Railroaders Superstitions.
#16
Quote:Whizzing on the boiler or coal pile was the only place a steam locomotive crew could relieve their selves during their 12-16 hour day..If you had to do the other you simply hike behind the nearest bush while taking on water or waiting on a meet.
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The "other", when moving, was done on the back side of the coal pile on a shovel, then tossed into the firebox. Just don't cook your bacon and biscuits on the same shovel.
-Dave
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#17
Charlie and Dave, Thanks for that tidbit of information.. When I was around 7 or 8 I asked my grandfathers and one said in the bushes during a water stop. The other one told me to get along and play now and stop asking foolish questions.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#18
Nothing to do with superstitions, but I recall watching a documentary on TVO (the Ontario public television station) which dealt with people who hitch rides on long distance freight trains....current-day hoboes.
One segment showed 2 or 3 of them (and there was, of course, also a cameraman present) "in the blind" on the short frame area of a covered hopper, under the end slope sheet. One, a young woman, heeding the call of nature, simply dropped her jeans, hung her bum out over the sidesill and let 'er go! Eek Crazy
I'd estimate the train's speed to be somewhere around 40mph, and this occurred out in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. These people (trespassers) were travelling cross-country, not simply on a short but dangerous joy ride.

Wayne
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