The Rhythm That the Drivers Made
by William Fields
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Dimensions
36.000 x 24.000 inches
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Title
The Rhythm That the Drivers Made
Artist
William Fields
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track
Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade
Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made
People passing by they would stop and say
Oh my that little country boy could play
Go go,
Go Johnny, go
Go,
Go Johnny, go
Go,
Go Johnny, go
Go,
Go Johnny, go
Go,
Johnny B. Goode
There was a romance of the rails in the days of steam power and even into the days of diesel engines. American popular culture from folk music to country and western was loaded with freight and passenger trains for many a year.
The trains had names that everyone knew. Names like the Kansas City Mule that ran between KC and Saint Louis. There was the Broadway Special from New York to Chicago daily. We loved the names of the trains. The California Zephyr, the Texas Eagle, the Coast Starlight, the Desert Wind, the City of New Orleans were all well known trains and many made it into songs, poems, movies and other expressions in our culture.
I rode on many of those trains when I was a young man. I was a sailor and didn�t have much money for travel. I earned $117.90 a month. Air travel was prevalent and growing, but in most cases too expensive for me. I took buses at times but the trains were my primary mode of travel. It was often an overnight trip. I was on the Broadway Special leaving Penn Station on the night of November 9th 1965. We departed the station around 5:08 p.m. The blackout occurred at 5:16 p.m. and put New York City, much of the Northeastern U.S. and parts of Maritime Canada into darkness, without power for 12 hours. The train was enroute before it happened. I was headed for Great Lakes, Illinois to begin Navy Boot Camp. We had no interaction with anyone who would have heard about the blackout. We received no mail for the first month of our training. When mail began a month later, some of my mates had letters telling of the blackout. We couldn�t quite understand how it could happen and what it was like. We had experienced our own form of blackout with no media of any kind. There were no cell phones, no internet; neither had been invented yet. There was no access to radio or television during our training so we just didn�t know.
My how the world has changed. I don�t know but I suspect that there are few young song writers who have even been on a train, much less been inspired to write a song about one.
By the way, the drivers are the big forged steel wheels that carried the trains along the track. Johnny B. Goode was listening to that musical sound as he strummed his guitar. Go Johnny, Go!
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Uploaded
December 25th, 2012
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Comments (10)
Daliana Pacuraru
Yes! Wonderful processing, composition and subject, William ! I can feel the rhythm, the sound and the power! My best regards from Romania! v/f
Cheri Randolph
William, perfect focus the powerful mechanism of the engine! Your processing has successfully enhanced the metallic gleam of the components. I, too, have a fascination with train travel and have a long-history of railroad men in my family. Certainly a more "civilized" mode of transportation, trains always add to the adventure and romance of a trip. Hope you get to check the Orient Express off your list one day! voted
William Fields replied:
Cheri, thanks so much. I was surprised that I could dig as much out of this one as I did. The original image was quite under exposed. The processing did bring it to life in an interesting way. I feel "civilized" is the most appropriate description for traveling on trains. I never felt that I had been packed into a can of sardines. I never worried about the recycled air I was breathing and it's potential health effects. And, when I was restless I could take a walk to another car to get a drink or a meal or just catch a little fresh air on the balcony. I sometimes met a person who intrigued and was willing to spend some time whiling away the hours looking at scenery that consisted of something more than clouds. Definitely more civilized.