Tarbender! HIC! Buy another round of track for the boys! HIC! (And Lady Sunshine too!!!!!!!!!!!!) We should have some kind of get together some day.......... There's some kind, and fun folks in here. And great stories too. Now I'm all choked up. Sniff.
Hey All,Hope all had a great week.My wife found a bumper sticker last week that says;Pray for me ,my husband is a railfan.. Also you might be a railfan; if you have to buy a bigger van to carry all your railfanning equipment in.
Also, You might be a railran and a model railfan if your running your imediate family out being short of living space in your home! Or Your driveway, back yard is full of rail cars instead of automobiles! You actually live in a Caboose or old heavy weight passenger car you just may be takin the railfan and model railfan alittle too far ????? HA
And another. I can't believe noone thought of this one being we (all of us here at Trainboard) ARE MEMBERS! You may be a railfan or model railfan if your a member of TRAINBOARD! HA! And also, If you know most of the "regulars" of the board... Hi Watash, Johnny_Trains, BNSF, RUSH, Fitz!!!!! HE HE
Yewin's gist may be a train bug ifin' yew hev a steam whistle mounted on yore country cadillac! You know he's a Rail Fan if you ask him the time and he takes a Hamilton pocket watch out of his overalls bib pocket! You know he's a retired Hogger if he absent mindedly pulls the car under a coal tipple and yells, "Top 'er off!". He's got to be a Rail Fan when a cop asked to see his operator's license, and he hands him his Steam Engineer's Ticket (license) You know he's an OLD Rail Fan if he knows how to make Slumgullian with a nail. (And you aren't any spring chick if you know what it is.) of course there's more.... [ 05 November 2001: Message edited by: watash ]</p>
I know alot on railroads and railroading but you got me beat on the "Slumgullian"! I'm lost on that one...
You know you're a railfan when you come home from a dreary day at the "factory" and TrainBoard says, "WEBSITE NOT RESPONDING"! FOR 2 HOURS!!!!!!!!!! Can we have a smiley here screaming in mental anguish?????????????????
Poor Johnny, I just got back after the cable went out for an hour. Try that on for size, right in the middle of a conversation. Take Care Buddy
Would a slummgillian thingy be two nails bet around each outer? or are they made out of the triangular...concrete nails, I have sene a couple of those a while back...
Well I see nobody here lived through the Great Depression close to the tracks, so I'll explain where the term came from. Go find a good sized nail, wash it clean, then sit down and hold it gently in your left hand, with the point away from you, and we'll see if I can paint you a word picture of Slumgullian....Ready? OK! THIS WONT WORK IF YOU DON"T HAVE THE NAIL IN YOUR LEFT HAND!!! GOT THE NAIL? OK... Back in the Depression days, everyone was poor as a church mouse. People wandered the streets and along the tracks looking for any kind of food to eat, or to find something they could trade for a meal. Even eating out of garbage cans. One of these people would come to your back door, and offer to perform some work or trade something they found or had made, for a "hand out". Mom would usually go make him a sandwitch and "hand it out the door", so Hand Out became a term. Upon leaving he would chalk a symbol somewhere on your back fence post near the gate. Those symbols would tell other wanderers if they could expect to get a hand out for free, for work, or would take a trade, or get shot. There were lots of lost women too. One day a crafty woman went to a door and asked the lady of the house if she had any Slumgullian to spare? The lady said no, but the woman said , "I have my own nail, see!" The lady wanted to know what kind of food is Slumgullian and what has a nail got to do with it? The woman told her it is the Sunday meal made in her homeland. This intrigued the lady whose curriousity got the better of her. The woman was invited in to explain how to make Slumgullian. The woman said first you have to have a nice large very clean nail, and a pot of boiling water. The woman said, "I have the nail, but I do not have a pot, nor water. The lady quickly got a pot, filled it with fresh cool water from the pump, the nail was carefully placed in the pot,and the pot put on the kitchen stove. A couple of sticks of wood was placed in the stove, and a fire lit. As the water heated, the woman told the lady tales of her homeland, stopping occasionally to go stir the water and see how the nail was coming along, sometimes changing its direction. The lady said, "We will make this Slumgullian for my husband for supper, you will be welcome to eat with us, then you may take what is left with you". Finally the water came to a boil, and the woman asked for a tasting spoon, and tasted a little bit of the boiling water. The lady wanted to know how it was? The woman said, "Well, it is good, but just a little thin yet, maybe if we had some potatoes added, it would add the body needed to thicken it up a bit. The lady went out to the garden and got four nice sized potatoes, pealed, sliced them, and added them to the boiling pot. After a bit more the pot was tasted again, and found to be lacking in the essence of carrott. As the time drew close to the husband's arrival, various items had been added trying to obtain that mysterious flavor peculiar to Slumgullian so relished in the woman's homeland. Finally the missing ingredient was discovered, a bone! It needed a bone! The lady was saddened, she said all is lost, we do not have a bone in the house, the only thing we have is a leftover roast, and would that suffice? The woman thought for a bit, then decided that it might, if cut into small pieces, and if they could add just the right amount of salt and a little pepper, and maybe an onion. That could help to make a replacement for the missing bone. This was quickly done for the husband was coming up the sidewalk from work! The husband came home, and smelled the cooking and asked what is it that smelled so good? The lady went to tell the husband all about the nail and how it makes Slumgullian! Meanwhile back in the kitchen, the woman fished out her nail and dropped it in her pocket, and stired the pot as they returned. They had a fine meal, and marveled at how the nail had dissapeared leaving such a delicious flavor behind. A good sized jar of the Slumgullian was given to the woman, who left the mark of XXD on the back gate as she went her way. Ever after that, every wanderer, Hobo, and Tramp that came by and saw the mark, knew it meant Slumgullian could be had here if you had a nail, because the lady of this house was double dumb. In years to follow this tale was told in Hobo camps across our country, and many a fine meal was shared by poor and destitute people who would each bring an ingredient to contribute to Slumgullian Stew. It was hardly ever made the same way twice, but enjoyed by all who partook of its delicious aromas! Occasionally, it is called nail soup, but that is really a bit different. Now the nail in your left hand.............., well, at what point did you lay it down? People just can't follow instructions anymore! Gee Whiz, now you will have to start all over again! Go clean the nail, and put on a pot to boil...Now you take your nail... [ 06 November 2001: Message edited by: watash ]</p>
You got it Johnny, but Mulligan doesn't require a clean nail, so isn't as much fun! I have eaten Slumgulligan with about 8 hobos when I was at boarding school. They had (stolen I suspect) a loaf of bread and a couple of onions. Two were there when I discovered them. They were waiting for a train to pass through, hoping for some more ingredients to arrive if additional hobos were aboard. They were. I asked if I could eat with them, and was told only if I had something to contribute to the pot. When the others got off the train, they all had (gathered up) other vegetables, but no "bone". So, I ran to a store and got a pound of beef with a bone and a package of aluminum pie plates and picknick forks and knives. We had an excellent meal togather and told stories and sang railroad songs till way after dark. No one bothered us out in the hobo camp, but when I got back to the dormitory, I found out it "was dangerous" out there! That was according to the "good folks" of the city. The hobos were all just guys down on their luck, and friendly as could be to me, but them I gave them some respect too. I waved to them as they hopped another freight the next afternoon, and would have enjoyed going with them. I never saw any tramps with them, they are the ones who could be dangerous, but the two didn't mix at all. There were others who came throughout that summer, but there was never as good a meal as we had that first time. I have often thought of them, and wondered where they are, and if they are alright. I think of them as Knights of the Road.
Thats exactly what I ment in a long past thread when I said about setting and listening to Watash! Hes some story teller in reality I mean that type thing most certainly did happen in the depression years and is true, even though I never lived that time period I have relatives that have and spoke of things and was never as interesting as it was to read what Watash has posted! Man I tell you thats some ability to story tell! And also even him speaking of a knowledge he has is like you read it and never realize you've learnt something till AFTER your done reading it! Hes done that to me a few times and durring the time I read what he was saying I didn't realize I was learning till after I was done and thought of it.. Kinda like DAMN I just learned that without all the preaching and so on... You know! I mean he teaches with interest.. A very old and rare (today) trait! Well I must say, Watash I did enjoy the telling of that! Like I said you have the trait of doing things just like with interest!
I hadn't thought of it either! I guess we were members of the "Mile a Minute" club before we got to the "Mile High" Club!
Oh My God! Watash.... I'm busted ole buddy.. Yes the mile a minute club. "The mile high club"????? HA HA HA Thats funny.... Some real irony their ole buddy... I never thought I'd hear that from you (and yes i'm catchin' what your portraying) Oh my! If I wouldn't know better I'd never guess your 71! My god posts and phraises like that! Ummm 30 to 35 at the very most but 71... You keep up with the times! [ 08 November 2001: Message edited by: 7600EM_1 ]</p>
Watash, Rephraise, I know why we didn't think of it! One reason we never got on a train with a girl (depending I'm speaking for myself not so sure about yourself), and for two...... ITS A TRAIN! We are speaking about! It (the train had my attension) so.. More interesting I guess... HA HA Paid more attension to our hobby and born in viens love then the love thats found... All joking aside though. I haven't got interested in that bridge to cross just yet. I mean Its part of life and so on but I want to live alittle and do somethings before that part happens... I got a whole life to look into that one and to find the other "missing" love. I done have the first! It runs in my viens... In the blood... Trains!
