My earliest recollection of trains is the train that ran on the tracks that went along the southern edge of the farm where I was born and lived until I was nine years old. The trains ran between Viroqua and Westby, and then from Westby one route traveled down to Coon Valley and Chaseburg, the other headed for Sparta. Those early trains were powered by steam locomotives that belched black smoke from their smokestacks. When we were out in the fields we would wave to the engineer as the train went by and he would blow the whistle. That was exciting for us. People could ride the train from Viroqua to Westby and beyond.
I never did have a ride on the train. Meanwhile, Linda got to ride on the Zephyr passenger train that went between Dubuque and La Crosse, where she had relatives that they visited. She was in grade school at the time and rode with her grandfather and her oldest brother, Larry. It would've been quite an adventure to ride a passenger train along the Mississippi River. They got to climb up the stairs into the dome car and sit there during the trip. What a view that must have been.
Even though I never got to ride on a train when I was young, perhaps that early exposure to trains instilled the love of trains. Also our neighbor friends, Trygve and Joel Thompson had a Lionel train. If there was a commandment “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s train,” I’d have to plead guilty! Two cars in particular fascinated me. One was a cattle car where the doors opened and little, black cattle would move through a stockyard and enter the car. It was like magic! They also had a refrigerated milk car. When the train stopped next to a platform, the door opened and a little man would swing out and set milk cans on the platform. You loaded the silver cans through a door in the roof of the car. It was also magic! We’d lie on the floor at their house and play with the train and I was mesmerized.
I desperately wanted a Lionel train. For several years it was at the top of my Christmas list for Santa, but come Christmas morning, no Lionel train was to be found. Dad would say that Santa thought I was too young for an electric train. One year we got a little wind-up train that went around in a circle. It wasn’t a Lionel train, but at least it was a train.
After the magic of Santa was gone, I still wanted a Lionel train, but it never materialized. Finally, one year Dad said I was too old for a train. I had gone from being too young to being too old. Such is life.
I also learned a valuable life lesson. You can’t always get everything you want, when you want it.
Many years later, when I was twenty-eight years old, Santa (actually my brother David), gave me a Lionel train for Christmas. He found it at a second-hand store. Even though I was a “big kid,” I was as excited as a little one! Good things come to those who wait. Over the years I added cars and accessories to my Lionel layout. I would buy old, used equipment from a second hand store in Madison. For five dollars I could get a box full of cars, track, switches, and equipment. I still have all those old cars that I picked up years ago.
Now our grandson, Sean, loves trains. There’s a cartoon on TV called “Chuggington,” that he loves to watch. Chuggington cars, wooden track, and equipment are available to purchase in stores. Sean has a lot of those little cars and will play for hours with them.
Last year, Tim, Sean, and I went to the big train show in Milwaukee. Sean was in seventh heaven. I guess you could say all three of us enjoyed the show, especially the Lionel displays. Sean would get his face right down by the tracks and watch the trains come around the layout and head straight for him.
On Sean’s second birthday, we all went to the Railroad Museum at North Freedom. The highlight of the visit was riding on an old passenger train. When we came to the end of the line, the engineer invited Sean to come up in the locomotive with him. That was pretty intimidating for a two-year-old. He probably thought the train would take off and leave the rest of us behind. I think his father, Tim, was more disappointed that they didn't get to ride in the engine on the return trip. Sean loves riding on the train whenever we go to the Milwaukee County Zoo. He also loves riding the train at Peck’s Farm Market near Spring Green.
North Freedom Train Museum
I now have a 4 foot by 8 foot Lionel layout in our basement. Sean loves it. When they come to visit he heads for the basement door and wants to go downstairs. Once he even got down on the floor and was trying to look under the door, hoping to get a glimpse of the train. When train fever gets in your blood it’s hard to get rid of it.
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