[PRCo] Re: Good Old Days

[Bob Rathke]

Speaking of the orange lighted skies, attached are a couple of photos of the 
J&L mill on Second Avenue that I took from Oakland in August, 1962.
Bob 8/30/07

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 7:41 PM
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Good Old Days


> 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
>>
>>
>>
>
> 


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