May 02, 2008
Posted at 02:39 PM
Comments (8)
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At the start of May I get fidgety. More so than usual. It’s “train time” for me right now. Back in the summer of 1996 I headed up to Alaska to work for Princess Tours. Not the toughest sounding company, but, those hours were long and hard. One of these years, I am going to write about my four summers up there, complete with photos and artifacts from my time up there “on the rails.” Anyhoo, you’d head up there at the end of April, and start orientation in early May. It was an apprehensive time. You hated the train, the people who worked on it, the old fogies who rode it but man, you loved that money. Oh yeah, you hated yerself for getting tangled up in all of it. So gross. I’ll write about it all someday, and won’t hold back. No I won’t. I’ve got the dirt on the “Summers On The Rail” and I plan on sharing it for all who care to read up on it. Stay tuned. For now, the next couple “rail links” were enough to tide me over, and well, better be enough for you too, goddammit. A lond, winding pile of conductor badges over at Railroadiana.org. And some “builder plates,” too. Phew. This one derailed the day. “Downloaded every one of these “railroad postal items.” So good. - - - - Adam Haynes has a new poster for sale titled, “77.” You need one. Tell him “Draplin sentcha.” - - - - Seth Neefus grows his beard, and his laidback approach to his art. In all honesty, one of the nicest guys I have ever met. In my 34 years. Bravo, man. - - - - This and this is why we do it; why we keep going. So good. - - - - Ian “Crashlander” Geroux sends in a Flickr set of his “Old Tie Collection.” Get a load of that “cattle brands” one. So good. - - - - FOR NO REASON, REALLY: Letraset Architecture: “ASH 2067.”
There Are 8 Comments
may brings me those old train terms back in my head , “deadhead”, “the switch” etc. man i miss AK. and riding the rails. here’s some heavy stuff scroll down and check it out http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php Posted by: andrew on 05/02/08 at 10:11 PM
Jack Delano took some of the best train related pictures I’ve ever seen. Shorpy has a bunch of his stuff up. Here’s some select ones that immediately came to mind when you started talking about the rails: Some of my favourite pictures on that whole site. Posted by: jonjohnson on 05/02/08 at 11:39 PM
Aaron, did you forget that I published a bunch of your “Draplindustries News Gazette” stuff years ago on CamWorld?
And some other blasts from the past. Posted by: Cameron Barrett on 05/03/08 at 7:50 AM
The days of old have slipped by, we are all just part of the corporate grind now. Trains go north and come south and in 4 days they will begin their annual summer migration to and fro. Me, I just try to keep the herd of them together, seems like the dastardly mites we call the staff keep picking at the trains, causing endless toil by those of us who love them. Gone are the days of walking into a kitchen and eating my fill of bacon or prime rib. The days of young creative pups skirting the rules and laughing at us behind our backs are no more. It all used to be a summer game of cat and mouse but alas the cats have gotten to big and the mice are all very subdued now. I miss the likes of hooligan like you Mr Draplin and every once in a while I will pull out a story about how invincable you were in the pit. Your record of most consectutive days (26 I believe)still stands as a testament to a worker from a bygone era. Posted by: John Crews on 05/05/08 at 9:15 PM
The days of old have slipped by, we are all just part of the corporate grind now. Trains go north and come south and in 4 days they will begin their annual summer migration to and fro. Me, I just try to keep the herd of them together, seems like the dastardly mites we call the staff keep picking at the trains, causing endless toil by those of us who love them. Gone are the days of walking into a kitchen and eating my fill of bacon or prime rib. The days of young creative pups skirting the rules and laughing at us behind our backs are no more. It all used to be a summer game of cat and mouse but alas the cats have gotten to big and the mice are all very subdued now. I miss the likes of hooligan like you Mr Draplin and every once in a while I will pull out a story about how invincable you were in the pit. Your record of most consectutive days (26 I believe)still stands as a testament to a worker from a bygone era. Posted by: John Crews on 05/05/08 at 9:15 PM
The days of old have slipped by, we are all just part of the corporate grind now. Trains go north and come south and in 4 days they will begin their annual summer migration to and fro. Me, I just try to keep the herd of them together, seems like the dastardly mites we call the staff keep picking at the trains, causing endless toil by those of us who love them. Gone are the days of walking into a kitchen and eating my fill of bacon or prime rib. The days of young creative pups skirting the rules and laughing at us behind our backs are no more. It all used to be a summer game of cat and mouse but alas the cats have gotten to big and the mice are all very subdued now. I miss the likes of hooligan like you Mr Draplin and every once in a while I will pull out a story about how invincable you were in the pit. Your record of most consectutive days (26 I believe)still stands as a testament to a worker from a bygone era. Posted by: John Crews on 05/05/08 at 9:15 PM
Thanks for the great link over to Adam Haynes’ work, contacted him immediately about securing one of those glorious ‘77’ posters. Posted by: Aaron Carlsson on 05/07/08 at 9:01 AM
thanks for the plug on the ties. Posted by: ian geroux on 05/10/08 at 1:06 PM
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