Whooo boy John, you really bought back
memories. As a kid growing up on the Alliance Div mainline
(literally) running through York, NE all of those smells were in
our daily routine especially in summer. I still have a small
collection of firebox clinkers that I thought were neat at the
time I picked them up. They still are. All I have to do is light
one of my Adalake lanterns and sit out on the patio, close my
eyes, and I am back in the 1950s.
Thanks for the stirring up of wonderful memories.
Noel
On 1/28/2013 8:42 PM, John D. Mitchell, Jr. wrote:
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Pete
You brought to mind a favorite theme. You
know we read and hear a lot about the sights and
sounds of the railroad, and of course the feel
of it and with reference to diners, the taste.
But what about the smells, the wonderful smells.
The odor of a kerosene lights, the aroma of high
sulphur coal smoke, the smell of
steam and valve oil, the smoke of creosote ties
being burnt, hot brake shoes and the skunk-like
smell of new air hoses, all blended together to
make something that smelled like the railroad.
Later, there was the smell of diesel exhaust. I
always thought Q depots, yard offices and
waycars had a musty smell that was unique.
From: Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com
<Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com>
Subject: [CBQ] Story
POsts
To: cbq@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, January 28, 2013, 7:12 PM
Charlie...I hope you
really mean it when you say that
this "good stuff" ie stories is
going to get preserved...I've
often wondered over the years if
someone was actually doing it.
I've done some writing on my own
regarding my "Adventures" as a
Terminal Trainmaster on the RI, and
am gathering material...actually
I've already gathered it..just a
matter of getting it on here and
other places...for a Burlington
Story...I've got the title, which
I'll not reveal here, but this
recent stuff started by Louis Z. has
"tripped my trigger" and now
approaching the Biblical "three
score and 10 plus 10 if your
strong"...I'm closer to the "home
terminal" than most of you so the
time of procrastination is almost
past... Time to do it is now.
I've appreciated so much John and
now Louis emphsizing the important
of the Stories....I've always
thought that the people side of the
railroads was "where it was" for
me...
Louis your "word picture" of the
TCZ arriving at LaCross was
great....My granddaughter is a
golfer and she played that course
last summer..She came home and
said.."Grampa...that golf course was
right by a railroad track...the
whole picture came immediately into
focus.
The smell of the diner is
someting one never forgets...When my
dad and I would be waiting at
Langdon for 21 and 26 back in the
50's...they usually met somplace
around Langdon so we would catch
them both...26 carried a
diner-parlor car on the rear
end...As the train would leave and
the diner would go by the platform
the aroma of dinner preparations
would waft from the open kitchen
door and the grinning black chef
would toss out a bone to the "depot
dog"...Actually he was the Langdon
postmaster's dog and his name was
Spot. We would usually make the
Langdon trip before having supper at
home and those diner smells created
a "lustful desire" for a "dinner in
the diner"...well my mother always
had a good one for us when we got
home.
Pete
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