Grandpa and the train

Since I am writing about “Heritage” this week, I decided write about trains.

From American Heritage magazine:

“In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 classic North by Northwest, Cary Grant escapes from New York by train and meets Eva Marie Saint in an elegant dining car as the Hudson River rolls by in the background. The train was the 20th Century Limited, and when the film was made it was still the “Greatest Train in the World,” as the New York Central Railroad had long boasted. But eight years later, on this day in 1967, the 20th Century completed its final run. And that was the end of the line for regular luxury train travel in the United States.”

It seems to me that trains are such a huge part of our heritage in that travel was renovated when the rails were put in place. With the advent of the locomotive came the fast movement and we became this mobile society that could get from point A to point B in a matter of hours instead of days. I still can remember the sound of the steam locomotives making their way up the grade. One of my memories of my grandfather, who died when I was 6, is sitting outside with him when the train left town. We were a couple miles from that sound but in the distance we could hear the train whistle and the great steam engine as it began its trek to wherever it was headed. Grandpa loved the trains. Still today you can find old men who will get emotional and excited if you talk of the trains or mention the “”Soo Line” or the “Rock Island Line.” They can tell you stories of punctuality and feats of “Making the Grade” as they poured the coal into the box. The mystic of the grand days of the railroad has waned a bit, there is still something that stirs inside me when I hear a train whistle in the distance.
Many ballads have been written about the heritage of the rails. One of the most famous is the true story of the “Old Ninety Seven”

It was 97, the fastest trainEver ran the southern line
All the freight trains and pass'gers take the side for 97
For she's bound to be at stations on time
They gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia
Saying, "Stevie, you're way behind time
This is not 38, but it's Old 97
You must put her into Spencer on time"
He looked 'round and said to his black greasy fireman
"Just shovel in a little more coal
And when I cross that old White Oak Mountain
You can just watch Old 97 roll"
It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville
And the lie was a three-mile grade
It was on that grade that he lost his air brakes
And you see what a jump that she made
He was going down the grade making 90 miles an hour
When his whistle began to scream
He was found in that wreck with his hand on the throttle
He was scalded to death by the steam
Did she ever pull in? No, she never pulled in
And at 1:45 he was due
For hours and hours has the switchman been waiting
For that fast mail that never pulled through
Did she ever pull in?
No, she never pulled in
And that poor boy,
he must be dead
Oh, yonder he lays on the railroad track
With the cart wheels over his head 97,
she was the fastest trainThat the south had ever seen
But she run so fast on that Sunday morning
That the death score was numbered 14
Now, ladies, you must take warning
From this time now and on
Never speak harsh words to your true loving husband
He may leave you and never return


The concept of the Glory train leaving the station has been the topic of many sermons illustrating the end of life here and the destination of heaven.
Woody Guthrie took to the road in the twenties and wrote songs like “This Train”

This train is bound for glory, this train. This train is bound for glory, this train. This train is bound for glory, Don't carry nothing but the righteous and the holy. This train is bound for glory, this train.
This train don't carry no gamblers, this train; This train don't carry no gamblers, this train; This train don't carry no gamblers, Liars, thieves, nor big shot ramblers, This train is bound for glory, this train.
This train don't carry no liars, this train; This train don't carry no liars, this train; This train don't carry no liars, She's streamlined and a midnight flyer, This train don't carry no liars, this train.
This train don't carry no smokers, this train; This train don't carry no smokers, this train This train don't carry no smokers, Two bit liars, small time jokers, This train don't carry no smokers, this train.
This train don't carry no con men, this train; This train don't carry no con men, this train; This train don't carry no con men, No wheeler dealers, here and gone men, This train don't carry no con men, this train.
This train don't carry no rustlers, this train; This train don't carry no rustlers, this train; This train don't carry no rustlers, Sidestreet walkers, two bit hustlers, This train is bound for glory, this train.

When you are waiting for the train to pass at the crossing, rather than complaining about the delay, take a moment to thank God for this piece of our heritage and whisper a prayer for those who paid high prices for us to have it. Most of all remember to thank Jesus Christ for making the heritage of our heavenly home a reality.