All aboard– BY Dewey MaggardEvery child when I was growing up- loved the sound of the Steam Engine as it was coming near them especially at the old depot where they may be meeting friends or relatives.
Here is part of that memory.
All Aboard
By
Dewey Maggard
Two thousand people with railroad fever converged on our depot to get a glimpse of her,an excursion out of the past all dressed up in black and orange enamel with silver and nickel trim. Old Engine No. 4449 is on a run from Portland, Oregon to the New Orleans World Fair. Many people waited up to four hours to see her go thundering by- a temporary revival of a past era.
The first steam locomotive I saw came to our town one Independence Day, bringing hundreds of people eager to see the launching of a hot air balloon. The balloonist did not capture my young mind, as did that steam locomotive. That huge iron horse seemed to be a living thing, making its own power with coal and water; throwing up black smoke and blazing smoke and blazing sparks. The thing could breathe, snort, cough and belch!
As I grew into boyhood, Mighty Katy (the Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad) came thundering by on her way to a wonderland of adventure. The blast of her whistle echoed through the woods in the nigh to tell one and all that the fast freight was making the hump with full head of steam, and would soon be thundering through Mound Valley.
There was magic when steam was still king. To my young mind there was no end to the track. This horse of fire and steel, always smoking, steaming, pounding and clattering, was rolling on and on to the edge of the world and the end of time. This magic of my mind allowed these trains to pass into a land of imagination where rivers flowed through canyons of rock candy and other wonders were everywhere.
But boys grow up, and the world becomes a place for toil and sweat. But even men have dreams. The magic evolves into a need for ingenuity, Every invention, innovation and improvement which aided in the development of America came about as a response to some need-from the cow catcher to the whistle. At one time a grasshopper plague in Pennsylvania resulted in so many squashed insect bodies on the rails that the engines lost traction. So sand boxes were added, with pipes to funnel the sand in front of the drive wheels.
In 1835, Phineas Davis won $4000.00 from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for designing an improved locomotive. John Poor made an epic trip to win a railroad franchise to Montreal, Canada. He set up horse relays to break a 300-mile trail in 18 degree below zero weather between Portland, Maine, and Montreal. His line, the Grand truck Railroad is at the time of this story, still operating after 132 years. Commodore Vanderbuilt continued building railroads until his death at 86.
Through the work of courageous men, a network of rails helped bind a nation together. Dutch, Irish, Chinese, and all manner of men worked toward a common goal. It was not without difficulty, but the work was accomplished. A golden spike was driven to celebrate linking the east and the west by rail.
From the beginning our heavenly Father has been binding together a nation of special people. He is leading us away from Egypt and our own wilderness of difficulties and bringing us into the land of eternity. Having ridden on the wheels of life, and perhaps being shaken by a derailment or two, we yet see some dreams become reality. It is somewhat painful to see the steam engine once so familiar become relics of the past. Nevertheless, we continue our journey to a better land..Through the night with the light from above, Over the mountains, oer the prairies, Oer the ocean, white with foam, God Bless America, my home sweet home. The bell is ringing! All Aboard!
© 1984 & Jan 10 2001
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