MONTOUR RAILROAD LESSON - Voices Across Time
MONTOUR RAILROAD LESSON
Introduction.....This lesson would be intended for my class of 6th grade Social Studies students. It would take three days to complete.
Purpose.....The purpose of the lesson would be to introduce the students to the idea of what railroads were once like, to have them learn some basic railroad terminology, to learn some history about a local railroad that once passed through our community, to experience actually walking on an old train path, and to apply their learning in the form of the creation of a railroad song, poem, or story of their own.
The Lesson....I would start off this lesson by playing the song "Daddy, What's a Train?" by Utah Phillips. This song is about how kids of the modern generation know very little, if anything, about trains. We would discuss this a bit.. Has anyone ever seen a train? What did trains haul, etc.
Then I would get out my guitar and play Elizabeth Cotton's "Freight Train." This may sound quite elementary, but many students probably have no clue what the word "freight" means. (I often pause in classes to define words that we assume kids know, but they don't.) I would then teach them some basic history about an extinct local rail line known as the Montour Railroad which existed roughly between 1880 to 1980. It's primary freight was coal sent to the Ohio River, which was then shipped by barge to the Pittsburgh steel mills. (It is said that this small rail line hauled more tonnage of coal during World War II than any railroad in the world.) By the way, the name Montour came from a late 1700's settler in our area who was known as a peacemaker with the Indians of the area. Andrew Montour married a Native American woman. (A local school district is named after him.)
Next I would get out the guitar again, project the lyrics on the screen, and play Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans" for the students. Afterwards we would talk about the song....Why were there mail bags on a train? What's an engineer? Coalman? Why is the train saying "Don't you know me? I'm your native son."
The next day of the lesson would involve actually walking on the path of the old Montour Railroad, which has been converted into a Rails to Trails path. (We are fortunate to be able to walk directly to the trail from our school, an easy 10 minute walk.) I would have the students be alert for signs of the old rail days as we walked. Inevitably they find old rusty spikes, the remains of crossing signs, etc. (One cool part of the walk is through a tunnel.)
Back in the classroom the next day I'd have Utah Phillips playing in the background as the students came into the classroom. We'd discuss the sights, things they imagined, etc. on the walk on the old Montour Railroad. We would discuss things such as.... What would it have been like to have lived in the late 1800's when the railroad was first built? What job would you have liked on the railroad? Could the trails ever be converted back to railroads again as a way of easing transportation and fuel problems?
The culminating assignment would be to write a train song, a poem about railroads, an imaginary story involving the old Montour Railroad, or to interview an older relative, neighbor, or friend who remembers the Montour Railroad. Perhaps we'd finish the class by singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad."
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