"Quilt Barn"

Quilt barn on Buffalo Rd. in Bluff City, Tn.

"The Eagle Has Landed"

Challenger, a bald eagle at the American Eagle Foundation in Pigeon Forge, Tn. looking down on a crescent moon.

Challenger is a non-releasable Bald Eagle in the care of the non-profit American Eagle Foundation. He is the first Bald Eagle in history trained to free fly into major sporting events during the National Anthem.

In a storm in 1989, Challenger was blown from his nest as an eaglet and hand raised by humans. During this time, he experienced too much human contact and was "imprinted". He believes he is a human and is unable to survive in the wild. Two unsuccessful release attempts resulted in Challenger almost dying and eventually being handed over to the Federal authorities. They gave Challenger to the American Eagle Foundation for care and educational programs. Challenger is named in honor of the space shuttle crew, who were killed when it disintegrated shortly after launch.

Southern Railway 630

Southern Railway's #630 steam locomotive rolls into Bristol, Va./Tn. for the evening this past July. She left out early the next morning heading for Knoxville, Tn.

A short history, with links, copied from Wikipedia

Southern Railway 630 is a steam locomotive built in 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (Richmond Works) for the Southern Railway. It is a 2-8-0 Consolidation of Southern's Ks-1 class.
The 630 was used on Southern in regular freight service until it was retired in 1952. December of that year, the 630 and 722 were purchased by the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad and numbered 207 and 208 respectively. In December 1967, both locomotives were traded back to the Southern for use in their steam excursion program and restored to their former identities in return for a pair of former Central of Georgia Alco RS3s. The steam locomotives headed main line excursion trains over the entire Southern system until 1983 when both were retired again from the Southern in favor of larger power. They both were leased to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. 722 was later loaned by Southern's successor Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) to the Asheville Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society of Asheville, North Carolina. TVRM ran the 630 until 1989 when it was yet again retired. 630 was donated to TVRM in 1999 by NS. Shortly thereafter, 630 entered TVRM's restoration shop (now Soule Shops) and underwent a thorough ten-year restoration — one of the most thorough restorations performed on a steam locomotive in the U.S. in recent years, including frame work and complete running gear overhaul. 630 returned to regular service on TVRM in March 2011 and is participating in the "21st Century Steam" program instituted by Norfolk Southern. The locomotive has toured several eastern states in 2012 for this program.
 

 

 

"Elk in Cherokee, N.C."

Smoky Mountain elk in Cherokee, N.C. on Cherokee Indian Reservation.

"Sunburst In My Front Yard"

My second attempt to create a sunburst effect.

Still needs some work but I'm starting to feel better about it!

"All Iced Up"

This mornings overcast skies didn't allow me to find my "Sunrise On the Ice" but it still gave me some pretty nice photo opportunities!

"Hanging Around"

Icicles hang from the entrance gate to Steele Creek Park in Bristol, Tn. this evening. Yeah! We had pretty much a full day of precipitation and this is the end result. Everywhere you look things are coated with about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of ice.