Just thought i'd share something i wrote a little while back. Please let me know what you think of it.

The Glory Days of steam

They were once mighty beasts of steel and fire,
Their breath darkened the sky.
They fought the hills and crossed the plains
As along the rails they’d fly.

They kept the nation moving,
Both in peace and war.
A flash of thrashing side rods whirring by,
The same as years before.

For one hundred years they ruled the rails,
They ruled the lines supreme,
Till mainline diesels stole their thrones,
The beginning of the end for steam.

Today some of these machines still stand proud,
Despite the rust and flaking paint,
Upon their boiler shrouds.

Their once busy fireboxes and mighty boilers now lie cold and empty,
Their motion gear still and seized with age.
These Locomotives have been confined to years gone by.
Consigned to history’s page.

The Hiss of escaping steam can no longer be heard,
no gleaming brasswork seen.
They lie in parks and old railyards,
reminders of what has been.

Their beauty slowly vanishing as the years roll on
Now the sound of steam has been replaced
With a snarling diesel’s roar.
Against such things, steam is worth as much
As dust upon the floor.

Giant Wheels stand deep in dust,
Slowly being covered by the rust,
Their cylinders empty and still.
I long to hear the chuffing beat,
And the whistle’s lonesome shrill.

They still stand in the world that overtook them,
The Diesel Engines that thunder by reign supreme,
Some of them have returned to the rails,
Hauling excursion trains instead of the Express mail.

But many more still languish,
In parks and railyards.
Awaiting Restoration that may never come.
For some it has been fifty years,
Since they made their last runs.

But while some may consider their condition as an ‘eyesore’
Many people, young and old,
Hope they run once more.

Even in this sorry state, the reaction’s still the same.
The youngsters dream and grandparents recall
When they were young and Steam was all,
There was to move a train.

Their silent forms stand resilient,
Against the world that left them behind.
Living through the good times and times forgot,
Longing for one last head of steam and firebox hot,
To make them live again.

But now they lie here silent,
Basking in the sun’s warm glow.
Year by year they just sit here,
And I wonder how long they have to go.

Their Number boards and build plates gone,
By some relic hunter stole.
The Cobwebs completely covering,
A darkened firebox hole.

They stand in silent tribute,
To those that came before,
And spent their lives upon the rails,
In them they live once more.

These Slumbering giants of the rails,
From Cattle trains to the express mail.
They conjure up in images in the minds of all,
Those who saw the final curtain fall...

...ON THE GLORY DAYS OF STEAM.

Well, here's an U.S. response to the demise of steam. These images are from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The museum is owned by the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and owns approximately 14 acres of property and three miles of right of way. The railroad has two depots and yards-one at each end of the railroad. At East Chattanooga, the Robert M. Soule Shops house the railroad's wheel shop, boiler and machine shops, paint facility, coach shops and upholstery department. Aside from foundry work, we can do pretty much anything else on site.




Here we see the TVRM No. 610-an A Class 2-8-0 built for the United States Army Transportation Corps in 1952-last steam locomotive built by Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton for US service. She's receiving attention to her cylinders-piston rings being re-machined.



Here we see the rear of the Shop floor. On the left, TVRM No. 630 is in the middle of a seven year restoration-started in 2000. Major boiler, running gear and frame work is being performed on the 1904 Alco 2-8-0 built as a K Class locomotive for the Southern Railway. The locomotive was leased by the TVRM from the Norfolk Southern Railway for many years, but was donated to TVRM when the NS dismantled their excursion program in 1995.

The locomotive on the right is ex-Southern Railway E-8A No. 6910. It is in the process of being rebuilt with no completion date given.



Now this locomotive has a very interesting story. She was built in 1893 for the Central of Georgia Railroad and retired in the 1950s. She was sold to a farmer in central Georgia who wanted something for the grandkids to play with. The locomotive was stored in the middle of a large pole shed when we acquired it as a donation-free for us to come and get. We sent some folks down, expecting it to be a small industrial locomotive. Instead we came face to face with an 1893 Baldwin built 4-4-0. What was more amazing was that when the locomotive was examined, all of the lamps, gauges, valves and handles were still in place. Nothing had been picked off the locomotive since it left the railroad.


Just a little TVRM pride. When I repainted our 80 foot turntable, I decided to touch it up by painting the builder's plate. She was built in 1916 by the American Bridge Company for the Central of Georgia Railroad and installed at Cedartown, Georgia. In the early 1980s we acquired the turntable and re-installed it in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The old Armstrong table had been rebuilt as a motorized unit and remains the same to this day.