Canals and Railroads

Last week, David and I studied the canals and the railroads: two outdated modes of transportation.  Not that we planned it like that, saying "Let's go study canals and railroads," but we looked at our list of fun things that we wanted to do, and that was what we chose on Labor Day, and then the following Saturday.

Monday we went to a Canal.  We started out our visit by renting some kayaks and kayaking around the canal.  It was a good upper body workout.  And it was a good day for David not to get me wet.

Then we toured the home of the contractor who had been in charge of building that portion of the canal.  We saw:

Lovely hand-blown glasses.  It must take a lot of skill to get them so uniform.

 An egg-beater (among other kitchen tools).  This egg-beater has no carbon footprint.

 An old sewing machine.

And spinning wheel.

The parlor, all fancy.  Did you know that funeral parlors got their names because people used to hold funerals in their own parlors?  I didn't.  This chair that David is standing behind is a man's chair; a woman's chair would have no arms, because it had to accommodate her hoop skirt.

The entryway had a marble design painted on the walls, and even had a sort of fake crown molding.  The only real crown molding was above the door.

This fireplace was also painted to look like stone.

After the house tour, we got a ride on a canal boat.

Here I am on the boat.

There was also a visitor's center with more information about building the canals, and there was one plot I wish I had taken a picture of.  It plotted the expected revenue vs the actual revenue of the canal.  The revenue was lower than expected every single year, and it was fairly quickly obsolete, as the railroads took over transportation.

Then, on Saturday, we went to a train museum, which had a few trains running on tracks over our heads.

One interesting thing we learned is that each railroad company had its own unique set of china used in its dining car, and its own unique meals.  That way, even though two different companies traveled the same route in the same amount of time, they had something to distinguish their service.  If you liked one railroad company's meals better than another, they had your business.  Plus, you wouldn't find the same meal at any restaurant anywhere.  Here's one set of china.

A plate from the B&O Railroad.  (Think Monopoly.)

Cups and saucers from the George Washington Railway.

And a golden ticket.  Not from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but a gold plate that allowed a former railroad worker unlimited free passage on that railway.

We had a guide with us the whole time, which was nice for two reasons: first, we got descriptions of what we were looking at (there weren't a whole lot of plaques describing the displays), and second, we got to touch things we wouldn't have otherwise been allowed to.  Here I am listening on an old telephone.

David the conductor.  Each conductor had his own unique ticket punch, so they could keep track of who punched the ticket.

All aboard!  Of course, that's not a real train; it's a cart they used for workers to travel up and down the tracks.  The real trains were outside, but the conductor's hat was inside, so we compromised.

This typewriter is capable of underlining and making spreadsheets.  Simply rotate the pencil down, and the move the carriage back and forth or up and down.  (There was also a non-qwerty keyboard we saw, which was pretty cool.)

 This is a fully polished cash register.  It simply gleamed.

The whole collection was really impressive.  There were dozens of lanterns, dozens of sets of china, at least 5 cash registers (one for marks and pfennigs instead of dollars and cents), conductor's hats, breakmen's hats, many large bells, 5 or 6 phonographs that I counted, and a whole slew of old railroad signs, to name a few attractions.  And it was all a private collection, not a government-owned museum.

Then we went outside and got in the caboose.

And got a picture of me trying to ride the rails.  Really, I don't know how outlaws did it.  That's a huge step, and a pretty high reach for the hands, and they were trying to get on the train while it was moving.

 David walking on the tracks.