I've Been Working on the Railroad...

I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,

All the Live Long Day!!

Rest assured I haven't lost it.  Today's escapade will be train related.  But first, a little background, as it were...

Exhibit A: Mom does genealogy - she has since she was bit by the bug while pregnant with her favorite child... so, about 46, going on 47 years now.  In fact, over a year ago, she did the paperwork to get her, and subsequently me and the twins, into the Daughters of the American Revolution ("DAR") which, for those who don't know, means she's proven that an ancestor of hers served the cause ... either by actually being a soldier, or financially, or housing soldiers, or whatever ... for American Independence.  Consequently,

Exhibit B:  I cannot tell you how many vacations, growing up, were planned around or, at a minimum, involved a genealogy-related side trip.  I clearly recall sitting in the back of the pickup truck, under the camper top, parked at some county courthouse in Virginia, with the twins who were ignoring me, during a rain storm,  staring mournfully at the swing set on which I really wanted to swing, for HOURS while Mom and Dad were inside the courthouse having fun (i.e., doing research).  But I'm not going to go into details, because I've gotten over it.  However,

Exhibit C:  Mom doesn't feel like she is up to TRAVELING anymore.  Trekking through airports or long car rides exhausts her.  Consequently, we go on day trips.  If figure if she's willing to stay at home and cat/condo sit (as opposed to cat condo sitting) while I venture off to the beach (October can't get here soon enough for Rose!!)..., uh.. then I can chauffer her around the general area and assist with her "diggin' up bones," as Dad used to call it, once in a while.  Specifically,

Exhibit D:  Mom's grandfather, David Hollis grew up and lived in the Cape Girardeau, MO, area.  He worked for the Cotton Belt Railroad.  In fact, he even has (had?) a patent for something, but unfortunately technology (the invention of the steam engine, maybe?) soon surpassed the need for whatever the doohickey was that he'd patented, so I'm not living comfortably off his millions.  Whenever Mom tells me about him or something new she's discovered, each time she mentions that he worked on the railroad, I (probably to her major annoyance) have to break into song with "All the Live Long Day!!"  Hence the title of this piece. 

Hmm.. do we need any more background?  Don't think so.. 

The next day trip involves going to the boot heel area of Missouri to see the general area (see map below) where my great grandfather lived and worked.  Mom discovered a company that operates a train and rides passengers on a two-hour ride in the same general area, the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. Initially, her hopes were that we could go and that the train ride would through Bollinger County so we could look at the same scenery he looked at and that it would be the same kind of train. 

And let me interject at this point, that when Mom reads this, she better be darned proud of the fact that I know all these names, places, etc.  See, Mom, I DO listen to you when you blather on about this stuff!

Unfortunately, after contacting the people for more information, the train is neither the kind that Gpa(x2) worked on nor does it go up into Bollinger County.  Undaunted, Mom still wanted to go! 

Now, if you follow the link for the train company, you'll see the schedule and discover that there are a lot of "theme" rides.  When we first discussed going on this trip, last fall, the weekend we were considering was "Dress as your favorite superhero day."  Now, as we looked over the options ... "Dress as your favorite Star Wars character" anyone? ... we had a choice to make.  For some reason, ever since that episode of the Brady Bunch where Bobby was fascinated by Billy the Kid and then he had this dream where Billy stopped the train the Brady's were on and proceeded to shoot the entire family "just to watch'em die," I've been leery of train robberies, fake or otherwise. 

We decided on May 9th - "Civil War Train and Encampment - Confederates soldiers will ride the train and the Union soldiers will try to take over. Come in costume, join the fun. Join us for a mint julep during the ride. Play our trivia game and win prizes. Come dressed as a southern belle or gentleman and join the fun."   Ok, I'm not dressing up as anything, Batman, Wookie, or a southern belle,.. besides, I don't know how I'd begin.  But since as Mom can tell you, we have ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War, I figure we'll be comfy on the train with either Confederate or Union soldiers!

Anyway, I'll report back to you about the trip.