In case you didn’t know:
“Wrong side of the tracks” came from the
general wind direction relative
to the tracks. Wind would blow the
(Steam engine) cinders onto the
houses located on “the wrong side”
thereby reducing their value.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
And dirtying the clean wash hanging on the clothes lines to dry.
Apparently it has taken mankind a long time to understand the negative aspects of being down wind from something that is less than pleasant. IIRC, the city of Paris, France decided to create a large cemetery outside of town as the 'in town' cemeteries and crypts were close to capacity. I think this occurred during the Plague. Many of the bodies were simply dumped on the ground in the new cemetery and left to rot. In addition, criminals who received the death penalty were hung in the cemetery until their bodies fell apart. Unfortunately, Paris chose an up wind location for the cemetery, not knowing any better. The line from the Plague related rhyme that refers to a "Ring around the rosie..., a pocket full of posies..." is in reference to the practise of carrying strongly scented flowers in your breast pocket to try to allieveiate the stench that the wind carried into town almost every day! What a pleasant place to live!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I always thought that came from plague-filled London, but for much the same reason. In addition to open sewerr draining into the Thames, there were all the bodies being piled up.
Amazing how many things we think of as "children's games" have rather morbid origins. Or reference historical events. I wonder if many of them weren't games at all, but storytelling and education in the oral tradition.
Anyway, filed away as a topic to read about next time I am sitting on a train (see what I did there?)
There are endless stories from people talking about how their Mom would run out and grab all the laundry off the line even if it wasn't dry when she heard the train whistle. Is it any wonder things in coal country and former coal country are all dingy grey? Besides the steam trains with soot and ash, the coal dust in the air from the breakers had to be something else. The main few from a somewhat well known but long gone LNE railroad bridge was mostly completely denuded hilltops, the result of Zinc smelting. I remember passing through the area as a kid and all the hilltops around there - no trees, just bare rock and dirt. That's more than 45 years ago. A massive cleanup project and finally today it's mostly recovered. There are still bare spots, but nothing even close to what it was. Now if only that bridge was still there. You can hike up to either side. Great view - at least in pictures, I doubt I could get up there these days.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
President Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico IL and his father struggled to make ends meet. Reagan once joked, "we didn't live on the wrong side of the tracks, but we sure could hear the whistle blow."
And I am sure he could. The CB&Q came through Tampico and a very marginal little short line, the Hooppole, Yorktown & Tampico also had trackage there. The depot in Hooppole still exists! You could mistake it for a very large shed.
Dave Nelson
When I rode the Durango Siverton, they said there was letter to the editor complaining about the smoke from the steam engines.
"If they were supposed to run on steam, why was the smoke so black?"
There was a multipart British TV history series called Full Steam Ahead that examines all the positives and negatives about coal and the coming of the railroad. Very enjoyable, if you like history. Decent train footage too.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
rrinker I always thought that came from plague-filled London, but for much the same reason. In addition to open sewerr draining into the Thames, there were all the bodies being piled up. Amazing how many things we think of as "children's games" have rather morbid origins. Or reference historical events. I wonder if many of them weren't games at all, but storytelling and education in the oral tradition. Anyway, filed away as a topic to read about next time I am sitting on a train (see what I did there?) There are endless stories from people talking about how their Mom would run out and grab all the laundry off the line even if it wasn't dry when she heard the train whistle. Is it any wonder things in coal country and former coal country are all dingy grey? Besides the steam trains with soot and ash, the coal dust in the air from the breakers had to be something else. The main few from a somewhat well known but long gone LNE railroad bridge was mostly completely denuded hilltops, the result of Zinc smelting. I remember passing through the area as a kid and all the hilltops around there - no trees, just bare rock and dirt. That's more than 45 years ago. A massive cleanup project and finally today it's mostly recovered. There are still bare spots, but nothing even close to what it was. Now if only that bridge was still there. You can hike up to either side. Great view - at least in pictures, I doubt I could get up there these days. --Randy
rrinker The main few from a somewhat well known but long gone LNE railroad bridge was mostly completely denuded hilltops, the result of Zinc smelting. I remember passing through the area as a kid and all the hilltops around there - no trees, just bare rock and dirt.
The main few from a somewhat well known but long gone LNE railroad bridge was mostly completely denuded hilltops, the result of Zinc smelting. I remember passing through the area as a kid and all the hilltops around there - no trees, just bare rock and dirt.
Pennsylvania's trees were all underground, holding the ceiling up.
That explains why Centralia is burning, it's not the coal seam, it's the trees holding it all up!
Actually, "Ring around the rosie" has nothing to do with any plague. From Wiki:"Folklore scholars regard the Great Plague explanation of the rhyme as baseless for several reasons:The plague explanation did not appear until the mid-twentieth century.The symptoms described do not fit especially well with the Great Plague.The great variety of forms makes it unlikely that the modern form is the most ancient one, and the words on which the interpretation are based are not found in many of the earliest records of the rhyme.European and 19th-century versions of the rhyme suggest that this "fall" was not a literal falling down, but a curtsy or other form of bending movement that was common in other dramatic singing games."
BigDaddy When I rode the Durango Siverton, they said there was letter to the editor complaining about the smoke from the steam engines. "If they were supposed to run on steam, why was the smoke so black?" There was a multipart British TV history series called Full Steam Ahead that examines all the positives and negatives about coal and the coming of the railroad. Very enjoyable, if you like history. Decent train footage too.
I watched the first episode last night. Neat show. Looks like the same group of 3 hosts have some other shows on history things, I'll be watching those, too.
rrinkerLooks like the same group of 3 hosts have some other shows on history things,
Secrets of the Castle was really good, didn't like Edwardian Farm as much. Looks like the have one on WW2 farms.
[quote user="BigDaddy"]Looks like the same group of 3 hosts have some other shows on history things,[/quote
Yes, they have some on various trades over the ages, the one I remember is no bread making. Also one about medievil castle building in France.
I believe they were orginally BBC, but reshown on PBS, or perhaps a public channel in Canada.
I just finished the castle one - that was excellent. Both it and the steam one are on YouTube. So are most of the others. Watching these got me linked to some others, there's one called Age of Steam which looks good, plus plenty of other history ones not train related.
When the transcontinental railroads built west in the 19th century, their land grants were generally for 1 mi. squares on alternating sides of the rail line. So going west, for one mile the railroad would own the land to the south of their line, then the next mile, they would own the land to the north of the rail line.
Generally, if the railroad had to build something like a roundhouse, railroad shops, etc., they would do it on the land they owned. A town would often spring up on the other side of the tracks, away from the railroad land and buildings.
Any lodgings built on the railroad side of the tracks would be in the middle of the smoke and steam etc. from the engines and the backshop and all that, so it was not a desireable area to live in..."the wrong side of the tracks".