I guess I'm a romantic as well as an old fool; but the adrenaline starts pumping when ever I hear departure, or for that matter arrival announcements at train stations such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, etc.. It goes back to the days I worked as a ground agent for a major U.S. flag airline. Announcements with destinations like, Paris, Rome, Athens, Cairo, Columbo and Bankok made my pedestrian job seem a little more glamorous. Today I still get a rush when at Boston an Acela to Washington (and its intermediate stops) is announced and the passengers begin to flood toward the departure track. I get the same feeling at other boarding points/trains such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Emeryville. Probably a function of age and as I mentioned romantics; but its magic. Best regards, Rodger...as mother used to opine:There's no fool like an old fool.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Rodger, I absolutely know how you feel, because I feel the same. In fact, I first began taking long-distance trains when I was sitting in a station waiting for a simple Empire Service train to NYC and heard the Lakeshore Ltd westbound announced. I said to myself, "I'd like to be on that train to Cleveland, or Chicago, or points west . . . " and not long afterward, I was!
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Rodger--
I know exactly how you feel. One of my favorites movies is, aside from Steve McQueen's great performance, "Bullitt". The scenes at SFO are a blast from the past with 80% of the people dressed up and great scenes at the Pan Am gate and on the Pan Am 707. And then there's the chase on the runways with PSA planes and several other Pan Am aircraft. And, in the background, those wonderful announcements.
Years ago, when I was in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, I was approached by the Station Manager for Pan Am about making some tapes for them to use at what was then El Coco International Airport. I could just hear myself saying "Pan American World Airways is proud to announce the arrival of Jet Clipper flight 707 from Guatemala City." I think it was cheap rum talking because it never went beyond that first suggestion.
Frank in wet and soon to be MUCH wetter SBA
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
One of my railroad audio tapes was of the PRR in the days of steam, mostly on the New York and Long Branch. There is a segment in there of a very stentorian voice announcing the Senator's departure from NY Penn - when it was still a real station. It is a thrill to hear him announcing the train complete with parlor car and dining car track locations. If only I had recorded announcement of other trains, like the Pan American, Florida Special, or National Limited.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
I can just hear Mel Blanc intoning on the old Jack Benny radio show,"Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cucamonga."
If memory serves, somebody who wrote for Model Railroader magazine named his HO scale pike the Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga. He probably went mad trying to put all those decal letters on his passenger cars.
Posted by gibg (Member # 2565) on :
Mr. K.: I'm with you on that -- but I don't think it was Mel Blanc (who was more in the Bugs Bunny league). I seem to remember that it was an announcer with a VERY pompous voice -- and he had the wonderful trick of leaving a lot of time between the "Cuc" and the "a-monga." Certainly a classic bit for those of us who were around in the days of radio!
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
I believe it was Don Wilson who was the announcer. I am proud to say that I have been to all three of those cities. It was Benny who said that the name Azusa came from it having everything fro A to Z in the USA. It is apparently actually from an old Indian name. I liked Benny's story better!
Frank in wet SBA
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Not claiming that Wikipedia settles all bar bets, but this is what its Mel Blanc entry has to say:
"Another famous Blanc shtick on Jack’s show was the train depot announcer who inevitably intoned, sidelong, 'Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga'. Part of the joke was the Angeleno studio audience’s awareness that no such train existed connecting those then-small towns (years before Disneyland opened). To the wider audience, the primary joke was the pregnant pause that evolved over time between "Cuc.." and "...amonga"; eventually, minutes would pass while the skit went on as the audience awaited the inevitable conclusion of the word. (At least once, a completely different skit followed before the inevitable “...amonga” finally appeared.)"
That's all, folks. (Blanc said that, according to the piece.)
Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
And in one episode, an entire show played out before Blanc got to the "amonga".
Posted by graynt (Member # 17) on :
Was Frank Nelson the announcer? He always was quite pompous in anything he did. He played various roles on the Benny show,always with a robust "yes.!!!"
Speaking of trains..I got a beauty coming up in May. Buffalo to Chicago on the LSL, Chi to PDX on the Builder and on to LAX on The Coast Starlight..two people, sleeper all on AGR.(I do pay from Buffalo to Toledo,keeping it two zones) Glad I saved those points..and yes, I still get excited when I am in a train station and I hear all those announcements..the most pronounced being Chicago's Union Station
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
I'm one of the "kooks among us" here at the Rail Forum; another older fool who likes train, air and ship boarding announcements--I remember Benny's "A, A and C" signature station call from his old B and W reruns.
Some of my favorite "objects" with an almost hypnotic attraction were the old-style mechanical "flipping letter destination boards" one would see at huge international air (and some rail) terminals such as my home port at Los Angeles. I believe they have been long replaced by their digital equivalents, but remember how the device would make that clacking sound as the letters flipped?
Then finally appearing through a meaningless amalgam of letters the name of the destination would appear-- Rome, Istanbul, Papeete, Shanghai, Bangkok, Berlin, Tokyo/Narita, Sydney, Oslo, or WHEREVER that sounded like a faraway and very good place to sometime journey to.
My other childhood wish and dream was to "find out where the railroad tracks went to." On that goal, I succeeded for the most part. I knew early on that the "travel lust" was within me, and like most here at the Rail Forum it became a lifetime pursuit.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Bob--
Yet another "blast from the past"! The first time I saw one of those boards was at Kai Tak in Hong Kong. I was mesmerized by it and could easily have missed my flight!
There was also had them at Honolulu International but I believe they are all gone now. Somehow I remember that they were made by an Italian company.
Frank in VERY wet SBA
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Solari Boards, volks.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Unfortunately New Haven Union Station Board is soon to be history, it is going to the Danbury Train Museum. I really enjoy watching the board spin past cities no longer served or served directly. The board seems to be too expensive to repair. They also need a new board for the expanded high speed service to Springfield, talk about putting the cart before the horse!
Hey while where on a nostalgia bin here is some good news from my favorite New York Newspaper
If only the MTA board was as efficient with money as the trains are!
Posted by Railroad Bob (Member # 3508) on :
Excellent links, everyone! But until these mega-rains pour themselves out, I think I'll stay ensconced at home; pajama-clad with a cup of mulled wine or some other comfort...my lady friend uses the Coaster (San Diego area hvy rail commute service) and today I drove her to work in Sorrento Valley due to the tracks being flooded out. (We've got that other thread discussing this situation.) Nice to be retired, and leave these kinds of commutes to those that are still on the clocks...
I envy you, SBA Frank, for having used Hong Kong's old Kai Tak! All my China trips (6 now) have been through Beijing Int'l; however I did go in and out of the old Hongqiao port in Shanghai a couple of times, before the new Pudong Int'l was built, at the end of the MagLev Line.
I've heard on the approach to Kai Tak on a slowly lumbering 747, you could look into apartment windows there in Hong Kong's airport district and actually see people eating noodles with their chopsticks! Been told that anyway; true or not it makes a good story! Welcome to China, eh? Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Bob--
It's a true story. You could see what they were watching on TV! I'd really like to get back to China. Hong Kong was still British the last time I was there and Macau Portuguese.
I know I would not recognize Shanghai. The last time I was there there were NO highrises on the other side of the river.
I'm looking forward to seeing Vicki and Art's pictures. (Hint, Hint!)
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