—Trains—
I’ve always loved trains.
We lived right next to a train track when I was younger, and the tracks were about thirty yards from our house. They may have been closer than that.
And, When the evening train would come by our house, I would go to my spot so that I could wave to the engineer. I had the perfect spot that allowed the engineer to see me waving and for me to get an up-close view of the train itself.
And, now and then, the engineer would throw me a bottle of water with the “Seaboard System Railroad” or “CSX” logo on it. That was huge for me.
So, I wanted to be one of two things when I grew up: A Train Engineer or the Rear Brakeman on the train. The Rear Brakeman is the guy who sits in the Caboose. Remember the Caboose?
It got to the point that trains did not have anyone sitting inside the Caboose anymore.
And, on more than one occasion, I ran up to the Caboose and jumped up on it to look inside.
Nowadays, most trains do not even have a Caboose.
My late brother got in trouble for hopping the trains. He got caught by the engineer and gave the engineer his real name and our home phone number.
I’ll just say that I never got in trouble for that.
When I was younger, my Dad would carry me to the CSX Train Yard outside of Birmingham.
We would park and watch the trains. And, now and then, we would walk over to a parked train to get a close-up look. —Rules and Laws were a lot more relaxed back then—
I’ve left a lot out of this story. And for good reason.
But I recently found out that Alabama has a Train Museum.
It’s called the “Heart Of Dixie Train Museum,” and Dad and I have made plans to visit there next week.
This isn’t the Road Trip I posted about earlier. This is a new trip.
I hope to go inside the trains and get close-up views of everything. I hope to be able to take pictures.
And, I hope to be able to write about the trip, enabling you to come along with me.
As of now, the trip is planned for April 5th.
And, of course, it is weather permitting.
That’s all for now.
Love you,
–Lynn
