RE: owning a home close to the train tracks and yard… You’re a heavy sleeper, aren’t you. (No pun intended.)

The only house I ever purchase was a lovely, quirky, tiny house one block from the railroad tracks and only a couple of blocks from the railyard.

And thanks, Emerald, for the story of your grampa. My dad’s the last in my family; he grew up on a small farm among others whose fathers also worked in manufacturing. He says the companies knew they could get the skilled labor in the wintertime and scheduled accordingly. :)

I also found this:

Technically he was in the Army Air Corps during WWII, even though he never left home other than for basic training. Nope, when regional military installations had welding work they sent it to him. Not only was this more cost effective than building hundreds of huge industrial sites, it made sense strategically – huge sites can be targeted easily, but myriad small ones can’t, not economically any way. And besides, for all intents and purposes these small sites were camouflaged without having to actually be camouflaged. Who could tell them from any other non-military industrial site? It’s sort of the military’s version of Wall Street’s “diversify” adage.

Anywho, that was Pa who, after a couple of decades of wearing the massively heavy welding helmet with the old-style leather straps, forever lost his eyebrows. But he was in good company – the Mona Lisa doesn’t have eyebrows either. :D

But seriously… no one say anything about this place to my husband because if he hears about it there will be no peace until the keys are in his pocket, regardless of whether we have $3.5M to drop on it or not. (We don’t.)

Even without the train, though, this is a sweet site. Very nice interiors, though I’m not a huge fan of the French Provincial detailing. But, hell, I’d take Early Dorm Room Crapola if the back deck still came with it. I really, really want a deck like that some day. Sweet, sweet, and did I mention sweet? :D

I can remember seeing some of the plans and such with publishing dates early-1900s, along with modern (1990s, I think) newsletters referencing sites and meetings, showcasing exemplary work, and memorializing elderly gentlemen retired from manufacturing.

Back in the day, there was an enormous reservoir of skilled machining in the shops of private homes and farms – WWII production actually tapped it for piecework as factories struggled to add capacity and find skilled labor on any terms it could. Add our fascination with railroads (and the great number of skilled retirees from that industry) and gaze in awe. :D