Ralph,
There was a Masonic Children Home on 47th Street in La Grange.
As was the practice with most large, older buildings they had a
detached steam plant for heat. The small building was right along
the street that ran along the IHB tracks. Originally there had been
a industry track there that ran up and over a concrete foundation
with an opening in the center. It was quite obvious that they
unloaded the coal into wheeled carts and pushed it across the
street to burn in their steam boilers. At least in the mid 60's the
concrete structure was still there and there was rail of about
two foot gauge crossing the street.
Russ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ralph W. Brown, Jr." <cbq682@g...>
To: <BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 05 March, 2003 20:12
Subject: Re: [BRHSlist] Green Marked Coal
> Pete,
>
> I'm 25 years old and I knew what the metal doors were for. . .anyway, the
> first house I lived in had a
concrete sidewalk that ran down the block. At our driveway there were two iron
strips that were imbedded in
the edge of the sidewalk. My father told me that they were there to protect the
concrete from having the
edges torn up (it was originally a gravel driveway) from the weight of the
heavy trucks that were used to
deliver ice and coal. Many other driveways in the neighborhood had them also.
My father was born in the
30s so he remembered a lot of that stuff. He also talked about the cardboard
signs that you used to place
in the front window of your house indicating if you needed coal and how much.
May have been a local thing.
This is off the railroad subject, but guys like me love to read the stories and
information from the older
guys.
>
> R.W. Brown, Jr.
> Galesburg, IL
>
>
> WEll Listers and John M.
>
> To pharaphrase Mark Twain...I continue to be amazed at the amount of
> information that can be obtained with such a small investment of fact.
>
> I've appreciated all of the discussion regarding coal and "green marked coal"
> in particular, but, John,,,,and you're the only one who would know I'm
> sure"...What is the opening line of the little advertising jingle sung to
> "The Wearin O' the Green" that ends...Upon my soul, this Green Marked Coal
> beats any coal I've seen"?????
>
> I have always had an inordinate...many folks say obsessive...interest in
> fires and playing with them...especially coal fires.....I always felt
> deprived since we had a coal fired furnace at home with an IRON FIREMAN bin
> feed stoker....So I didn't get to do any coal handling...only get in the bin
> once in a while with a rake and pull down the coal that didn't run down into
> the augar by gravity...My dad went into the furnace business after the RPL&N
> quit, so he put us in an oil furnace, so I was deprived of any coal matters
> at all after that...Also in my growing up years many folks in our town still
> had coal ranges in their kitchen for cooking and some of my boyhood pals had
> the after school job of bringing in cobs and coal for these ranges...I never
> got to do this at home...but it didn't take much "Tom Sawyer" persuasion for
> them to get me to do this for them at their house...They thought it was a
> chore, but I loved it....
>
> Also thinking about handling of coal in the 1940's and there abouts...We had
> two lumber yards in town and each of them handled coal...Each lumber yard had
> outside bins for the various kinds and grades of coal...Anybody remember what
> Spadra coal was....I'm sure John that you do...Anyhow...The coal would come
> in by rail on the Rock Port Langdon and Northern, in flat bottom gons...The
> "coal heaver"...this was the guy hired by the lumber yards to haul the coal
> and what I was threatened by my mother that I would become if I didn't shape
> up with my schoolwork, would shovel the coal out of the flat bottom gon into
> his truck...He would then haul the truckload to the lumber yard, and shovel
> it out of his truck into the bin at the lumber yard...
>
> When a customer would order coal, the same CH would shovel a load from the
> lumber yard bin into his truck, drive it out to the customer's home, again
> shovel it out of his truck into the coal bin at the house...Talk about labor
> intensive...It hardly seems possible now days, but that was how it was
> done....
>
> Sand and gravel were handled in the same way.
>
> If you drive through any old neighborhood in any town and look at the houses
> built pre 1940 you would see a metal door built into the foundation of the
> house...This was the door to the coal bin and was always placed where truck
> access could be had. .. I've asked my own kids and other younger folks, when
> I would see a house with one of these doors if they knew what they are...of
> course they never do.
>
> Well, come on John....how about that first line.
>
> Pete
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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