"ALL ABOARD!"

I grew up around trains.  My Mom's dad, Hoyt E. McElroy, was a railroad man for the KATY in Denison, Texas, until his death in the 1950's.  His name is inscribed in the granite obelisk outside the KATY depot in Denison, along with all the old-time men who were special people at the Katy, also known as the M-K-T.  M-K-T stood for Missouri, Kansas, Texas. 

My Dad also worked for the KATY back during the late 1950's.   I called Grandpa McElroy 'Papaw', and still remember, like it was just yesterday, that kind old man and his soft brown leather jackets, his really cool 'old man hats' that he wore to work each day, his sweet-smelling pipe and cigars, and his gold railroad watch and long, watch fobs that hung from his vests.  I also remember how good he always smelled -- that clean, just-got-out-of-the-tub smell, mingled with the smell of Old Spice.  I remember his easy smiles and good nature.  I never saw him angry or in a hurry, and he always had time for his grandkids.  One of my fondest memories was of Papaw raking and burning leaves in his backyard on crisp autumn days. 

Papaw loved to take me and my brother George, to the local store, a block away, and buy us trinkets.  Little Scottie dogs -- one black and one white -- with magnets that would make the little dogs move around each other like...well, Scotties would move...fast and abrupt!  He would also buy us little pocket knives with pearl handles, or flashlights.  We were always astounded at his generosity.  He also loved to buy us candy.  Our trips to Denison from Dallas were always special treats. On occasion Papaw would take me to the train yard in Denison, four block west of their home at 515 E. Woodard.  He would let me climb aboard the train and explore the little KATY cabooses in the yard.  I still have one of the caboose keys.  It is a huge key. 

It was fun to go outside their home at different times during the day and watch the big steam engines moving about the train yard, assembling the trains.  Those massive locomotives would belch monstrous clouds of steam and soot into the sky, sometimes almost blocking the sun near the end of the day when the sun would lie low in the sky.  Those engines would rev up and then the huge wheels would spin as they sought traction on the steel tracks.  They would spin and then 'catch' and the train would begin to move, ever so slowly.  The sounds of those engines would rattle my chest and I could feel the sounds as well as hear them.  I loved the train yards, and would always breathe deeply to inhale the smells of creosote from the crossties on the tracks, as well as the smells of the diesel engines.  I loved to look at the different cars that made up the trains, with their different shapes, sizes and colors.  I marveled at the size of those cars and how even such massive engines could pull so many loaded cars.  It was fun to imagine the origins and destinations of all those individual cars.  I got hooked on trains!

Later on my Dad worked for the KATY and he, too, had a lot of neat 'gear' that he used in his work.  He taught me, as my Papaw had taught me, about the different signals that railroad men used (and may still use, for all I know).  For most of my life I have enjoyed standing near railroad crosssings and waving to and smiling at the engineers in the locomotives as they pass the crossings.  I love to feel the rush of the wind as they pass by, and feel the vibration of the very ground on which I am standing.  I love the noises from the axles of the cars and the sounds of metal structures scraping against each other as the trains pass.  I enjoy hearing the sounds of the air hoses and the rhythmic clacking of the wheels on the tracks.  My Mom was raised by Papaw and Granny right there in Denison.  She grew up around trains and also loved them.  As a little girl she never minded the soot that always laid like dust all over everything in their home.  The engines produced enormous clouds of soot and the soot, when the wind was just right, was invariably pulled right through the windows of their home when they were open or when they turned on their attic fan. 

When Mom was 81, she moved to Edmond so we could take care of her as we lost her one day at a time due to Alzheimers.  To the end of her life, she and I, while we talked around Oklahoma Christian Home, reciting Rudyard Kipling's 'L-Envoi' to each other and reminiscing about God, family, flowers, our rock collections, Heaven, Eternity...and, yes, trains, we would often hear the far-away sound of an approaching train.  Quickly we would jump into my truck and head a few blocks west of Boulevard, in Edmond, to a train crossing where we would stop and wait for the train.  We would get out of the truck (unless the weather was really bad) and stand there, soaking up the experience -- the sounds and smells and 'train breeze' and, hand-in-hand, with smiles on our faces and with an occasional tear in our eyes, remember days gone by.  Often my tears were not brought about only by the good-old-days, but, as I looked over at my tiny little Mom, I was living in the moment, realizing that I was losing her a little more each day, and before long, I would no longer enjoy these sweet moments with this perfect woman who was my Mom.  Those thoughts would cause me to grip her little hand a little tighter and hold her a little closer, as I tried through sheer will to remember every detail of this moment. 

Mom's gone now -- she, like a lot of old railroads, finally reached the 'end of the line' in November of 2004.   Although I still go out of my way to be the first at a railroad crossing whenever possible, it's not the same to me now, since she's not there to share in something that was so special also to her.  Still, old habits and memories 'die hard' and I imagine that I'll always smile and respond to the sound of Mom's 'choo-choo's' and seek them out, for they provide a visual and auditory portal into the past for me, allowing me to remember, with great clarity, not so much about the trains themselves, but the people in my life who loved them like I love them and thrilled to the sounds and sights and smells of the old KATY railroad..... "ALL ABOARD!"