old railroad interest, songs
November 4th, 2016 at 3:08:08 PM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5112 | gotta keep alive interest in the old railroad engines, etc and the songs here is a bluegrass fave GREENLIGHT ON THE SOUTHERN G Standing on the side track D G At the south end of town On a dry, hot, dusty August day D The steam pipe blowing down G The fireman with his long oil can D G Oiling the old valve gears D G Waitin' for the fast mail train to Simmefore to clear The engineer in the old high cab, his gold watch in his hand Lookin' at the water glass and lettin' down the sand Rollin' out on the old main line and taking up the slack Gone today, so they say, but tomorrow he'll be back Chorus G D G Oh, if I could return C D To those boyhood days of mine G And that greenlight on the Southern D G Southern Railroad Line Creeping down the rusty rails of the weed-grown branch line The section houses, grey and white by the yard limit sign The hoggers call, the old high-ball, no more time to wait Rollin' down to Birmingham with a ten car load of freight Repeat Chorus The whistle screamed with a hiss of steam, the headlight gleams clear The drivers roll on the green and gold, gettin' mighty near Handing out the orders to the engine crew on time It's the Alabama Great Southern, AGS Railroad Line Repeat Chorus Twice https://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/rice-tony/greenlight-on-the-southern-28368.html trivia question: what does letting down the sand mean? PS: I am well into my cups tonight [back pain] but I have to tell you that if you can't relate to old steam RR days, I automatically don't like you* *I'll re-examine that statement after I sober up I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |
November 4th, 2016 at 3:41:23 PM permalink | |
Face Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 61 Posts: 3941 |
Ha! We could be best friends =) This is about all I listen to. I know I got some RR songs in my mix, I'll pop back in when I remember the good ones.
It's used as a friction enhancer. Steel wheels on iron tracks with what's gotta be all the torque of Jupiter ain't very good for acceleration. "Letting down the sand" is literally dumping sand fore of the wheels so they roll onto it and can get some bite. Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it. |
November 4th, 2016 at 3:48:46 PM permalink | |
Face Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 61 Posts: 3941 | OK, that didn't take long =) Not sure if this is a bluegrass thread or a RR thread, so if bluegrass, that version is beyond easy to find for this oft covered classic. While I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to country (REAL country, not that stadium country horses#$%), I can't pass up a choice Hank III offering. The Wreck of the Ol' 97 I need a karaoke joint around here, for real. Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it. |
November 4th, 2016 at 5:28:15 PM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5112 |
correct. Indicated for ice for sure. Bless you for loving the old steam locomotives
real event, 1903 Danville, Lynchburg, & Monroe are real places not so far from me... I suppose Spencer, too, need to look that up I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |
November 4th, 2016 at 5:54:18 PM permalink | |
terapined Member since: Aug 6, 2014 Threads: 73 Posts: 11803 | Ridin' on the City of New Orleans Illinois Central, Monday mornin' rail 15 cars and 15 restless riders Three conductors, 25 sacks of mail All along the southbound odyssey the train pulls out of Kankakee Rolls along past houses, farms & fields Passin' graves that have no name, freight yards full of old black men And the graveyards of rusted automobiles [Chorus] Good mornin' America, how are you? Don't you know me? I'm your native son! I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done Dealin' cards with the old men in the club car Penny a point, ain't no one keepin' score Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle And feel the wheels grumblin' neath the floor And the sons of Pullman porters & the sons of engineers Ride their fathers' magic carpet made of steel Mothers with their babes asleep, rockin' to the gentle beat And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel [Chorus] Night time on the City of New Orleans Changin' cars in Memphis, Tennessee Halfway home, we'll be there by mornin' Through the Mississippi darkness rollin' down to the sea But all the towns & people seem to fade into a bad dream And the steel rail still ain't heard the news The conductor sings his song again "The passengers will please refrain, This train has got the disappearin' railroad blues Sometimes we live no particular way but our own - Grateful Dead "Eyes of the World" |
November 4th, 2016 at 7:05:54 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 | We can have no idea what a big deal the railroads were from 1880 to 1920. By far the biggest employer in the country. So big that 10 workers a day died on the job. Imagine going to work with that stat in your head. Safety was so bad that if you had all your fingers you were considered a slacker. Losing one or two was the norm. RR accidents were always page one news and folk heroes like Casey Jones, who died in a head on collision, were legendary. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
November 5th, 2016 at 7:04:37 PM permalink | |
Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | The largest segments of the population riding the rails at the time you mention were Germans and Irish. The job of a brakeman was dangerous so deaths and injuries went uncompensated. Even today yard workers will tell Train Riders which trains are being humped while being made up since the collisions are so bone jarring and its possible to bight your tongue clear through. Doors often slam shut during humping which can be a death by dehydration sentence for Train Riders. Red light districts were denoted by the railway workers placing their red lanterns in the window of a shack, it often being that only RR workers had currency. Casey Jones did not die in a head on collision; he rode a troop train all the way after telling his fireman to jump while he stayed at the controls as the train rammed a stalled freight train. |
November 5th, 2016 at 8:23:58 PM permalink | |
kenarman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 14 Posts: 4517 |
Construction industry deaths are about 12 a day currently but probably a much larger number of employees than in the heyday of the railroads. "but if you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you." Benjamin Franklin |
November 6th, 2016 at 4:12:57 AM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5112 | just now inspired myself to learn some of these meanings of the words from the 'greenlight on the southern' song from context you kind of get that the highball is a signal. Turns out it was a system in use before electricity, damned if it isn't just somebody raising a ball!! I think they may be preserving the one in New Hampshire as history, but it is being used?? Good thing someone made a video, may not be there forever wow, what a primitive thing! I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |
November 6th, 2016 at 4:23:10 AM permalink | |
odiousgambit Member since: Oct 28, 2012 Threads: 154 Posts: 5112 | check it out with no snow!
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/242373/#remarks I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me] |