Christopher worked on a small railroad here in Arkansas. He was able to go to work with someone for two days then again for a week during the summer. They liked him and offered him a job after high school. Graduation was Friday he moved out Sunday and started work Tuesday. Of course he started at the bottom on the track gang and went on to locomotive mechanics before becoming a conductor and eventually an engineer.
One time while visiting he surprised Brendan by telling him he could ride on the train with him. They left early that morning with plans for me to meet up with them at Subway. It is hard to explain but due to track conditions and bridges that particular train could not go very fast. What took them several hours took me a bit over an hour to drive.
When I arrived at Subway I went in and bought a drink. I asked the girl if the train had already come by. She said no. After waiting about an hour I told her I was not familiar with the area and asked her which direction the train would be coming. She pointed though looked at me strangely and said "Mam you do know this isn't a passenger train, right?" I laughed as I explained to her that my son worked on that train and was giving his brother a ride.
A few minutes later I heard the whistle of the train. I stood there watching for it to come into view. As the train inched closer I could see Brendan waving to me out the window. Christopher hopped off the train walking beside it as it crossed the intersection. I did tell you it moved slow. We knew the train could not stop but would slow down enough for Brendan to get off. Christopher had just a few minutes to say goodbye before having to jump on the last car as it passed.
My eyes started tearing as the train came closer. I can not explain the feeling I had this being Brendan's first train ride and having Christopher as the conductor. I was so proud of him. Christopher asked me why I was crying. I just told him ... "it's a mom thing" Brendan could not stop talking about his train ride. He was so excited.
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