A ballast tamper is a machine used to make railway tracks level. It is like the railway version of a road roller but instead of only squashing the high parts, it also lifts the track out of dips. Before tamping machines were made, tamping was done by lots of people with shovels. The machines make tamping quicker and the track is more level than if tamping is done by hand. Also, some new tracks and sleepers are too heavy to be lifted by hand, so a tamper has to be used.
New tampers can also move the track from side to side to make it smoother.
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, radio station based in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. It uses a freeform radio program format. This means each personality or disc jockey who goes on the air, gets to decide what music to play. WFMU is the longest-running freeform radio station in the U.S.
Official Homepage The official site of "WFMU".
Christiana Guinle
Christiana Guinle is a Brazilian producer and actress of stage, movies and television. She graduated from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Jackie Earle Haley
Jack "Jackie" Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American movie, television, stage, and voice actor who is known for his roles in "Little Children", "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Watchmen", "Human Target", "Dark Shadows", "Lincoln", "London Has Fallen" and "".
Haley was born on July 14, 1961 in Northridge, California. He was married three times, both ended in divorce. He was married to Amelia Cruz since 2004. He has a son, Christopher, and a daughter, Olivia.
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American movie, television, stage, voice actor, musician, and activist who is known for his roles in "The Thing Called Love", "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Dark Blood", "My Own Private Idaho", "I Love You To Death" and in "Stand by Me". His brother was actor Joaquin Phoenix.
Phoenix was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon to Arlyn Sharon Dunetz and to John Lee Botton. He was the oldest of four. Phoenix never married and had no children. Phoenix died on October 31, 1993 in West Hollywood, California from a drug overdose and heart failure, aged 23.
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming OBE (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish actor who is known for his roles in "The Smurfs", "Spy Kids", "Son of the Mask", and in "X2". He won an Drama Desk Award and an Tony Award.
Cumming was born on 27 January 1965 in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland. He studied at Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Cumming is openly bisexual. He was married to Hilary Lyon from 1985 until they divorced in 1993. He had been in a civil partnership with Grant Shaffer since 2007. Cumming gained American citizenship in 2008; he has been a dual British-American citizen since then.
Tent pegging
Tent pegging (sometimes spelled 'tentpegging' or 'tent-pegging') is a cavalry or equestrian sport of ancient origin.
In the specific sport of tent pegging a mounted horseman, or at times a team of horsemen, rides at a gallop and uses a sword or a lance to pierce, pick up and carry away a small ground target (a symbolic tent peg) or a series of such small ground targets.
The origins of tent pegging are ambiguous and subject to some controversy. Some historians and other scholars believe it originated in Arabia, others believe that it might have evolved in Central Asia, while others still believe in its Indian origins. It is believed that people have practised the game of tent pegging since at least the 4th century BC, and over the ages Middle Eastern, Asian and later European empires popularized the game around the world.
The term "tent pegging", however, historically emerged from the attacks by Arabian Muslim cavaliers on enemy camps at dawn or late night, where they would gallop to their tents and pluck out the pegs of their tents, so that these would collapse on them, thus causing havoc and terror in the camp. Several old medieval Arab books give descriptions of such tactics.
Today, tent pegging is practised around the world, but is especially popular in Australia, Pakistan, India, Israel, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Olympic Council of Asia included tent pegging as an official sport in 1982, and the International Federation for Equestrian Sports recognised it as an official equestrian discipline in 2004.
However, it is important to recognize the difference between tent pegging as an 'international sport' and the local, rural version of the sport played by the traditional tribal peoples such as the Bedu in the Middle East and Oman, the "Desi" horsemen of Pakistani and Indian Punjab and so on. The former is a milder sport, whereas the latter is a fiercer and more commanding contest.
Sadequain
Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi (1930-1987) also referred to as Sadequain Naqqash or simply Sadequain, was a famous Pakistani artist. He is best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a painter.
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is a city in the state of Kansas in the United States. It is the county seat of Leavenworth County. It is also the biggest city in the county. Leavenworth is about northwest of Kansas City, Missouri. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. There were 35,251 people living in Leavenworth in 2010.
The city of Leavenworth was started in 1854. It was the first incoporated city in Kansas. The city is south of Forth Leavenworth. The fort is the oldest active Army post west of the Mississippi River. Fort Leavenworth was started in 1827 by Colonel Henry Leavenworth. At first, the fort was outside of the city. On April 12, 1977, the city took over the fort and it became part of the city.
There are many jails, prisons, and detention centers in Leavenworth. The most famous prison is the Leavenworth federal prison. The United States military also has a maximum security prison in Leavenworth. This prison is called the United States Disciplinary Barracks. The Kansas State Penitentiary and the state medium security prison are also close to the city.
One of the famous people who was in Leavenworth prison was Ricardo Flores Magon. Flores Magon was an anarchist from Mexico. (An "anarchist" is someone who thinks that there should be no government.) He was an important person during the Mexican Revolution (1910). He died in Leavenworth prison in 1922. Some people think that the guards killed him. Other people think he died of natural causes.
There are some vaults underneath the city. These are big rooms underground. The vaults were found very recently. Historians (people who study history) think that the vaults were used for slaves, fugitives (people hiding from the law), or commerce (buying and selling things.)
The University of Saint Mary is in Leavenworth. The University is run by the Sisters of Charity.
The coordinates for Leavenworth are (39.3111112, -94.9224637). The city is above sea level. The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . It covers of land and of water.
Leavenworth is on the west bank (side) of the Missouri River. It is in the Dissected Till Plains region of the Central Lowlands of North America. Four tributaries of the Missouri River go through the city. These tributaries are Quarry Creek, Corral Creek, Three Mile Creek, and Five Mile Creek.
Leavenworth is in the northeastern part of Kansas. U.S. Route 73 and Kansas Highway 92 (K-92) intersect (cross) at the city. It is about northwest of Kansas City, Missouri. Omaha, Nebraska is to the northeast. Wichita, Kansas is to the southwest.
The north half of the city is Fort Leavenworth. Both Leavenworth city and Leavenworth County are a part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. To the south of Leavenworth is another city: Lansing, Kansas.