Early mornings are a way of life in the Appalachian mountains. Many of us chose to live well away from where we work. I remember when I was a kid lying in bed and hearing the door close and then the car start before daylight. My dad was off to work. (My dad was a telephone lineman. He didn’t work with trains or coal.) I pass by this railyard every day and every time I do it looks like the morning crew had been at work for hours. I’ve never worked for railway but I know the kind of work that’s done there. It’s hot and grimey in the summer and bitter cold in the winter. I imagine that the coal dust gets into every little crevice of your skin as the coal comes off the beltline and pours into railcars. I have been told that one of the more dangerous tasks is keeping the chute clear of “clinkers”. Clinkers are large clumps of coal that clog up the chute and have to removed by hand. The work is hard and dangerous. The train here is a short one. It’s only about three quarters of a mile long. (A little more than 1200 meters) once it’s full it’s probably heading to a power plant where it will boil the water that drives the turbine that makes electricity that powers the servers that runs the internet that makes our lives so much easier. It all happens because someone got up before daylight and did the dirty work.
Every chain of events starts somewhere. This is a good example. At least the early riser is getting some recognition at last. Good post.
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Thank you Lucas 😁
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I love this picture, the angle is perfect as well as the color!
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Thank you Jessy ❤ I wanted to give an "old timey" feel to this on.
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Mission accomplished!
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Nice train track. Loving the photo effects and colors. God bless!
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Thank you Miss Tammy ❤ and blessings to you too!
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No problem Lloyd!!! Thanks much!
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Message received: every job truly is essential. Same with janitors & cleaners, they are not appreciated enough.
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Yes. I was a janitor at Walmart for 9 years. (I’ve done a little bit of everything) even the fast food workers need to be shown appreciation.
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Yes, we often forget that they are high-pressure and stressful jobs.
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