Okay, this is pretty much off topic, but not entirely. As a teacher, I come into contact with a great variety of children's literature. One of my all time favorite books for young kids has always been "Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann". You probably remember the story of Mike Mulligan, the steam shovel operator who preserved his trusted "friend",in the face of the advancement of diesel and electric shovels, a real STEAM shovel named "Mary Ann". According to text, "Mary Ann could dig as much in a day as 100 men could dig in a week...".
You might also remember that there is a scene in the book where Mike looks into a pit full of the dismembered parts of scrapped steam shovels, but he loves "Mary Ann" too much to see her scrapped. Anyway, in the course of the story, "Mary Ann" digs a hole from which she can't get out, but is preserved as a stationary boiler, still well maintained and well loved by everyone in the community.
When I saw that another Mike Mulligan was repairing and preserving the ACL steam switcher, I had to bring it up here. Here's a guy with a storybook name, who loves a steam locomotive so much, her refuses to see her die. We even get the cross topic of preserved stationary boilers!
Karma? Heck no, LOCOMOTIVEMA!
Thanks Mike, where ever you may be.


glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

Richard:

Thanks for the posting. I had just read the story on the ACL switcher but Mike's name slipped right by me.

Both my kids (a boy and a girl) were raised on "Mile Mulligan and Mary Anne". We also had an audio tape version; my daughter could recite about 95% of the story from memory at one time!

It's truly a great "steam preservation" story, even if it's not about locomotives.

Good Steaming,
Hugh Odom

> Okay, this is pretty much off topic, but not
> entirely. As a teacher, I come into contact
> with a great variety of children's
> literature. One of my all time favorite
> books for young kids has always been
> "Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann". You
> probably remember the story of Mike
> Mulligan, the steam shovel operator who
> preserved his trusted "friend",in
> the face of the advancement of diesel and
> electric shovels, a real STEAM shovel named
> "Mary Ann". According to text,
> "Mary Ann could dig as much in a day as
> 100 men could dig in a week...".
> You might also remember that there is a
> scene in the book where Mike looks into a
> pit full of the dismembered parts of
> scrapped steam shovels, but he loves
> "Mary Ann" too much to see her
> scrapped. Anyway, in the course of the
> story, "Mary Ann" digs a hole from
> which she can't get out, but is preserved as
> a stationary boiler, still well maintained
> and well loved by everyone in the community.
> When I saw that another Mike Mulligan was
> repairing and preserving the ACL steam
> switcher, I had to bring it up here. Here's
> a guy with a storybook name, who loves a
> steam locomotive so much, her refuses to see
> her die. We even get the cross topic of
> preserved stationary boilers!
> Karma? Heck no, LOCOMOTIVEMA!
> Thanks Mike, where ever you may be.


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whodom@awod.com