When I was a small girl, passenger train travel allowed my mother, older sister and me to visit my grandmother. Mother wouldn’t tell me we were going until a couple of days ahead of time, because I would be ready to start packing the suitcase.
Mother would pack our lunch in a shoe box, and Dad would drive us the nine miles to town, where we caught the train. As soon as we got on the train and found our seats, I was ready to eat. We stuck our heads out the window of the train, so we couldn’t wear good clothes because the coal dust got all over us.
A while back, I had the opportunity to ride Amtrak from Seattle to Fort Worth, Texas, and it brought back a lot of childhood memories. I enjoyed that last train trip so much, that I’m already planning to take another one.
Virginia Bennett
Mead, Okla.
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.
