Kid Covered In Coal Smoke From Passing Loco

August 26, 2009

Steve tells of his days watching a steam locomotive pass under a bridge just a few feet away:

I remember back in 1950 or so living on Gates Ave in Jersey City and at the foot of my street was an iron truss roadway bridge leading to the Lehigh Valley rail yards on the waterfront.

The Central Railroad to the Jersey Shore ran its line under that bridge. I used to stop on the section of walkway over the southbound track and watch the CNJ camelbacks pulling out of the Danforth Ave station about 1/2 mile north. As they would approach, we boys would hold on tight to the bridge while the engineer blew the HELL out of his whistle and great clouds of black smoke poured out the stack!! I was really scared the first time I did that as the bridge was only a few feet above the smoke stack!! And it had a wooden deck with large spaces between the boards. Well after going through that black tornado I’d walk the 1/2 block home and my mom would chastise me for smelling so bad with coal smoke!! I told her I just “Happened” to be there when the Locomotive was passing under!

Sadly both my MOM and the bridge are gone but not the memories!!!