--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was gray train smoke over the town…" description: "\"“There was gray train smoke over the town most days, it smelled of travel, of transcontinental trains about to flash by, of important things about to h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg" --- # There was gray train smoke over the town most days, it… ![“There was gray train smoke over the town most days, it smelled of travel, of transcontinental trains about to flash by, of important things about to happen. The train smell sounded the ‘A’ for Lamptown and then a treble chord of frying hamburger and onions and boiling coffee was struck by Hermann…” quote by Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg) > ““There was gray train smoke over the town most days, it smelled of travel, of transcontinental trains about to flash by, of important things about to happen. The train smell sounded the ‘A’ for Lamptown and then a treble chord of frying hamburger and onions and boiling coffee was struck by Hermann Bauer's kitchen, with a sostenuto of stale beer from Delaney's back door. These were all busy smells and seemed a 6 to 6 smell, a working town's smell, to be exchanged at the last factory whistle for the festival night odors of popcorn, Spearmint chewing gum, barber-shop pomades, and the faint smell of far-off damp cloverfields. Mornings the cloverfields retreated when the first Columbus local roared through the town. Bauer’s coffee pot boiled over again, and the factory’s night watchmen filed into Delaney’s for their morning beer.”” [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid description of a town’s evolving smells captures the transition from industrial labor to festive celebration, reflecting how sensory details mark social change. **In simple terms:** Smells show town’s shift from work to festival. Key Takeaway Notice how environment signals change. Themes urban life sensory detail change Mood nostalgic evocative Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - city planning - festival organization - historical fiction Key Concepts cultural anthropology environmental psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do sensory cues shape our memory of places? - What does this transition say about community rhythm? A Different Perspective Smell descriptions may romanticize harsh labor realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Important things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-things/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/) ## Related quotes > [“Some days have more roads than others, and some roads more distance, so that when a woman complains how long the day is, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kei-miller/some-days-have-more-roads-than-others-and-some-roads-more-distance-so/) [Kei Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kei-miller/) > [“All over town kids lay awake & wondered: Am I smart enough, pretty enough, strong enough, tall enough? If our fears were smoke, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-koertge/all-over-town-kids-lay-awake-wondered-am-i-smart-enough-pretty-enough/) [Ron Koertge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-koertge/) > [“Adam blows smoke at the town below. Says, ‘Anything could be happening down there, but up here you just wouldn’t know it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-downham/adam-blows-smoke-at-the-town-below-says-anything-could-be-happening/) [Jenny Downham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-downham/) ## More by Dawn Powell > [I realize more and more how instinctively pessimistic I am of all human kindness -- since I am always so bowled over by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/i-realize-more-and-more-how-instinctively-pessimistic-i-am-of-all/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [For a genius to be a genius, he must have a selfless slave between himself and the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/for-a-genius-to-be-a-genius-he-must-have-a-selfless-slave-between/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [The human comedy is always tragic, but since its ingredients are always the same - dupe, fox, straight, like burlesque skits - the repetition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/the-human-comedy-is-always-tragic-but-since-its-ingredients-are/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [I want so much for my lover. At night when our beds are drawn close together I waken and see his dear yellow head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/i-want-so-much-for-my-lover-at-night-when-our-beds-are-drawn-close/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [“It was not a jolly place at all for a sun-loving soul”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/it-was-not-a-jolly-place-at-all-for-a-sun-loving-soul/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [Joe and Jojo and I had lovely day together. I love Joe so much - more and more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/joe-and-jojo-and-i-had-lovely-day-together-i-love-joe-so-much-more/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [You woke in the morning with the weight of doom on your head. You lay with eyes shut wondering why you dreaded the day;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/you-woke-in-the-morning-with-the-weight-of-doom-on-your-head-you-lay/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [Satire is people as they are; romanticism, people as they would like to be; realism, people as they seem with their insides left out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/satire-is-people-as-they-are-romanticism-people-as-they-would-like-to/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [Rage swept over her at being young, young and little, as if some evil fairy had put that spell on her. Why must you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/rage-swept-over-her-at-being-young-young-and-little-as-if-some-evil/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [Hold fast to whatever fragments of love that exist, for sometimes a mosaic is more beautiful than an unbroken pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/hold-fast-to-whatever-fragments-of-love-that-exist-for-sometimes-a/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [I think we will have a boy baby and he will be born on the 20th of August. Everyone else has a girl baby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/i-think-we-will-have-a-boy-baby-and-he-will-be-born-on-the-20th-of/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [There is really one city for everyone just as there is one major love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/there-is-really-one-city-for-everyone-just-as-there-is-one-major-love/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [Yet better for one of my nature to have it that way than to have life a peaceful, placid flow of quiet contentment. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/yet-better-for-one-of-my-nature-to-have-it-that-way-than-to-have-life/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [I cannot exist without the oxygen of laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/i-cannot-exist-without-the-oxygen-of-laughter/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [A novel is like a gland pill - it nips off the cream of my hysterics and gets them running on track in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/a-novel-is-like-a-gland-pill-it-nips-off-the-cream-of-my-hysterics/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) [Explore all 24 Dawn Powell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) ## More Chewing gum quotes > [Some television programs are so much chewing gum for the eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mason-brown/some-television-programs-are-so-much-chewing-gum-for-the-eyes/) [John Mason Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mason-brown/) > [Did they practice looking suspicious in mirrors? Welcome to the United States. Don’t even think about chewing gum the wrong way.’ (Carlos)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/did-they-practice-looking-suspicious-in-mirrors-welcome-to-the-united/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [It is an anomaly that information, the one thing most necessary to our survival as choosers of our own way, should be a commodity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/it-is-an-anomaly-that-information-the-one-thing-most-necessary-to-our/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) > [“How can men be such lummoxes, such wads of chewing gum on our ballet slippers and still feel so good?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/how-can-men-be-such-lummoxes-such-wads-of-chewing-gum-on-our-ballet/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [For me, the dumbest rule is that you can't chew gum in school. For some reason, chewing gum for me gets my brain going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brie-larson/for-me-the-dumbest-rule-is-that-you-can-t-chew-gum-in-school-for-some/) [Brie Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brie-larson/) > [Each had his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart; and his friends could only read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/each-had-his-past-shut-in-him-like-the-leaves-of-a-book-known-to-him/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [Teacher:Why are you chewing gum in my class?!?! Me:Dude, chill, it's gum, not cocaine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/teacher-why-are-you-chewing-gum-in-my-class-me-dude-chill-it-s-gum/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Then I’ll hide all the scissors and chewing gum.” It made the entire room grow quiet before he looked over at me. “I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-l-johnson/then-i-ll-hide-all-the-scissors-and-chewing-gum-it-made-the-entire/) [Amber L. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-l-johnson/) > [“(When chlorophyll chewing gum came into fashion two decades later, it was that colour.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-chlorophyll-chewing-gum-came-into-fashion-two-decades-later-it/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I must always, always have a box of Extra chewing gum in my bag because I have developed a terrible cheek-chewing compulsion. It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-jewell/i-must-always-always-have-a-box-of-extra-chewing-gum-in-my-bag/) [Lisa Jewell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-jewell/) > [My parents sent me from Venezuela to the Convent of Our Lady, a boarding school in Hastings, which was horrible - like Harry Potter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-busquets/my-parents-sent-me-from-venezuela-to-the-convent-of-our-lady-a/) [Carmen Busquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-busquets/) > [So much of TV seems to be chewing gum for the eyes… TV desperately needs more self-reliance and pride in the medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mason-brown/so-much-of-tv-seems-to-be-chewing-gum-for-the-eyes-tv-desperately/) [John Mason Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mason-brown/) > [“Great. Darcy is the ruler of our school. Prety soon, Julius is going to be like Singapore - you'll get a $500 fine for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flynn-meaney/great-darcy-is-the-ruler-of-our-school-prety-soon-julius-is-going-to/) [Flynn Meaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flynn-meaney/) > [“Do you know where bad breath comes from? Do you know where body odor comes from? Bad breath and body odor come from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jacoby/do-you-know-where-bad-breath-comes-from-do-you-know-where-body-odor/) [Jesse Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jacoby/) > [“It sounded old. Deserve. Old and tired and beaten to death. Deserve. Now it seemed to him that he was always saying or thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/it-sounded-old-deserve-old-and-tired-and-beaten-to-death-deserve-now/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) Browse all 135 Chewing gum quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There was gray train smoke over the town most days, it smelled of travel, of transcontinental trains about to flash by, of important things about to happen. The train smell sounded the ‘A’ for Lamptown and then a treble chord of frying hamburger and onions and boiling coffee was struck by Hermann Bauer's kitchen, with a sostenuto of stale beer from Delaney's back door. These were all busy smells and seemed a 6 to 6 smell, a working town's smell, to be exchanged at the last factory whistle for the festival night odors of popcorn, Spearmint chewing gum, barber-shop pomades, and the faint smell of far-off damp cloverfields. Mornings the cloverfields retreated when the first Columbus local roared through the town. Bauer’s coffee pot boiled over again, and the factory’s night watchmen filed into Delaney’s for their morning beer.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dawn Powell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town-most-days-it-smelled-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chewing gum" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town-most-days-it-smelled-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/166/dawn-powell-24235_chewing-gum_there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town_3069188.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was gray train smoke over the town most days, it smelled of travel, of transcontinental trains about…” — Dawn Powell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dawn Powell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There was gray train smoke over...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town-most-days-it-smelled-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/there-was-gray-train-smoke-over-the-town-most-days-it-smelled-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```