When I was a kid, we asked the question: “…railroad crossing lookout for the cars, can you spell that without any r’s?” Kids who had never heard the question would struggle trying.  I won’t tell you the answer IF you have not figured it out. I wondered about a number of things about trains.  Such as: Why do they call the railroad rails “tracks?”  When trains run frequently on the rails, they become very shiny, but “tracks?”

I wondered why they didn’t make trucks rims to fit on the rails and travel on them. Now they do it – loaded with their computer equipment to check for defects or problems.  I should have invented that.  Another question (but no answer), why do they call some of the cars “boxcars”?  I remember the first refrigerated boxcars; the first diesel engines, replacing the steam-driven ones.  Near where we lived in Lyons, Kansas, the engineers would refill their water tanks and coal bins.…

Dad worked on the railroad before, during, and after the great depression.  He started for the sum of 28 cents an hour, and usually worked a 48-hour week. Now figure out how much his paycheck was!  He worked on a “section gang” of 6 to 8 men, with one of them being the foreman on the job.  Oh, ya know what a railroad “tie” is? Or what a railroad spike is? The section gang would work on a section of rail, pulling spikes, jacking it up, removing old ties, replacing them with new ones, then shovel gravel rock around a new tie, drive new spikes, then “tamp” around it and move on to the next section.  Very hard work, hot in the summer and cold in the winter.  All for $0.28 an hour!

Spiritual application:  Because of “sin” in the beginning, man was destined to work to make a living and provide for his family. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:19

More about trains…when my little brother was about 4 years old, he disappeared one day.  Mom hunted for him and none of us could find him.  He had a fascination for trains, since we lived only a few blocks from where the “tracks” were (that’s a railroad term for the rails).  When we located him, he was about half way up the ladder on a boxcar.  The “switchman” would walk the length of the train while it was moving, jumping from car to car.  A leap of about 3 feet, as I remember.  I’ve been up on them too! (Smile) but not while it was moving.  This REALLY scared our mom, as she thought about what could have happened to Paul.

Most summers we would take a vacation, using the railroad “pass” Dad could get for no cost.  We would load our luggage into the caboose of the train and ride in it from Lyons to Wichita , to Augusta , to southeastern Kansas , and on to points in south central Oklahoma to see relatives.  Wow, ya really want to know some of my memories??  In one corner of the caboose was the flush toilet.  When finished, you pushed a pedal on the floor and water flushed onto the ground.  We were not to use the toilet while the train was stopped.  The sound of the train traveling on the rails gave off a “clicking” sound, and in my head I can still hear it and smell the smoke of the steam engine.

Mom always packed our lunches since there were no “diner” cars on a freight train, and often we were stranded on what was called a “siding” to allow another train to pass by, which could be several hours, and in the heat of summer was a miserable experience.  Upon our arrival we would be hot, tired, dirty and hungry. Well, enough about trains and my memories.  Paul the apostle, writing to the Corinthians, put it simply,  “…My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  (I Corinthians 13:58 NASB)