{"id":1122,"date":"2019-04-01T08:08:01","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T21:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122"},"modified":"2023-02-28T07:51:10","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T20:51:10","slug":"on-men-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122","title":{"rendered":"On men at work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On Men at Work<\/p>\n

It\u2019s late one Sunday night.\u00a0 Workmen are replacing the wooden sleepers with concrete ones on the tracks at the Junction.\u00a0 Since the trains cannot run, I\u2019ve been rostered on to put people onto buses. An Eminem concert, a Japanese festival and the Caravan and Camping show have combined to make the day very busy.<\/p>\n

But later as the night comes down and the lights turn everything softly golden and shadowy, the crowds clear and there is time to stop and watch the men working.<\/p>\n

The sight has a strange beauty.\u00a0Machines advance and retreat, lifting rails or dropping or tamping ballast and their human attendants follow them with the elegant precision of a dance number.\u00a0 There are no whistles or yells, not even much talk, just the love roar of machinery and the rhythmic clanking of steel on stone.\u00a0 The men have done this a thousand times all over the system and everyone knows his job.\u00a0 One gang waits at ease while another moves in step tightening rivets with sledge hammers and special hooks.\u00a0 Here and there small groups huddle secretively over wielding rigs.\u00a0 Watching these big beefy guys falling in behind the huge machines reminds me of watching the infantry fall in behind the tanks in old war movies or the Guild of Navigators in David movie of Dune.<\/p>\n

By the time morning comes it will as if no one has been there except that the wooden sleepers have now turned as if by magic to concrete.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0And very probably none of the day commuters will even notice they\u2019ve been there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Men at Work It\u2019s late one Sunday night.\u00a0 Workmen are replacing the wooden sleepers with concrete ones on the tracks at the Junction.\u00a0 Since the trains cannot run, I\u2019ve been rostered on to put people onto buses. An Eminem concert, a Japanese festival and the Caravan and Camping show have combined to make the …<\/p>\n

On men at work<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[96,23,6,17,19],"class_list":["post-1122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stationstories","tag-australian-writer","tag-fantasy-writer","tag-jane-routley","tag-melbourne","tag-station-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nOn men at work — Jane Routley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On men at work — Jane Routley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Men at Work It\u2019s late one Sunday night.\u00a0 Workmen are replacing the wooden sleepers with concrete ones on the tracks at the Junction.\u00a0 Since the trains cannot run, I\u2019ve been rostered on to put people onto buses. An Eminem concert, a Japanese festival and the Caravan and Camping show have combined to make the … On men at work Read More »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane Routley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-31T21:08:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-27T20:51:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757-765x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JaneRoutley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JaneRoutley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JaneRoutley\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6\"},\"headline\":\"On men at work\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-31T21:08:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-27T20:51:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122\"},\"wordCount\":274,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757-765x1024.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Australian writer\",\"Fantasy writer\",\"Jane Routley\",\"Melbourne\",\"station stories\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Station Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122\",\"name\":\"On men at work — Jane Routley\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757-765x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-31T21:08:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-27T20:51:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757.jpg\",\"width\":1936,\"height\":2592},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?p=1122#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On men at work\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jane Routley\",\"description\":\"Official site for the award winning author.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6\",\"name\":\"JaneRoutley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"JaneRoutley\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"description\":\"I was born in Melbourne, Australia, went to Preshil, Strathcona, and Monash University where I studied history, and RMIT where I became a Librarian. I've had a variety of careers, including Fruit Picker and Occult Librarian and I lived in Germany and Denmark for a decade. Now I'm back in my beloved Melbourne and working on the railways. I've published 3 books as me including the Aurealis Award winners \\\"Mage Heart\\\" and \\\"Fire Angels\\\" as well as \\\"Aramaya\\\", and one book as Rebecca Locksley - \\\"The Three Sisters\\\". My short stories have been widely anthologized, appeared in Meanjin, and have been read on the ABC. My favourite writers are Jane Austen, Angela Carter, Sara Douglass, and Janet Evanovich. My current life ambition is to see an erupting volcano.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/janeroutley.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On men at work — Jane Routley","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On men at work — Jane Routley","og_description":"On Men at Work It\u2019s late one Sunday night.\u00a0 Workmen are replacing the wooden sleepers with concrete ones on the tracks at the Junction.\u00a0 Since the trains cannot run, I\u2019ve been rostered on to put people onto buses. An Eminem concert, a Japanese festival and the Caravan and Camping show have combined to make the … On men at work Read More »","og_url":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122","og_site_name":"Jane Routley","article_published_time":"2019-03-31T21:08:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-27T20:51:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757-765x1024.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"JaneRoutley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"JaneRoutley","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122"},"author":{"name":"JaneRoutley","@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6"},"headline":"On men at work","datePublished":"2019-03-31T21:08:01+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-27T20:51:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122"},"wordCount":274,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757-765x1024.jpg","keywords":["Australian writer","Fantasy writer","Jane Routley","Melbourne","station stories"],"articleSection":["Station Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122","url":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122","name":"On men at work — Jane Routley","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757-765x1024.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-31T21:08:01+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-27T20:51:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_2380-e1554066331757.jpg","width":1936,"height":2592},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?p=1122#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On men at work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/","name":"Jane Routley","description":"Official site for the award winning author.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52bbf97934d227f91587b63f31c917c6","name":"JaneRoutley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"JaneRoutley"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9b44c0428b3b57851ae7a9b2d92406e86c70d2b29b2ef9e46b55c1890900fac6?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"description":"I was born in Melbourne, Australia, went to Preshil, Strathcona, and Monash University where I studied history, and RMIT where I became a Librarian. I've had a variety of careers, including Fruit Picker and Occult Librarian and I lived in Germany and Denmark for a decade. Now I'm back in my beloved Melbourne and working on the railways. I've published 3 books as me including the Aurealis Award winners \"Mage Heart\" and \"Fire Angels\" as well as \"Aramaya\", and one book as Rebecca Locksley - \"The Three Sisters\". My short stories have been widely anthologized, appeared in Meanjin, and have been read on the ABC. My favourite writers are Jane Austen, Angela Carter, Sara Douglass, and Janet Evanovich. My current life ambition is to see an erupting volcano.","sameAs":["https:\/\/janeroutley.com"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"JaneRoutley","author_link":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?author=1"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":false,"ab-block-post-grid-square":false,"gb-block-post-grid-landscape":false,"gb-block-post-grid-square":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"JaneRoutley","author_link":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/?author=1"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"On Men at Work It\u2019s late one Sunday night.\u00a0 Workmen are replacing the wooden sleepers with concrete ones on the tracks at the Junction.\u00a0 Since the trains cannot run, I\u2019ve been rostered on to put people onto buses. An Eminem concert, a Japanese festival and the Caravan and Camping show have combined to make the…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1128,"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions\/1128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janeroutley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}