Our family has always had an affinity for trains. My dad and Rob’s dad each set up elaborate model train track displays, with houses and plants and people and other detailed accessories. The one thing that I learned about model train track displays is that they take up a whole lot of space. If you want to drive your trains or maintain the scenes, you need to have an entire room dedicated to the train display. A room that will be undisturbed by everyday living. When I was growing up, my dad’s model train display stayed in place for months, until my mom called “uncle” and made my dad pack it all up so we could reclaim the family room. When I had a child of my own, my dad resurrected the model train display for a while, until, again, my mom put the kibosh on it. As I said, one needs to have a room dedicated to the model train.
I don’t live in an area where people ride trains. We have a train track in town, and hear the trains barreling through every day. In fact, a bar near the tracks has been known to call out drink specials if a train roars by the crowded bar. Most of those trains carry cargo, moving goods around the country.
When I was a young kid, my family went to Tweetsie Railroad, a small amusement park in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Tweetsie Railroad was setup as an old western town. It was designed around the theme of Cowboys and Indians. That was a popular theme back in the 1960s. Looking online in 2022, I see that Tweetsie still operates as a wild western town. Way back when we visited Tweetsie, we took a train ride around the park, which I thoroughly enjoyed, until, Heaven’s to Betsy!, bandits jumped onto the train! I couldn’t believe that bad guys were hiding out, waiting to attack our train and do whatever bad guys did. They carried guns and had bandanas covering part of their faces. They shouted at us, but seemed to focus their attention on the train conductors, leaving us bystanders (actually, sitters) alone. They managed to swipe some gold (we must have been on a very important train, carrying all that gold!), but they were quickly apprehended by a Sheriff and deputies who arrived on the scene. Luckily, we arrived back to the boarding platform safe and sound. What an adventure!
My Grandpa worked as a carpenter for the C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio) railroad. By the time I came along, he had been off of the tracks for a long time. As a young father, he had suffered injury due to a large trestle collapse, and was unable to continue working. But, he stayed connected to the C&O railroad his entire life. There was a train track running behind my grandparents’ house. When we visited them, it was always thrilling to hear the train whistle and watch the train roaring past. The whole house would shake and rattle from the air disturbance. The crazy loud sound of the train would engulf us. It was very exciting to experience the train in all its glory. We even placed the occasional penny right on the track so we could have a souvenir flattened coin. To my grandparents, the passing train was business as usual, but to me, it was a fascinating experience.
My Grandpa at the Railyard 
and on the Train 
The Collapsed Train Trestle Which Injured My Grandpa
I’ll admit the one thing I don’t like about trains is how inflexible they are. When traveling by car, or boat, or plane, you can vary the route somewhat if necessary. Not with a train. You have to go where the track takes you. Those of us with free spirits find that a bit rigid. Maybe I want to go over There, but that’s not where the track runs. I would have to hop on a bus, or jump in a car, or pound the pavement, or some other mode of movement, to get to my final destination. That could be considered the downside of train travel. But, then again, with trains, there are no surprises. You know what you are getting into when you step on.
Just think how many songs there are about trains. Pardon Me, Boy, Is That the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?
I have a favorite memory when Rob & I were newlyweds. We were not riding a train, but we were singing about a train, LOL. We had been hanging out with friends at their house. It was late when we got in my car to start heading home. It was a warm summer night, so we put down the top on my snazzy red convertible. Just then, the song Midnight Train to Georgia came on the radio. With absolutely no advance planning, Rob and I both started singing at the top of our lungs, with me taking lead with the Gladys Night lyrics and Rob singing backup as the Pips. We drove all through town at midnight with the top down, belting out the song. And let me mention that neither of us are singers by any stretch of the imagination. Here’s a snippet:
................ Gwen: I've got to be with him Rob: (I know you will) Gwen: On that midnight train to Georgia Rob: (Leaving on a midnight train to Georgia, woo, woo) Gwen: I'd rather live in his world Rob: (Live in his world) Gwen: Than live without him in mine
We had a blast singing about the Midnight Train to Georgia.
Chuga chuga Choo-Choo. Chuga Chuga Choo-Choo. How can you resist the draw of a train? Apparently, many people can’t. Railfans are railway enthusiasts, who enjoy recreational rail transport, combining it with other related hobbies, such as photography, model train building, preservation efforts, and others. There is a train museum near my house which, one of these days, I plan to visit. In Virginia, where my grandparents lived, there are also exhibits recognizing the contributions of the C&O Railroad. I’ve never been to the C&O Railway Heritage Center, but I love this line from their website description of the history of American Railroading.
“The story is the essential American tale of how our nation grew, how we lived and worked, and how we were all connected together by twin rails of steel. “
How’s that for nostalgia?
Meanwhile, let’s finish off with a little Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues:
I hear the train a comin’. It’s rolling round the bend
And I Ain't Seen The Sunshine Since I Don't Know When,
I'm Stuck At Folsom Prison And Time Keeps Draggin' On.
................ Well, If They Freed Me From This Prison,
If That Railroad Train Was Mine,
I Bet I'd Move On Over A Little Farther Down The Line,
Far From Folsom Prison, That's Where I Want To Stay,
And I'd Let That Lonesome Whistle Blow My Blues Away.
That's right.... Let that lonesome whistle blow your blues away.......