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L.T. Hanlon

Category: Railroads

The rare gems of YouTube

June 4, 2019June 8, 2019 L.T. HanlonLeave a comment

James Stobie explains it all to you in one of his earliest videos.

This photo of a typewritten document contains the following text. Tuesday, June 4, 2019 Chicago, USA. He caught the westbound. There's a lot of stuff on YouTube that feels more like masturbation than mass communication. Yet amid the flotsam of influencers, conspiracy nuts, and downright idiots are the gems that shine so brightly you anxiously await every new video. One such gem was James Stobie, AKA Stobe the Hobo, who hopped freights across North America and posted videos of his exploits on YouTube. Unlike other trainhopping videos that seemed devoted to the hipster thrill of riding the rails, Stobie’s work came off like something Charles Kuralt might have done. Each video adventure of Stobe the Hobo included commentary about the towns he visited, the nature of life on the rails, and a musical soundtrack featuring Stobie himself on piano. Stobie died in November 2017 under circumstances still not entirely clear. He seems to have either fallen from a bridge or been struck by a train. Much of Stobie’s travels can be viewed on YouTube.

Above, Stobe the Hobo appears in a visually stunning video by RanOutOnARail.

James Stobie Obituary

Secret Society of Internet Hobos — James Stobie Page

Stobe the Hobo YouTube Archive

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Typewriters and steam locomotives

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 L.T. Hanlon1 Comment

Wednesday, May 8 , 2019, Chicago, USA. Hermes 3000 (1968). I think I can, I think I can. While watching videos of Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 and its triumphant return to the rails, I realized that typewriters are the steam locomotives of composition. Like steam locos, typewriters are unapologetically mechanical. Like steam locos, typewriters make a magnificent noise. And like steam locos, typewriters get you to your destination in style. I glimpsed my first steam locomotive back in 1977 when I worked as a photojournalist for the Daily Rocket-Miner in Rock Springs, Wyoming. One of the Union Pacific 's steam behemoths was to make an extended stop at the station in Green River, just west of Rock Springs. I’m unsure which locomotive visited Green River. It might have been No. 8444. What I remember most is asking UP's press guy if cleaning the No. 8444 was a big job. He joked that daily cleaning wasn't that big a problem and I ' d see why. Sure enough , when I arrived in Green River to photograph the mighty machine there were dozens of rail fans there already — all eager to help keep No. 8444 clean and gleaming. I clean my typewriters with equal reverence. N.B. — This typecast has not been edited.

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