Bob sent in this story of his wonderful trip on Amtrak and writes:

In August of 2008 my wife and I boarded the Cresent train in Atlanta bound for Washington, D.C. We booked a sleeper car, the only way to travel on Amtrak. After a very fine meal we headed back to our sleeper for a wonderful eight hours of sleep. Keeping in mind we are 76 and 75 years old and a little slow of foot.

We had been to Washington. DC several times before, but never as Amtrak passengers. It’s a whole new world.

We had something like 4 or 5 hour layover so we got to do a little sight seeing. Then it was off to Chicago and another wonderful night on the train. I’m on this trip for the train ride and my wife is on the train as a way to get to Seattle and board the cruise ship to Alaska.

Our luck was holding out in regard to our companions at meal time as you got no choice as to who you sat with for your meals. So far so good.

I had never been to Chicago before so we didn’t venturer to far from the station. Amtrak will leave you behind.

I really felt sorry for the smokers as there is no smoking on Amtrak. They said they would put you off the train if they caught you smoking.

I loved the sunflower fields in North Dakota. Just acres and acres of sunflowers.

After two nights, I’m in hog heaven. We arrived in Seattle for the worst cruise we have ever been on. It was cold and wet and I couldn’t wait to get back on Amtrak for another four nights between the sheets. Amtrak, it’s the only way to travel.

Gary remembers his days working for the Chicago Transit Authority and writes:

I started working with the CTA in 1979 as a conductor on the elevated line and the subway which are rapid transit passenger trains. I also worked as a motorman, a ticket agent, a switchman, a foot collector (witch means collecting money from the ticket agents after they collected from the passengers) riding the train getting from one part of Chicago and suburbs to another.

After the agents stopped collecting money from the passengers, CTA used the ticket agents as Customer Asssistants who now help passengers find their way around Chicago. I worked that job part time and then ended my time (28 years 9 months) as a courier. A courier collects paper work from customer assistants and take them supplies and maps of the system and other jobs as assigned.

I traveled from one end of Chicago to the other with this job. I really liked my job. At one time CTA sold replicas of their Trains and also their bus system. That was when I got interested in Model Trains and also diecast cars & buses.

Shannon sent in this story for readers:

When I was young… very young, I always wanted to see the train that ran on the Baltimore and Annapolis short line in Maryland. One day my Mom called the B7A Railroad to make the inquiry and they called right back and said the train was sitting at the Crain Highway crossing in Glen Burnie. She drove me up there and there it was. The engineer came down, took me into the cab and allowed me to open the throttle a bit and to blow the horn. That locomotive is now on display at the B&O railroad museum in Baltimore, MD.

Kevin recalls the Western Pacific line and writes:

I was just a little snapper when my Great Uncle Alma Jones who was a conductor on the Western Pacific line took me from Reno to Portola, California. He always wore a fine blue uniform with a vest and everyone knew he was in charge.

I loved riding the train throught the Feather River Canyon and seeing the people in the little towns and so many animals near the tracks enroute.

When he retired from the railroad he flush his false teath down the toilet because he hated wearing them I said to him “Uncle Alma, how are you going to chew your food”? He replied “I don’t need to chew Jack Daniels and Coke a Cola. Ha!

I am still amazed by the size of the engines and the beautiful accomodations of the passenger and dining cars. It was such a civilized way to travel and you didn’t have some yelling at you to “sit down, shut up and buckle up!”

Check out the new model railroading poll (quick survey) in the right hand column. Simply select your answer. You can then instantly click to see the results to see how others answered. It’s fun and it is FREE to take part (see right hand column for poll details).

Ernie sent in this great story about his narrow gauge train rides:

This experience took place many years ago. I was 10 years old and I am now eighty two. My home was in Pueblo Colorado and I had an aunt and uncle who lived in Ignacio, Colorado.

To get to my destination I would catch the 11:30 P.M. D&RGW standard guage at Pueblo and ride that section to Alamosa, Colorado arriving about 2:30A.M. My mother would tell the conductor where I was going and he would tell the Alamosa Station Master, who would tell the Conductor of the narrow guage train to Ignacio.

The narrow gauge would leave Alamosa at 7:A.M..I was always handed off correctly and with a lot of tender loving care. I made this trip three or four times a year between my tenth and thirteenth year so I got to know the railroad crew on a personal basis.

The trip on the narrow gauge was long but interesting. The train had a conductor, a brakeman and a porter. The porter would make home made ice cream on the spring and summer trips. Hot chocolate on the fall aand winter trips. The trip from Alamosa to Ignacio would take until 3:30 P.M.

During the course of the trip I would enjoy beautiful scenery and a lot of wild life. There were times, going up Cumbres Pass, that the train would go so slow that I could get off and walk beside it. Other times we would drop off fishermen who were going to fish the high lakes and streams. On the afternoon return train they would pick the fishermen and return the to a stop down grade. These were experiences that I have never forgotten.

Paul has sent in this wonderful memory for publication:

“My memories of trains in the UK began with my late dad Tom. He started on the railways in the late 1950’s through to the 60’s. He started on small steam engines with the LNER and he eventually progressed to be the fireman on the famous “Sir Nigel Gresley” which is one of the big “Mallard” class tender engines now held in the National Railway Museum in York. Sadly he never made a driver as the “diesels” took over. But, no matter whether he made driver or not I was proud of his achievement and always will be. “

Charles heard of an HO layout in New Jersey that set a record and asks readers:

“Back in the early or mid 70’s, there was a very large HO lay-out in New Jersey, they had 501 hopper’s and 20 Deisels and set a worlds record. My question is has the record been broken as of this date?”

Paul from South Africa writes:

Some information from my part of the world – in South Africa the entire railroad system is run on narrow gauge. The only piece of standard gauge railroad that has been built is in Saldana Bay, specifically for the movement of goods for shipping – a very big Iron Ore and coal export harbor!

One economical implication of this gauge is that in South Africa most goods are now moved by road, this has caused an unprecedented rise in the cost of goods, especially inland.

After watching a series on American rail services on National Geographic satellite tv I have seen the positives of changing our entire system to Standard gauge.

Outeniqua Choo-Choo

One other piece of information I would like to share is the Outeniqua Choo-Choo (a steam locomotive driven passenger train). This was a tour that ran along the Cape South Coast.

Unfortunately this was stopped when a few years ago very bad flooding and land slides in the Cape damaged the line and the tour was stopped. I will be visiting the Cape soon and hope to find out a bit more about the possibility of re-opening this tour – it may be a long shot but let’s see what happens!

Michael has sent in this story:

My memories of trains are of when I was somewhat younger. I grew in Birmingham, England during the WW2 and to get close to a train was very rare as in England the railroad was fenced off. It was almost inpossible to get close or even see a train. Also, due to the war lads of my age didn’t receive toy trains. In my teens when I could go further afield my friends and I went to an old passenger station were one could see mainly goods trains going straight through with the odd pasenger train on it’s way to New Street Station.

It wasn’t until I came to Canada that I actualy had an electric train set of my own. A friend was cleaning out and came across two train sets, one a CP and the other a CN. Since then I have managed to get a Amtrack train which I hope to convert into a BC pasenger train. Since I came to BC my Trains have been boxed up as I have no place to build a layout yet. I have a system which I used for two trains on a 8’x4′ table but when I get all working again I hope to run four trains by having a separate level below the table.

Karen remembers getting a Hornby clockwork train set for Christmas when she was eight and writes:

My Swiss Grandfather who was a mad train buff and I used to watch trains all the time and he even worked with steam trains and on bridges in Australia.

Santa bought me my first train set – a Hornby clockwork set when I was 8, and that was a pretty unusual present for a girl in those days! I ran the thing off the rails! Since then, I have built lots of small model railways and I am currently working on one of Penzance, Cornwall England, circa 1950’s. My nephews have carried on the passion in our family.

Joe recalls trains on the Long Island Railroad and writes:

My best train memory is waiting for the Long Island Railroad to pull into Woodside Station. At that time of my life the Railroad was Steam Engines. I would look as long as possible for the smoke in the distance. We would board with windows open and the ride to Farmingdale. It was something I always looked forward to on weekends. I loved the sounds of the Steam Engine. I guess thats why my model railroad is all steam powered. Ocassionaly I will run LIRR Diesels but the sound of the steam still is best to me.

Ron has contributed this info about his layout:

I model in Australian N Scale and have a set of two Pilbara Rail locos and 106 ore cars.

I exhibited the rack at our model train show in June this year in Perth and the person who produced the ore cars for me added his 50 wagons (total 156) and the length of the train was 10.1 meters (33 feet) from lead loco to last car.

The two CW4400 Kato locos pulled it around non stop for two hours.

Congratulations Ron! And, thank you for sharing this with others.

John who made the wagons adds:

“And I tell you that they ran excellent for a home made casting too with Microtrains bogies! I was very surprised that they ran so well!”

A reader from the USA sent in this childhood recollection:

When I was four years old, in the mid 1950’s, I received my first Lionel train set. My father set it up on a board in the basement. So far this is a typical story for many of us.

Each year around the Christmas Holiday season we would go to our local hardware store where Lionel trains were sold and new items would be purchased and added to the display.

At eight, we moved to the country of central New Jersey. The display was put in that basement and grew as I began to purcase items and train sets that friends no longer wanted. With my bicycle, I explored the area and soon discovered the tracks where the mightly electric GG1’s would wisk passengers and sometimes freight between New York, Philadephia and Washinton, DC. I was mesmerized as I watched in awe as these trains whiz passed in the early evening, with the occasional blue sparks coming off the wires and the lights flickering in the passenger cars as they quickly went by reminding me of a giant toy train.

As I got older all the items were carefully packed and boxed away.

Many years passed. I live in the mountains of the Western US and those memories of growing up the East during the 1950’s have returned. The old trains were carefully unpacked and renovated. Many, many new trains were obtained for my dream layout. The new technology is indeed remarkable.

I am building a large garage of over 1400 square feet to house my train display depicting that era of the mid 1950’s, that end of steam and where diesel begin to dominate.

The electric Pennsy GG-1’s would still march on for many productive years. Now, as I day dream of the layout, I consult books and magazines and am amazed at the wealth of information. So, in several years I too will have the dream of a display fulfilled, depicting vignettes of the the mid-fifties, showing NYC, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania on to Washington, DC, where many great railroads of the Eastern, United States once plied.

My collection is rapidly growing, anticipating when they will be rolling down the rails. As I research, I have learned how much rail transportation has contributed and advanced civilation of not only America, but the rest of the World!

Warwick sent in this amusing story from his days growing up in Hastings New Zealand:

This particular bunch of railway memories are from my days as a Dominion Newspaper paper boy approximately 50 years ago.

Our depot was right across the road from the old Hastings Station and yards and as we often had time to kill whilst waiting for the morning paper car to arrive it was a natural playground for us all.

Many are the antics we got up to which would horrify the Politically Correct Brigade of today!

A favourite pastime was to let the brake off empty 4-wheel open wagons and all push hard to get it rolling then jump aboard and ride it until it ran out of momentum or came up against other rolling stock or a concrete buffer block.

Another caper we used to enjoy was all riding down the platform on one of the postoffice mail trolleys, which had two wheels in the middle and one at either end making them impossible to steer if everybody was on board! This came to an end when an out of control trolley careered onto the tracks, braking an axle in the process. I remember our meagre pay being docked until the cost of repairs by the postoffice were met!

Other pleasant memories include having a sausage cooked for me in the cab of an AB loco by a kindly fireman on his shovel in the firebox, placing pennies on the track for oncoming trains to flatten and listening for trains still out of sight by placing ones ear on one of the rails.

Perhaps the best rail memory of the time was watching the annual Blossom Trains arriving. They came from Wellington with hoards of passengers up for the weekend and were hauled by two J or K class locos.

By looking south down the tracks the vast cloud of steam and smoke could be seen long before the train itself came into view.Their arrival was very spectacular as they came charging in, not slowing until the engines and some of the carriages were well past the station and over the next railway crossing. This they had to do due to the sheer length of the train.

A real cross section of society came up on the blossom specials and it was an eye-opener to us relatively small-town boys to see the sort of people getting off the train .

Sadly we all have to grow up. They pulled down the grand old wooden station building to be replaced further up the track with a small characterless modern building. Also they moved the shunting yards further out of town and eventually the Special Blossom Festival Trains were discontinued. Good fun while it lasted though………

Larry remembers the day he rode in the engine cab and writes:

Once my Dad let me ride in the engine cab with him while the coal tender was re coaled. He held me in his lap while he maneuvered the engine under the coal tipple. I was about 5 yrs old. This was one of the times I remember along with other times of going to the watering place to refill the reservoir where chemical balls were put in. I assume these were to treat the boiler water.

We traveled by train of course as Dad got passes at no cost. Our trips to town, vacations etc.,were on passenger trains and of course this was after WWII and during the Korean War so many soldiers traveled by rail also and they would give my brother and I “V” nickels and dimes along with “peegees” (wood marbles). I have some of these coins tucked away.

Imagine this scene depicted by Kerry and how it could be recreated on a model railroad layout:

When I was a little lad, I would watch the interaction of the cows to the north field and the 5:50 steam train. When the cows had been milked (around 5:30) they would wander to the fence by the tracks. When the train came by the whistle would be really be blowing for a long time as it was crossing a road crossing and coming into the station.

The cows would run toward the barn and as soon as the whistle ceased they would wander back to the fence. This would be constant pattern of behaviour every day at this time as long as the cows were in the field. It was only with this train that this would occur – no other trains would bother them. Even when diesels would run at this time, the cows would not react. Occasionally when a steam train would operate as an excursion and pass by at this time the cows would behaviour and provide us with fond memories and wonder what made them act this way

Jack remembers trains on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and writes:

I have always had a love for trains, especially the old steam engine engines. I was 12 years old, when we moved to the farm, just out side of town. The Missouri Pacific Railroad ran the Belmont Branch through a field about a quarter of a mile behind the house. In the back yard sat an old wash house with a dog house beside it, and that sat next to a large maple tree. I would hear the train coming, and would make a run for the the wash house roof. I did this by jumping first on the dog house roof, then leaping for a limb on the tree, and swinging on to the top of the wash house roof. Then I would start waving as big as I could. What a thrill when the engineer or fireman would see me and wave back. It certainly made my day each time.