Anyone remember? Back when the ladies would get together and fix meals on cold winter nights, and take them down to the roundhouse crew? They would blow steam whistles all over the place when we would call to tell them we were on our way. I remember hearing them as we drove over. I think everyone who wasn't on his way out of town, had somehow made his way into the roundhouse those nights! I think it was usually just before the crew change time, sometimes around Thanks Giving, Christmas, and New Years times. Fresh crews coming on, would start preparing things. (The crew going off would clean up and replace the planks and help carry things out to the cars.) Before I ever worked there, I can remember carrying big bowls of hot beans, potato salad, creamed corm, buttered beets, cream and brown gravy (a bucket each) and arm fulls of fresh home baked bread from the car into the roundhouse where the crew had made long tables. The ladies brought in meatloafs, roast beef, fried chickens, sliced ham, and sometimes pork chops or short ribs. The ladies would spread bed sheets folded to fit those plank tables, then would set the big bowls of food around as quick as we could carry them in. The "on" crew would all be back in the shower room cleaning up while we were getting everything ready. The "Bull 'o the Woods" would say a prayer, then everyone of those guys would sit and eat like it was their last meal on earth! They were expected to take some home to their families when it was all over, so they would fill their lunch pails, and help clean up. If there was any cake or cookies left, we kids got to share those, but not often. The work the guys did was hard demanding labor, and they had to eat to keep their strength up, so it was just understood that we may not get a treat leftover. That was OK though, because each guy came around and thanked our moms and each of us kids for providing them the special meal, and invited us to come visit anytime we could! (We could be assured of getting a ride on the engine when we could get there!) (Besides, our moms always kept a few cookies for us back at the house, and we had got to lick the bowl, so were pretty full anyway.) It was a lot like feeding the Harvest crews, kind of seasonal, not often, but sure good eating! Things got pretty hecktic in the 1940's, what with the war and armed guards and all, though, so the meals sort of got fewer and farther between, and I went away to boarding school. I wonder if anyone still does that today? [ 26. December 2002, 16:06: Message edited by: watash ]
Good heart touching story Watash! I can't comment really as I'm not old enough to know of these happenings but I LOVE READING about them! I'm an old fassioned boy that has a mind sponge for reading and learning history. Railroad related and even army related. I love the Cival War History! I done plenty of reports on that in school! At one time I could give a verbal report without papers on it I knew it so well. TODAY tho, I'm not to sure I could do that being I graduated from High School and a Vocational Technical school in 1997... So its been awhile!
Cant remember if I told this story... I'll tell it again.(BTW this was during the Steam era) When I was very little and my Grandmother was still living, we used to go to Gram's house on New Years Eve. If we were still awake at midnight, Gram and my mom and aunts would give us kids pots and wooden spoons and we would put on our coats and go out on the front porch(it was a large one) and make noise with the empty pots. About 2/3 of a mile to the west was the PRR roundhouse on what was a freight secondary, The former Panhandle RR, There was a connecting line that went from the yard and east to the main line close to the lake. At midnight on NYE the hostlers and whoever was there would blow the whistles on the locomotives out on the ready tracks. What a wonderful sound, I'll never forget it. Sad to say the former PRR roundhouse and hump yard is now a CSX intermodal ramp!
You are right! I do remember hearing steam whistles blowing at midnight on New Years at Wichita! Thanks for reminding me! Talking about running out side with bowls and spoons, we were sent out to gather up clean snow from which they made ice cream! It was deliscious with Butter scotch or Hershey's chocolate syrup on it. Now I got eggnog ice cream, same thing I think.
