Friday, August 19, 2022

Fun Friday - Trains


 I have no idea why I like trains, I do. I find them fun.  Outside the train station in Lapeer Michigan are three nicely preserved cabosses.  The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton railroad would have been built to move iron ore from northern Michigan to steel mills in Detroit and Toledo that fed heavy manufacturing in the midwest.  I never knew of this one.  

Some people find cabosses romantic, my reaction was that they were very utilitarian.  Originally they were home for the brakeman, who literally climbed up on the outside of the train and engaged the brakes on train cars.  The interiors were spartan at best, often having a wood or coal stove for heat and cooking, and very basic accommodations for train crew.  

As a kid, the best part of seeing the Caboose was that the train had passed and we could cross the tracks (after stopping, looking both ways, and listening to make sure another train was not approaching.) Cabooses continued long after pneumatic brakes, a place for an observer at the far end of the train, and union rules required them, even when they were no longer needed.  Today they are museum pieces.  And fun to see.  

20 comments:

  1. And on certain trains the end of the train can be a very sleek and high-end surprise.no one would have thought.

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    1. Hmm, how to keep this PG, only if you are on the train?

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    2. Well... on another front, the apartment party scene music from Breakfast at Tiffany's, was my Henry Mancini called Loose Caboose

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    3. Loose end, or tight end?

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  2. I love trains too. When one passes, I find myself just watching it and getting lost.

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    1. Someday I am going to do a long distance train trip

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  3. Anonymous8/19/2022

    We call them guards' vans. A late friend used to travel in them on our long gone Inner City Rail Line when he was a teen. He said the stove heating was so warm, but not as warm as the embrace of the on board guards when he was young and cute Italian born teen. Probably age illegal now.

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    1. Probably illegal then, and for good reasons

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  4. Carlos loves all things train, and on one of first dates when he came out to see me in California, was to go to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. Even I enjoyed it!

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    1. there are some great rail museums around the country. One west of Chicago is amazing

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  5. I miss seeing cabooses on trains.

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    1. I want to ride the cross Canada train some day

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  6. I never knew any of this. I always thought of a caboose as the train's butt. Plus, I enjoy saying the word :) I do enjoy listening to a train go by when I'm in bed. It's always been soothing.

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    1. Where my parents lived in Florida you could hear the Florida East Coast line

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  7. Where I grew up, there were lots of trains and I always look forward to seeing the caboose at the end.

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    1. I always tried to count the cars as they went by

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  8. Presently my father is wearing a sweatshirt that says 'still plays with trains'

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    1. If I win the PowerBall, I think I would buy a full size train and private track. Preferably a steam engine

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  9. Trains are fascinating. I like photographing old trains with steam going. Just a different vibe!

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  10. I love trains. A great way to travel here.

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