As a young railfan, the second book I bought was Frank Rowsome, Jr.'s Trolley Car Treasury.
It contains a poem that I've always enjoyed because it captures the flavor of the early 1900's and because its words and meter almost make me feel as if I'm riding a trolley car myself. It's author was Roy L. McCardell (1870 - 1940).
When I searched for it on Google I couldn't find but a small exerpt, so my hope is that many of you here have never read and enjoyed it...until now.
The Song of the Trolley
I am coming, I am coming, hark you hear my motor humming,
For the trolley’s come to conquer, so you cannot keep it back;
And “Zip”! the sparks are flashing, as the car goes onward dashing
While the wheels are whirring smoothly along a perfect track.
‘Tis vain then to delay me, for you cannot stop or stay me,
Though old fogies fought against me, for I “went too fast”, they said;
And they talked of death and danger to the native and the stranger --
Oh! a frightful state they were in from my wire overhead.
Yes, it seems the trolley shocked them -- for right and left I knocked them,
And I made them grow much wiser in their day.
So, at last they’ve learned their folly and stopped fooling with the trolley:
Now when they hear me coming it’s a case of clear the way.
I have harnessed nature’s forces, I’ve freed the mules and horses,
I have helped the toiling thousands to new ways to earn their bread;
Then, as civilization’s factor, I will laugh at each detractor
And keep on doing business at the same old stand instead.
Hear me whizzing through the highways -- see me brightening up the byways,
Annihilating distance as I merry speed along;
I bring new life and faces to old sleeping towns and places
And a million homes are brighter for the music of my song.
The business world’s my debtor, ‘twill ne’er find servant better,
For I’ve wakened up a nation and prosperity’s at hand;
See the future that’s before me, ‘tis in vain you would ignore me,
For the voice of the trolley is heard all through the land.
I’ve no palace car or sleeper, but I carry people cheaper,
And I bring the breath of country to the toilers of the town;
I increase the mail facilities -- freight carrying abiliities
Are among my many virtues and I cannot be kept down.
I laugh to scorn resistance and all thoughts of time and distance,
The embodiment of Progress, hear me hustling near and far
In the van of civilization, and a most apt illustration
Of how commerce has successfully hitched its wagon to a star.
Yes, I’m coming, I am coming, don’t you hear my motor humming?
For the trolley’s here to conquer and you cannot keep it back;
And “Zip”! the sparks are flashing as the car goes onward dashing
Yes the trolley’s come and conquered, so look out! and clear the track!
thanks!
Thanks NKP, that was interesting!
It reminds me a bit of the old Civil War era hymn "Hold The Fort, For I Am Coming," so I looked up the same to see if the music from one would fit the other. No dice, the meter's completely different. Oh well.
Here's a trolley song I've posted before, but won't hurt to post again, "On A Good Old Trolley Ride."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d3TDPE0K2c
And then there's the late, great Stompin' Tom Connors with his version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi96V96ZMHE
Wow, that Stompin' Tom song was so good I had to run it twice!
Anyone notice the smoke haze in the club? Times sure have changed, I'll bet you had to show a pack of cigarettes to be admitted back in those days!
Yeah, you beat me to the comment. Probably at the HorseShoe Tavern, Toronto, but it makes no difference where. You can't even smoke outside on the patios anymore in Toronto. A Blues/Jazz club without the haze? Good grief.
Watching those NASA clips from the moon landings and several planetary exploration craft landings and a whole whack of those scientists and engineers sitting behind control panels in that big mission center and they are smoking away at their stations like mad! Oh the horrors!
Now social engineers busy editing out all those clips and from old movies too! Didn't happen, nothing to see here folks, move on.
The song certainly does capture the flavor of the early 1990's. Also very much reminds me of the opening for Middleton's "The Interurban Era", along with several other books on interurbans.
Not to change the subject to smoking, but when I moved to Toronto in 1995, the amount of smoke in bars was astonishing! In New York, it was going away but here? I'd go home reeking of cigarettes and not only that, Canadian cigarettes smell very harsh, unlike the sort-of sweetness of a Marlboro. That bar with Stompin' Tom was likely the Horseshoe which started up in 1947 and is one of the diminishing rank of live music venues here in Toronto. It also has the best bartender in Toronto, one Teddy Fury who remembers the last drink you had even though it was five years since you were last in the place. And, the Queen streetcar stops just outside the door and the Spadina line is only 100 feet away.
OK, so this one isn't about streetcars, but it is about the Spadina Bus which last ran in 1998 and was replaced by the streetcar. The Shuffle Demons are still around and I see them whenever I get the chance, but the GM New Looks are long gone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZnLjRi_g9o
Best bus tune ever. Glad to hear the Shuffle Demons are still around doing their thing. Used to go to Spadina just for a superb bowl of Matzo Ball soup, then spend the day exploring around all the vendors and jobbers. Toms Place in the Kensington market for suits!
After listening to Stompin' Tom I was going to say "Good old trolleys! Nobody writes songs about buses!"
Good thing I waited. I'd never heard of the Shuffle Demons, much less the "Spadina Bus" song!
One question, did their mothers actually let them go out in public dressed like that?
"Social engineers editing out smoking scenes from old movies." I'll bet they can't do it to 1940's films without having nervous breakdowns!
On the follow up video that popped up on my U Tube the Shuffle Demons perform a redo years and years later. The TTC provided the bus as it is now streetcars.
Of course, like ourselves they are considerably 'thicker', a few Buddha bellies, and their attire has got considerably worse. Oh well they are entertainers so crazy attire is expected.
You know how women don't seem to like "The Three Stooges?" It's the same with the Demons- the last time we went to see them several of the guys brought their wives and they all hated them. We thought that was funny but we didn't tell them that. Discretion, you know?
If they took out all the smoking from old movies, Bette Davis pictures wouldn't make any sense!
Speical bonus track! It's not about trains or buses, but it is about something we use every day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaedU-uqm10
The real Trolley Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQibsmFODwE
Thanks seppburgh!
RIP Judy Garland, there'll never be another like her.
Trolley Song
Thanks Miningman!
Couldn't have won World War Two without music like that!
Flintlock76Couldn't have won World War Two without music like that!
Couldn't have squandered the peace dividend without music like this...
And then of course we couldn't leave without at least thinking about the connection between monorails and trolleys...
Oh brother Mod-man, I listened to that "peace dividend" killer and almost threw the headset across the room! Talk about a harbinger of a Western Civilization melt-down!
"The Simpsons" in Spanish! The only thing missing was Homer saying "Ohhhhhh, churrrrroooooos...."
His theoretical Royal Canadian highness
I'm sure liking this version!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLPyQuBfI10
I like it too! Classic swing!
How about Kate Smith...... from Mike
Longing for a trolley ride.... we must wait.
Toonerville Trolley
Well, that was different!
You know, there was a trolley that ran in Yonkers NY before WW2, and all who rode it said the motorman was a dead-ringer for the Skipper of the Toonerville Trolley!
Speaking of which, here's a Toonerville Trolley cartoon from 1936, with Powerful Katrinka no less!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hqgWqk9mw8
Two weeks ago I saw a custom-made O gauge Toonerville Trolley at a train show. Saw the $800 price tag, had my heart attack, walked away after I recovered.
Came home with a much more reasonably priced Lionel Jersey Central "Camelback."
Flintlock76You know, there was a trolley that ran in Yonkers NY before WW2, and all who rode it said the motorman was a dead-ringer for the Skipper of the Toonerville Trolley!
Just about every old RRer ends up looking like that.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Thanks for that David! I knew there was something to that Yonkers-Toonerville connection, I just didn't know the particulars.
And Fontaine Fox came to the close-down ceremony! That's even better!
Taking the Toonerville theme even further, prior to and during World War Two Fort Benning GA had a narrow-gauge rail system to the training areas that utilized equipment from the "Trench Railroads" of World War One, complete with Baldwin steam engines. Those who rode it called it the "Toonerville Trolley."
The Kennedy family had a kind-of large golf cart called the Toonerville Trolley to ferry their many children around the Hyannisport compound. There's pictures of it on Pinterest; I'm not able to put a link here. I do recall that it was sold about 30 years ago and likely is in a museum today.
I do recall some silent black and white cartoons of the TT when I was a kid.
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