Grand Island and Trains

Sheesh...another round of health issues, but enough of that.

I was sitting (read, blocked) at the Broadwell UP crossing the other day, watching the train go by, thinking of all the trains that pass through Grand Island every day. I don't know the exact number, but I know it's a lot. In town we only wait on the UP now, but before they built the "E" on the Burlington, our wait time was almost doubled. That was just the way it was. Every day. Most of us don't pay much attention to the trains, except when we need to get somewhere quick and the street is blocked. I pick up kids almost every day on both sides of the UP and almost every day I "meet" a train. I know to give myself extra time in case I'm stopped.

Trains have always been a part of life here. My oldest brother worked for the UP, and he worked out of the old watchtower. I remember the crossing guards they had at some of the UP crossings. They had little guard shacks to sit in and when a train came they would come out holding a stop sign. There were no crossing arms that came down, just lights and bells.

The switch engines were the worst and sometimes they'd block the crossings for hours. We lived just west of the Burlington tracks and during the summer we'd go to the wading pool at Lincoln Park. One day, after swimming for a long time, me and my friends had to go home. As usual, there was a train on the tracks. We walked down a few blocks, across from the Burlington depot, and the train was blocking that crossing too. Long story short....we were very late getting home that day, even though we got a police escort. I won't go into details, it's not something I would want other kids to even think about....but we did something nobody should ever do. I was dropped off with instructions to tell my parents what had happened, but they were both at work, so I felt pretty safe. Mom came home later, we had supper, and I forgot all about my "crime." About 7:00 that night there was a knock on the door. I saw through the screen door it was the same officer who had given me a ride home. As Mom was walking toward the door, I was doing my best to try and fill her in on what had happened. It was a serious offense, and the officer was making sure my parents knew about it. Well, Mom made sure I learned my lesson.

I hardly notice the horns when a train goes through. There are those who do, and I often think they must be new to G. I. I was taking a video of my nieces daughter one year, filming her 3rd birthday party, which was outside. I got a lot of great footage of her blowing out her candles, opening her presents, running around the yard. I also got a lot of train whistles!! Nobody noticed the trains until we played back the video. It seems there was a train every 10-15 minutes.

We just take the trains for granted, I guess. Or curse them when we have to wait on 'em. There are some folks who find our little town the greatest "train-watching" spot in the country. They have even brought an old caboose to town and set it up close to the intersection of the UP and Burlington, just so people have a safe place to watch the trains go by. I hear the intersection had more trains than most places, if not the most. Go figure!

Our granddaughter and I took the bus to Lincoln one year, then we boarded an old locomotive, "69" I think. We rode it to Omaha, turned around and went back to Lincoln. I wanted her to get an idea of what it was like to ride a train. I loved our little trip to Omaha, but she was more interested in going to the dining car, which was a snack bar type thing. The tracks were lined with people watching our train pass. They had cameras set up, television crews, and folks waving at us. What used to be the best way to travel is now a special occasions.

My Mom, two of my brothers, and me, rode a train from G. I. to Sacramento, California when I was 9 years old. I don't remember how long it took to get there but I remember the scenery on the way. It was the first time I saw mountains! It's a lot different traveling through them on a train then in a car. We went through the great salt flats of Utah. I would look out the window and see our train wind around a curve and it seemed so long. I would fall asleep to the rocking of the train. We stopped at many train stations on the way and some of them were so ornate. (Not that a 9 year old would think of them in those terms.) There were so many people in all the stations, going here and there and porters and conductors giving directions. We stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and there we got to see my oldest brother's baby girl. My sister-in-law's parents were living there and she was visiting. They were at the station to see us off as we continued our trip to California. It was a memorable experience and I'm glad I got to do it.

Our own UP and Burlington stations were busy places at one time. We lived close to Bill's Trading Post which was across the street from the Burlington station. When a train came through you could see people getting on and off the train. At that time, the end of train travel was nearing. My older brothers remember how busy both the Burlington and UP stations when both passenger and freight trains came and went through Grand Island.

Remember the old UP station? It was huge. And fancy. When I was a kid, it wasn't as busy as it was in my folk's time. It was used mostly for freight if I remember right. But it was still used. I remember the ladies bathroom had locks on the doors that required a dime to open. The last few times I was in the station, there was nobody taking care of the bathrooms and they were in pretty bad shape.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Grand Island has always been filled with the sounds of trains going through.