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Fading Glory Pictorial Steam Railroading Midwest SC
Fading Glory Pictorial review of Steam Railroading in the boom Days of the Upper Midwest By Frederick Harrison Soft Cover 1971. Wrinkled pages.
Statistics tell us that folks are moving away from the small towns of our nation these days. We are much more sophisticated in our modes of living and transportation and daily work chores are much different than they were a few short years ago.
There was a glory in the days of rugged men who ran the nation's railroads in the days of steam. The men that worked in the logging camps and the saw mills and who maintained the railroads into the woods and across the nation faced extremes of heat, cold and generally poor working conditions plus poor pay. In spite of these ever present problems they helped to carve out a nation with their strength and willingness to get the job done in spite of all of the obstacles they faced.
The woodlands of the north country no longer hear the rhythmic chop of the gleaming double-bitted axes or two-man handsaws. The woods and countryside no longer shake with the rumble of mighty trains loaded with saw logs. Instead we hear the ugly sound of chain saws and the growling of trucks and tractors. More efficient, perhaps, but there is something missing in the great north country, the happy songs of the French lumberjacks, the tall stories of the railroaders and sight and sounds of men coming to town after a long spell in the woods.
The sight and sound I miss the most, like so many others and perhaps even you, is the hissing pinging sound of a steam engine sitting in the round house waiting for its next trek into the woods, the chuffing roar of the exhaust as it gets up steam and the clanging of the bells and the mighty proud blast of the steam whistle echoing across the countryside.
It is a fading glory, but it was a very real part of our nation's growth. It should not be allowed to fade away without some effort to preserve it so that all those who come in the future can read and wonder about the men and machines who lived and worked under such conditions and thrived on it.
We cannot hope to bring back the sounds of this great era. We have tried in this book to bring back some of the sights with old photos. Our narrative is sparse because the photos speak for themselves in a very positive way.
It is the hope of the author that looking through these pages will bring you back to the days of the small town and the glory days of the lumberjack and the small town Casey Jones types that piloted the big engines with their loads of passengers of freight. Happy reminiscing!
All pictures are of the actual item. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
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