fbpx

Railroad Stories: Private Departed From Santa Fe Train Depot

By Capper's Staff
Published on August 16, 2011

I was discharged at Camp Stoneman, Calif., in June 1947. I went to the Santa Fe train depot and told them I wanted a ticket to Baring, Mo. We rolled out of the station, and the next thing I knew, we were pulling into La Platt, Mo.

The porter came over to me and told me I would have to get off there, because they didn’t stop in Baring, about 40 miles away. But the conductor decided that since my ticket said Baring, that they would stop this time.

So we rolled out again, and pulled into Baring a short time later. Everyone looked shocked to see a private first class getting off the train there. They wanted to know how I got the train to stop there for me.

I simply told them, “That’s the service you get when you serve your country!”

James J. Florea
St. Louis, Mo.


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.