A few CVRR pictures and some other related pictures....

[rogruth]

I remember all of that too, Murph.
I don't think our iron soot problem was as bad because we were on the west side of the Ohio River and the nearest mills were on the east side.
The B&O had a roundhouse and yard on the east side so I did get the soot experience quite often. Also had to keep mouth closed.
I remember telling non area people about seeing the dirt fall from the sky and was not often believed. We did get it on the west side
but not quite as bad. I never understood why people painted houses white in that area. Because of air pollution they would be graying
the next year and in just a few years the paint would be peeling.
Although I enjoyed it when I was young I never wanted to live there once I left. Now it is "rust belt" and the small town die a little every day.
My home town was @17,000 population in 1952 and is @ 4,000 today. No industry. Very sad.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I remember all of that too, Murph. ...
Although I enjoyed it when I was young I never wanted to live there once I left. Now it is "rust belt" and the small town die a little every day.
My home town was @17,000 population in 1952 and is @ 4,000 today. No industry. Very sad.

Sad is right.Very, very sad, and we never envisioned such a thing as even remotely possible when we were children, did we. Everybody worked at a mill or at a business that derived its customers from traffic in, out, or for the mills. With the mills gone, I do not understand how anybody survives.

I have no idea what (adventure-lust?) motivated me to move out of my hometown area once I graduated college, back in the late-60's, and emigrate to New York, but I am sooooooooooooooooooo glad and grateful I did. It has made all the difference.

I have wanted to return for a nostalgic visit, perhaps my last, but have been vehemently discouraged from doing so by high school classmates who still have business there and have warned me about getting car-jacked at traffic lights/signs, and that I should not dare to walk around for long. So, I keep away and enjoy my memories.
Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I have wanted to return for a nostalgic visit, perhaps my last, but have been vehemently discouraged from doing so by high school classmates who still have business there and have warned me about getting car-jacked at traffic lights/signs, and that I should not dare to walk around for long. So, I keep away and enjoy my memories.

Now that's depressing............

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I have wanted to return for a nostalgic visit, perhaps my last, but have been vehemently discouraged from doing so by high school classmates who still have business there and have warned me about getting car-jacked at traffic lights/signs, and that I should not dare to walk around for long. So, I keep away and enjoy my memories.

Now that's depressing............

Well, I have never been a person given to being depressed, Rufus, but the situation there is sad, yes, and certainly less than desirable. When one moves from having been a happy resident somewhere to being its potential prey, facts have to be faced and decisions made accordingly.

If I recall correctly, Mitch had experiences in downtown Pittsburgh that turned him off to re-visiting the area ever again, though I don't recall all the nuances of his viewpoint. And I have a cousin who used to work at a bank downtown who came to feel, from observations made out bank windows and by word-of-mouth, that going out for lunch was anathema. She retired early.

Murph in exile.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Well, I have never been a person given to being depressed, Rufus, but the situation there is sad, yes, and certainly less than desirable. When one moves from having been a happy resident somewhere to being its potential prey, facts have to be faced and decisions made accordingly.

If I recall correctly, Mitch had experiences in downtown Pittsburgh that turned him off to re-visiting the area ever again, though I don't recall all the nuances of his viewpoint. And I have a cousin who used to work at a bank downtown who came to feel, from observations made out bank windows and by word-of-mouth, that going out for lunch was anathema. She retired early.

Murph in exile.

Things do change despite that being objected to or even denied to be so by some - the world is not static. I avoid looking back at past "homesteads"; the odds that the experience will degrade good memories are significant... Yet, my wife got me to visit my home from when I lived in Tampa (50+ years gone by) a few years back and the house was essentially unchanged, but that was all in that neighborhood that was recognizable..... At least 3 more of my past childhood homes are readily available to me to visit - I never go by them. I leave the memories and ghosts undisturbed.

OTOH, my last trip to downtown Philly just last month was rather good, encouraging, and comfortable.....and I don't even like being in cities at all!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Didn't somebody say that we can never go home again? Perhaps, we look for a glimmer of the security and warmth of life during our childhoods - those of us who do like a look back, now and then - but of course, it is the places we call home nowadays that are home. There's no clicking our heels three times, or spinning around a few twirls, furniture to crawl into as passageways, or jumping down any rabbit holes that will take us anywhere we miss or think we'd like to be. At my age, I'm just glad to have both feet planted firmly on the ground and friends and family who welcome my company, virtual or actual.
Murph, at home.

[rogruth]

You guys have, IMHO, said it all.
I'm glad to see that I am not alone with a little nostalgia attack now and then.
I was starting to worry about me.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There's no clicking our heels three times, or spinning around a few twirls, furniture to crawl into as passageways, or jumping down any rabbit holes that will take us anywhere we miss or think we'd like to be.

There is however this rather odd police call box that's appeared recently in my back yard.....

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Manny, Moe and Jack - the early years,



Almost as interesting (to some...) is the other side of this card....

[rogruth]

I wonder how long it took to address that card?

I do remember that mail would be delivered when only the persons name, town and state were given.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I wonder how long it took to address that card?

I had a thought that that bit of penmanship might be of interest......given in this time the declining use of the manual inscription devise,

[robert.]

Here are some photos from a journal i have. It's civil war era from the Baltimore west hospital. Most of the pages are confessions from the wounded and dying. It appears to have been mailed to the next of kin then mailed back to the hospital.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Off to McConnellsburg for a while.....

[rogruth]

Has that town changed much?
Is it still recognisable?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Has that town changed much?
Is it still recognisable?

Probably has changed a lot since that photo. I have not had call to go over the mountain for a visit in a very long time.....