2John5918
The iconic "Doric arch" at London's Euston Station, and in the grimy gloom of the station itself, a steam locomotive pressure valve blowing off with a roar. We used to travel by train to visit my grandparents' in the north west of England. The north west was the last bastion of British Rail steam right up until 1968 and I have many early memories of steam locos up around Warrington, but steam haulage out of Euston finished in the mid-sixties, and the Doric arch was demolished in 1962 when I was seven years old, so this particular memory must have been before then. Could this be where my lifelong interest (nay, passion!) in railways and particularly steam locomotives began?!
3krazy4katz
I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old borrowing my best friends little sister once a week — either on Tuesdays or Thursdays, I can't remember. I didn't have any siblings so it was fun to play with her and it gave my friend a day to rest.
42wonderY
I’m second oldest of 11, so it was rare my mom wasn’t at home. One hot summer day, both parents had gone somewhere together. We had a water battle that started outside but blew up to include dashes through the house from front to back door and involved buckets and possibly the hose as well.
Oldest sister tried to stop us, but ended just blocking the carpeted living room and screaming at us.
We did end it in good time and mopped up all the damage before parents returned. We got praised for how clean the house was, especially the floors.
Oldest sister tried to stop us, but ended just blocking the carpeted living room and screaming at us.
We did end it in good time and mopped up all the damage before parents returned. We got praised for how clean the house was, especially the floors.
5Taphophile13
We lived out in the country but every two weeks my mother took us on the bus to the small town nearby. We would go to the library which was in one room of an old converted house. The books for adults were on the shelves around the perimeter, the librarian had a desk in the middle of the room where she checked books in and out by hand and the children's section was on the table in front of her desk. I'm sure this contributed to my love of reading.
6librorumamans
>2 John5918:
When I was six my parents took my older sister and me from Toronto to Vancouver by rail. Dealing with a six-year-old's energy over several days in the confines of a Pullman stateroom must have been a challenge for them.
When, after two days, we reached Winnipeg in daylight, I got exercised by running up and down the platform (with supervision) during the layover. The engine crew changed as well there. During one of my platform runs up to the head of the train, while I was looking in awe at our locomotive — a 4-8-2 Mountain — the engineer asked if I would like to come up into the cab. Of course I did! My father handed me up and the engineer lifted me the rest of the way, showed me the controls and the roaring firebox.
I have never forgotten CNR 6056, which was a slightly earlier version of this locomotive, but without the bullet nose.
When I was six my parents took my older sister and me from Toronto to Vancouver by rail. Dealing with a six-year-old's energy over several days in the confines of a Pullman stateroom must have been a challenge for them.
When, after two days, we reached Winnipeg in daylight, I got exercised by running up and down the platform (with supervision) during the layover. The engine crew changed as well there. During one of my platform runs up to the head of the train, while I was looking in awe at our locomotive — a 4-8-2 Mountain — the engineer asked if I would like to come up into the cab. Of course I did! My father handed me up and the engineer lifted me the rest of the way, showed me the controls and the roaring firebox.
I have never forgotten CNR 6056, which was a slightly earlier version of this locomotive, but without the bullet nose.
7Tess_W
We lived in the country and had not much money. I went to an elementary school that did not have a library. However, in the summer, the bookmobile stopped right in front of my house! The "rule" was if you were under age 18 you could only check out 4 books. I would have those 4 books read in minutes or hours and read them again 3-4 times before the bookmobile came back again in a month. When the book lady got to know me, she allowed me to check out a dozen books and I was in 7th heaven. I would read those and also the ones my sister checked out, although she was 2 years younger than myself. Good times! The other thing that kept my occupied was 4-H. Of course, back in the 50's, girls could only do sewing and cooking projects, but I loved it!
11Tess_W
>5 Taphophile13: What a lovely memory.
132wonderY
>12 mnleona: That reminds me of the day trips my dad often took us for; partly to give Mom a break and partly to satisfy his own restlessness.
Sometimes we would just explore back roads in western Pennsylvania but usually we would find a creek to tromp along. Fishing was encouraged, but optional. There was a box under the basement steps that held the creek shoes. Whatever was too shabby for regular wear. We’d all rummage and find a pair that fit that day. Mom would pack sandwiches (wrapped in waxed paper) and make a thermos of Kool-Aid. We’d pile into the back of the Ford station wagon.
We’d spend the entire day out and come home in the evening all tuckered out.
Sometimes we would just explore back roads in western Pennsylvania but usually we would find a creek to tromp along. Fishing was encouraged, but optional. There was a box under the basement steps that held the creek shoes. Whatever was too shabby for regular wear. We’d all rummage and find a pair that fit that day. Mom would pack sandwiches (wrapped in waxed paper) and make a thermos of Kool-Aid. We’d pile into the back of the Ford station wagon.
We’d spend the entire day out and come home in the evening all tuckered out.
14TempleCat
>12 mnleona: Oh! Fishing ... now that brings up memories! I used to enjoy going out alone to local lakes to try to catch something worth eating. When I'd grow too irritated over no bites, except from the mosquitoes, I'd pack up and go to a very particular little spot behind a large rock in Squaw Creek (pronounced "krik") and throw in my hook (it didn't even need to be baited, though it worked faster if it was.) Within a couple of minutes, I'd have a bite, always a bullhead. There must have been a pool by that rock. I'd always throw the fish back, but now I could go home feeling successful.
15Tess_W
>14 TempleCat: LOL I'm a "krik" kinda girl! Also a waRshcloth type of gal!
16WholeHouseLibrary
I've got two.
I was one of six kids at the time my father and a friend of his built a large, screen-enclosed porch on the back of our house. My next-older brother had a strong sense of sibling rivalry due to the fact we were born fifteen months apart. The porch was huge -- sat on a cinder block foundation and had two picnic tables in it. It also had an access door, which I made use of often. It was my refuge -- cool, dark, and no one ever found me hiding in there. My brother couldn't beat me up and it was useless for anyone to call out for me. Being autistic, I couldn't answer them; didn't speak until I was almost five. I think that hiding spot was the reason I love exploring mines and caves.
The other was my first girlfriend (kindergarten through the first half of second grade.) Barbara Puckle. She was the first person I ever spoke to. She may also be the reason I fell hard for MrsHouseLibrary -- they were both redheads. I kind of suspect that our parents got together at one point to discuss what to do about the fact that she and I were inseparable. I was told she had a serious medical condition, and that's why she wasn't coming back to school. Pretty sure here folks transferred her to a different one. Maybe five years later, I was in the back seat of my aunt's car and she happened to drive past Barbara's house. She was standing on the sidewalk. Our eyes locked, but I couldn't get the words out to have my aunt stop the car. I'm okay with it, though. If things hadn't happened exactly the way they did, I wouldn't have met Karrell, and I might have never known about LibraryThing.
I was one of six kids at the time my father and a friend of his built a large, screen-enclosed porch on the back of our house. My next-older brother had a strong sense of sibling rivalry due to the fact we were born fifteen months apart. The porch was huge -- sat on a cinder block foundation and had two picnic tables in it. It also had an access door, which I made use of often. It was my refuge -- cool, dark, and no one ever found me hiding in there. My brother couldn't beat me up and it was useless for anyone to call out for me. Being autistic, I couldn't answer them; didn't speak until I was almost five. I think that hiding spot was the reason I love exploring mines and caves.
The other was my first girlfriend (kindergarten through the first half of second grade.) Barbara Puckle. She was the first person I ever spoke to. She may also be the reason I fell hard for MrsHouseLibrary -- they were both redheads. I kind of suspect that our parents got together at one point to discuss what to do about the fact that she and I were inseparable. I was told she had a serious medical condition, and that's why she wasn't coming back to school. Pretty sure here folks transferred her to a different one. Maybe five years later, I was in the back seat of my aunt's car and she happened to drive past Barbara's house. She was standing on the sidewalk. Our eyes locked, but I couldn't get the words out to have my aunt stop the car. I'm okay with it, though. If things hadn't happened exactly the way they did, I wouldn't have met Karrell, and I might have never known about LibraryThing.
17mnleona
>15 Tess_W: Love it. I have to say I shampoo my clothes and not wash them in the washing machine to my son-in-law because he teases me. I am in Minnesota now.
These are so fun to read.
These are so fun to read.
18TempleCat
>15 Tess_W: It took me twenty years before I figured out that what I had always called "bobbed" wire was actually spelled "barbed." ;-)
19alco261
>18 TempleCat: well, at least you didn't get chewed out by a grade school know-it-all who insisted the lyrics to the song were, "...stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from a bulb."
20Tess_W
>19 alco261: LOL!
22WholeHouseLibrary
My literary world opened up when, in my quest to learn the alphabet, the truly obscure character -- elemenoh -- was actually four letters consecutive letters.
23TempleCat
>22 WholeHouseLibrary: It does roll trippingly off the tongue, doesn't it? 😋
24librorumamans
>22 WholeHouseLibrary:
I think I was confused by that as well for a while. Perhaps if we searched, we'd find that there's now a Unicode glyph for it!
I think I was confused by that as well for a while. Perhaps if we searched, we'd find that there's now a Unicode glyph for it!
25cpg
>7 Tess_W:
I loved the bookmobile! In retrospect, I think I was subconsciously impressed to see what devoted readers my cousins were.
I loved the bookmobile! In retrospect, I think I was subconsciously impressed to see what devoted readers my cousins were.
26John5918
>25 cpg:
We also had a mobile library which used to come twice a week. In that era there were also a mobile grocery, a mobile greengrocer, and I think a mobile butcher and fishmonger, which would each come once a week, plus the daily deliveries of milk and bread.
We also had a mobile library which used to come twice a week. In that era there were also a mobile grocery, a mobile greengrocer, and I think a mobile butcher and fishmonger, which would each come once a week, plus the daily deliveries of milk and bread.
