WART radio, along the tracks beside the French Broad River in Marshall, NC.
I heard on iHeart’s wall-to-wall coverage of Western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene devastation that the famous (among radio folk) red railroad caboose studios (above) of WART/95.5 FM in Marshall, North Carolina, had been swept away, along with much of the town, which hugs the banks of the French Broad River downstream from Asheville and north of that city.
According to this report by Chris Henning in USA Today, Marshall’s downtown has been severely damaged: “Streets full of thick mud. Mangled debris. Twisted train tracks and overturned vehicles.” (Here’s a video.)
As it turns out, WART transmits from higher ground, from an antenna on the tower hosted by WHBK/1460 and 95.9. Here’s a Google StreetView. Right now WART’s stream is gone (from its app as well, which I just downloaded), though WHBK’s gospel music is on the stream at the WHBK website. (I don’t know if that stream is coming from elsewhere or the station itself.)
I do know that WART is volunteer-powered, much like WFHB here in Bloomington, Indiana.
At times like this, radio is community infrastructure. As a former North Carolinian (1965-1985) and just a concerned human being, I hope to hear word from folks in Marshall about work to restore the town, including its community radio stations.
2 responses so far ↓
2024_10_01 Postings – Doc Searls Weblog // Oct 1st 2024 at 8:56 pm
[…] on my blog about infrastructure, I put up a brief post about WART, volunteer-powered community radio station with studios in a railroad caboose, that was […]
When Radio Delivers – Doc Searls Weblog // Oct 2nd 2024 at 3:39 pm
[…] Item: WWNC just reported that WART/95.5 FM in Marshall, with its studios in a train caboose by the river, is gone (perhaps along with much of the town). [Later…For more on that, go here.] […]
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