Beneath the wild melodies of the wind chimes at night, I can hear the low moan of the trains passin’ through a few blocks from our house, especially in this lovely weather, with the windows open, and the sound wends its way in through those shady windows, down the long hall, and flows down these narrow stairs like oil down a drain. To my ears that oh-so-familiar old woooooooaaan is an echo of past train-sounds of decades, from those hot Delta days whose clock was the train-times; they stopped for water, for coal, to offload and take on passengers, and the mail was unloaded as swiftly as tossing out the bags.
The strong-as-iron mailbags with their leather-belt straps and their old-penny locks had the grinds of cinder-landings and underfoot stompings and dusty-concrete-draggings branded into their indestructible fabric. Not even years of being hung in all weather from the T-frame, feet from the tracks, to be snagged by the hook of the fast-passing express, could pierce the armor of those magical mailbags.
The fast-approaching train would shudder past, the clicks of the pin-width gaps between the rails causing those flying silver wheels to give off their trademark ca-CHUNK ca-CHUNK as the open door neared the swinging mailbag. In a move fast as a blink, the hook swung, the bag disappeared into that big maw, and the train was gone, in a diminishing clamor and whoossshhhh that left us breathless ourselves, and again amazed by the magic.
And of more Train Magic from the past, moire non.
There is a brief period of time in the spring when I can hear the trains a few blocks from my house. My husband replaced our windows a few years ago and during the winter no sounds creep in. And in the summer the window air conditioner drowns out the sounds. But in the spring, when the windows are open and the air is not too hot or too cold, we can hear the trains! And sometimes I wake up confused, is that a train or is that thunder. And both sounds are comforting to me.
ReplyDeleteAWWW! to have you visit immediately on the almost-midnight Cusp of MAY!!! I pause in what I'm doing every time I hear one moaning its demanding path through. We're only four blocks from the tracks vs. only four houses in my childhood. ANd they're pretty prompt---five minutes ago was the 11:30. And when Sweetpea was here with us every day, the twenty miles to her school followed the tracks all the way. We'd "race" the train sometimes over on the highway, and see if we could keep up with the car level with us across the big field. Happy MAY to you, Sweet Friend!!
ReplyDeleteRabbit, Rabbit! Happy May! I love the photo of the Postmistress, so brave and devoted. (I wonder if that’s her car there at the station?) A peak at the Past. Train Magic!…It certainly was! xox, Virginia
ReplyDeleteWe just did the RABBIT RABBIT, as well, Virginia!!! I always set my timer for 11:56 and go to Leah's room where we wait and say it. Happy MAY TO YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteWe grew up in the mountains so I never saw a train until I was older and went to the valley. On cold clear nights we could hear the mournful sound of the train as it approached the small towns in the valley. Loved this post! xo Diana
ReplyDeleteps. We have SNOW on the ground this morning!
I KNEW there was a NIP out there when I fed the Kitties about 8. I'm a TRAIN lover---anything about them is just so interesting and wonderful (and luxurious, in my 1950s memories). I dozed off last night to the Midnight, thinking "I'll go google in the morning and see what makes the whistle---a long, low horn almost, that sings through the night, or moans plaintively, and sometimes i think someone must be on the track, for it's an authoritative blast to show what's what). Can't be routed through the steam. "When the engineer opens the horn valve, air rushes into the horn's base, forcing a metal diaphragm to oscillate or vibrate rapidly against a nozzle. Chime Structure: Most train horns have multiple trumpets (bells) tuned to different notes to create a loud, melodic chord that complies with safety standards. Amplification: The vibrating air is forced through the flared horn bells, which amplifies the sound and projects it over long distances." I'm gonna put that in tomorrow's Part II. Have a wonderful MAY snowfall!
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