TRAINWAVING

I would imagine most people are aware of trainspotting, and I'm not referring to the 1996 film based on the writing of Irvine Welsh. I'm talking about the people who love trains and data so much they travel around waiting for trains to pass and then record what is considered to be the pertinent data about the train sighting. The first time I ever heard of this hobby was on a series that ran on PBS by Michael Palin of Monty Python. I loved the show and anxiously awaited each episode to find out exactly how serious he was about this whole train hobby.

Now, I love seeing trains, especially old trains, but I could care less about the data I might collect. So actually I don't think this hobby would suit me. Now, trainwaving, a nonexistent word, I can get behind. And yes, spellcheck gave me a really tough time getting that nonexistent word into this post.

As a kid traveling across country many times I can remember seeing a train traveling parallel to the highway out in some boring flat state filled with nothingness. That train and that engineer became my focus. I would start waving madly hoping to get their attention. Once they waved back I'd give the international sign of "blow the whistle" pumping my arm up and down. Sure enough, most of the time they'd blow the whistle and often that would be the highlight of that day of boring travel.

I miss trains. I don't have any trains that run near me. I used to love running along the tracks in the Sierra's waiting for the trains to pass with their hundreds and hundreds of cars attached. Good times.


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Bahrain RAILROAD

The caption says "Bahrain Railroad Jan 57." That's it. I've got nothing. It looks like they're carrying bags of cement. I'm open to suggestions.

Donald G. Schnabel seems to have taken several photos while inside a car. Some are clear like this, others are blurred, but I might still post them.


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The WRECK OF THE UNKNOWN TRAIN

This photo is a nod to this week's Sepia Saturday with trains as the prompt.

I have no information about where or when this train wreck took place. I can say that the photo was purchased from a Pennsylvania seller which, for me, opens all sorts of questions.

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I've mentioned in the past that my maternal grandfather worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad his entire working life. He started out as a fireman, including working on the Flying Scotsman when it made its visit to the states. Eventually he became an engineer on steam engines with his final years on diesel engines.

I spent quite a bit of time with my grandparents when we lived outside of D.C., but once we moved to Hawaii, and eventually a return to California, I saw them infrequently. I have so many questions that will never be answered because they both died in '68.

I have memories of my grandfather coming and going in his blue and white striped engineer uniform, carrying his black metal lunchbox and thermos. My dad has told me that there was a corner on his run that he always dreaded. A lot of trains had wrecked on this corner. I'll never know where that corner was located.

This shot is alive with sounds and texture. I can hear the steam pumping from the engine in loud spurts. Feel the cold of the winter wind. Hear the voices of the people talking. The photo is very much alive.  And for all I know my grandfather could be one of the people in this shot.

UPDATE: In case folks don’t read the comments I wanted to post what blogger WJY of The New Found Photography posted. He might have identified the location of this wreck.

Near Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania along the Allegheny River. I'd lay money on it. River ice would jam at the bend and get pushed up on to the railroad tracks, shutting down the route. When I was young and foolish, I once tried to walk across the ice.

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Come back and visit during the next week to see a "deconstruction" of a rather humorous group photo. I'll be featuring a different person, or group of people, each day until I've posted the entire large image. There are some real characters in this one.

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Check out all of my Tattered and Lost books here at Amazon, featuring my latest, Tattered and Lost: Buckaroos and Buckarettes for $14.36.

48 STARS hanging over...who knows where

It's the 4th of July and I've got an old 48 star flag hanging over...damned if I know.


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Just remember to "board car on other side." Now don't you wish you knew where the car went?


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UPDATE: I believe WJY has nailed it. This looks like it is the old Mt. Lowe Alpine Tavern and trolley in Southern California.

(SOURCE: Mount Lowe Preservation Society)

You can read about Mt. Lowe and see a lot of vintage images by going to http://www.mountlowe.org. You can see interior images of the tavern here.

Just to add a little twist, Fred Harvey also had an affiliation with this place as can be seen here. Interesting after the past few posts I did about Fred Harvey locations.