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The Song of the Trolley

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 11:14 AM

Flintlock76
Stagecoaches never really went away, they just say "Greyhound" on the side now instead of "Wells Fargo." Kind of makes sense when you think about it.

Well just look at the parent company of Megabus.

Of course, 'stagecoaches' went away with the need to change horses.  Might come back, though, if one of the schemes to implement all-electric buses by making the battery packs modular and rapidly replaceable were to be adopted...

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 9:13 AM

54light15

Greyhound does ship some freight, too. Don't know if they carry the mine's payroll to Dodge City, though. 

 

Probably not.  Jesse James and Cole Younger might still be out there somewhere.

You never know, do you?  Whistling

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Posted by 54light15 on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 9:07 AM

Greyhound does ship some freight, too. Don't know if they carry the mine's payroll to Dodge City, though. 

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 6:44 AM

Flintlock76

Looks like somebody killed that covered wagon video.

But here's an interesting observation I read not too long ago, continuing the "Old West" theme.  Stagecoaches never really went away, they just say "Greyhound" on the side now instead of "Wells Fargo."  

Kind of makes sense when you think about it.

 

Not too surprising.  Some of the smaller intercity operators that still exist do call themselves stage lines.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, September 30, 2019 4:57 PM

Looks like somebody killed that covered wagon video.

But here's an interesting observation I read not too long ago, continuing the "Old West" theme.  Stagecoaches never really went away, they just say "Greyhound" on the side now instead of "Wells Fargo."  

Kind of makes sense when you think about it.

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Posted by 54light15 on Monday, September 30, 2019 4:25 PM

OK, this is not about trains or buses but it is about an essential bit of transportation if you know your history. Or watch a lot of Westerns.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdQtRsiLB6s 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, September 27, 2019 9:29 PM

Hey, I don't mind hearing modern-day parents telling their kids "Look at the choo-choo train!"

All that means is, in it's own way, STEAM LIVES!  

Not quite gone, and not at all forgotten.

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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, September 27, 2019 9:20 PM

LehighLad

About as bad as modern day parents, viewing a diesel, telling their kid to look at the choo-choo train.

To be fair, the GE engines do give a pronounced 'Chug Chug Chug' from the stack.

No idea how electric motors could do that, unless they were blowing up!

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by LehighLad on Friday, September 27, 2019 8:51 PM

Chug, chug, chug went the MOTORS ???

Oh please, gimme a break.  In that era the songwriter should've known the difference between steam trains (chug, chug, chug) and electric transport (smooth, quiet motion).

About as bad as modern day parents, viewing a diesel, telling their kid to look at the choo-choo train.

I do realize that "choo-choo" is a linguistic vestige of a bygone era, but gosh, back then the composer (of Judy's lyrics) was either ignorant of contemporary urban transport, or lazy, failing to come up with a more appropriate line.

 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 1:07 PM

Sixteen Spitfires together at one time!  Fantastic!

They should call it "The Heinkel's Nightmare"  formation!

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, September 15, 2019 5:02 PM

My mother's mother had to contend with Cossacks, not nazis. Her and her siblings came through Elllis Island sometime around 1910, I think. My father's people came from Wales and settled in the hills of central Pennsylvania sometime in the late 1600s, I am told. There's no one left to ask about either side anymore. Enh, oh well. 

To get back to trains, my father told me how the Pioneer Zephyr came to Towanda, PA in 1934 on a nationwide tour after it's dawn-to-dusk run and his entire school went to the station to see it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP8XVE1Wibw 

To get back to swing music, try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tgef-Xhqn0 

and a return to vintage aircraft:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6c3v9iihgw

16 of them! Oh those limeys! 

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Posted by Miningman on Sunday, September 15, 2019 4:15 PM

Lambeth Walk-- Thanks 54light15.  Anything that makes those Nar-zees look ridiculous is fine with me. Makes you wonder how many of those vain peacocks were killed in the war...I bet a lot of them,  and sadly which of them were involved in wiping out my ancestral family... only my Dad survived. My mom would not have survived had her mother not sheltered ( hidden) her in a Convent in the South of France. 

 

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, September 15, 2019 2:56 PM

Great stuff! Especially American Patrol- wow! 

but have a look at this- Third Reich swing- sounds a lot like Count Basie in the opening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEkSHnyPuB0&list=RDDEkSHnyPuB0&start_radio=1 

 and it features trains. 

This one has no trains but still...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHunO4EUfRc&list=RDBHunO4EUfRc&start_radio=1

I had no idea such music was played back then in Germany. I was in Berlin last month and I have to say that Potsdamer Platz looks nothing like that. I think the RAF and the 8th Air Force did a little urban renewal. Or made it necessary. 

But, who doesn't like Lambeth Walk, one of my all-time faves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYdmk3GP3iM 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Sunday, September 15, 2019 12:41 PM

Not a trolley song, not a train song, but probably the 20th Century's best pop song ever!

If this doesn't put you in the mood to jump into the cockpit of an F4U "Corsair" and go on a Zero hunt, then it probably puts you in the mood to jump in the cockpit of a P-51 "Mustang" and go on a Messerschmitt hunt!

Depending on your preferences of course.  Here it comes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH4N4QkBmMo  

Then there's this, perfect for a moonlit night flight in a C-47...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X8sz_wgrSc  

What the hell, might as well throw this in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAVejLjXVdw  

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, September 15, 2019 12:00 PM

1950s music- eesh! I rarely go to old cars shows anymore beacause it seems to be required to play 50s music at every one. Do you think the guy that bought that 55 Chevrolet is listening to Elvis? No, his kids are and he wants to listen to Artie Shaw, but they don't play that music at shows. I'd much prefer Shaw, Dorsey, Miller and Goodman but if you want to hear some awesome earlier big band music, try Fletcher Henderson or Jimmie Lunceford- they're both on You Tube and well worth checking out. 

Pink Floyd music takes me right back to a 1970s basement with black light posters, incense and roaches in the ash tray. Wow man. 

Another one I hate is Ramblin Man by the Allman Brothers- did that guy sing with a clothes pin on his nose? And that endless deedle-dee guitar- awful! 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Sunday, September 15, 2019 11:06 AM

Worst song ever?  "Nights In White Satin" by The Moody Blues.

Should have called them "The Gloomy Blues!"  Who knows how many car radios had their knobs busted by disgusted listeners looking for another station when that whiny mess came on?  

Second place?  "Stairway to Heaven"  by Led Zeppelin!  Whine, whine, whine...

Both of the above make those old trolley songs sound like the work of musical geniuses!

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Posted by NKP guy on Sunday, September 15, 2019 10:43 AM

   At least "I told it to the trolley" is a send-up, what in the 19-teens was called a novelty song.  But is doesn't hold a candle to "The trolley car swing" for "worst song."  54light15 was right when he compared the first song to nails on a blackboard.  I can't be the only one here who thinks that it's ironic to use footage of a cable car and refer to it as a trolley; another reason to dislike it!

   Some time back I implied that "Wild thing," by the Troggs was maybe the worst song ever.  However, "Hey Jude" is right up there, along with "Old time rock and roll" and about 90% of 1950's popular music.

   Hey, I'm jus' sayin'....

 

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Posted by 54light15 on Saturday, September 14, 2019 7:31 PM

Miningman- that was nails on a blackboard! Worse than Hotel California! That was awful! That guy's cookie duster looks like something out of a 1975 porn film! How do I know that? uhhh--just guessing. Yes, the fridge full of Guinness was pretty impressive, so were that chick's "appendages." She made Dolly look a bit undernourished. Impressive? I'll say! 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, September 14, 2019 4:48 PM

GROANNNNNN.....  

Oh yeah, that "I Told The Trolley..."  is pretty lame all right.

But on the other hand, it looks like the boys who wrote "Where Do You Work-a John?"  were a bit ahead of their time with "Delaware-Lackawanna!"

Check this out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm2jC6qqH2w  

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, September 14, 2019 2:39 PM

From Mike:

Posted by NKP guy on Friday, September 13, 2019 8:18 AM

... this is one of the worst songs I've ever heard...

 

 

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, September 14, 2019 1:15 PM

A refrigerator full of Guiness sounds really good.  I assume that the pinball machine had first-rate artwork of a suitable sort.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by 54light15 on Saturday, September 14, 2019 11:00 AM

Thanks, Miningman- my old man used to sing that. Also, in 1973, my girlfriend had a friend who had an Edison cylinder phonograph. It worked but didn't have much of a sound as the "speaker" was a small disc that followed along with the needle. That girl was from a wealthy family and her father had at least 50 antique rifles in a long display case, a full size pool table, a pinball machine and a refrigerator full of Guinness. 

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, September 14, 2019 1:01 AM
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, September 13, 2019 9:00 PM

NKP guy

   "On a good old trolley ride" is a distinct improvement over "The Trolley car swing," but it's the definition of 1910 corny.  This Edison cylinder is a perfect example of why it's not a good idea to let a deaf man be be the person who selects which songs get recorded.

 

Now now, let's be kind.  "Trolley Ride" is typical of popular songs of the time.  Not all composers of popular songs in the early 1900's were of the caliber of George M. Cohan, which is why Cohan's songs have lasted as long as they have.

Not however, Cohan's musical comedies.  Many revivals of the same have fallen flat, the humor of the time just doesn't translate well to our own day and age.  

I think George M. would be happy enough his music has lasted, if not the shows.

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Posted by NKP guy on Friday, September 13, 2019 7:26 PM

   "On a good old trolley ride" is a distinct improvement over "The Trolley car swing," but it's the definition of 1910 corny.  This Edison cylinder is a perfect example of why it's not a good idea to let a deaf man be be the person who selects which songs get recorded.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, September 13, 2019 4:45 PM

Ah, the classic!  

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Posted by Miningman on Friday, September 13, 2019 4:24 PM

From Mike:

Sometimes on Sunday, for that is my fun day, 
You'll find me in the park
Watching the spooners and stargazing mooners
Skylarking after dark.
But there is a pleasure, it's one that I treasure
On Sunday afternoon ...
Out with my pearlie, my steady young girlie,
This is the only tune:
 
When speeding along on the trolley,
I feel like a big millionaire;
A ride on the trolley is jolly -
Whatever you give up is fare.
The trolley's a hummer in summer
If you've got a girl at your side
To tease in the breeze while you're stealing a squeeze
On a good old five-cent trolley ride.
 
Some folks are wealthy and I'm only healthy,
But health is wealth to me.
Pity the party who isn't so hearty,
And can't stand jollity.
Keep all your wheeling and automobiling,
That's not the only thing;
When it is sunny, just give me my honey,
And then you'll hear me sing:
 
When speeding along on the trolley,
I feel like a big millionaire;
A ride on the trolley is jolly -
Whatever you give up is fare.
The trolley's a hummer in summer
If you've got a girl at your side
To tease in the breeze while you're stealing a squeeze
On a good old five-cent trolley ride.

 

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, September 13, 2019 8:45 AM

NKP guy
No wonder no one today knows of Young ...

In his defense, he did have a somewhat lacking musical upbringing.

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Posted by NKP guy on Friday, September 13, 2019 8:18 AM

 

 

[/quote]

Miningman

The Trolley Car Swing 

 

   LOL    In my humble opinion, this is one of the worst songs I've ever heard!  No wonder no one today knows of Young & Grant!  What can be said about a piece of sheet music where the illustration is the best thing?

   Where on earth did you dredge this up, Miningman?

   (But make no mistake: I'm glad you posted it!)

 

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