Working on the Railroad

In the previous post, I mentioned my short story Big Iron Holiday. It takes place in December of 1918, just after the end of World War I. Thanks to another blog, I found a link to the Library of Congress site, which has now digitized a number of panoramic photographs. I found these two that were relevant to the story. The first one shows Mauch Chunk, PA, USA, which is just up the tracks from the Central Lunch shown in the previous post. The town is now called Jim Thorpe, named after the famous athlete. This view shows the railroad tracks, canal, and a little piece of the town. If you look closely, you can see the clock tower on the courthouse, the same courthouse where the Molly Maguires were convicted. (Sean Connery was in the movie of the same name for those who remember.)

The next photo is not from Pennsylvania, but it does show a train wreck and the salvage crew at work. This is the type of job supervised by the character Ellsworth Botcher.

This was quite a violent wreck. The locomotive on the right side of the frame has its cab crushed. No doubt the engineer did not survive. Luckily, it appears that nothing exploded. Steam explosions are among the worst.

People forget how many train wrecks there used to be as well as how many people died in them. These days it’s more likely that a plane crash makes the news. However, in general, traveling is a thousand times more safe than it was in the days of Ellsworth Botcher and his pal, Ned Fry. Nonetheless, be careful out there. Or there will be a crowd around like this one shown below:

Another big THANK YOU to the Library of Congress for keeping track of all the books, photos, and paperwork that they do. If I worked there, I would never leave.

Published in: on July 1, 2008 at 12:25 pm  Comments (4)  
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The Central Lunch

One of the places I remember visiting with my grandfather (the one who worked for Coca-Cola) was the Central Lunch. This little restaurant is located in Weissport, Pennsylvania, USA. In the photo below, you can see the place has recently been painted.

It sits beside the railroad tracks, serving quick meals to whoever happens to pass by. Originally there was a set of double tracks here. The line belonged to the New Jersey Central. On the other side of the building, out of view, is what remains of the Lehigh Canal. Both the canal and the railroad were instrumental in transporting anthracite coal which originated just north of this spot to Philadelphia, New York, and beyond. In those days there was also a fast steam train known as the Black Diamond that ran from Mauch Chunk (now called Jim Thrope, PA) to New York City. It provided regular service for the mine owners to meet the financiers of Wall Street.

In my short story titled Big Iron Holiday, two friends used to race each other along the tow path of the canal. The winner had to buy the other a slice of pie at the Central Lunch. Well, in the story, they are now adults, and the year is 1918. Ellsworth (“E.L.”) Botcher works for the railroad as the superintendent of a wreck crew. His pal Edward (Ned) Fry joined up with some other Americans to become a pilot during the First World War. As the story opens, it is Christmas Eve, the war is over, and Ellsworth is returning from a job with his crew. As they approach the Lehigh Water Gap he spots an airplane. Sure enough, it is Ned Fry, always a crafty character. And so, it is the iron horse versus the flying machine as they race yet again to the Central Lunch, just ten miles up the tracks, on the evening before Christmas.

I’ll have to figure out how to post longer entries like Big Iron Holiday. Then I’ll put it up for all to read. Ultimately, I’d like to turn this story into a book about these two men. Something like… Ellsworth climbs through the ranks of the railroad. Ned ends up flying airplanes for Hollywood and performing other crazy stunts. Ellsworth deals with the tragedy of train wrecks and boiler explosions, witnessing the death of a young protege that leaves him bitter but determined to press on as America becomes an industrial giant. Ned suffers his own losses as the movie business uses his talent but denies him stardom. The novel would culminate in World War II, D-Day, when both of them are much older men. Ellsworth, now a powerful railroader, helps organize logistics for Eisenhower. Ned begs him to use his influence to get him a spot in a fighter squadron. But they’re both too old, and too valuable, to be placed in such danger. They have to face the reality that their days of glory are behind them and that younger men are not only capable, but willing, to do the hard and bloody work of defending a nation.

All this from a stop at the Central Lunch. You never know where a good story will pop up.

Published in: on July 1, 2008 at 12:36 am  Comments (1)  
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Key West, Way Back When

This is a photo taken from the City Hall Tower in Key West, Florida, USA back in 1907. Also from the archive of the United States Library of Congress.  Cruise ship travelers take notice. Things were different then.

If you click on the photo and open it in a separate window, you’ll see there is an amazing amount of detail. This must have been a holiday of some kind, perhaps the 4th of July. There is a parade going on. There is bunting on some of the building. But you can also make out several ships, including a schooner sailing through the narrows on the right.

I’ve been to Key West several times. I stayed at a bed and breakfast called The Mermaid and The Alligator. Fantastic place to stay, great atmosphere, walking distance to the center of town, but away from all the noise. Key West is loaded with so many good restaurants and fun things to do. No wonder so many people are repeat visitors.

I need to work Key West into a story. At the moment the way to do that isn’t in my head. Sooner or later, I’ll figure out. I know that Pan American Airways started here with a flight to Cuba. That may be the hook. Now I only need the line and the sinker.

Published in: on June 30, 2008 at 9:08 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A View of the Lusitania

Since my novel, An Island Away, has a shipwreck scene in it, I was looking through various databases for information on such incidents. Here is one of those fantastic panoramic photos courtesy of the United States Library of Congress, perhaps one of the ultimate databases of all time. It is not of a shipwreck, but it is of a famous ship that sank in record time, 18 minutes according to some accounts. You cruise ship passengers might enjoy a view of the Lusitania, that famous liner that sank under mysterious circumstances. The incident helped move America into the First World War.

I’m not sure where this waterfront is. It may be New York or somewhere in England. I’m trying to find out, and when I do, I’ll update this post with the correct info. The only data I have is that the photo was taken at the “end of a record voyage.”

On the left side of the frame, in the corner of the slip, you’ll see a steam tug. This must have been quite a vessel, an actual wooden-hulled steam tug. Many of them went to the bottom with all hands after a boiler explosion. Hard work that was. Dangerous, too. I worked with a tugboat captain in Philadelphia. He told me both his uncle and his father were engineers back in the days of steam. He added that he became a captain because they died in explosions because as engineers they were below deck when disaster struck. Wise move on his part, eh? He was a skilled operator, knew all the old tricks and had some hand-made instruments for plotting speed against the tide for a given boat and barge combination. I adapted his methods and made one of my own, a sort of slide rule device. It was accurate enough to save me many hours and plenty of money. All this without a computer. Amazing.

Published in: on June 30, 2008 at 4:45 pm  Leave a Comment  
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