{"id":5474,"date":"2020-08-11T22:37:52","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T02:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5474"},"modified":"2020-08-11T22:49:55","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T02:49:55","slug":"episode-93-algoma-central-railwy-got-the-disappearing-railroad-blues-1964-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5474","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 93″ ALGOMA CENTRAL RAILWY “GOT THE DISAPPEARING RAILROAD BLUES” 1964 PART 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE  93    ALGOMA CENTRAL\u2026RAILWAY TO NOWHERE<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cGOT THE DISAPPEARING RAILROAD BLUES\u201d (Guthrie)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
August 2020<\/div>\n

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Early in the summer of 1964 I was  offered a job deep in a forgotten part of  Ontario.  <\/div>\n
The only way in and out was on the ACR\u2026the Algoma Central Railway.  A railway<\/div>\n
that goes  nowhere really.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The ACR runs from Sault St. Marie northward  to Hearst where it connects  with the<\/div>\n
CPR transcontinental.   It is  a  railway of broken dreams.  The first builder only managed<\/div>\n
to construct 58 miles of rail before going bankrupt.   Others completed the full 297 miles<\/div>\n
but no one ever made  money.  Today the ACR is  a ghost line only going as far<\/div>\n
as the mysterious Agawa canyon as a tourist adventure.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
There are people living along the line.  Not many.  Maybe fewer and  fewer.  The ACR<\/div>\n
is  a rail line that links fishing camps.  Today, August 11, 2020,  I  am  not sure if the<\/div>\n
ACR even reaches these lonely human outposts.  The current owner,  CNR, has<\/div>\n
threatened to shut the whole line  down unless the federal government pitches in<\/div>\n
and  bankrolls the line.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
In 1964, my destination was  Mile 71 on the ACR.  A fishing camp from which we were<\/div>\n
launching a mining exploration venture.  “Paradise Lodge”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The mist unusual characteristic of  the ACR was its public service to people like us\u2026prospectors\u2026<\/div>\n
and others who hoped to catch a few fish.  There was no scheduled series of  stops.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
In 1964,  If we wanted  a  ride on the ACR, we stood in the middle of  the track and waved<\/div>\n
a white flag or red  flag or old set of handlebar underwear or big bug net.  The huge train would  stop.<\/div>\n

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There  is nothing lonelier that the sound of  the ACR in a wilderness where the only answer is a  wolf howl.<\/div>\n

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Might I suggest you listen to Willie NeLson singing Arlo Guthrie\u2019s  THE CITY OF  NEW OLREANS<\/div>\n
\u2026\u201dthe disappearing railroad  blues”<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

Arlo Guthrie<\/a> \u2013 The City Of New Orleans Lyrics<\/h2>\n
from album: Hobo’s Lullaby<\/a> (1972) <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
www.lyricsfreak.com\/static\/images\/txtstripes_large.gif<\/a>); font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; min-height: 598px; position: relative;”>Riding on the City Of New Orleans<\/span>
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail<\/span>
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders<\/span>
Three Conductors; twenty-five sacks of mail<\/span>
All along the southbound odyssey – the train pulls out of Kankakee<\/span>
And rolls along past houses, farms, and fields<\/span>
Passing trains that have no name, and freight yards full of old black men<\/span>
And the graveyards of the rusted automobile<\/span>
<\/span>
Good morning, America, how are you?<\/span>
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son<\/span>
I’m the train they call the City Of New Orleans<\/span>
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done<\/span>
<\/span>
Dealing card games with the old man in the Club Car<\/span>
Penny a point – ain’t no one keeping score<\/span>
As the paper bag that holds the bottle<\/span>
Feel the wheels rumbling ‘neath the floor<\/span>
And the sons of Pullman Porters, and the sons of Engineers<\/span>
Ride their father’s magic carpets made of steel<\/span>
And, mothers with their babes asleep rocking to the gentle beat<\/span>
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel<\/span>
<\/span>
Good morning, America, how are you?<\/span>
Say, don’t you know me? I’m your native son<\/span>
I’m the train they call the City Of New Orleans<\/span>
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done<\/span>
<\/span>
Night time on the City Of New Orleans<\/span>
Changing cars in Memphis Tennessee<\/span>
Halfway home – we’ll be there by morning<\/span>
Through the Mississippi darkness, rolling down to the sea<\/span>
But, all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream<\/span>
And the steel rail still ain’t heard the news<\/span>
The conductor sings his songs again – the passengers will please refrain<\/span>
This train got the disappearing railroad blues<\/span>
<\/span>
Good night, America, how are ya?<\/span>
Said, don’t you know me? I’m your native son<\/span>
I’m the train they call the City Of New Orleans<\/span>
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done  <\/span>
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<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
PS   Our next stories  are framed by the ACR\u2026that was 1964 when the line was privately<\/div>\n
owned  for a  few years.  In 1965 it was sold and its survival was a question. A slow and sad decline ensued.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  93    ALGOMA CENTRAL\u2026RAILWAY TO NOWHERE \u201cGOT THE DISAPPEARING RAILROAD BLUES\u201d (Guthrie) alan skeoch August 2020 Early in the summer of 1964 I was  offered a job deep in a forgotten part of  Ontario.   The only way in and out was on the ACR\u2026the Algoma Central Railway.  A railway that goes  nowhere really. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}