Diamond Island objects

Diver1111 · 09-20-2009, 08:18 PM

As there is a fair amount of interest in Diamond Islands' Scripps-related history, I add the following, for what it's worth:

Decided to dive deeper off Diamond to see if I could find the RR track that descends into deep water. I could swear I saw this RR track setup maybe ten years ago-miniature RR tracks with rails about 24" apart set onto concrete pilings about 3-4 feet high off the lake bottom-am I positive? No-where I saw this structure I can't say for sure but my I am of the opinion it was off Diamond; I know I was diving wet (wetsuit) so I stopped at the nasty thermocline at about 35 feet when we hit perhaps 50 degree water; Tough to hit...ice-cream headaches etc..

A buddy and I have dived this dry (in drysuits) in the past parallel to the shore starting south of the brown boathouse then north to the raft just offshore adjacent to the Empty Pockets wreck which sits at 55 feet on the slope; First went out to 60-65 feet or so then swam north-no RR track that we could find.

In the past I have found a huge (ten foot diameter) concrete pipe and other such large industrial objects; One target I did find and later bagged on side-scan (image attached) which might be railroad-related is a big steel I-beam frame structure mounted on a concrete footing that is about (bear with me here) about 9 x 9 feet and about 5 feet high/thick. It looks like it has an actual seat on it at the top-like a chair-as if to observe from.

Image attached doesn't look like much but dive it and see for yourself; You can see the right-angles of the block base on the bottom and the encrusted tower frame going up into the water column. Again, doesn't look like much but it's real.

Cross-hairs are of my cursor on the side-scan adjacent to it, and the coordinates are:

43 34.254 071 19.411

Again, Map Datum WGS84

If anyone can help me here on finding the RR tracks I would love to dive them as deep as they go-I bail on depth at about 130 feet max..

I may post photos of this site later if I can dig them up.

Rattlesnake Guy · 09-20-2009, 09:00 PM

Taken from the Weirs Times article a few years ago.

And that’s how Dr. Quimby Duntley, the U.S. Navy, and M.I.T. came to Diamond Island to conduct secret experiments, and these experiments lasted until 1955! Arrangements were made for the Navy to lease the property on which the experiments were conducted and Carroll Spooner built a tall observation tower near the island’s yet-to-be completed “Lagoon” which is the Spooner-preferred word for “breakwater.”

When Quimby Duntley and his wife Mabel first arrived at Diamond Island they camped out in a tent, but a generator was brought to the island to help with the experiments. “Somewhere during this time, Dr. Duntley left M.I.T. and went with Scripp’s Institution of Oceanography. The next thing we know they’re working underwater on one of the first laser beams ever produced!”

A metal “laser track,”looking much like a miniature railroad track, or a small horizontal ladder, was constructed on the beach before it was submerged in the lake. “They put a long tube under the water with a cement foundation on the bottom. Winnipesaukee Marine would come and lower the tube into the water every spring and take it out in the fall,” recalls Dave. “It had a window where you could look out and see the lake. The experiments were always conducted at night of course and through the window they could aim the (laser) beam of light on the track and move the ‘target’ back and forth on the track.”

Will keep looking for the pictures of the camp that was shown in the article.

Rattlesnake Guy · 09-20-2009, 09:05 PM

Both Dave and his wife Joan went down into the tube and Dave said, “The fish would come right up to the beam!” Joan’s surprise was all the plankton in the lake she said, “but we were told it keeps the lake clean!” Joan added, “Those poor divers, they all ended up getting sick or getting pneumonia. Every year five or six of them were sick…working in the cold water for hours at a time, and all done in the night.” This program of research on underwater lighting by submerged light sources, including the underwater laser experiments, were made on Diamond Island in 1964 through 1966.

As for that metal laser track, it is still visible today. Underwater divers have long speculated as to its purpose. Joan recalls that the experiment site drew so much attention that long after the experiments ended, “Scuba divers were out there all the time. We couldn’t even get out of the boathouse to go to the mainland some of the time and Dave would have to get them to move. And sometimes the divers lit up the lake like Times Square at night.” In his “Lake Winnipesaukee Cruising Guide” published in 1984, author David Buckman notes that in Blaisdell’s “Three Centuries on Winnipesaukee” published in 1936, the work near Diamond Island was recorded as “light diffusion experiments.” He also made note of local barges reportedly hauling some “strange looking devices” to the island, sparking much curiosity about the nature of the experiments. Buckman further noted, “Local divers report that a railway lies along the steeply sloping bottom.” Buckman ends his excerpt on Diamond Island with a warning for boaters to heed the “Keep Out” signs posted on the northwestern tip of the island.

Rattlesnake Guy · 09-20-2009, 09:10 PM

http://www.physics.miami.edu/optics/...OOXVI_2002.pdf

Rattlesnake Guy · 09-20-2009, 09:32 PM

Found this in one of my wife's 2005 post.

July 21, 2005 page 13 of The Weirs Times has the history of Diamond Island and the underwater research.
Great pictures too!

The link appears to be broken. I remember the pictures in the paper. Seem to remember a log cabin type structure on the north end. Perhaps someone knows how to get to 2005 weirs times data.

Rattlesnake Gal · 09-21-2009, 07:22 AM

I just sent an e-mail to the Weirs Times. None of the 2005 archives work.

Bubba · 09-22-2009, 04:17 PM

Go to the Lake Winipesaukee Historical Society website, Diamond Island, Spooner Family. There are photos of the breakwater, tower, and folks that were working the project.

Grant · 10-16-2009, 01:39 PM

The concrete culvert you mentioned is JUST south of the brown boathouse, and VERY close to shore. The bottom drops off dramatically on that side of the island (we've anchored about 10 feet from shore, and had the anchor in 20-30 feet of water!). I believe the tracks were even further south -- and not much more than 30-50 feet deep. Empty Pockets is NNW of tracks and ~54 feet. I know it used to have a marker bottle on it, but am not sure about that today.

Channel Pirate · 05-07-2010, 11:03 PM

My Grandfather was on the MIT crew of the experiment. He use to keep his Indian Motorcycle at Ames Farm and ride it to the Irwin Ballroom on the weekends. One theory passed along from the good old days was that Lake Winnipesaukee sits in the crator of a giant volcano that was run over by the last ice age, and that a fair amount of sulfer still finds its way up into the lake wich would result in a high amount of plankton and the numerous natural H2o springs around the lake and the south side of the White Mountain Range. Next time your out in the middle of the broads, stop the boat and do a 360 look around and you might think it's not just a theory.

09-20-2009, 08:18 PM	#1
Diver1111 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Exeter NH Posts: 596 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,027 Times in 224 Posts	Diamond Island objects As there is a fair amount of interest in Diamond Islands' Scripps-related history, I add the following, for what it's worth: Decided to dive deeper off Diamond to see if I could find the RR track that descends into deep water. I could swear I saw this RR track setup maybe ten years ago-miniature RR tracks with rails about 24" apart set onto concrete pilings about 3-4 feet high off the lake bottom-am I positive? No-where I saw this structure I can't say for sure but my I am of the opinion it was off Diamond; I know I was diving wet (wetsuit) so I stopped at the nasty thermocline at about 35 feet when we hit perhaps 50 degree water; Tough to hit...ice-cream headaches etc.. A buddy and I have dived this dry (in drysuits) in the past parallel to the shore starting south of the brown boathouse then north to the raft just offshore adjacent to the Empty Pockets wreck which sits at 55 feet on the slope; First went out to 60-65 feet or so then swam north-no RR track that we could find. In the past I have found a huge (ten foot diameter) concrete pipe and other such large industrial objects; One target I did find and later bagged on side-scan (image attached) which might be railroad-related is a big steel I-beam frame structure mounted on a concrete footing that is about (bear with me here) about 9 x 9 feet and about 5 feet high/thick. It looks like it has an actual seat on it at the top-like a chair-as if to observe from. Image attached doesn't look like much but dive it and see for yourself; You can see the right-angles of the block base on the bottom and the encrusted tower frame going up into the water column. Again, doesn't look like much but it's real. Cross-hairs are of my cursor on the side-scan adjacent to it, and the coordinates are: 43 34.254 071 19.411 Again, Map Datum WGS84 If anyone can help me here on finding the RR tracks I would love to dive them as deep as they go-I bail on depth at about 130 feet max.. I may post photos of this site later if I can dig them up. Attached Images

09-20-2009, 09:05 PM	#3
Rattlesnake Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,254 Thanks: 423 Thanked 366 Times in 175 Posts	More clues Both Dave and his wife Joan went down into the tube and Dave said, “The fish would come right up to the beam!” Joan’s surprise was all the plankton in the lake she said, “but we were told it keeps the lake clean!” Joan added, “Those poor divers, they all ended up getting sick or getting pneumonia. Every year five or six of them were sick…working in the cold water for hours at a time, and all done in the night.” This program of research on underwater lighting by submerged light sources, including the underwater laser experiments, were made on Diamond Island in 1964 through 1966. As for that metal laser track, it is still visible today. Underwater divers have long speculated as to its purpose. Joan recalls that the experiment site drew so much attention that long after the experiments ended, “Scuba divers were out there all the time. We couldn’t even get out of the boathouse to go to the mainland some of the time and Dave would have to get them to move. And sometimes the divers lit up the lake like Times Square at night.” In his “Lake Winnipesaukee Cruising Guide” published in 1984, author David Buckman notes that in Blaisdell’s “Three Centuries on Winnipesaukee” published in 1936, the work near Diamond Island was recorded as “light diffusion experiments.” He also made note of local barges reportedly hauling some “strange looking devices” to the island, sparking much curiosity about the nature of the experiments. Buckman further noted, “Local divers report that a railway lies along the steeply sloping bottom.” Buckman ends his excerpt on Diamond Island with a warning for boaters to heed the “Keep Out” signs posted on the northwestern tip of the island.

09-20-2009, 09:10 PM	#4
Rattlesnake Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,254 Thanks: 423 Thanked 366 Times in 175 Posts	For those of us with technical interest in the subject http://www.physics.miami.edu/optics/...OOXVI_2002.pdf

09-21-2009, 07:22 AM	#6
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,447 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Weirs Times Article I just sent an e-mail to the Weirs Times. None of the 2005 archives work.

09-22-2009, 04:17 PM	#7
Bubba Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Merrimack, NH & East Alton, NH Posts: 65 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	More Info Go to the Lake Winipesaukee Historical Society website, Diamond Island, Spooner Family. There are photos of the breakwater, tower, and folks that were working the project.

09-20-2009, 09:00 PM	#2
Rattlesnake Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,254 Thanks: 423 Thanked 366 Times in 175 Posts	Taken from the Weirs Times article a few years ago. And that’s how Dr. Quimby Duntley, the U.S. Navy, and M.I.T. came to Diamond Island to conduct secret experiments, and these experiments lasted until 1955! Arrangements were made for the Navy to lease the property on which the experiments were conducted and Carroll Spooner built a tall observation tower near the island’s yet-to-be completed “Lagoon” which is the Spooner-preferred word for “breakwater.” When Quimby Duntley and his wife Mabel first arrived at Diamond Island they camped out in a tent, but a generator was brought to the island to help with the experiments. “Somewhere during this time, Dr. Duntley left M.I.T. and went with Scripp’s Institution of Oceanography. The next thing we know they’re working underwater on one of the first laser beams ever produced!” A metal “laser track,”looking much like a miniature railroad track, or a small horizontal ladder, was constructed on the beach before it was submerged in the lake. “They put a long tube under the water with a cement foundation on the bottom. Winnipesaukee Marine would come and lower the tube into the water every spring and take it out in the fall,” recalls Dave. “It had a window where you could look out and see the lake. The experiments were always conducted at night of course and through the window they could aim the (laser) beam of light on the track and move the ‘target’ back and forth on the track.” Will keep looking for the pictures of the camp that was shown in the article.

09-20-2009, 09:32 PM	#5
Rattlesnake Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,254 Thanks: 423 Thanked 366 Times in 175 Posts	Found this in one of my wife's 2005 post. July 21, 2005 page 13 of The Weirs Times has the history of Diamond Island and the underwater research. Great pictures too! The link appears to be broken. I remember the pictures in the paper. Seem to remember a log cabin type structure on the north end. Perhaps someone knows how to get to 2005 weirs times data.

10-16-2009, 01:39 PM	#8
Grant Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Pennsyltuckey, Tuftonboro, Moultonborough Posts: 1,485 Thanks: 337 Thanked 212 Times in 116 Posts	The concrete culvert you mentioned is JUST south of the brown boathouse, and VERY close to shore. The bottom drops off dramatically on that side of the island (we've anchored about 10 feet from shore, and had the anchor in 20-30 feet of water!). I believe the tracks were even further south -- and not much more than 30-50 feet deep. Empty Pockets is NNW of tracks and ~54 feet. I know it used to have a marker bottle on it, but am not sure about that today. __________________ "When I die, please don't let my wife sell my dive gear for what I told her I paid for it."

05-07-2010, 11:03 PM	#9
Channel Pirate Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Weirs Beach (full time) Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post	Diamond Island My Grandfather was on the MIT crew of the experiment. He use to keep his Indian Motorcycle at Ames Farm and ride it to the Irwin Ballroom on the weekends. One theory passed along from the good old days was that Lake Winnipesaukee sits in the crator of a giant volcano that was run over by the last ice age, and that a fair amount of sulfer still finds its way up into the lake wich would result in a high amount of plankton and the numerous natural H2o springs around the lake and the south side of the White Mountain Range. Next time your out in the middle of the broads, stop the boat and do a 360 look around and you might think it's not just a theory.