04 July 2007
GRMS-2
If you were around Gaines Street and Stone Valley Road today (4th of July, 2007), you probably noticed a very strange looking locomotive on the CSX siding. It's painted blue and yellow, has the CSX logo, is numbered "GRMS-2" and appears to be a rather high-tech device.
It turns out that it's a "Track Geometry Unit" and is a rolling computer center on rails. According to Wikipedia.org, it measures the gauge of the tracks, the relative level between the two tracks and does other non-destructive tricks to access the condition of the rails.
I wasn't smart enough to have a camera long when I saw it today, but there are some excellent photos of GRMS-2 on RailPictures.Net. Click here, here and here for photos of this very engine in other cities.
All the rail in Tallahassee, to the best of my knowledge, belongs to CSX. If you notice a problem with the railroad (such as a stuck signal, a vehicle stuck in a crossing, etc.) the number to call is 1-800-232-0144.
It turns out that it's a "Track Geometry Unit" and is a rolling computer center on rails. According to Wikipedia.org, it measures the gauge of the tracks, the relative level between the two tracks and does other non-destructive tricks to access the condition of the rails.
I wasn't smart enough to have a camera long when I saw it today, but there are some excellent photos of GRMS-2 on RailPictures.Net. Click here, here and here for photos of this very engine in other cities.
All the rail in Tallahassee, to the best of my knowledge, belongs to CSX. If you notice a problem with the railroad (such as a stuck signal, a vehicle stuck in a crossing, etc.) the number to call is 1-800-232-0144.
Labels: crossing signal, CSX, Florida, GRMS, level crossing, railroad, Tallahassee, track geomerty
13 May 2007
TLH017 Smoky Festival
It's dry in North Florida
and very smoky. There's a huge swamp fire burning on the Florida/Georgia border. There has been a haze in the air the last few days, but today it's so smoky that my eyes burn when I walk outside. Right now, both I-10 and I-have sections closed because of the smoke.
This link should take you to the FHP site for road closure information.
On today's TallyCast, we travel down to Pinellas County, over to White Springs for the Florida Folk Festival and down to Gainesville.
The podcast opens with a tune by Mary Smith McClain,
better known as Diamond Teeth Mary, a great blues performer and an amazing person. Check out this story about Mary that was written after her death in 2000. I re-tell a story about Diamond Teeth Mary and her diamond teeth.
I first heard Mary sing and play the piano at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs about 10 or 15 years ago. If you have some time over the Memorial Day Weekend and are anywhere near the intersection of I-10 and I-75, you should stop in and enjoy a bit of the festival. It's held at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, a Florida State Park. Hopefully, but Memorial Day, the fires will be out, the rain will have come and everybody will be ready to sing and dance.
The podcast ends with a tune by the late Don Grooms; a Cherokee, a professor of journalism at the University of Florida and an amazing singer-songwriter. The tune is called "I believe".
Both tunes and the photographs here come to us from the official Archives of the State of Florida. You can access some of their collection by going the Florida Memory Project on the Internet.
I'm looking for stories of Gaines Street. If you have a story about Gaines street, please get in touch with me. The email is tallycast at gmail (that period looking thing) com or you can call my new talkback line at (850) 391-4955.
Be well, protect your lungs and pray for rain.
Dave
and very smoky. There's a huge swamp fire burning on the Florida/Georgia border. There has been a haze in the air the last few days, but today it's so smoky that my eyes burn when I walk outside. Right now, both I-10 and I-have sections closed because of the smoke.This link should take you to the FHP site for road closure information.
On today's TallyCast, we travel down to Pinellas County, over to White Springs for the Florida Folk Festival and down to Gainesville.
The podcast opens with a tune by Mary Smith McClain,
better known as Diamond Teeth Mary, a great blues performer and an amazing person. Check out this story about Mary that was written after her death in 2000. I re-tell a story about Diamond Teeth Mary and her diamond teeth.
I first heard Mary sing and play the piano at the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs about 10 or 15 years ago. If you have some time over the Memorial Day Weekend and are anywhere near the intersection of I-10 and I-75, you should stop in and enjoy a bit of the festival. It's held at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, a Florida State Park. Hopefully, but Memorial Day, the fires will be out, the rain will have come and everybody will be ready to sing and dance.
The podcast ends with a tune by the late Don Grooms; a Cherokee, a professor of journalism at the University of Florida and an amazing singer-songwriter. The tune is called "I believe".
Both tunes and the photographs here come to us from the official Archives of the State of Florida. You can access some of their collection by going the Florida Memory Project on the Internet.
I'm looking for stories of Gaines Street. If you have a story about Gaines street, please get in touch with me. The email is tallycast at gmail (that period looking thing) com or you can call my new talkback line at (850) 391-4955.
Be well, protect your lungs and pray for rain.
Dave
Labels: bluegrass, blues, fire, Florida, folk music, podcast, smoke, swamp, white springs
15 January 2007
TLH015 - Remembering Dr. King
TLH015 - Remembering Dr. King
<Martin Luther King, Jr. Born January 15th, 1929; died too soon on April 4th, 1968. Dr. King was a peacemaker, an activist and a strong voice for freedom, equality and justice. Dr. King was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter.
The excerpt from Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech is from the Internet Archive. The photo appearing in our blog today is from the Wikimedia commons.
From his speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence", at Riverside Church on April 4th, 1967; one year to the day before his death: "We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest...A time comes when silence is betrayal."
(found in Brad Blog.)
This is also a good day to remember a local hero in the fight for civil rights, the Reverend C.K. Steel, the late pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church. In 1956, Rev. Steel became a focal point and leader of a boycott of the local bus system in Tallahassee that lasted until 1958. Prior to the boycott, Americans of African descent were required to ride in the back of the bus.
Tallhassee has a monunment to Dr. Steel. Washington DC needs a monument to Dr. King. You can learn more and make a donation by clicking here.
The podcast ends with MLK Day, a piece of melodic poetry by Brooklyn-born emcee SELF-SUFFICE (Rapoets) and Seattle-born emcee FURYUS (The Sky Beneath Crew). The audio comes from archive.org.
<Martin Luther King, Jr. Born January 15th, 1929; died too soon on April 4th, 1968. Dr. King was a peacemaker, an activist and a strong voice for freedom, equality and justice. Dr. King was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter.The excerpt from Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech is from the Internet Archive. The photo appearing in our blog today is from the Wikimedia commons.
From his speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence", at Riverside Church on April 4th, 1967; one year to the day before his death: "We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest...A time comes when silence is betrayal."
(found in Brad Blog.)
This is also a good day to remember a local hero in the fight for civil rights, the Reverend C.K. Steel, the late pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church. In 1956, Rev. Steel became a focal point and leader of a boycott of the local bus system in Tallahassee that lasted until 1958. Prior to the boycott, Americans of African descent were required to ride in the back of the bus.
Tallhassee has a monunment to Dr. Steel. Washington DC needs a monument to Dr. King. You can learn more and make a donation by clicking here.
The podcast ends with MLK Day, a piece of melodic poetry by Brooklyn-born emcee SELF-SUFFICE (Rapoets) and Seattle-born emcee FURYUS (The Sky Beneath Crew). The audio comes from archive.org.
Labels: Bus Boycott, CK Steel, Florida, Leon County, Martin Luther King, MLK, Tallahassee
