I grew up in a railroad town. Why, Harper wouldn't even be here if it warn't for the railroad. The tracks warn't more than a block a way from the big house and ever day the freight trains would come rushing by throwing cinders and black smoke behind them. We kids would come in at night with the soles of our feets as black as smut and it took a heap of scrubbing to get 'em clean. We used Lava Soap and a stiff brush and still it took a long time till mama was satisfied that we could get into bed. I can't remember the train keeping me awake a night. We used to laugh and talk about how we would probably wake up if a train didn't pass by on time. I don't reckon that was the case cause they couldn't all have been on time. My grandaddy were a engineer on freight trains. Sometimes he had to stay over in a distant trip, but one run call the Guin turn got him back home for the night. He loved the Guin turn and got it as much as he could. My daddy worked for the railroad for a while until he got called up for WWII. I would have probably been a railroad man myself except for Korea. The railroad was a big part of our life.
Tomorrow: The Roundhouse
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