Many towns sprang up in the late 1800’s as a result of railroads, and Sanford was no different. As a kid in Sanford, I was always fascinated by trains. My Dad was a superintendent at Sanford Furniture Company, next to the Seaboard RR tracks, so I almost daily had the opportunity to watch the trains. In those days, RR traffic was heavy, so freight trains and passenger trains passed through town in both directions many times each day. I loved to count the engines and cars. Some trains were really long – 8 to 10 diesel engines and up to 250 box cars. Passenger trains also regularly stopped at the Depot, but I believe that ceased before I left Sanford in the late 1960’s. We lived on Garden Street in the late 50’s and first few years of the 60’s; then, we moved over one street to McIntosh Street, just down from Floyd Knight School. I was in a tight group of neighborhood friends (Steve Medlin, Joe Atkins, Johnny Atkins, Robert Neal, and David Neal), and we always were playing sports or doing something together just about every day. One of our favorite activities was hiking. The usual destination was to go out Garden Street down to the RR crossing near Washington Park. In those days, that was in the country. Between that RR crossing and Tramway Road was a stretch of about 2 or 3 miles with nothing but woods and pastures. We spent many days roaming that area, especially along the RR tracks. When trains went through town, they were required by law to reduce speed for safety reasons. As soon as the engines cleared downtown, they began to accelerate again. By the time they reached the RR crossing on Garden Street Extension, they were wide open and going full speed. My friends and I loved to stand close to the tracks (Yes, I know it was dangerous) when a train passed. The engineers knew us because they saw us often. The lead engine on several of those freight trains had American flags flying on both sides, and also had a very mournful whistle. It was exhilarating to stand there, and watch all that power hurtling down the rails, and when it passed, to feel the rush of wind on our faces. The engineers waved at us they passed, and the sound would quickly die owing to the Doppler Effect. I’ll never forget those trains, and their mournful cry, and the engineers who waved at us. Do any of you have special memories focused around trains?
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 00:06:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015