In the 1940s it was all about train travel and that's the way my Mom and I made our way about the South west. We clambered up the steps of the hissing beast at Omaha with a white jacketed Conductor standing by to lend a hand if necessary. Mom would find our seats and we would settle ourselves for the journey. Soon, we'd hear the Conductor call out "All Aboooaard," and I experienced a little shiver of excitement as, with a great deal of clatter and hissing, the wheels started turning, slowly at first then gathering momentum until we were rocketing through the vast farmlands and prairies of the Midwest. I remember playing a game of what if..what if I lived there... in that white farm house under the shade of those big trees... what if that bay horse in the field was mine and I could ride it every day....what if I lived in that little house so close to the railroad track that I could wave to the train passing by every day..
We were usually in a Pullman car. That meant while we sat in the dining car at a table resplendent with white tablecloths and napkins, selecting from a full menu, the porter would be busy making our seats into sleeping berths.
Changed into our pajamas, we would crawl into the berths, snuggle down and sink into sleep in the swaying car as the clickity-clack of the wheels sang a rhythmic lullaby.
This is the Santa Fe Super Chief. We got to ride on this train to Albuquerque. New Mexico.
Do yuh hear that whistle down the line?
I figure that it's engine number forty nine,
She's the only one that'll sound that way.
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.
See the ol' smoke risin' 'round the bend,
I reckon that she knows she's gonna meet a friend,
Folks around these parts get the time o' day
From the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.
Here she comes! Ooh, ooh, ooh,
Hey, Jim, yuh better git the rig!
Ooh, ooh, ooh,
She's got a list o' passengers that's pretty big
And they'll all want lifts to Brown's Hotel,'
Cause lots o' them been travelin' for quite a spell,
All the way from Philadelphiay,
the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.
From the 1946 Movie, The Harvey Girls with Judy Garland
This picture of a train crossing Canyon Diablo northeast of Superior, AZ is south of Prescott, so I'm sure we never traveled across it, but I was taken with the shot.
We did cross Johnson's canyon southwest of Williams, Arizona to get to Prescott were we disembarked at this train depot. This photo was taken around 1934, and we arrived in 1947, but it looked much the same and did until the railroad eliminated Prescott as a stop in the 1960s. The old depot still stands as part of a shopping center.
We walked a couple of blocks up Cortez Street to check in at the Head Hotel. This photo was taken a long time before we stayed there as a promotion for the hotel when it was new, but it didn't look much different in the forties, and doesn't look much different today.
19 comments:
Nice post, isn't it delightful to revel in happy memories of days gone by? And to know that you don't have to relive those hardships.
Nice old photos, I think it's so important to remember the past.
I LOVE trains! I bought this little house because it was close enough to the tracks to hear the trains. (Can't SEE much of anything because of the forest, though.) I took the train from Seattle to St. Paul a few years ago, and loved it. The only problem was that the part of the trip that wasn't in the darkness of night was across the endless fields of North Dakota. Not much to see, I'm afraid.
What a lovely memory of train rides with your mother - and the nostalgic photos, gorgeous!
I also have some good memories of travelling with my late mother. In the 1970ies we visited Thailand and took a night train from Bangkok up north, to Chieng Mai on the Burmese border. I was so hungry that I stuffed myself with a dozen (or so) sweet bananas. In the morning, when we arrived, I felt awfully sick. But nevertheless that trip was great.
What a wonderful post! I have always wished I could have travelled an American train like that, with the dining car, & the beds made up! New Zealand is too small for such long travel, & though there are several trains here in Australia with sleeping berths, price will prohibit our ever travelling on them!
Oh, the good old days of train travel . . no longer in the U.S. of A., I'm afraid. Amtrak leaves a lot to be desired. European trains, on the other hand, are wonderful.
And, Old Sourdough, you went right through my home town in North Dakota on that trip from Seattle to St. Paul.
Thanks ex! I think old memories are important too:)
OldSD, I envy you hearing the trains. We are no longer on the line at all, and I love to spend a few days in Flagstaff just so I can hear them, especially at night..
Olivia, your train trip with your Mother sounds wonderful and exotic! Hmmm how about a mystery..The Night Train to Chieng Mai..you could do that:)
Meggie, for awhile I was determined to take all my Grandchildren on trains, but it was difficult to make connections and very expencieve too and the idea fell through..
Cat, Amtrack leaves a lot to be desired..that's what I found out. I had hopes of getting from Flagstaff to Reno, but no..
SOLB - "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him . . ." NO, wait a minute. That's another story.
She..I just loved this post, and the old pictures! What a great adventure, and a precious memory!
This is a great post. And it brings back a ton of memories for me. I was born by the railroad tracks and grew up in a house that shook when the train passed. I also got to ride to California a couple of time on that San francisco train -- I was going back overseas during the Korean War.
I'm hooked....you have started your story with a bang and I can't wait to hear more....the pictures are a wonderful addition but my dear you have a writing gift...go for it!
Cat, was his name Sue?
Jan, it's amazing what you remember when you start writing about something..Meggie's the best at it..
OldML, I think we must have traversed the same track before the bend that took us south..I imagine you crossed Johnson's canyon..I'm so glad you came back safely from that "conflict".
Changes, thanks for the lovely conpliment:)
This was such fun to read. We have trains crossing the river about 1/2 a mile down from us so I hear them all the time. It's one of my favorite sounds!
brain -- wonderful post which brings back many memories. Main difference is that we often went from Phoenix to Riverside CA, which means we had to take the Southern Pacific. And when we moved to Florida, it was assorted eastern/southern RRs, meeting up with the Southern Pacific in New Orleans. However, I can report (from studying USGS topos) that the Johnson Canyon tunnel is still there, tho I'm sure the bridge is long gone. Further: US 66 crossed Canyon Diablo up north, either between Wnslow & Flag or between Winslow & Holbrook. People should also know that the Head Hotel has been renovated in the past couple of years into a big "B&B". I wonder where the old retired cowboys and widower rnchers live out their days now...
I love going down memory lane, and your memories are so interesting. Keep them coming. Love the photos.
Mary Beth, the river, the water birds, and the sound of trains in the night..you have the best location of anyone!
Gj, thanks for the info on the Johnson tunnel..it'd be fun to see it someday..
The Head Hotel as a B&B..oh rue the day:( Well maybe those old cowboys have gone on to that great ranch in the sky by now..
Thanks Akasha:)
I really enjoyed reading this, as well as all the comments. The Canyon Diablo bridge looks really fragile in that picture.
WOW, those are some great pictures, and story! I can only imagine how different the town looked back then.
I was just at the Johnson Canyon tunnel today. We drove up the canyon on the railbed all the way to the entrance. It is still in good shape and we walked the entire length of it. The old WW2 guard shack is still there, but just a skeleton of wood.
Someone questioned wheather the bridge was still there. It is not. It was filled in by the railroad after several wrecks coming out of the tunnel many years ago.
Canyon Diablo is not near Superior. It is between Winslow and Flagstaff so you would also have crossed this Canyon. Picture shown is the older bridge over Canyon Diablo. A new brige was erected in the mid 1940's and allows for double main line track. The Johnson Tunnel Bridge is still accessible off of I-40 and Welch road north.
Post a Comment