Tin Lizzies on Main Street Updated After Interview with Driver

A group of Tin Lizzies, aka Model Ts, were parked on Main Street this afternoon as the occupants took a break from their excursion. At least one of the vehicles had an upgrade that included a GPS Reciever. Photos of the automobiles are posted below without further comment. Click on any image to embiggen it to a larger size.


How the Tin Lizzie got its nickname. [LINK]

Update

One of the drivers (of the red car) said they were out for an excursion that started in Rockwood, TN. They spent the night last night at Tapoco Lodge in Graham County and have spent the afternoon in Franklin and are planning to go from here to Highlands, then Dalton, GA, and eventually back to Rockwood to end the tour.


This car is from Chatanooga, TN


This car is from Knoxville, TN



This car is from Rockwood, TN


This car is from Ocala, FL.







Published at 2:30pm on Tuesday, May 26, 2020

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Map Developer Updates Street View Maps Will Include Information on Roundabout Construction

A mapping car equipped with multiple cameras from Here technologies drove through Franklin earlier this afternoon in a quest to capture regional roads in North Carolina and update points of interest that have had recent construction and verify user changes to their maps. The driver said that he was in Franklin specifically to capture the new bridge and the mark the location of the new roundabout construction to include in their maps. He said the maps would also be updated after the construction of the roundabouts was complete. The driver said the company had their own maps that could be accessed via a laptop or desktop, as well as apps for smartphones that included voice navigation so drivers could get directions hands-free while driving. Their maps also include a traffic layer that uses data collected from app users to determine areas where traffic congestion has slowed down traffic.



Following is a list of some of their consumer-level products:

WeGo Map [LINK]

Map Creator [LINK]

Android App [LINK] 

Apple App [LINK]





About the Company

Here Technologies is a company that provides mapping and location data and related services to individuals and companies. Here captures location content such as road networks, buildings, parks and traffic patterns. It then sells or licenses that mapping content, along with navigation services and location solutions to other businesses such as Alpine, Garmin, BMW, Oracle and Amazon.com. In addition, Here provides platform services to smartphones. It provides location services through its own Here applications, and also for GIS and government clients and other providers, such as Bing, Facebook and Yahoo! Maps and has maps in nearly 200 countries, offers voice guided navigation in 94 countries, provides live traffic information in 33 countries and has indoor maps available for about 49,000 unique buildings in 45 countries. The company is also working on self-driving technology.

Source: Wikipedia


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Published at 4:30pm on Thursday, March 14, 2019

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1952 Studebaker Champion

Here is a nice looking 1952 Studebaker Champion observed in the Walmart parking lot this morning. The above photo is a sketch with only the car colored and below is a true color image of the car.

And, of course, no 1952 Studebaker would be complete without a T-Shirt with the likeness of President Eisenhower on it.

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MAMA-2 at Cullasaja Assembly of God

Video and photo essay of MAMA-2 landing at the Cullasaja Assembly of God on the Highlands Road at around 10:30am this morning. This spot is often utilized by the Cullasaja Gorge Volunteer Fire Department as a safe place for MAMA-1 and MAMA-2 to medevac patients from the area to Memorial Mission Hospital. The patient being transferred today was a medical patient.






These photos are also on my personal Flickr account.

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Seen From the Road in Sylva

I had some business to take care of in Jackson County this morning and here are some photos I took while over there...

Traffic was backed up due to the road leading into Sylva from Dillsboro being periodically blocked by Town Crews. They were removing trees from the hill below the library and dragging them down the road to be cut up at the old Rescue Squad Building. I waited nearly 20 minutes going in and 12 minutes going back out. It seems to me they should have established a detour route if they were going to be blocking the road for that period of time.

People were pulling out and driving up the wrong side of the road so they could detour around the road blockage.








The hill does look nice now. I hope it doesn't end up sliding into the road since all the trees (or most of them, anyway) are now gone.


This guy probably made better time than I did this morning.

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Driving in the Snow

I don't normally drive in the snow unless it is a dire emergency...but if I did, I would be sure to video the event and share it with you. There were at least three people in western North Carolina who drove in the snow, recorded it and uploaded the video to You Tube. Here they are...

Rapid Ralph Slows Down for Winter Weather Driving

A proud owner of a 2010 Subaru puts the car through it's paces on Town Mountain in Asheville, NC

Driving in Boone, NC while listening to the Wagon Wheel

...and a little reminder of why I don't get out on snow-covered roads...no matter how good you drive, there are always idiots out there who can't...

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Night Driving Time Lapse

Shot this Monday night on my trip back home from Waynesville.

I also seriously thought my windshield was clean...

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Tractor Trailer Fire on Cowee Mountain

Here is photo of a tractor-trailer fire on US Highway 441 North in Macon County near the bottom of Cowee Mountain just above the runaway truck ramp. Franklin Fire-Rescue and Mountain Valley Fire-Rescue responded to the scene along with numerous Sheriff's Deputies and the NC State Highway Patrol to control traffic.


The Google Map shows the location. It appears that no one was hurt. WLOS-TV was already on the scene when I drove by, so they must have been in town for a story.






View Larger Map

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(VIDEO) Truck - 0, Mountain - 1

Tractor trailer trucks are prohibited from traveling NC 28/US 64 between Franklin and Highlands, and it is strongly recommended that large recreational vehicles and buses not use this road due to the rocky overhangs on one side and the steep gorge on the other.


I think that the video below captures this quite nicely:







By the prompt arrival of the Macon County Sheriff's Patrol, I surmise that perhaps someone had called law enforcement to advise them that a big rig was trying to use the road. I hear several calls a week on my scanner for law enforcement to direct traffic around one of these wrecks, and once or twice a month, a VFD or EMS Unit has to respond due to hazardous conditions or injuries on this road caused by irresponsible drivers of big rigs.

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Construction Update: Jackson County Public Library

I was in Sylva this morning and afternoon, so I took the opportunity to swing by the Jackson County Library Complex to see how the construction was going, and these photos tell the tale of the progress so far. Click on the image above to see a larger version of that photo.

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Pavement Repair at Holly Springs Plaza Ingles

Long overdue repair work is now underway at the Ingles Supermarket located in the Holly Springs Plaza in Franklin. I happened to be in the right place at the right time as crews began their work and snapped a few photos as they began their repairs to the pavement that had been severely damaged during this past winter. It had cracked, split and collapsed in a few places in front of the store.

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Melbourne to Sydney in Five Minutes

One of my You Tube friends [LINK] has made a time lapse video of a trip from Melbourne to Sydney, Australia. The journey has been condensed from over ten hours to five minutes. Enjoy the ride...

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Ten Minutes in Franklin, NC

A short time lapse showing the flow of traffic in downtown Franklin, NC earlier this morning...


.

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NCDOT Crew on US441N in Macon County

The running joke is that the orange construction cone is the state flower and the NCDOT worker is the state turtle. True to form, only one guy was working his broom the whole time I sat at the intersection made dangerous by this work crew.


I finally had to back my truck up from the intersection so I could see around the equipment. This is where I took the photo from...

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Duke Energy Using Helicopter to Clear Trees From Power Lines

While I was out running errands this morning, I saw a small black helicopter alternately hovering and flying slowly back and forth. It was a real helicopter, not the kind seen by the paranoid who imagine the Federal government is spying on them.


This helicopter, it turns out, had a number of saw blades hanging from it and is being used to cut trees away from Duke Energy's power lines in areas that are difficult to access by vehicle. They are using an innovative method to trim trees along power line rights of way, especially in areas that are harder to reach. I've heard that they've been using this method in some parts of Nantahala for a few years. This was the first time that I was lucky enough to see it in action for myself, and I thought it would be cool to share it with you, so I snapped a few photos and shot some video, which I've embedded below. I hope you enjoy it!




**5.50pm**
I couldn't resist. I made a time-lapse out of the helicopter footage...LOL

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Maggie Valley to Cullowhee on a Rainy Day

I shot this video in May of 2007 on a ride from the Maggie Valley Club in Haywood County to WCU in Jackson County on a rainy day. The ride took thirty-nine minutes, but I have compressed it down to just six. Yesterday I decided it would work well with a piece of music from Batlestar Galactica.

Still looking for footage of valley fog I shot back then...sure wish I had labeled everything. D'Oh!

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A Snowy Drive From Franklin to Asheville

Here is a video someone uploaded of portions of their drive from Franklin to Asheville yesterday:



And here is a short video taken from an apartment in Asheville:



I am sooo jealous because there was no snow at my house in Macon County, nor any here on the WCU campus!

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