Before the merger....... I remember laying in bed on hot summer nights with the windows all open because we didn't have air conditioning, and having the headboard of my bed as close to the window as I could get it so if there was a breeze I could feel it. And laying there most of the night because it was too hot to sleep and listening to the guys over in the yards getting the trains ready to move out the next day. Hearing the cows and calves switching the freight cars to the right track and hearing the torpedoes going off. Looking out the window and seeing a lantern or a fusee waving a signal to the crews. I remember my Dad coming home from work smelling like creosote or coal dust and being so filthy I didn't recognize him till he had a shower. I remember Mom trying to get all the creosote and laquer paint out of Dad's work clothes so he would look at least half way decent at the beginning of the day. I remember trying to cross the yards on foot and being chased off the property by the railroad agents, but they never chased me when I was walking around the yards with my Dad. I remember if you didn't hear a train all day it must be a holiday, cause otherwise you heard them day and night. I remember like a dummy me and my friends jumping on a freight train near the 4th street crossing (in Oelwein) and riding the freight out to the Rocky Ford Tressel about a mile outside of town, and then waiting for the next inbound to come along so we could hop that one for a ride back into town. I remember going to the big shops with my Dad and seeing all the trains in the bays being worked on, and the noise was so load in there, but I didn't care because I was around trains.............. What are your memories???? Scrapdockson 11-16-2008:tb-biggrin::tb-biggrin::tb-biggrin::thumbs_up:
Scrapdockson, Hello - welcome to TB ! Thanks for the "Memories" ! Glad my Google alerts picked up your post for me - it might have been a long time before I caught this thread in this li'l corner of the forum. Glad to have you with us ! Bob C.
