I grew up in a railroad town. I could hear the steam engines trying to get friction on the rails as as they started to move. There were the wailing horns, and the "bang" of torpedo charges the workers put onto the track to signal the engineer they have backed up the proper distance.
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When I was growing up we could hear the midnight train passing in the distant, at least in summer when the windows were raised. I would lie in bed and wonder where the train was going and wished I could go too. It sounded so lonely rumbling down the track.I use to wonder if hobos were on the train and what it must feel like riding in an open car like we saw in the movies. The sound of that train passing in the night always lulled me to sleep. Poppy
June smiles
There is a track about a couple of blocks from my house. Occasionally I hear a train whistle or horn as they pass through.
I love it. In my small town, in the 40's and 50's we heard trains frequently. The passenger "streamliners" had a certain sound, the freight trains another. I had several opportunities to ride the train from Kansas to Chicago as a youngster. I loved the stations, Union Station in KC, don't remember the name of the Chicago station.
The station in our town was a beautiful stone building , a big platform with those huge carts one would load their bags on to be loaded onto the train. I remember riding through the countryside at night one late December in a sleeper car, mother and I would look out the window and see farm houses with lighted Christmas trees in their window. For me it was all magic. To now hear the horn or whistle of a train always evokes wonderful memories.
The old station in Ottawa KS is now a museum.
I hear a train right now as I sit here.
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I was about two when I took my first train ride with my parents and my dad's mom. She came along to watch over me. I spoke quite well and entertained some sailors in a passenger train car going to Idaho to
see an aunt and uncle. The bumpity bump of the train tracks was very noticeable. Especially when I was put
to sleep in a berth in a sleeping car. I was on a top bunk, and felt very claustrophobic for the first time. As
small as I was, I noticed the lack of space from the bed,to the top of the wall unit. And it was hard for me to
get to sleep, being afraid to sleep.
When I was a young person, I traveled south on a delayed honeymoon of sorts, to meet and stay with my inlaws, in Las Vegas. We didn't have a sleeping car, and had to sit in our seats for two days and one
night. I wore a nive knit suit that got so stretches out moving around in my seat over the hours, that I chose to never wear it again. I barely slept that night on board. The more I wanted to, the noisier the
rails below made more noise.
I believe that the noisiest run, was on a 'milk run' train that took me to Seattle, from Portland, Ore. And
I heard every squeak and rattle and bump. We also stopped at every little town along the route to drop
off mail to the post offices there, and maybe we did pick up can's of milk, hence the name of the run.
There was no way, you could take a nap, for the jarring and noice of that train.
The smoothest ride I ever had, was on a round trip 'stream liner' going from Portland, to Seattle. And we sat in the second level of one of the viewing cars. That was the most pleasing train ride I ever took, before or after. Since my youth, I have not ridden in a train since, as I switched to flying. And now, that is
no longer an occurance, since our retirement. But still fresh are the memories. And I do remember the
early steam engine when I was a toddler as well as those when I was grown. It was an adventure, every
time I rode the train. And I'm glad I had the experiences I had.
M P A
Yes I can. Our parents used to take us down a lane where we could watch the trains go by. We became very excited at the sound and the smell of an approaching train. The line was way up above us just where it went over a bridge and we were down below but the drivers always knew to look out for children and they would always wave to us. Those were the days.
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I remember the sounds and smells of the trains transporting coal from the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky to the other regions of the country.
As a child,I did not have any problem falling asleep as the rail travel was very relaxing and comfortable.The swaying of the cars.Plus people did not have portable sound devices either for entertainment.