Hobo Jungle

[Rufus T. Firefly]

v8,

Sounds OK to me.

Yes, they made their choice, exercised the courage of their convictions, and face the consequences of their actions. Not too many countries where people can do such.

[healey36]

Thinking of The Old Man today. It’s been fifteen years since he took leave of this place, and as family reassembles from the seeming four corners, I find him on my mind. He was a guy that took great joy in looking out across the dining room table and admiring, wordlessly, the carnage he had wrought.

With the help of my step-mother, he did a credible job of raising three sons and a daughter. We have each managed to reach fairly lofty positions in our chosen fields, while having done no significant time in the penal system, so I’m certain he considered himself to have been moderately successful.

There were certainly times when that was in doubt. My sister took up driving at the age of four, backing the family wagon out of the driveway and halfway down the plowed field across the street. Years later she told me that she thought the ‘R’ on the gear-selector stood for ‘Race’. An opportunity lost…Janet Guthrie was lucky to have been first.

To my amazement, my youngest brother was provided with a Daisy air-rifle one Christmas, probably around the age of seven or eight. He rewarded my father for this misguided decision by laying under the dining room table and shooting all of my step-mother’s heirloom Christmas balls off the tree. My brother tells me he has no recollection of this incident after my father pulled him out from under the table.

My father took great joy in telling of the exploits of his oldest son who once jumped out an attic window wearing Superman pajamas (I swear to God, I thought you could fly in those things). I was never really sure if he was mad because (a) I could have killed myself, (b) that he could have raised someone so stupid, or (c) I’d ruined one of his prized rose bushes with a poorly executed landing.

Fortunately for us, little phased him. Give him a good book, his pipe and a full pouch, and a bottle of Cutty Sark and he could be occupied for the evening. Given the opportunity, he always introduced us as “My boy so-and-so…”, or “These are my boys…”. There wasn’t anything that would make your chest swell up more than that.

So here’s back at you, Pop, wherever you are. After the last of the dishes are cleared away, and the dogs are sleeping by the fire, this last IPA is for you. Long may you run.

Hoping everyone here had a great Thanksgiving.

Healey

[healey36]

Tramp - I'd say you've got yourself an AT&SF caboose up there on the left...the eyes are too far gone to take a swag at the others. That does, however, look eerily like a 550S Spyder peering out from the bottom shelf. Lovely stuff...thanks for sharing.

Healey

[Tramp]

Healey, if I may, I raise a glass for your father as well. Cheers.

We posted at the same instant. I'm shocked you saw the Porsche. I drew that for my father in 1975 and I obviously still have it.

The caboose is "the bridge line to New England and Canada."

[rogruth]

Tramp,

Will we get to see your Christmas tree this year?

[J. S. Bach]

...snip...
What railroads are represented in the models on the bookcase?
...snip...

The trolley on the right appears to be a San Francisco MUNI car.

[2railjon]

Here's a toast to my fellow hobo's for a safe, prosperous, and healthy holiday season.
And a special toast to Hev. I miss you, my gentle giant Brother.

[webenda]

What railroads are represented in the models on the bookcase?

Caboose--looks like an OMI caboose. Wrong color for Main Central. I am going to guess CNW.
Is that a reefer? It wouldn't say "Ballantine" or "Labatt" on the side would it?
Streetcar--Muni (San Francisco) is my guess.

Happy 10th Jungle.

Happy Thanks Giving Hobos.

Edit 1: Three of us posted at the same moment. I lost--makes me second to guess "Muni" for the streetcar.

[sarge]

Tramp:

Looks like D&H on the caboose, I can't make out the rest of it.

All:

Just back from a bittersweet day. We drove down to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, who are still with us but, oh so bloody ancient. We assigned my father the task of cooking the turkey, knowing full well he is getting so absent-minded that he probably would forget the details from the days when he produced the perfect bird each year. Sure enough, it was overcooked, under-basted, and pretty dried out.

He was so proud to be put in charge of that bird, and the self-confidence at his frail age was a joy to see as he stood ramrod straight like a soldier with that platter in his hands and a big smile on his face.

It was the best turkey I've ever eaten.

A Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes this season to my fellow hobos, brothers-in-arms, and good friends.

[The Dirt]

Healey, that was nice, about your pop. I enjoyed that. Nicely written.



Sarge and Jon, back at you both, and to everyone here. This thread's been a solace in this crazy-assed jacked-up world. It was my memory that the thread first appeared in OGR in 2001 before it migrated here to friendlier soil, but no matter. The Jungle abides, and the friendships it has fostered are both real and cherished.

[The Dirt]

Truthfully, Healey, it's a wonder any of us survive our kid's childhoods. I've used up at least 5 of my 9 lives on my kid's escapades. This was the most recent, last July. My 19 year old son.

[webenda]

The caboose is "the bridge line to New England and Canada."

Got it!

[healey36]

That's it Wayne...awesome research.

Dirt, that photograph is amazing...hopefully everyone walked away from that with no injury other than to their pride. Some of my greatest fears in child-raising occurred when they finally clambered behind the wheel, primarily, and unfairly, based on my recollections of some of the moronic antics I pulled when I was of the same age.

I sit at home this long weekend starting what they tell me will be a long recovery from a broken arm and dislocated shoulder. How, you may ask? I'd like to tell you I was defending a young woman at my local watering-hole from seven ruffians, or that it was my third training run for the giant downhill, somehow gone terribly awry. It was, of course, neither...in the middle of the night I stumbled over a dog-gate my wife had erected to restrict a new puppy's access to the rest of the house. Double fracture of the humerus at the 'greater tubercule' and 'surgical neck'.

Perhaps all of this sentimental reflection is the product of the pain-killer induced haze in which I find myself immersed. Now if I could just remember where I put that Doors boxed-set I received for Christmas a few years ago...

Break on through to the other side...

[Tramp]

Dirt, you're correct about the original Jungle. I was thinking it moved to MTJ in 2004, but I was wrong about the date. Because of my first ever post in 2001 being on Thanksgiving Eve, I get sentimental around this time. Did you receive your catalog?

Wayne and Sarge, correct on the caboose, which is an Atlas model. The reefer is Narragansett but I need to draw the name a bit better. Realize the entire detail is about 6 by 7 inches. Dave—correct. The trolley is 2-rail and was purchased from a forum member years ago. I still can't understand how Healey saw the Porsche Spyder. Healey, did you notice the interior of the car on the left side of the bookcase? Your wife must feel terrible. Those pills washed down with beer can be a lovely combination, just don't leave the house.

Jon, nice to hear from you. Been a long time. My next column has something about Hev in it.

[rogruth]

Tramp,

The date given for the first post on MTJs Hobo Jungle is March 14, 2004.

I can't find anything about a start date on OGR.

I am glad it was moved to MTJ but why was it moved? What was not liked about it on OGR?