My grandmother lived about one block south of the Rock Island line on the south side of Chicago. I remember watching the steam engines chug into the station on 89th and Loomis. Again, it's a very early memory. I was perhaps five years old -- 1953.Then they were gone. But I'm glad that I got to see them. Paul On Sep 10, 2007, at 9:26 PM, Bob Sullivan wrote:
> Nice story Bob. Before 1st grade, our apartment was on a street > ending 1 1/2 blocks south in a Northwestern roundhouse near in to > downtown Chicago. I used to beg to go down to the roundhouse and > watch the Steam Engines. These are some of my earliest memories. > Regards, Bob S. > > On 9/10/07, Bob Blakely <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I grew up in Rutland. It was the second largest city in Vermont >> with 16,000 >> souls. The road from my rural home to town took us over an arched >> cement/steel bridge that spanned a narrower part of the Rutland >> yard. This >> was the one of , if not the largest yard in New England at the >> time. It was >> one of . My dad (now deceased) took me many times to a spot on the >> bridge >> where we could sit and watch the goats make trains and switching >> of engines >> at the round house. We saw trains come from the west & south with >> produce >> and such for New England and trains being built to carry apples, >> marble, >> granite and timber back. Twice he took me to a narrow, wooded glen >> where the >> train from Barrie, laden with granite, would wind around following >> These >> were the days of steam, mind you. They were magical dragons >> belching smoke >> and steam and making a wonderful racket. >> >> http://users.rcn.com/jimdu4/Shaughnessy.htm >> >> The yard and the trains are gone now. A shopping mall has replaced >> the yard >> and all the track has been torn up. >> >> I miss my dad. >> >> Regards, >> Bob... >> -------------------------------------------------------- >> "Life isn't like a box of chocolates . . >> it's more like a jar of jalapenos. >> What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow." >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Rebekah" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> >> >>> I think it looks like great fun. I love trains! >>> >>> rg2 >>> >>> On 9/10/07, P. J. Alling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> As I said,.poorly, it's a tourist oriented website and >>>> attraction. Why >>>> don't you drop them an e-mail with suggestions? >>>> >>>> John Sessoms wrote: >>>>> I was talking about the web site itself not being friendly to rail >>>>> enthusiasts. Yeah it's ok for the tourists, but it doesn't tell >>>>> me what >>>>> I want to know. >>>>> >>>>> Most of the steam railroad web-pages have a link for the real >>>>> old-timer >>>>> steam buffs that takes you to a listing of the equipment the >>>>> railroad >>>>> is >>>>> operating, i.e. what kind of steam engines do they have and how >>>>> many >>>>> are >>>>> operating ... >>>>> >>>>> Should I travel a thousand miles to get there if they don't >>>>> have the >>>>> equipment I'm interested in? What if they don't have anything >>>>> that's >>>>> not >>>>> in the local transportation museum, which is about 950 miles >>>>> closer? >>>>> >>>>> And without a link on the web site to let me see what equipment >>>>> they >>>>> have, how am I going to know if they do have something I'm >>>>> interested >>>>> in? >>>>> >>>>> From: >>>>> "P. J. Alling" >>>>> >>>>>> No, it's a tourist attraction site. It's not that they discourage >>>>>> visitors, but they're old fashioned, no digital computers in >>>>>> the age >>>>>> of steam, (but I bet they'd love to have a Babbage Difference >>>>>> Engine >>>>>> to display). >>>>>> >>>>>> John Sessoms wrote: >>>>>> From: >>>>>> "P. J. Alling" >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> The Valley Railroad, in Essex Connecticut. It's a working Steam >>>>>>> Railway museum. They run a couple of Restored Steam Loco's >>>>>>> and have a >>>>>>> couple of Modern Chinese Steam Loco's, (one of which they run >>>>>>> on the >>>>>>> line as well, the other on display), (to the untrained eye, >>>>>>> with most >>>>>>> of the extra metal work removed they both look like a standard >>>>>>> American type. This engine is sitting a the end of a line of >>>>>>> cars all >>>>>>> awaiting restoration, and as you can see, occasionally >>>>>>> cannibalized >>>>>>> for parts. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://www.essexsteamtrain.com/index.html >>>>>>> >>>>>> Not a real rail enthusiast site though, because they don't >>>>>> appear to >>>>>> have any link to the equipment itself. >> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
