Charlie, ever been to Galesburg? I was down there last year for RR Days and took the yard tour on a Metra train. Lots of fun
One of my favorite songs is The Wabash Cannon Ball, and The Wreck of 97. Both were originally sung to the tempo of the exhaust of a pacific running at about 45 to 50 mph. I still have the old 78 rpm records of both. They are getting a little scratchy now, but then, so am I!
To CRRailfan(and others) Yup, I've been to Galesburg, even worked outta there for a short while a couple of years back. A bunch of us went down there when work got real slack up here in Chicago, but G'burg was "turnin' and burnin' ". A few are still down there. I came back to Chicago due to family problems(nuttin'too serious)but when I was down there, I made BIG $$$$. I was holding the "Conductors East Pool" (G'burg to chicago and Streator over both sides of the RR), however it turned out to be pretty much the "Conductors wherever we want to send you board" so I got to see a lot more of the RR than I had anticipated. One positive thing out of it was that I got qualified on the "MainLine" all the way to Creston IA. Got to work some truly "dark" territory(G'burg to Peoria). Galesburg is a nice town, my wife and I like it and one can get a REALLY NICE HOUSE (more like a mansion) for about $200K due to the property values there. Kathy and I went to a Chocolate festival over Valentines day and we also went to the Carl Sandburg house and Museum. I didnt get a chance to see RR days but I did poke around the museums and hobby shops. Mebbe I will go down to RR days sometime
