Creosote's smell just says "RAILROAD". You smelled it everywhere. It was not just ties but so many things were made of treated wood. Another smell I remember was how the exhaust fumes of those old two stroke cycle motor car engines smelled. The belt always slipped and that added another whiff. And kerosene wasn't just burned in lights. It was used to clean everything including your hands! I learned the trick of waterproofing a switch list for use in the rain, by putting a drop of "coal oil" on it.
--- On Mon, 1/28/13, Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com <Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com> wrote:
From: Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com <Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Story POsts
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, January 28, 2013, 11:07 PM
I always thought that the smell of creosote coming from track ties or even a wood platform on a hot summer day was about as "railroady" as you could get. Also that steam and valve oil as you mentioned was right in there along with that depot, yard office and waycar smell...a combination of coal smoke...tobacco smoke..(everybody smoked then)...except me....and kerosene or "signal oil.
The most fascinating thing as has been brought out by some us "old heads" was the "Characters" we worked with...Leo still had some and Steve, but I think that in the 50's when I drew my first Q paycheck (I still have the stub) there were lots of those guys left..They form the basis of most of my memories and stories.
Pete
-----Original Message----- From: John D. Mitchell, Jr. <cbqrr47@yahoo.com> To: CBQ <CBQ@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Mon, Jan 28, 2013 7:42 pm Subject: Re: [CBQ] Story POsts
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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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