Railroaders' Nostalgia > Things I Learned When I Got Hired On The Railroad

One thing i learned is to blow my nose with one finger closing the other nostril ... first time when i saw the other guys do this i thought i was disgusting ...

i was 20 years old and up until that point i always used a tissue or handkerchief ... ohhh to feel free to just load up and blow ...

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/15 15:16 by Out_Of_Service.

Thank you sooo much for sharing that!

Classic!

People running equipment with only one hand free have done that for decades. And then there were the others who were just crude. I have seen men do that on the sidewalk in downtown areas . . . right in frontof other people. Watch your step !

I think I'm gonna hurl

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One thing i learned is to blow my nose with one
> finger closing the other nostril ... first time
> when i saw the other guys do this i thought i was
> disgusting ...
>
> i was 20 years old and up until that point i
> always used a tissue or handkerchief ... ohhh to
> feel free to just load up and blow ...
>
> Posted from Android

 When I was growing up in the Hbg Pa area, this was known as "Sn#t Rockets.  Just saying.  Ben

Saw the nose trick first in high school. In spring 1971 we had a Fiesta or carnival on campus. Saw one of the carnies blow his nose that way. Being a freshman thought it was a odd sight and gross.

I'll bet that's snot the only thing you learned that first day.  Hey, you gota do what you gota do.  Yeh, "Snot rockets."  I can think of some worse things I've seen.

John

I learned quickly while working with a guy that chewed plug tobacco, stay away and up wind, he did not care where or when he spit.  Doug

learned that playing ice hockey........

66

I learned that while working for the Santa Fe in Richmond, Calif. the later part of 1965.  I was 19 at the time.  The switchmen, yard clerks and yardmasters all did it. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/15 19:30 by goldcoast.

This thread demeans Trainorders.com.

We always referred to it as a "farmer's blow."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/15 13:01 by doesyourdogbite.

I thought this action was known as the trucker driver's handshake !

I leaned it as the "farmers blow" as well. Do what you gotta do. Just hope it isn't the sticky/stringy consistency that doesn't clear the nose completely.

Posted from iPhone

RRTom Wrote:
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> This thread demeans Trainorders.com.

and now we know RRTom has no sense of humor or maybe his level of sense of humor doesn't reach the levels of railroaders :-) ...

lemme preface how it was when i first got hired ... most of the guys i worked when i first got hired were from around Philly proper, meaning the inner city itself ... it was a rough crowd ... Philly like Camden where i grew up was made up of little neighborhoods ... these hoods were were tough neighborhoods ... there was a lot of testosterone and wildness they all had the city to bind them together ... if they didn't know you, you couldn't be trusted ... you couldn't let yourself be a pincushion and hadda give it as well as take it ... these guys would break your balls to no end to try to break you ... almost like an initiation ... this wasn't new to me growing up across the river but i was in a new world ... in my hood i knew everybody so i was already accepted ... working with these guys i hadda start all over again to show i could be trusted ... it was almost like high school all over and i transferred to a new school but i was getting paid ... 90% of the guys were my age of 20 between 18 and 25 ...

these guy were anything but tolerant of railfans ... they hated anybody that had anything to do with the railroad that saw it as a hobby ... that included paid employees and railfans ... these railfan people were known as "RICKY RAILROADERS" and were treated like outcasts and were ridiculed ... the atmosphere again was like high school ...

UP as a railfan you either you either kept yourself in the closet and accepted by your peers or sit alone at the lunch table having peanut shells thrown at you ... i never hid my like for train but i wouldn't be so bold as to bring a camera to work which had me miss YEEEEAAAARS of railroad history and nostalgia ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/15 15:51 by Out_Of_Service.

Another convert to snot rockets...

I kinda figured it would go without saying but after having a few years in back then and observing new hires it appears it isn't common sense to some.  Of the many things I "learned" was to keep my mouth shut, eyes opened, and ears listening.  Also learned where the best restaurants, bars, and hotels were.

The BIGGEST thing I learned was how advantageous it was to listen to the radio and other trains in the area, and to be the one who talked to whoever on the radio when called for.  I saw so may guys seemingly afraid to pick up the radio and talk.  Yep, I sure made some of the guys laugh at first, but it was all good.  They seemed to have a bunch more respect for the newer guys who would do this. 

 

I've always heard that referred to as a "Snot Rocket." I learned the technique in the Marine Corps and still use it today when doing yard work... much to the chagrin of my wife who is both baffled and disgusted by the practice.

Jason Rose
Spring, TX
Rio Grande Explorations