The choo-choo

[Trainman203]

Steam has been gone from the railroads for well over 60 years now.  The majority of people living today have never seen steam locomotives in other than an occasional amusement role.

Yet, even today, whenever an adult interacts with a child concerning any kind of railroading , "choo-choo" is the operative word for "train ".

Why is this? It's hilarious to me to see an adult telling a kid to look at a diesel and call it a "Choo-choo."  I remember when I was 5 or 6, insisting to call a train a "train."

Why does the steam engine image persist so?  Tell us what you think.

[WoundedBear]

What does "choo choo" have to do with steam? I was always under the impression that "choo choo" was referring to the sound the horns made.

Sid

[Trainman203]

That's a different way of looking at it.

In my experience it always meant steam.  I was once years ago telling an older guy from India that I liked steam engines and he immediately smiled and said "ah yes, the old choo-choo's".

But, Good point.  What does "choo-choo" mean to you?

[bbmiroku]

chugga chugga chugga chugga chooooo chooooooo~
                                             or  wooooo woooooooo~

Although today, I guess it would be...
vvvvvvrrrrrrrnnnnnnnn  braaaaaaap braaaaaaaap

The rails aren't as melodious as they used to be...

[Terry Toenges]

"Pardon me, boy. Is that the Chattanooga choo choo?"
To me it meant, "Choo.....Choo.....Choo....Choo....Choo...Choo...Choo..Choo..Choo.Choo.ChooChooChoo"
As in the sound of each puff of steam being released. It sounds like a sneeze - "ah choo" without the "ah".

[Len]

I don't get the sense of 'choo-choo' until it's rolling. Starting out it sounds more like a 'pAkita-pAkita' to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyZn1JFYvWk

Len

[Trainman203]

Choo choo cha-boogie

[Terry Toenges]

Len - Kind of like Harley and "potato potato".

[Trainman203]

What I'm really thinking about is how the steam locomotive image is still so strong in our subconscious mind over 60 years since steam left mainline commerce in the US.  A kid sees a train with a diesel , it's a choo choo.  A kid draws a train, it's got a ballon stack and a cowcatcher.  I travel a lot through small towns where the railroad might have been pulled up 60 or 70 years ago, and there very often is a mural on a building wall with a folk rendition of a steam engine.

Steam engines, long departed, are still very deep in our collective psyche, in a way that diesels can't be.   Why is this?  What do you think?

[Len]

Four words: Thomas the Tank Engine.

Kids grow up with him, and all the other 'steamies' on television.

Len

[Terry Toenges]

Maybe that steam engines are intricate with lots of moving parts. It takes a degree of talent to even draw or paint a steam engine. You can actually see a lot of the parts that went into making one. You can see those parts functioning. Diesels are just boxes on wheels and that's all you see.
Kind of like cars. They used to be real works of art. Now, they are look alike boxes on wheels for the most part.

[Trainman203]

Thomas came much later and has helped some, but there are diesels on that show too. 

The phenomenon I'm talking about is much deeper than kiddie level.  Thomas isn't the reason all the steam engine murals are in the small towns, and kids draw ballon stacks and cowcatchers instead of 6 axle road diesels,

[Terry Toenges]

There are also the Western movies and TV shows that many of us grew up with. No diesels there.
Steam engine murals in small towns because they were exposed to steam before diesel. Many of those murals tend to depict things in the town's history.

[Trainman203]

It is true that in nearly if not all of 8 or 10 towns I've seen them in, the railroad has been gone for a very long time.  That means that only the very oldest citizens actually remember the railroad there at all.  The railroad and especially its steam engines persist very long and deep in our collective memory and psyche.

The original, not the current, Missouri and North Arkansas is a great example.  Gone since 1948 and with only two depots I know of surviving, I counted 3 outside murals, 1 inside a restaurant, and a very fine for an amateur run museum.  Not bad for something gone that long.

[rogertra]

I grew up with steam in the UK until I left in 1966.  Flew back in 1968 for the last four weeks of steam in  August 1968.  Of course, unlike North America, steam still thrives in the UK with dozens of preservation lines all owned by charitable "foundations", unlike North American where the few steam lines are predominately privately owned.

Cheers