2013 Coffee Co. Fair: Astro Wheel in the Day

For the photo shown here, the ferris wheel was photographed during the day, although during the "golden hour" close to an hour before sundown. For this photo, I have attached a variable neutral density filter to my camera, which explains the contrast in sky color from one side to the other (a Variable ND filter is two polarizers together, and depending on how it is set can be anywhere from an ND1 to ND64. Mine was positioned close to ND16 for this photo.) For the photos with the wheel in motion, I attempted a daytime blurred motion ferris wheel photo, which doesn't appear to have been tried very often.

In 2013, the Coffee County Fair in Manchester, TN had a midway provided by Kissel Rides and Shows. This is the text of the info marker at the Astro Wheel:
In 1967 the Astro Wheel was designed by Chance Manufacturing, and was built in their Witchita, Kansas facility in 1967. Only nine were ever made. The Astro Wheel was unpopular with Carnival owners of that era, due to the fact, the ride required multiple trailers to transport and the excessive amount of man-hours to assemble the seventy-three foot tall device. Only four are still known to be in existence.

This particular Astro Wheel is believed to be the first one ever manufactured. It was found in a closing amusement park and was headed for certain destruction. Purchased by Kissel Rides and Shows, in 1995, our Astro Wheel quickly became a Midway favorite. Although, 2004 brought about a sad change for the massive ride. The owner at that time decided to retire the machine and replace it with a smaller, more portable wheel. The unique amusement device was once again rescued when Kissel Rides and Shows was purchased in 2005. The new owners set things in motion to not only use the wheel, but to totally restore it to pristine condition.
Fast Facts:
1967 year of manufacture
73 feet tall
2 semi trailers to transport
6 men to assemble
65 kilowatts to power
750-800 passengers per hour
2009 year of renovation
6051 individual lights
153 gallons of paint
2 miles of electrical wire
6 tons of sandblast sand
$100,000
Please enjoy yourself while riding an Americal Classic.....
The Mighty Giant Astro Wheel

To see all my Astro Wheel photos, look here:
www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/tags/astrowheel/

Range House - Elizabethton, TN

in the 1880's, this house was owned by Robert Taylor of the famous Alf & Robert Taylor governor brothers. The house was built by Dr. Abraham Jobe who was a local postmaster and in the mercantile business.

Church of the Ascension - Cartersville, GA

Episcopal church formed in 1844 - Cartersville, GA

Confederate Marker - Colliersville, TN

This marker placed by the Louisa Bedford Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was placed in the park in the middle of Colliersville's town square.

Humpreys County Courthouse - Waverly, TN

The Courthouse is on the town square in Waverly. It was built in 1952.

Slave Quarters at the Deery Inn - Blountville, TN

Behind the historic Deery Inn in Blountville is a collection of historic smaller buildings, most of which have been relocated here. The sign on this one reads: "William Deery built this brick building in the early 1800s to house his slaves. Very few original slave buildings still exist in northeast Tennessee.

Welcome to Red Boiling Springs sign

The water is flowing around Red Boiling Springs. There have been five different types of mineral spring water found in the area, and their names were based on how much exposure they had to shale rock: Black, Red, White, Freestone and Double and Twist. At the city turned into a resort town, many of the places that had a spring were capped with a hand-operated pump like the one seen on the sign.

Faded Cocal-Cola mural - Athens, TN

Seen near the town square in Athens, TN. Above the Coke ad is also an ad for Jas. L Crow Jr. Poultry & Eggs

Vintage Ski Lift / Sky Ride

I am not sure where this would have taken you, but am sure it's not operational now. It is Located at near toruisty resort just about a mile from Cumberland Falls in Kentucky.

First United Methodist Church - Lexington, TN

Located along Church St. (US412) in downtown Lexington near the town square.

Tip Thompson's Menswear - Shelbyville, TN

When I took this photo in 2007, The store looked like it had been there on the Shelbyville town square for a long time. Since then, they have gone out of business and this sign is now gone.

Lincoln Theater - Fayetteville, TN

for this older theater on a small town square, it's good to see a large crowd on this evening.

Built in 1951. Fayetteville is in Lincoln County, which is named after Revolutionary War General Benjamin Lincoln.

Dickson, TN Train Station at dusk

This train station was originally built by L&N and along tracks belonging now to CSX. Across the street is the historic railroad hotel, Hotel Halbrook which is now operated as the Frank Clement museum.

Chattanooga's Icarus

This carved metal statue is located at the Bluff View Arts District in Chattanooga and overlooks the Tennessee River. The statue is by Russell Whiting and you can see his website here: www.whitingsculpture.com/
From Greek Mythology, Icarus with his wings was told to not fly too close to the sun or the wax on the wings would melt, yet did it anyway.

The Oakes Motel neon sign - Cave City, KY

Despite the sign's poor condition, the Motel still seems to be in business. It looks like the M is hanging on for dear life.

This photo was taken in 2010. Sometime in 2011, all of the neon tubes were removed and the entire sign was painted black.

L&C tower neon logo

L&C building trivia. Back in the days when this was the tallest skyscraper in town, they would change the color of the L&C lights as a weather status report.

East End United Methodist Church - Nashville

Located on Holly St. in the East End neighborhood of Nashville.

See Beautiful Rock City Gardens

Although the last word is Gardens, I've never seen a picture of this barn unless the barn doors are open, making some of the letters hidden. At one time, the barn painters put GAR to the left of the door and DENS to the right of the door.

This was located just south of Loudon, TN along U.S. Highway 11, which used to be known through here as Lee Highway. Lee highway connected Knoxville and Chattanooga. As of late 2010, the last time I drove through here, this barn now appears to be gone. :(

Jamestown, TN Oneida & Western Depot

This depot was built by the Oneida & Western Railroad decided to extend their line another 7 miles past their previous end of East Jamestown in 1930. O&W was started by the Tennessee Stave and Lumber Company, but their railroad soon started losing money after extending to Jamestown. Passengers could board a train here and take the 37 mile trip to Oneida and from there connect to Southern Railway.

In 1942, O&W was sold to Crown-Healy Company of Illinois on news that TVA was planning to build a dam on Wolf Creek near Jamestown. WWII delayed building that dam until 1946, and by then, another building company had won the bid for the dam project.

Then, Jewel Ridge Coal Corporation bought the line when coal mines were proposed in the area, but this did not amount to enough business. The last train left this station on March 2, 1954.

Later, this depot was sold and used as a business. Today, the building is vacant.

Louisville, KY's Firefighter Memorial

This statue from 1995 is in a small public park in downtown Louisville across from the Jefferson County Courthouse. The statue depicts a firefighter who has rescued a baby to the delight of an older sister.



Also of note on this statue is two etched reliefs, one depicting modern firefighters in action stopping the building fire, and the other depicts a vintage scene. Also on the statue is the name of every Louisville firefighter who has fallen in the line of duty.

This barn was recently relocated to the entrance of a subdivision off of Concord Rd (TN253) in Brentwood. According to the historical marker, it dates back to 1820 and it belonged to the Fly family who ran a successful dairy farm here.

Center Hill Lake from TN56 Scenic Overlook

Highway TN56 connects Smithville to Cookeville and crosses through the hills around Center Hill Lake. In DeKalb County, TN56 crosses the Lake at Hurricane Bridge, and about a mile north of there has this scenic overlook of the Lake and Caney Fork River.

Welcome to Historic Medina steam locomotive mural

This mural features an Illinois Central Steam Locomotive. The mural is located along Medina's Main Street which is now TN152 but used to be US45E. Medina is in Gibson County.

Last Supper Woodcarving - The Upper Room - Nashville

The description from the Upper Room's website:
Commissioned for the opening of The Upper Room Chapel in 1953, the woodcarving of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper sets the mood and theme of the chapel. Fifty craftspersons worked for fourteen months under the direction of sculptor Ernest Pellegrini to create the work. It was carved from linden (basswood) and walnut and is 17 ft. wide and 8 ft. high.
chapel.upperroom.org/chapel/chapel-carving

Keeton's Jewelers neon & clock sign - Knoxville, TN

Gifts, Watches, Repairing
Located in the Burlington neighborhood on the east side of Knoxville.

Clay County Courthouse - Celina, TN

This courthouse is one of the smaller courthouses in one of the sparsest populated counties in Tennessee. The courthouse was completed in 1973 with bricks made from clay taken from the town square. The courtroom is on the second story, which is taller than the first floor. The structure is rather plain but the most elaborate feature is the large arched courtroom window above the main entrance. The center of the lower hip roof has a square cupola with its own tall pyramidal roof.

Model Train display inside the Jackson, TN Depot

The model train curator shows some of the display to a kid that was visiting the museum.

President Andrew Johnson Gravesite

President Andrew Johnson is buried at the top of the hill at the place now known as Andrew Johnson National Cemetery. It is under the oversight of the National Park Service as part of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, TN.

Johnson purchased 23 acres around "Signal Hill" in 1852 because he liked the view. Johnson died in 1875 and was buried here. In 1878, it became "Monument Hill" as the 28-foot marble obelisk was placed here.

Other family members were buried here atop the hill. Johnson's daughter suggested that it should be a National Cemetery as soldiers from many wars are also buried here.

Atop the monument is an eagle. Johnson also had requested that his burial site contain two things that he loved, and you can see them on the obelisk, the constitution and his hand on the Bible.

A Spot to See the Tennessee River Railroad Bridge - Chattanooga, TN

This bridge was built in 1920 and reused piers from an earlier bridge. The bridge was built by Cincinnati Southern Railway, which was owned by the city of Cincinnati. I believe the city still owns this bridge, and over they years they have leased its use to Southern and today Norfolk Southern. The main span is a lift bridge, and has been that way since 1920, but was a swing bridge in a previous time. The bridge is barely downstream from Chickamauga Dam, and while it still can lift, it doesn't happen too often anymore.

It is possible to see the bridge from either side of the Tennessee River. On the north side, you can see it while driving along TVA Access Road, although there's nowhere to park. On the south side, there is parking for the end of the Tennessee Riverwalk behind the Chattanooga State Community College

Tool Fire - Shelby Bottoms Greenway

Tool Fire is an artwork sculpture by Christopher Fennell. It is seen along the Nashville Greenway System at Shelby Bottoms park near the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River where it was placed in 2013.

Tracks of the Ocoee River Flume

If you've ever driven along US64 where it parallels the Ocoee River, you might look across the river on the other side of the bluff and see a wooden trough way up high. Constructed in 1912, the main part of the flume carries water from Ocoee Dam #2 to the Powerhouse about five miles away. Atop the flume are tracks to help get the TVA employees from one side to the other, but it was also useful for carrying when sections of the flume had to be rebuilt. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ocoee structure is the only flume line in the United States used to produce power. This photo was taken from the dam near where Ocoee rafters get on the water.

For the story: www.knoxnews.com/business/flume-repairs-under-way

For some video: youtu.be/PjZkDJRA05g