it copied successfully. I can see the POIs on the satnav, so I think it has worked fine. I think the error came either from the first line in the file (your commented out one) or - probably more likely - from the blank line between that line and your first POI. You should note, though, that many of the location names look very strange because the accented characters have not saved properly in your CSV file.

I'll be driving to the east coast in a few weeks so I'll try to check a few locations as I go, and also confirm it lets me know when I get close to a POI in your list.

thanks Trevor

It seems that the conversion program I've used can't transfer the more exotic characters correct (I've noticed this with eastern europe, french and spanish letters)

Michel

I would guess for the names to work in a POI file (which is just text) they have to be simple ASCII.

I had a holiday at home this week so I worked on a mini-project. Joe_D pointed me at his excellent collection of preserved tank photo's online and this has prompted me to write up the vehicles at Camp Shelby (partly because of its M47 mentioned in the M47 thread).

I began with Josef's photographs, then I did a search through this forum for all posts containing ‘Shelby’ to get any background information that had been posted. Finally I did a Google search for pictures that have a copyright license allowing reuse to ‘flesh out’ the images for each tank over time:

Location ID 74100: Camp Shelby, MS

To give some background locations for the list and map with each tank I have also written up the key manufacturing and upgrade sites as I came across them for many of these vehicles (as usual click on the photograph for each tank to see its full profile page). These locations include:

Location ID 50850: Anniston Army Depot (for the M48A3/5 and M60A3 upgrades)
Location ID 57800: Chrysler Newark plant (for the manufacturer of the M48)
Location ID 72930: Fisher Tank Arsenal/Grand Blanc (for the manufacturer of the M26)
Location ID 93850: Red River Army Depot (for the M48A3 and M103A2 upgrades)

Plus some temporary placeholders (I'll return to these at a later date to complete them):

Location ID 50800: Fort McClellan (for the likely source of the M42B1E9)
Location ID 60300: Fort Stewart (for the source of the ZSU23-4)
Location ID 68800: Louisiana Museum of Military History (for the source of the M47)
Location ID 85800: Federal Machine and Welder Company (for the manufacturer of the M7B2)

If any of you have any information or photographs to add to these entries please let us know.

Trevor

I'm not sure if you have this in the above mentioned background info but, It seems that the USMC has (or had) a rebuild depot in Albany Georgia.

This is the rebuild data plate off of the M60A1 aka Buster.


Hope this helps
Regards
Don