Re: first recollection
My first recollections were in Lansing in the early 50's when my dad took me to the depots at Washington Ave and Michigan Ave. Also, because my mom had a lot of parent/teacher conferences with my brother's 6th grade teacher, the teacher became a family friend who took an interest in me -- this would be around 1956-57. She also took me to the Lansing depots and one time out to Ensel yard where I got to ride in a locomotive for the first time! A little later, I used to spend my summers on my grandmother's farm near Pompeii and could see the GTW Greenville local from the farm. As my grandmother went about her business, I visited depots. She got her hair done in Ashley; I went to the depot. Her chiropractor was in St Louis; I went to the depot. My step-grandfather went to the stock sales in Breckenridge; I went to the depot. They went shopping in St Johns; I went to the depot! My summer birthday presents were trips to watch trains at places like Durand or Greenville, or spend the whole day (with permission) with the agent at Ashley. We went to visit the C&O dispatchers in Grand Rapids one time! I was given my first rule book while there. As a teenager, I visited Carleton a number of times, never knowing that one day I would work there! Everywhere I visited, I would sit and listen to the dispatcher working with the operators up and down the line. I went to college to be a school teacher, but ended up on the C&O instead, and the rest is history!
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