[PRCo] Re: Good Old Days

[Fred Schneider]

Cleaning Pittsburgh.   Yes, I remember when the Pennsy station  
changed from black to reddish brown!      I also remember when the  
train shed came down.  I also remember riding behind G5s with the  
rusty brown waters of Turtle Creek beside the train while coal smoke  
wafted past the open windows.  And I remember standing in a crowd of  
Westinghouse Air Brake workers at Wilmerding waiting to get on a  
train pulled by a Alco RS2 or RS3.

You miss the orange skies.  So do I.   I also missed taking the  
picture of the sky all lighted up over 2nd Avenue during a pour.   
Pittsburghers miss the money that steel brought in but I guess they  
don't miss H2SO4 in the lungs.

Do you think it has to do with education?  Positive thoughts versus  
negative thoughts.   People whose glasses are always half full versus  
those who always have half empty glasses?

I wonder where happiness begins.   Are you unhappy because of your  
work?  Does it all build up?  Or are you just an unhappy person to  
begin with?   I can't imagine you are born with an unhappy or a happy  
gene.  But I can see people around me that are happy with a glass of  
water of tap water and others who would not be happy if it said  
Perrier or need the Perrier and the Mercedes to be happy.

I once postulated, Dennis, that only one in ten people enjoyed their  
work and the other nine were there simply for the pay check.  Sadly,  
in the environment I was in, I could not see any difference between  
those having degrees and those without.   Over lunch one day I passed  
my speculations to Jim Henwood and John Muncy, both of whom were  
professors at East Stroudsburg State University.  Jim protested.    
John said, "Common Jim, just look at our own department.   Fred's  
right."    Jim started counting faculty.   Shook his head.  Agreed  
with me.  In generally the most highly educated are probably an  
exception because they would have dropped out sooner if they didn't  
like it.   However, I have a niece who is married to a recipient of  
an M. D. degree who decided after having gone through college, then  
medical school, then an intership, and finally a residency that he  
couldn't stand medicine.   Thank heavens too because the man can't  
stand people.  I suspect in Jim Holland and Herb Brannon's area that  
it is very true that only one in ten like their work.   Only they can  
answer for that.   I was lucky, I loved getting up on Monday  
mornings.  I know one other person on this list who loves his work:    
a doctor named Rich Allman.

But back to Kennywood.   It is one of the grand old amusement  
parks.   There are few like it in this country.   Whalom in  
Fitchburg, Mass, once owned by the Fitchburg and Leominster Street  
Railway, closed at the end of the 2000 season.   There is apparently  
a plan to legislate the taking of the park by eminent domain.  When I  
visited Whalom in the 1990s, it was on its last legs and some of  
there signs at the entrance telling visitors which rides worked today  
and which didn't.

http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/coaster/whalom.html

http://www.whalompark.com/

Here is a list of surviving class amusement rides, mostly in the U.  
S. A. and Canada but I notice that one is served by the trolley to  
Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, England.   Some of the recurring names  
on the list are Dorney Park in Allentown, Capounce in Bristol,  
Connecticut,  Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta and of course  
Kennywood.   YOU HAVE ONE OF THE BEST OLD PARKS GOING!   Support it  
and keep it alive.

http://napha.org/nnn/Default.aspx?tabid=73




On Aug 30, 2007, at 7:12 PM, Dennis F. Cramer wrote:

> Ah yes!  We all get to remember the good old days focusing on those  
> things
> we knew and loved.
>
> They just finished cleaning the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland and
> specifically kept a few blocks covered and protected so current and  
> future
> students would know of the industrial past that built the region.   
> All went
> well, they even had a person specifically guarding the "dirty  
> section" that
> was in a high traffic area.  When the crew was just about finished,  
> they
> uncovered the "dirty section" and were ready to finish their work.   
> Wouldn't
> you know, a very conscientious worker saw the dirt and proceeded to  
> clean
> it.  Several students were interviewed for the news and most stated  
> they did
> not even notice the change in the building.
>
> I miss the orange sky's at night in the Mon Valley.  I did get to  
> ride the
> Jack Rabbit, Racer, walk through Noah's Ark and ride the train at  
> Kennywood
> last Sunday.  That will probably be the last time I go.  I stopped  
> paying to
> go to amusement parks long ago and my job is the reason I still  
> attend.
>
> Those of us in the world who have positive thoughts, that includes  
> those on
> this list, remember the good and the bad.  We just tend to focus  
> much more
> on the positive.  I think it has something to do with education  
> level and
> life experience.
>
> I might be able to swing the Saturday activities, but work on  
> Friday and
> have tickets to the Pittsburgh Opera on Sunday.
>
> Dennis Fred Cramer
>      Trombone
>
>
>