Ben_G
Service Attendant
My name is Ben, From a small town in Western Ky. My train storys go way back to when I was just a kid. Lived in a small town that coal trains ran hauling from several mines in the area. It was fun as a kid back in the 50's to catch a ride on one that went in front of my grandmothers house. It was a short 3 mile ride but if you got the right engineer you got to ride in the engine to the mines and back. I did that a lot back then. I think of the times I climbed over or went under gondola cars that were parked on the main line when they broke the train apart to go to differant mines.
I rode one passenger train as a kid from Louisville, Ky to Central City don't remember a lot about it being so young.
My next train experance was in Panama City Beach, Florida. There was a steam train that ran a loop from near the beach to a wild west town named Pettycoat junction. The loop was about 3 miles long. I was stationed at Tyndall AFB just south of there and worked weekends as a train robber/gunfighter for the tourist. Had a lot of fun the year I did that.
Living and working in NW Indiana near the town of Porter for over 30 years, We took the South Shore into Chicago a few times and did the street run in Michigan City I have seen brought up here....back when the train was painted orange.
Fast foward several years....I took the CZ- Desert wind to Vegas to attend a trade show and back out of Chicago. That was a fun interesting trip.
Next is a early Sept trip back out west to Reno from Carbondale, Il and return. My wife of 43 years has never rode a LD train and made the decision rather than flying someplace on vacation this year to do a train trip. She has never seen the Rockey's except from the air and after many years of me telling her it's one thing you need to see up close this will be the year.
Not near as train crazy as some here are but sure is a differant mode of travel.
I rode one passenger train as a kid from Louisville, Ky to Central City don't remember a lot about it being so young.
My next train experance was in Panama City Beach, Florida. There was a steam train that ran a loop from near the beach to a wild west town named Pettycoat junction. The loop was about 3 miles long. I was stationed at Tyndall AFB just south of there and worked weekends as a train robber/gunfighter for the tourist. Had a lot of fun the year I did that.
Living and working in NW Indiana near the town of Porter for over 30 years, We took the South Shore into Chicago a few times and did the street run in Michigan City I have seen brought up here....back when the train was painted orange.
Fast foward several years....I took the CZ- Desert wind to Vegas to attend a trade show and back out of Chicago. That was a fun interesting trip.
Next is a early Sept trip back out west to Reno from Carbondale, Il and return. My wife of 43 years has never rode a LD train and made the decision rather than flying someplace on vacation this year to do a train trip. She has never seen the Rockey's except from the air and after many years of me telling her it's one thing you need to see up close this will be the year.
Not near as train crazy as some here are but sure is a differant mode of travel.
