First and Last
February 25, 2004
In a lifetime we can see many changes. Both my parents were born before the
airplane and the automobile. My
mother lived 94 years and she saw many changes in her lifetime. I remember being with her in the cotton
field when the first diesel locomotive passed through Greene County. As I remember it, the train was north
bound and after it passed on its way to Rector, we could again hear the pounding
of the ice plant in town.
A person did not have
to inquire the way to Rector, for the very music in the air becomes, more and
more melodious as you drew near to the ice plant. If only I could have gone into
that engine room to see and hear up close the various sounds coming form the engine
that was
pounding and
thumping and uttering a groan of protest, as it compresses some sort of gas.
This would have lasted a life time, however my vivid imaginations is full
of these
sounds. I
remember her telling me that I would see a lot of changes in my lifetime.
Later, our family was visiting the Charlie
Kirkland family of the Heubner Community when an airplane flew above with a
white stream following it. My
mother told me that it was a jet airplane.
That was the first jet airplane I ever saw. Now I can go out side and look up in the
sky and see a jet airplane any day.
First and Last!
BUT, last month I spent two days following
the Challenger. From Cape Girardeau, MO to Brinkley, AR,
I could not get enough of this big engine.
In Bernie, MO, I started putting coins on the rails in front of this big
engine. My mother was born in
Bernie and her mother is buried near the railroad, and I will keep these coins
for my mother. From Bernie to
Hickory Ridge I placed over a thousand coins on the rails. If the train had speed when it went by,
I was lucky to find half of the coins; they are still there for someone to find
and pick
up.
From Bernie, as I remember it, the train was
south bound and after it passed on its way to Rector, I could not hear the
pounding of the ice plant in town.
The old ice plant has
became a memory, the rusty engine and its tall smoke stack are forever gone, and
you can not listen to the chug-chug of the twin cylinder engine which used to
produce ice at the old ice plant in Rector, Arkansas. I remember mother telling me that I would see a lot of changes in my
lifetime.
First and Last?
Well that is the question. I do remember seeing
the first diesel locomotive passed through Greene County, and now I remember
seeing the last steam engine to exit through the county. I do not think that we ever see another
steam engine pass our way! And oh
yes, my mother did fly on that jet airplane.
Gary McClure
P.S. The reason I placed so many coins on the rails was to give them to my RHS Web Site friends. I had planed to attend the 2004 RHS Website Reunion in March and give them away there, but I will be in Pennsylvania. If you would like to have one, send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and I will send you one.
A hyperlink to the original Raplin Ice Maker for the home.
The Challenger Type Locomotive | Schedule | |
Gary McClure's Home Page | I'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE | Challenger Home Page |
Why
does a train whistle change pitch as it passes?
(Lansing State Journal, April 10, 1996)
Sound waves travel through gases, solids
or liquids. The frequency of the wave is the number of oscillations that
occur each second, measured in hertz or Hz. For example, the musical note
A has a frequency of 440 Hz; there are 440 oscillations per a second in that
particular sound wave. The frequency of the wave determines its
pitch.
Imagine that you drop a stone into a pond. You could count the number of waves that pass an object like a reed in the water in a particular time interval (the frequency). Now consider an object like a toy boat that is moving toward the point where the stone was dropped. As a result of the motion, the number of waves that hit the boat in the same time interval increases. That is, the frequency of the wave increases.
The same effect occurs in a sound wave. If you are moving toward a train blowing its whistle, or if the train is moving towards you, the waves are compressed and the frequency of the sound waves is higher. This results in a higher pitch. If the train is moving away from you (or if you are moving away from the train), the frequency decreases, resulting in a lower pitch. This is called the Doppler effect and can be observed in all types of waves, including light.