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Category Archives: railroading
The Humble Spike Maul
As a day to celebrate, Saint Patrick’s Day is filled with images that are simultaneously hackneyed and cherished. The leprechaun, the green top hat, the harp–and then there’s the shamrock. Here on the west side of the Atlantic, most of … Continue reading
Posted in history, Ireland, labor, nostalgia, railroad construction, railroading, social criticism, writing
Tagged gandy-dancers, hand tools, track work
6 Comments
Happy Birthday Eugene Debs
Originally posted November 10, 2014 “Remember, Remember, the fifth of November!” The old school-child chant of course refers to Guy Fawkes, sometimes dubbed as “the only honest man ever to enter the Parliament.” This date–celebrating the foiling … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, railroading, social protest
Tagged American Federation of Labor, American Railway Union (ARU), Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Charles Pillsbury, Eugene Debs, George Pullman, Governor John Rogers, Great Northern Railway, Great Northern Strike, Grover Cleveland, Guy Fawkes, James Whitcomb Riley, Jim Hill, Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, Pullman Strike, sleeping car. Pullman IL, socialism, Spokesman-Review, strikes of 1877, Terre Haute IN, Theodore Roosevelt, Washington state
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Trains (large and small) and Christmas
First Posted December 20th, 2013 Our regional shopping mall here in Bellingham, Washington, dating from the late 1980s, recently had a grand re-opening showing off its multi-hundred thousand dollar face lift. I didn’t attend. I’ve got nothing against shopping malls. … Continue reading
Posted in history, nostalgia, railroading, social criticism, writing
Tagged Penn Station, toy trains
2 Comments
Happy Birthday Eugene Debs
“Remember, Remember, the fifth of November!” The old school-child chant of course refers to Guy Fawkes, sometimes dubbed as “the only honest man ever to enter the Parliament.” This date–celebrating the foiling of the 17th century plot to … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, railroading, social protest
Tagged American Federation of Labor, American Railway Union (ARU), Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Charles Pillsbury, Eugene Debs, George Pullman, Governor John Rogers, Great Northern Railway, Great Northern Strike, Grover Cleveland, Guy Fawkes, James Whitcomb Riley, Jim Hill, Locomotive Firemen's Magazine, Pullman Strike, sleeping car. Pullman IL, socialism, Spokesman-Review, strikes of 1877, Terre Haute IN, Theodore Roosevelt, Washington state
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Panic on the Farm- Part One
Summer 1894: During the two years following his ride into Everett, picked up by an accommodating farm couple, Jimmy had run into the farm wife on a train–finally learning her and husband’s names. In spring of 1894, the nation … Continue reading
Posted in farming, history, labor, railroading, writing
Tagged American Federation of Labor, American Railway Union, Eugene V. Debs, Everett WA, Great Northern Railway, hay loaders, hay rakes, I.W.W., James J. Hill, John D. Rockefeller, mowing machines, Northern Pacific Railroad, Panic of 1894, Populists, Pullman Strike, Samuel Gompers, Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad, Snohomish WA, Tulalip Indians
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Hitching a Ride to Everett
Summer of 1892. Leaving behind Fairhaven, Washington–the railroad boom town gone bust–Jimmy Scanlon is returning to Everett, after unloading his Fairhaven lots at a disastrous loss. He will be signing on to work track construction as the Great Northern Railway … Continue reading
A Return to “Boomtown” Fairhaven, Washington
Summer of 1892. Two years have passed since Jimmy Scanlon’s July 4th beach-side idyll with Susie Taylor (see “Along Chuckanut’s Shore,” posted April 5, 2014). Sharing in the optimistic spirit of the time, Jimmy purchased three building lots in Fairhaven, the … Continue reading
Along Chuckanut’s Shore
July 4th, 1890 Following a winter of separation, Susie Taylor teaching school in Seattle and Jimmy Scanlon working railroad construction up in Fairhaven, the couple are reunited for the holiday. Excerpt from Beyond The Divide: Leaving behind the throngs on … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, love, railroading, writing
Tagged Chuckanut Bay, Fairhaven, handcars, John Keats, Lummi Indians
2 Comments
Trains (large and small) and Christmas
Our regional shopping mall here in Bellingham, Washington, dating from the late 1980s, recently had a grand re-opening showing off its multi-hundred thousand dollar face lift. I didn’t attend. I’ve got nothing against shopping malls. It’s just that I can’t … Continue reading
Posted in history, nostalgia, railroading, social criticism, writing
Tagged Penn Station, toy trains
4 Comments
A View from the Track Up
A major physical challenge in maintaining railroad track is that just about everything being worked on is less than a foot off the ground. A little like farm labor in that respect. After much of a lifetime of blue-collar jobs, … Continue reading
Posted in history, railroading, self-publishing, writing
5 Comments
J.P. Kenna 