Attributes – Steady, Steel, and Superman December 9, 2009

Trains can take on many different meanings…

Trains are powerful. Trains make me think of Superman. What do they compare him to? Is he more powerful than an airplane..Please, like that is an accomplishment. More powerful than a locomotive…Now that is some power! Even Kryptonite can’t stop a Freight Train.

 

 

Trains are a sign of technological advancement and progress. Trains were a sign of growth, progress, and technology in the 1800s. For the first time ever, people were able to travel across the country comfortably.  That was a huge step towards connecting a nation broken by civil war. Trains helped to heal those wounds. 

 

  

Trains are steady, persistent. Trains are always on time, running like clock work. Trains are a mode of transportation you can depend on.  Trains can carry on in the rain, wind, snow, hail, anything. Trains do not get helped up, delayed, or cancelled.  Trains are just always there, chugging along.

 

Trains are classic, traditional.  Trains have a sense of nostalgia one just does not get with any other mode of travel.  Although not the most popular way to travel, trains still produce positive imagery: The Little Engine that Could, Thomas the Train, model trains…the list goes on and on. Trains are just so wholesome and so All-American.  

 

  

Trains are fast…they don’t call it a bullet train for nothing.

 

   

Trains are Metal. Steel. Strong. Streamline. Efficient.  

   

Trains are safe. Trains  are on the ground, on tracks. It is difficult to derail a train. Odds are if something is standing in front of a train…the train is going to win.  

 

 

Trains are dangerous. If you not in a train but on the tracks, and suddenly you hear  “Chugga-chugaa-chugga-WOO-WOO” then yes, you have something to fear…

 

Trains are logical and systematic. There are train tracks and train routes. You know exactly where a train will be going, no detours, and no confusion. It is a nice quality. Comforting.

 

Trains are symbolic of adventure. Think of 1930s vagabonds, gypsies, and youths, sneaking onto an empty train, off to see the country. Trains are emblematic of a journey.

The Train’s the Thing December 9, 2009

Although trains are only physically present in one of my stories, it is a strong image that is applicable to all three.

 Expanding the Florida Railroad system was David Yulee’s life work both during and after the Civil War. The railroad provided mobility to all of Florida. It single-handedly enable new cities to be developed, allowing the state of Florida to grow more prosperous. 

In great storms, tornadoes are said to sound like a great train. Trains are so powerful and so forceful, like a flood. Trains are capable of causing severe damage, just like severe weather is capable of causing severe damage.

Trains are also about mobility-the ability to go somewhere you have never gone before. The Little Mermaid longs for mobility between her world of the sea and her beloved prince’s world on land. While trains can cross bridges, traveling across swamps, forest, rivers, and countries to connect people, the little mermaid is without any vehicle that could help connect her to both her home and where she wants to go.  Because she cannot have both, she is forced to choose.

Also, the train that ran though Homosassa, was called the Mullet Train–which I think is pretty fantastic. In some ways, the Mullet Train helps to bridge the gap between my Community Story (which is largely based on land) to my Entertainment Story (which takes place primarily in the sea), with my Family Story (on land but surrounded by the sea).

The Civil War Fall Out – Part One December 9, 2009

After the Union burned Homosassa, all that was left standing was the Sugar Mill, which still stands to this day.

When the Confederacy vanished into history, the Governor of Florida appointed Senator Yulee one of a commission to go on to Washington, DC and confer with the President, as to Florida’s reestablishment into the Union.

During this trip, Yulee was arrested and charged with treason for his support of the Confederacy.  He was imprisoned at Fort Pulaski, Georgia (near Savannah) were he was interrogated for six months. Gen. Grant intervened to get Yulee out of prison.