Memories
I have always been a railfan.
During WWII, as a toddler, we lived about one-quarter mile from the
Frisco mainline in Ash Grove, MO. My
mother said there were many times she had to “go fetch” me down near the
tracks waving at the troop trains as they went by.
I can still remember the Christmas I got my first Marx windup train when
I was three and one half years old. Another
Christmas I was the proud recipient of a shiny Marx Electric.
Then on to HO when I was 12. I
still have that first HO engine. I
have been a member of four HO model railroad clubs in various places in the US
over the years and have many great friends as a result.
Our
family took many trips from Springfield, MO to see my sisters in California.
Once we stayed the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico with cousins of my
Mother’s. Neighbors came over to meet us. One fellow in his 60’s asked me if
I liked trains and of course being about nine or ten I answered affirmatively.
He told my father and the cousin to be sure and come down to the station
about 6:30 that evening. There were
a few winks that went around the group, but I didn’t understand what they were
planning. When we got to the
station here was the most beautiful Santa Fe Passenger train at the station.
It was the Super Chief and it was gleaming!
The neighbor was the engineer! He
took me on a tour of the set of 4 engines from one end to the other.
He held the train’s departure 15 minutes while he took this little
ten-year-old kid from Missouri through the train. I was concerned about him being late, he grinned at me and
said, “Don’t fret, Jim, I can make it up quickly.”
What an experience, what a memory! I
have always liked the Santa Fe and that red and silver warbonnet paint since
then.
Along
with all this interest in trains and railroading I have always enjoyed reading
about the railroads. When I was
about twelve years old I remember finding “The Big IVY” in my Uncle’s
True, or Bluebook. I snagged those
copies until I had the published story. In
the course of growing up those copies disappeared.
I did not know there was a book until quite by accident I came across a
copy in a railroad memorabilia store. I
immediately purchased it, went home and read it. After that I was always on the lookout for more old books
with railroad stories in them. I
have found they are quite hard to come by as many are worn out, libraries do not
have them any longer and so on. Most
of the enclosed fictional short stories come from modern anthologies.
It is my purpose here to put my favorites in one place so that I and some
of those of like mind can enjoy them.
Interestingly
the locale I had always placed my model railroad the “Sac Valley Line” was
Greenfield and Lockwood, MO north through Stockton, MO to Osceola, MO.
I picked up the stories about the Greenfield Northern
and the "Leaky Roof"
from a site on the
Internet. It also had another
interesting write-up about the “High Line” which I was familiar with.
I had the Frank Farmer story about the “High Line” so I have included
both as taken together, they tell a good story of a rail line and period that
would be a great one to model.
You
have no doubt heard of the term “Romance of the Rails”, these authors write
in a way so you have no doubt about the term.
Enjoy…
Jim
Quarles
Pittsburg,
KS
Oct.
1996
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Copyright © 2002 Jim
Quarles, all rights reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by
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Jim Quarles
Springfield, MO
Revised: May 22, 2003