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Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual)
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Subject: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 12 Dec 11 - 06:10 PM As some of ya'll know I went off to college in Richmond, Va a long, long time ago... One of the very first kids I met was a skinny kid with kinky red hair, who like me, carried a big sketchbook every where he went... Also like me, Richard Bland loved to poke around the old ruins and abandoned buildings in the the older parts of the city... So Richard and I became sketchin' buddies and would try to outdo the other in finding strange places that would give most people the creeps but that were treasures to us and we'd spend hours sitting with our sketchbooks drawing various creepy treasures that we had found or folks had told us about... One day, Richard took me for a long, long walk... Maybe 4 miles to the east end of Richmond... We walked right thru the tobacco factories and all the industrial part of east Richmond that had burned at the end of the Civil War... He didn't tell me what he had found but said it was real cool... That part of Richmond was the oldest because that is as far inland that the James River was navigable... To our left was historic Church Hill where Patrick Henry delivered his "Give me liberty of give me death speech" and to the right was the rapids of the James River... At the end of Church Hill there is a road that goes to Williamsburg, Va. and we took it about 100 yards to an old train bridge where Richard said, "We're almost there" as he headed up a weed & briar hill to the top of the bridge... Ask me how much fun that climb was with a sketchbook under one arm... When we got to the top of the bridge he led us back down the old, old abandoned railroad tracks back toward Church Hill that we had just passed and we walked thru weeds and briars for at least a couple hundred yards until we came the the arched opening of an old train tunnel... Hmmmmmmm??? So into the tunnel we went and walked about another 100 yards where there was just enough light to see that the tunnel had been blocked with a wall of concrete but with the tracks going right up to that wall... "Wow!!! This is really cool, Richard"... And it was... It was then that Richard told me that he had heard that the tunnel went completely under Church Hill to Shokoe Bottom on the other end which as the crow flies was a bit over 3900 feet but the real shocker was the next part... Richard said that the tunnel had collapsed a long, long time ago on top of a train and that the train and people were buried and still in the collapsed portion of the tunnel!!! Well, I don't mind telling ya' that hearing that kinda sent a chill up my back... But it was a good adventure... To dark in there to do any drawing but Richard still got very high marks for such a find... Years went by and Richard and I kinda drifted in different directions but some 30 years later I had this very strange dream... I dreamed that I was a Bruce Springsteen's (who, BTW I knew in the 60s) house for dinner and after dinner he puled out his guitar and played a song he had just written and when he was finished I siad, "Hey, Bruce... Pass your guitar over here... I have just written a song about a train buried in a collapsed tunnel..." Well, folks... Some dreams are so profound that you just have to wake up and think about them and this dream was one of them... So I wrote down "Church Hill Tunnel" on a slip of paper by the bed and went back to sleep... The following morning I saw that slip of paper and knew that after 30 years I needed, as Paul Harvey would say, get "the rest of the story" and so I called the History Department at my alma mata, Virginia Commonwealth University, and got bounced around quite a bit until one guy said, "Hey, I know that story, there's a professor in the business school who is an amateur historian who researched it years ago, his name is Walter Griggs..." Okay??? So I called this professor, got his voice mail, told him of my convoluted dream and asked him to call me back... ***********************END OF CHAPTER ONE*********************** (Note: I will write Chapter Two later this evening... If any of you folks want to Google "Church Hill Tunnel", don't... At least, not yet... There will be time for that... Just hold off for now... Okay??? Later, B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: gnu Date: 12 Dec 11 - 06:42 PM I ain't the type to go googlin if told not to. Just glad you made it out of the tunnel. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 12 Dec 11 - 08:05 PM **************************CHAPTER TWO************************* A few hours after I left the message for Walter Griggs he returned my call and was excited that someone, other than him, actually knew of the tunnel, let alone having an interest in the story... Over the next half an hour he gave me the overall history of the tunnel... Reconstruction officially ended in 1876 but some 5 years before that the C & O Railroad needed to get coal and other supplies from the deep water port of Richmond east and west thru Richmond by rail but there wasn't a way to get around Church Hill and given that Church Hill was heavily populated with the people who worked close by in the factories and ship yards the only way was to go under Church Hill... The tunnel was begun in 1871 and completed and opened December 11th, 1873 and was 1 tad over 3900 feet long making it the 2nd longest tunnel in the country... There were problems with the construction because of layers of miocene clay (blue marl) which was kinda slimy and not all that stable... Lives were lost... At one point there was a cave in under 24th Street which swallowed several houses... Bottom line??? It was a slobber knocker and when it was opened had two drainage ditches on either side to allow the constant stream of goo and water to drain out of the tunnel... But the Church Hill Tunnel was used until 1902 when a new viaduct was built to carry the trains south of Church Hill and running along the James River... It sat vacant until 1925 when it a decision was made to shore it up for limited use and to calm the residents who lived in houses above it who had suffered from years of settling issues, cracks in walls, creaking sounds and all the kind of stuff that keep folks up at night worrying... On October 2, 1925 steam engine Engine 231 pulled several work cars loaded with laborers, tools and material into the tunnel for another day of shoring up... The engineer, Tom Mason... The fireman, B. F. Mosby... Sixty feet under 24th street the fireman noticed a few bricks fall from the ceiling and yelled, "Watch out, Tom... She's comin' in" and come in that tunnel did burying the entire train... Mosby, badly burned from the crushed firebox, jumped off the rear of the engine and worked his way under the work cars to safety... Many laborers did as well... Many didn't... The engineer didn't... B.F. Mosby made it out but he was so badly burned that he died that night... There was panic in Richmond that day as people were afraid that the entire tunnel was going to collapse and take hundreds and hundreds of Church Hill homes with it as well... The following day the C & O set up steam shovels above the collapse but their weight caused even more collapsing so they were removed and laborers spent the next 9 days hand digging a shaft down 60 feet to the engine below... On that 9th day, Tom Mason's body was found in the cab of the engine and extricated... The C & O then decided that further recovery would be dangerous and called off the operation... How many laborer's bodies that are still buried to this very day is debatable... Two known laborers were Richard Lewis and another man know simply as Smith... Back in 1925 in Richmond it was not uncommon for companies to take on "day laborers" and many folks reported at the time that there were others... These people were all black people... That was reality... ************************ So this is the most condensed version of the historical facts surrounding the Church Hill Tunnel... Over the next few months I researched and researched and was on the phone a lot with Walter Griggs... He was great and sent me lots of copies of old newspaper articles and sources... Of course I had his the thesis on the tunnel that he wrote in college... As I learned everything that anyone knew at the time about the story, I began to write the song I had told Bruce Springsteen in my dream... The more I got to know the more I wrote... The final version of the song ended up with 29 verses... I recorded it in Brooklyn, NY at a friend's studio the Summer of 1996... It was so long that the only time I ever sang it thru was that night in that studio... It came in at just over 11 minutes long... Longest 11 minutes of my life sitting in a sound proof room with half a dozen folks watching me behind plate glass... Glad to have written it... Glad to have it recorded... Gald I'll never have to do it again... Painful story but... ...the story doesn't end there!!! We're just getting this story warmed up... ***********************END OF CHAPTER TWO*********************** (Note: Still no peeking at Google...) B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Rapparee Date: 12 Dec 11 - 08:15 PM I know what's gonna happen! I know what's gonna happen! (And I didn't even peek.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: gnu Date: 12 Dec 11 - 08:24 PM I wanna google, but I won't. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 12 Dec 11 - 08:28 PM Nah, Rap... You don't... The last chapter was just written two days ago and no one knows other then about 4 people... Maybe 5... You ain't in that group but you might know the next chapter but I doubt that, too... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 12 Dec 11 - 08:31 PM BTW... I am going to get thru the story first... Looks like two more chapters will get us up to date... After the story has been completed I will post the lyrics of the song... Next installment: tomorrow... If anyone has any questions about what I have posted so far then feel free to ask... I will answer them as we go... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 13 Dec 11 - 06:38 AM hurry up tomorrow |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 13 Dec 11 - 02:02 PM Well, folks, I was going to get in another chapter this morning but our internet went down... I will write the next one this evening and I'll double-damned-guarantee ya'll that it has more twists in it than a 60s sock hop... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp Date: 13 Dec 11 - 06:05 PM I noticed that there ain't been no apes or monkeys in yer story yet, Bobertz. Other than that, it's real good! - Chongo |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 13 Dec 11 - 07:11 PM Sorry, Chongz, but this story is factual and, well, I hate to break it to you, you ain't but never mind that depressin' news... ***************************CHAPTER THREE***************************** Well, I was glad to have the recording of "The Legend of the Church Hill Tunnel" over with and sent a copy to Walter Griggs, along with the other 4 songs I recorded while I was in Brooklyn... I'm not too sure that Walter either liked the style of music or the poetic license I took in telling the story but he assured me that his wife liked the entire effort... Walter is kinda professorial... Know what I mean??? So life went on... I had completed that chapter and was perfectly willing to let it all go and didn't give the tunnel much thought until 1999 when, while visiting friends in Richmond, Bo (from "Bobert's Stoner Christmas Story") said "Let's poke around the eastern portal of the tunnel" and I said, "Yeah, that'd be cool"... So off we went with another friend, made our way thru the briars and underbrush like I had always done and walked into the portion of the tunnel to the concrete wall... Not sure why I looked up but I did and there to my amazement was a hole that someone had hammered out at the very top of the arched wall just big enough for a someone to squueze thru??? Hmmmmmmmmm??? Well, ya'll know what came into my mind, don't ya'... I'm going in there... Well, I knew this was going to take some planning so I returned the following week with rope, camera, light, work clothes, matches, water, etc., a 20 foot extension ladder to get my skinny butt up to the hole and thru that hole I went... "Wow!!! I'm in the Church Hill Tunnell"... The tunnel had been filled with all kinds of nasty old building material, rocks, old railroad ties, etc, all of which had settles over the year leaving between 18 inches and 30 inches between the top of the rubble/fill and brick ceiling of the tunnel... Well, I crawled on my belly as far back into the tunnel as I could where the tunnel had collapsed above and there was no way to get any further... I guess I made it about 700-800 feet and was purdy well exhausted and sore at that point so wasn't unhappy to find the end of the tunnel... It took forever to get back but I was able to get a few photographs and I recall just turning off the light and laying there for the longest time trying to channel any spiritual energy that might be in the tunnel only to just get kinda spooked so... ...flashlight back on and the last 200 or 300 feet to the hole I had come thru... My buddies were more than a little anxious as I had been in there well over 2 hours... During my 3 hour long drive back to Wes Ginny I just kept thinking how few, maybe a hand full, of Richmonders who had ever heard of the tunnel and thinking that the story needed to be told... Then I got this idea... Why not have a "memorial" on the 75th anniversary of the collapse and the more I thought about it the more I knew that the following morning I would be calling my ol' friend, Walter Griggs... Walter was excited... No, make that, Walter was VERY excited and over the next few I put together a long check list of things to do... One of the first things I did was put together an informational package and mailed one to each city council person, the mayor and the city manager... I told them that we were going to be organizing a memorial and asking them to become involved... (I got absolutely no response from any of them leading me to believe that they wanted to keep the story their "dirty little secret"... I never understood as none of them were involved in the decision to not retrieve any of the black laborers some 75 years earlier???) Walter turned me on to a great reporter, Mark Holmberg, of the Richmond Times Dispatch, who was all over this story from the jump... Mark provided us with all the PR we needed but if ya'll remember my old sketching buddy, Richard, he also surfaced and used his 1800's printing press to pump out "Entombed Train" posters and plastered them around the city... By the day of the memorial, every Richmonder knew the story and hundreds of people showed up at the site of the Western portal... I had had a nice plaque made up and installed over the portal... Driving into town I turned on WAVA and they were doing a special on the tunnel... There was excitement in the air... Richard Lewis's (one of the black laborers buried)niece and family were there... The son of the engineer, Ralph Mason, was there... Old people were there telling their stories... All the news media were there along with an independent film company were there.. We had a nice memorial... I spoke, Walter spoke, some other folks spoke, a preacher gave a wonderful prayer and we all sang "Amazing Grace"... When it was over people stayed and stayed and talked and talked... There are days that stand out when Doctor Dark runs our lives back in that last minute of life that stand out... The birth of child... A marriage... The loss of a loved one... The sweet victories as well as the defeats... I know this day is on my highlight reel and I take no credit... Walter and I hugged and parted ways and went back to our respective lives until... ***********************END of CHAPTER THREE************************* (Note: It is still not permissible to peek... No Googling, kids... Hang in there... I will do the last chapter tonight...) B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 13 Dec 11 - 07:38 PM **************THE CHURCH HILL TUNNEL: THE LAST CHAPTER*************** It had been years since I had given much thought to the Churchill Tunnel until one night last week I felt like I needed to type "Church Hill Tunnel" into the search box, hit submit and... ...COWABUNGA!!! Lots of recent interest and... (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((drum roll)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) ...Walter Griggs has just released a book entitled "The Collapse of Richmond's Church Hill Tunnel"!!! So I fired off a message to him at his VCU email address and in less then a hour he had responded telling me that ha had tired to find me during the writing and that I'm in the book!!! Geeze Lousie!!! What a strange journey here... Right down to Googling in "Church Hill Tunnel"... Fact is stranger than fiction... *****************************The End******************************* (Note: You may now Google all you want and I hope that anyone who reads this will do just that... Back when I started in '96 there was "zero" on the internet on this story... Also, In would suggest that anyone who is curious and would like to learn even more to order Walter's book... It's cheap!!! Go to: chpn.met/2011/12/05/the-collapse-of-richmonds-church-hill-tunnel_20354/comment-432249 Thank you, my friends, I will next type the lyrics of my song which may take some time) B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 13 Dec 11 - 08:28 PM "Legend of the Church Hill Tunnel" (Bob Harrison Music-1996) Bored thru the marl of old Church Hill It was the spring of 1873 When the last spade full was dug Ending two years of sweat and blood She was the longest tunnel of her day From Richmond's tracks of Fulton Yard To Shockoe Creek near Lumbpkins Jail Yeah, thirty nine hundred feet of cold steel rail It's said that progress has a price I don't doubt that it's true "Cause a new James River viaduct Shut her down in nineteen two But with longer eastbound coal trains With the passing of every year By the summer of '25 A call back to service was near The C & O had a plan To shore it up for the bigger trains To put the tunnel back on line After decades of decline But what the railroad didn't know Was time had taken its toll In the bracing deep under 24th Street I guess only God could see It was October 2 of '25 A gray day, wet and cold Tom Mason fired up the old steam train Engine 231 we're told Sixty feet under 24th Street Stopped the work train with her crew Having dropped the cars, Tom started on At that instance fell a brick or two "Watch out, Tom, she's comin' in," Fireman Mosby cried And, boy, she did that fateful day Burying the train and crew along the way Mosby crawled out at Fulton Yard Burned by the engine's steam Said, "Tell my wife that I'm all right But old B.F. Mosby died that night How many men were buried that day Well, the C & O says just three Mason, Richard Lewis and an man named Smith But survivors say it's many more, you see Fresh labor hired that rainy morn Were buried, some rail men say Not yet on the company roles Now entombed in the bud and clay Tom Mason's son stood in Jefferson Park Above the sink hole that remained Consumed with anguish, fear and doubt Askin', "Who's gonna dig my daddy out?" C & O put a shovel on the hill A smoke belchin' steamer just eatin' dirt But with ground beneath it giving way They'd try hand-=dug shafts the following day People came from miles around As men dug day and night Under the watchful eye of Tom Mason's boy Don't ya' know that boy refused to leave the site On the ninth day came the clank of steel They'd found the buried track Just a few feet ahead of the old steam train It's cab just a few yards back Well, they found big Tom J. Mason Pinned by a lever in the cab Of an old steam engine, once so grand His gold train watch clutched in a lifeless hand For days and days they searched and dug A vigil all in vain When ground gave way overhead Decided the leave the train and the dead 1926 cast in stone When she was sealed the following May An abandoned and forsaken tomb No mention of that tragic day Years went by, as we know they will And with then the sorrow and pain Until November eighteenth of sixty one People hardly ever heard of that Church Hill train Bertha Williams lived up on 24th Street The night Church Hill began to shake Said it woke her fro her sleep Said she heard the rumble, said it sounded deep Said she stepped out on her front porch Lights a'flickerin' and dogs a'barking' Smoke and steam a'risin from the park Sparks a'piercin' the clear, cool dark Old rail men flocked to the park Saw the new hole that remained Swore the ghosts of Lewis and Smith Had fired up that danged old train Yeah, 36 years of waitin' Forgotten by the world outside They tried to break the crypt's death-hold They took that final ride Stoked the boiler for all she's worth 'Til it roared with an eerie sound Said a prayer and crossed themselves Then slammed the hammer down Yeah, she was the longest tunnel of her day 3900 feet of man's resolve A forsaken spirit, some have said Never tamed and left for dead Tormented spirits to this very day In the haunted tunnel, a train and crew No peace, no rest, they're in there still As the fires of Hell burn in that hill Yeah, noe you've heard about the tunnel I'm hear to say it's true But seein' is a'believin' So I'll tell you what you can do Take you a day down Richmond way A'hind the old ice house on 18th Street If you look real close then you will find Her gravestone overgrown with weeds and vines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm all done story tellin' now... Will answer questions... Might make the song available... I donno??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: gnu Date: 13 Dec 11 - 08:43 PM Cool shit man. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: ChanteyLass Date: 13 Dec 11 - 10:08 PM Interesting history and I enjoyed reading the lyrics to your song. I'd like to hear it, and I will be checking to see if Mr. Grigg's book becomes available through the Ocean State Libraries System. I didn't google, but I was sorely tempted! I bought my smart phone so I could google things no matter where I was. (I used to be content with waiting until I got home but found as I got older I would get home, remember that I wanted to google something but forgot what that something was!) For example, in a doctor's office I was reading a novel set in Manhattan. One of the characters lives in the San Remo apartments. Out came my phone to find out if those apartments are real. They are. I am an info addict. Too bad I only remember the trivia! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 14 Dec 11 - 09:35 AM Well, ChanteyLass, if you enjoyed the condensed version of the story I'm sure that you'll love the book... BTW, I think it's $10 plus shipping... I can't wait to get my copy... Walter mailed one to me on Monday... The song??? I have to find it... Like you, I get carried away with "other things" and forget to do stuff I need to do... One of the biggies for me is to get all my recordings together and on CDs... I've got stuff on "reel-to-reel" from the 60s and 70s and on cassette after that and then another 40-50 digital... I have 'um all but they aren't exactly in one place and I'm not sure where "Legend of the Churchill Tunnel" is right now but I got it somewhere??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Pete Jennings Date: 14 Dec 11 - 11:34 AM Wow, what a story. UK 'catters can buy the book from Amazon here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 14 Dec 11 - 12:13 PM Thank you for posting a link to the book, Pete... I'll guarantee that you'll love the story... I'm still somewhat curious to read how Walter handled the "memorial"... I might be able to add some stuff that he doesn't know since I did the organizing... Couple footnotes: 1. We set out a large sketch book and asked people to sign it with their addresses and I guess about 80 people signed it... I guess I need to send a copy to Walter... 2. Seems that there is a movement going on in Richmond to do a dig... My idea is somewhat different... Seeing as the train is only about 200-300 feet from the western portal and there isn't anything left on the side of the hill under Jefferson Park I think that going in from the side of Church Hill would be really cool and only uncover half of the train so that folks could walk into a pedestrian tunnel and see half of it from the side... 3. I will make an attempt to find a clean recording of the song I wrote and see about reproducing a small number of them for anyone who get's "bit" by the stroy... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bobert's Last New Story for 2011... From: Bobert Date: 14 Dec 11 - 08:54 PM Refresh... |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story From: Bobert Date: 15 Dec 11 - 07:55 AM Thanks for changing the name of the thread, moderators... Now that is has been told it's appropriate to have a title that best tells what the story is about... I just hope that folks will take the time to read it because, other than the song I wrote about it, everything else is 100% factual and very interesting... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story From: Pete Jennings Date: 15 Dec 11 - 11:42 AM I've ordered my copy... |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story From: Penny S. Date: 15 Dec 11 - 01:31 PM Bobert, I opened this thread expecting an urban myth version from your side of the pond of the entombed Crystal Palace train, only to find something that is clearly true. The rumour about CP is that an old train was found by some young people who fell through a hole in the park, and found a carriage in which still sat some skellingtons. (Have to get the patois correct.) The hole could not be found afterwards. There are abandoned tunnels, of pneumatic and atmospheric railways, but no past history of loss. One of the sites on the CP rumour referred readers to Bobert's story. It was an awful thing, and his story about a memorial is moving. Penny |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story From: katlaughing Date: 15 Dec 11 - 01:41 PM Consider me bit. I hope you find your tape of the song, SOON!:-) Love this...you should be a guest and do a segment on History Detectives! luvyakat |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Fossil Date: 15 Dec 11 - 04:57 PM A fantastic and really interesting story, thanks so much for that. Hmmm - and you say you knew Bruce Springsteen? Bit of a story there, I guess... when do we get to hear that? |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 15 Dec 11 - 05:37 PM Well, seems that we have a few new "tunnel-heads"... Walter will be shocked to find folks ordering for other areas... I was hoping that my book would arrive today but, alas, it didn't... Walter mailed it to me either Monday or Tuesday... As for Bruce??? Well, back in 1969 and 1970 I booked his bands "Child" and "Steelmill", oh, I think 7 (maybe 8) times at this hippie concert joint in Richmond and once at a concert that we held on top of the 6th Street parking deck (now, that was an event) where we sold over 1500 tickets... That was a lot back then... Guess my claim to Bruce-fame (lol) was introducing him to the pineapple-cheeseburger at the "Village" beer joint... Bow back to the tunnel... I would be great to get a few orders... Oh, and kat??? I have it on CD somewhere (God only knows where" but I also have it on cassette that I have located... I remember vividly the writing and re-writing... It went on for weeks... I was on the phone with Walter over and over... I also remember printing the lyrics out with big letters and setting up the 5 pages it took to handle them all in front of me in that sound proof room... It was absolutely terrorizing... lol... But I told myself that if I mad a small mistake to just plunge ahead and "let it be"... I think I flubbed a couple lines but not badly and luckily didn't flub any of the guitar work... I recall after Albert (the owner of the studio) gave me the okay at the end saying, "I need a beer" and everyone cracking up... BTW, the rest of the night was a lot more fun... Albert asked if I wanted to record anything else and so I recorded another 4 songs, including "Arthur and Sally" which was on the Mudcat CD that we did 5-6 years ago... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: frogprince Date: 15 Dec 11 - 06:15 PM I should oughta mentioned that you hooked me with this story too. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 15 Dec 11 - 06:31 PM Order Walter's book, f-prince... You'll love all the ins-and-outs... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Desert Dancer Date: 15 Dec 11 - 07:06 PM If/when you do find your recording, p'raps one of those 'Catters who's clever with that stuff could make a YouTube with some appropriate sorts of pics (this means you, olddude), or post it to SoundCloud for audio only. I think more of us might like to hear it than you'd want to mail disks to! ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 15 Dec 11 - 07:29 PM Heck of an idea... Where's the Oldster??? I got pics and I got the song (recorded)... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Stringsinger Date: 15 Dec 11 - 07:45 PM Bobert, for what it's worth, I think your song is great and could be a model for other songwriters. I love story songs (Woody was a master) and the genre must be kept alive as you have done. Now, please write a chorus that people can sing. In it should be a statement about the song's meaning from your point-of-view. I'm in favor of story songs which say more to me than any preachy, pseudo-philosophical emotional rants or descriptions of faded love by teenaged heartbroken crybabies. Bobert has defined what I call a "folk process". The story in song goes on. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 15 Dec 11 - 07:57 PM Well, Strings, we both come from a similar "center" when it comes to song writing... I am a firm believer that ever song has to tell a story... I am too close to this story and this song to write a chorus... If and when you hear what I have done with it then you might go, "Hmmmmmm, this is a tough cookie" but I will work on getting this into a format that I can share with others and would whole-heartedly ***invite*** any of my friends here to take what I have started and carry if further down the field... After I have finished the current CD project, I'll see about getting it available... Funny thing is that I doubt if I've heard the song in the last 10 years... I found a cassette of it last night but other than my car I don't have a cassette player anymore??? Might have to take a ride... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 15 Dec 11 - 09:36 PM Sorry, garg, but we're gonna have to have you give us a little, ahhhhh, pea sample in this little cup... Awww, jus' funnin'... But, yeah, pone of the reason that the City of Richmond ignored the memorial was that it did not show the city as all that caring when it came to black people in the 1920s... Couldn't read your signature small print... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: GUEST Date: 16 Dec 11 - 02:10 AM The Church Hill collapse was also included in Katie Letcher Lyle's Scalded To Death By The Steam, and has words (but no tune) to a contemporary song by a Southern brakesman, Llewellyn Lewis, with the chorus: Brothers keep shovelin', Pickin' in the ground, Brothers keep listenin' For the train that's never been found. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: JennieG Date: 16 Dec 11 - 03:02 AM Wow, what an interesting story! |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 16 Dec 11 - 08:10 AM Thanks, Jen... Glad you liked it... Actually, I hadn't given any thought to telling the story until just about 2 weeks ago when after many years of not thinking about it, it popped into my mind and wouldn't leave me alone... I guess that had something to do with Walter's book coming out... One of them spiritual things... Liked your chorus, GUEST... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Stringsinger Date: 16 Dec 11 - 03:39 PM Bobert, " Brothers keep shovelin', Pickin' in the ground, Brothers keep listenin' For the train that's never been found." Sounds like the makings of a good chorus to me. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 16 Dec 11 - 05:33 PM Hey, Strings... Go with it... Ya'll can write yer own songs... It's open season... I'm did my thing and glad to have done it and, yeah, I'll continue to write songs but when it come to the Church Hill Tunnel??? I'm tunneled out... I can still tell the story, however... BTW, ya' all, I just received Walter's book in the mail and read the last chapter... Very touched by his kind words... BTW, Strings... Don't get me wrong... I love your chorus... Now get to work on the rest of the song... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Paul Burke Date: 16 Dec 11 - 06:57 PM This is how it is in Scalded to Death... Remember the Church Hill tunnel Near a mile under Richmond There's a story i want to tell you Of a train that'll never be found (chorus) Brothers keep shovelin', Pickin' in the ground, Brothers keep listenin' For the train that's never been found. On a bleak afternoon in autumn When the skies were overcast A train and its crew were working In the tunnel performing their tasks. None ever dreamed of danger, Of a death that was hoverin' near- They were happy while they were working For the loved ones home so dear. When all of a sudden a tremble, A large gap in the slimy clay- Then the earth claimed a few in its clutches, In the darkness the rest groped their way. Many shovels and picks were diggin' For their pal in the buried train- But the cold slimy clay held its victims, Soon their hopes were found in vain. Many hours did they search for their comrades Who might live in a cold, cold cave, But they never found one who was living Way down in their untimely grave. It doen't seem to scan very well to me, but I'm not very familiar with Virginian tropes. No doubt the composer had a specific tune in mind. Bobert's song on the other hand presses\all the buttons. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 16 Dec 11 - 07:13 PM BTW, just to keep the story clean, the above lyrics were written my Russell Lawson... We have exchanged several emails this week and he has been kind enough to share the song with me... Thank you, Paul, for those kind words... Our songs are different... I'd like to think that mine covers more of the story but when I first started the project I was thinking that it could be several shorter songs... That gave way to the way things turned out... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Janie Date: 16 Dec 11 - 10:12 PM Still breathless after just finishing reading this thread, Bobert. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 17 Dec 11 - 09:46 AM Glad you enjoyed it, Janie... Well, I guess that "brethless" mean ya' enjoyed it... Either that or you read it while doing your Jane Fonda work-out... lol... I have learned over the last couple of days that any plans to dig the train out are back on hold... One company got a grant to do it and they dug a shaft down to where the train is, found water, started pumping the water out and were stopped by the City Of Richmond because they didn't have the proper permits and there were fears that if the pumped out the water then it might cause more collapsing and then homes above it might fall into sinkholes... BTW, the reference in my song to "61" had to do with a section of the tunnel collapsing and a large sinkhole appeared near Jefferson Park... Fortunately, no homes were lost or damaged... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Charley Noble Date: 17 Dec 11 - 11:44 AM Bobert- Excellent work on this compelling story and your song. Any way you can add a mongrel dog to the story, some drizzling rain, and an old rusty pick-up truck? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 17 Dec 11 - 03:10 PM I think the drizzling rain is in the song, Charlie... "It was October 2 of '25 A gray day, wet and cold Tom Mason fired up the old steam train Engine 231 we're told (verse 7) ... Fresh labor hired that rainy morn Were buried some rail men say Not yet on the company roles Now entombed in the mud and the clay..." (verse 11) And there's references to dogs, too (verse 22)... "Lights a'flickerin' and dogs a'barkin'..." Sorry, no trucks... Steam shovel was the best I can get ya'... And no... on rewrites... I ain't Steve Goodman... lol... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: gnu Date: 17 Dec 11 - 03:13 PM Dogs and rain and a train. Thorough you are. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 17 Dec 11 - 05:14 PM But no rusty pickup truck, gn-ze... And nothin' about mama of prisons... lol... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: ChrisJBrady Date: 18 Dec 11 - 02:53 PM And on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Hill_Tunnel |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: ChrisJBrady Date: 18 Dec 11 - 02:59 PM And http://www.vtunderground.com/other/churchhill.htm http://www.vahistorical.org/news/richmondtunnel.htm http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5519048 |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 18 Dec 11 - 03:10 PM Thanks for those links, CJB... Found a mistake in the wikipedia site... The pic is the western portal, not the eastern... The eastern portal is in the pictures on the top link in your 2nd post... If you look at the 4th picture down from the top you can see the small hole I wiggled thru at the very top... It's no more than 18 inches high... Thanks again for the links... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 19 Dec 11 - 08:56 AM How's the song coming, Jack??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Jack the Sailor Date: 19 Dec 11 - 12:47 PM Bobert. There was a contest. http://www.americansongwriter.com/2009/08/lyric-contest-special-the-ghosts-of-church-hill-tunnel/ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 19 Dec 11 - 07:44 PM Wish I had known about it... I'd sho nuff entered my song... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Pete Jennings Date: 23 Dec 11 - 09:43 AM Just finished reading the book. Great story, Mr. Horizon! |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 23 Dec 11 - 10:08 AM Mr. Horizon??? I don't get it... I haven't read much of it... Of course, I read the last chapter... I think Walter had forgotten about me going in the tunnel, I donno... I do know that after Mark Holmberg went in with his crew and wrote a story about it (with pics) that the CSX (which now technically owns it) fenced it off so that people can't get to the eastern portal... I was disappointed that someone removed the memorial sign... I paid good money for it and mounted it in a manner that someone would have to work real hard to remove it... I'm still more than a little ticked off with the Richmond City government... They need to quit disrespecting that part of the city's history... Walter is trying to get another sign up and getting push back??? Hey, it's been 86 years now... B~ |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Pete Jennings Date: 24 Dec 11 - 11:50 AM It was meant to be a joke take on your surname (which I didn't want to publicise), to let you know I really read the book, but obviously didn't work! LOL. Merry Christmas. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: JohnInKansas Date: 24 Dec 11 - 03:57 PM A somewhat trite footnote here is that while reading through the thread I was reminded of a recent story about a passenger train stuck in one of the big snowstorms a month or two ago. About a month later, an "official's explanation" was reported to explain why the train was stuck for (IIRC) more than 7 hours before the first help arrived: "We forgot they were there." John |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 24 Dec 11 - 08:03 PM Gotcha, Pete (wink, wink)... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Paul Burke Date: 25 Dec 11 - 02:43 PM Got to take exception to that memorial plaque, however good the intention. In what religion would the "souls" of the dead be entombed in the tunnel? The bodies, OK. But even to us Atheists who believe in souls, they don't hang around. Christian souls, Moslem souls, Moron souls, off they go to meet their maker. Atheist souls, and some Jewish souls, simply stop. But hanging round pointlessly (switchlessly in the USA I suppose) makes them not souls but ghosts. That's a bad loss of status. |
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Subject: RE: Bobert's Entombed Train Story (100% factual) From: Bobert Date: 25 Dec 11 - 06:28 PM Okee dokee, Paul... Point well taken... My thinking was to keep the story alive and unresolved... But technically, you are very much correct... B~ |
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