Trains

Me with Jensen in 2012.
As I was writing about my vacation with my grandparents, it made me realize that I had a love of trains.  Not only did my Hatch grandparents work for the railroad, but so did my Grandpa Close.  One thing that I left out from the trips, was that we did stay here in Mesa between our travels from California, Northern Arizona, and Utah.  My grandpa Hatch would always take me down to Pioneer  Park and they had a train engine there, and I climbed all over that train inside and out.

I think it that next Christmas that he got me a train set that had and engine that blow smoke.  I had that train until I think the second move out to Arizona.  But I have always enjoyed model trains.  One of the things I really enjoyed about going to the State Fair was going and seeing the model train set below the grandstands.  And then seeing the exhibit in San Diego in 2007.

Living in Chattanooga was great as well.  During the Civil War, Chattanooga was the major train hub for the south.  They had three major battles that happened in this area alone, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Chickamuaga.   But one of the attraction in Chattanooga is the Choo Choo.  This was the terminal station that was built in 1909.  But, growing up I knew it as a Hotel and a fancy place to eat.  They had a lot of old trains and train cars, as well as a model train collection.  The is also the Incline that goes up to the top of Lookout Mountain, and the Tennessee Valley Railroad, a place that has a lot of old trains.

On my mission riding the train was part of the moves.  There was nothing  worse then having to travel by bus or car.  If you were moving inside Dublin, from area to area, it was by the zone leaders car.  But if we move north or down south, it was the train you took.  My first train experience in Ireland was moving from Cork to Limerick.  Then I got moved up North to an area called Carrickfergus.  But we did not live in Carrick, we live in a little place called Green Island Station.  So how did we get to Carrick, we took the local train in everyday.   My Companion got to know the train workers up there pretty good, that one day they let us ride up front with the drive. 

As I was thinking about this, it brought to my nephew Jensen.  Jensen is autistic, and one of the things that he can not get enough of is trains.  It started with Thomas the Tank Engine, videos and toys, to videos of real trains. His parents have given many opportunity to ride trains.  And every time he see me, he grabs my Iphone and find YouTube and looks up train videos.  You can see that we are related.


Comments

  1. BevJuly 18, 2013 at 5:50 PM

    You really have had an interesting life! so glad you're sharing it with us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. undergroundcarguyJuly 19, 2013 at 11:40 PM

      Well Bev, I really do not know how interesting it really is. You did only get to see me grow up for 5 years of my life.

      Delete
  2. undergroundcarguyJuly 19, 2013 at 11:38 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feeling left behind

Over the past month I have been to two baptisms, two farewells and a home coming.  It reminds me of what I do not have in my life, children.  I also have had my 44th birthday, which I spent on my own.  My marriage of 22 years is gone, and I really have nothing to show that I am here. But I have been living some what an oddity in the Mormon Church.  Having been married for so long, with no kids, you just don't get the feeling that you are part of the church family.  I have set in many a Priesthood Class, hearing the teacher tell how special it is to be a father, and how closer to God you are.  I really have not made a lot of friends in these wards, because I have no  kids that are in the same Primary Class, Sunday School Class, or Mutual. It even feels like the newly married couple, when they do get pregnant, that they are now one up on me. A few years ago, our Ward did away with the Family Camp Out.  But what stayed were the father/daughter and the father/ sons camp outs.  For
Read more

Life after High School

This week my oldest niece, Ashley, is graduating from High School.  It is hard to believe that this little girl that I watched from a distance, is now a young woman, and going out into the big wide world.  I remember graduating from the same high school back in 1988.  There was over 800 plus of use getting our diplomas that night. A few days later, I was on a plane to Hawaii, for a week of fun with other classmates.  I had worked all senior year, and back than I think I paid $300 for the total trip.  There was about 15 of us from Mesa High that went on the trip.  About two weeks later, we were all back together to share our pictures of the trip.  The talk turned to what next.  For most, it was off to college.  I was one of three Mormons that went on the trip, and I knew that in two months I would be putting in my papers for a Mormon mission, and with in six months I would be in the mission. field.  I was shocked to find that many envied me,  because I knew what I was going to be doin
Read more