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By Kurt Vidmer
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While at home for easter break, my friend and I decided that we wanted to have a fire, so obviously, we needed wood. In order to gather this wood, I grabbed an old saw that my dad has always had laying around our garage. It is an old wood cutting saw with huge teeth in a unique pattern, and a old worn out wooden handle. I have used this saw many times, but this time a noticed an interesting faint symbol on the handle. When I asked my dad what the symbol was, he said that he wasn’t sure, and that I should call my grandpa and ask him, because it was his saw before. When I called my grandpa, he told me that the symbol on the saw as a symbol for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and that he got this saw after working for the railroad during the summer of 1941.
While speaking on the phone with him, he told me about this memorable summer he had when he was 12 years old. His main responsibility while working for the Railroad was the bring a large ladle of water around to work too hydrate the workers. Although this sounds mundane, he said that it allowed him to observe all the different facets of the railroad production. From the engineers to the labor workers, the entire process fascinated him. He also told me that the saw that he acquired was used to cut and trim railroad ties for the tracks to be places on. He said that he was able to help with this one time, and they told him that he could keep the saw as a memorable piece.
As Sherwood speaks about in his most recent post, advancements such as railroads and steamboats were a major advancement in transportation technology, and having my Grandpa play a small role in the production of these advancements is very fun and intriguing.
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