The Long Train Ride

The Long Train Ride

By Jacquline Rowland

©2015 Olive Leaf Publications  All rights reserved.

     The year was 1942---I was 16, and had never traveled outside the state of California.   My Mother had used the train the year before she was married, and my grandparents had traveled on the train-- but every part of the trip was new to me and unbearably exciting.  How many days would we stay?  What should we wear?  Would our suitcases hold everything?   For months before we left we talked over the trip endlessly, making plans and writing relatives.  We were going all the way to New York State. Grandpa and Grandma Ewell would join us and we would stay two weeks with Grandma's family in Niagara Falls, and then attend a big family reunion in Wyoming.  This was the tiny little town where Grandpa grew up. It was in upstate New York.

     Departure day had come at last.  I was so excited I felt dizzy -- way up on Cloud Nine.  Here we were at the station.  The train was late.  The minutes ticked by slowly.  We took our luggage out to the platform.  Now we could hear the   "Woooo-- wooo woo!” as the train came closer and closer--- clickety clacking down the track toward us.  The big iron monster stopped.  We noted many, many cars.  We walked to a nearby car where there was a little boarding stool for us to stand on, and we placed our suitcases in the baggage car.  We walked down several cars and found our seats.  Mom and I sat down, facing Grandma and Grandpa. 

     The conductor came  and  took our tickets.  Mom was a bit restless, so she took off on a discovery tour.  She was going to locate the bathroom, the dining car, and the observation car. About twenty minutes later she came back.

     "What a lovely train!  Everyone is so helpful and friendly.  Dinner won't be too long.  There is a snack shop too. " And I found the handy little bathroom.

      I had brought along a duffel bag full of paper, pencils, books and a game to play.  I got it out to peruse.

      "Jacque,” Mother chided.  "You are well prepared, but there is so much to see, you may not need all that stuff."  We laughed.  I knew I wouldn't be bored.

     As I looked out the windows what I saw at first was the ugly backsides of big cities.  Factories, tall buildings. and dirty streets-- and lots of cars and people.  

      

     "The scenery will improve.  Mark my words," she promised And it did.  Lovely meadows and little farms, wide fields and rushing rivers and not long after -- everything was dark.

     "I'll bet we're going through a tunnel.”  I whispered.

     We were, and when the sun shone again, we saw huge beautiful mountains.  I thought of the song "America the Beautiful.”  There were majestic purple mountains and amber waves of grain.  I felt as if I were seeing a panoramic view of the good old USA.

     On the train we saw all kinds of people:  there were grandmas and grandpas, mothers and dads, and children too-- from teenagers to babies.  Since World War Two had begun last year, there were men from the army and navy strolling the aisles.

     We had brought some snacks along with us, but as I reached for a cookie, Mom said, "  Jacque-- don't spoil your appetite.  There's going to be a wonderful dinner in just a little while. "

     I didn't have to wait long.  An announcement was soon made that dinner reservations were being taken. Later it was fun to walk down through five cars to the dining car.

     There were black waiters, little tables with vases of flowers and white tablecloths.  People were already eating and everything smelled so good.

     "We don't have to stick together, like Siamese twins,” Mom suggested.  "Why don't we make some new friends?  “So Grandpa and Grandma sat at a different table with two strangers, and Mom and I met two nice young soldiers, who had just enlisted.  Over a tasty dinner of roast beef and mashed potatoes, we found out they were from southern California.  I told them my brother Dick wanted to join the Navy. These soldiers were going to New York, too.

     As the sun went down we discovered that the seats we were sitting in, extended and made into a berth, which was called a Pullman berth.  A man came through our car, demonstrating how the upper berths worked. These were pulled down from the train ceiling.  It was fascinating to see how quickly a bed could be made up, with a little bag at the side to hold our clothes.  There were curtains to draw too, to make the upper and lower berths into little private rooms. Mom and I offered to sleep in the upper berth, since it would be easier for us to climb up and down than Grandma and Grandpa.  We hoped to fall asleep easily, but I was still too excited.

     This had been a wonderful day and there were more days left----We were bound for Chicago, and we would bundle up all our luggage and get off there, and take a bus -- the rest of the way to New York.

     Even though I was anxious to meet family I had heard so much about, I was not ready to have the trip end.   I wanted to see the Mississippi River and mountains and prairies and people.  How much just then I loved seeing my country-- from coast to coast.