From many hours spent waiting for a westbound dinky home on the weekends
I recall the Clyde depot had that same disgusting odor that Louis
mentioned. The depot and Clyde as a station stop are no more.
Here's some RR smells you guys haven't mentioned:
The unique and unmistakable smell from the back platform of a waycar when
you have a hotbox up ahead. That smell of all those burning carbons put you in
motion immediately. Or the associated smell of freshly plowed ground when
you've come to a stop after an emergency application of the air brakes. You
don't have to look,you already know what's happened up ahead.
Here's a more pleasant smell that probably still happens each morning.
After loading eastbound in the morning at the larger stops of
Naperville,Lisle,Belmont and Downers; walking into the coach you were met
with the fragrant mixture of maybe a couple dozen different freshly
applied perfumes. The scent was almost overpowering. Far more than a
department store display or even a floral shop.
And by the time you got to the front or rear car collecting tickets
the fog of 60-100 people smoking met you. The car would literally have a haze
hanging in the air. One pass thru the car and your uniform stunk the rest of
the day.
Or getting off the "party car" westbound at Aurora on Friday night and
leaving the aroma of split beer,drinks and tobacco smoke.
And then there were all the industry smells.....switching a metal mfg
plant like Cat,Barber Greene,Lyon Metal,etc you were met with all those VOCs
from freshly applied paint, cutting oil and cut steel.
We didn't refer to Rochelle,IL as Rochsmell w/o reason, the blend of
fragrances on a warm summer night are unforgettable.
Leo