More train stuff!
Oct. 10th, 2008 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tehluggageJust a short post today, on something interesting I've noticed about railroaders.
They're weird. Also, they kind of remind me of Discworld dwarves.
...Yes, I realize that doesn't make any sense. Let me explain.
Right now, it's a slow period for the railway. There's not a lot of freight moving, so things are slow. According to the older guys, it's the same way every year, but things start to pick up in November, December-ish. Now, the thing that really caught my attention was the way they talked about it.
Without exception, every single conductor and engineer I talked to said, "When the grain starts flowing, and when the snow flies." In fairness, they didn't all say it exactly the same way, but they still used those phrases. It struck me as almost being a religious thing, the way they talked about it. It sounded almost like a ritual or a prayer, but the interesting thing was, I'm not sure if any of them think of it that way. To them, it's just something they say, along with all the other little things that make perfect sense to them and no sense at all to someone who hasn't been part of the railroad for twenty years. (Yes, it's taking me a while to pick up the language, why do you ask?)
As for the way they remind me of the dwarves, well, they talk about the grain flowing in the same way the dwarves talk about the dark. (The Fifth Elephant, I believe.) They don't see it as being religious at all, but to outsiders, it is.
Anyway, I apologize if that makes little to no sense, but it's something I've been thinking about for a few weeks now, and I wanted to get it written down. Hell, with all the stories I've heard from some of the guys, I should start writing more of them down. They've got some amazing things to tell, and when they retire, that's a huge chunk of railroad history that's going to be lost. Basically, don't be surprised if this turns into a railway-focused journal, with the occasional personal entry on the side.
They're weird. Also, they kind of remind me of Discworld dwarves.
...Yes, I realize that doesn't make any sense. Let me explain.
Right now, it's a slow period for the railway. There's not a lot of freight moving, so things are slow. According to the older guys, it's the same way every year, but things start to pick up in November, December-ish. Now, the thing that really caught my attention was the way they talked about it.
Without exception, every single conductor and engineer I talked to said, "When the grain starts flowing, and when the snow flies." In fairness, they didn't all say it exactly the same way, but they still used those phrases. It struck me as almost being a religious thing, the way they talked about it. It sounded almost like a ritual or a prayer, but the interesting thing was, I'm not sure if any of them think of it that way. To them, it's just something they say, along with all the other little things that make perfect sense to them and no sense at all to someone who hasn't been part of the railroad for twenty years. (Yes, it's taking me a while to pick up the language, why do you ask?)
As for the way they remind me of the dwarves, well, they talk about the grain flowing in the same way the dwarves talk about the dark. (The Fifth Elephant, I believe.) They don't see it as being religious at all, but to outsiders, it is.
Anyway, I apologize if that makes little to no sense, but it's something I've been thinking about for a few weeks now, and I wanted to get it written down. Hell, with all the stories I've heard from some of the guys, I should start writing more of them down. They've got some amazing things to tell, and when they retire, that's a huge chunk of railroad history that's going to be lost. Basically, don't be surprised if this turns into a railway-focused journal, with the occasional personal entry on the side.
