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