My grandmother was born in 1911. That makes her 96 years old this year, June I believe. Tonight I heard a story about her family moving before she was a teenager. They did it by rail in four box cars. "FOUR!?!" was my first thought, but you have to keep in mind that box cars were a bit smaller back then, and they had this issue of farm animals to deal with. They were also a family of nine if memory serves me. In the early 1900s there were very few paved roads, and they definitely didn't reach the farmlands of northern Texas. But the rail did, and it had a station in nearly every small town. So the family belongings, everything from furniture to goats, was hauled to the station and loaded on the train. At their destination on the other end of the train ride waited the brother of my future grandfather (though no one knew this until several years later) to taxi the women of the family to their new home. The men stayed behind and herded the cattle down Main Street and hauled the heavy stuff on wagons.
Does anyone move by train anymore? Seems to me big trucks and highways take care of all that business these days. I bet the trucks don't even piggyback the long hauls across the country. Does mail travel by rail anymore? What about consumer level shipping? I think we talked in another thread about seeing UPS and FedEx piggybacking the rails. What about cattle? Or do they just do local slaughters and ship the bits and pieces in reefers?
Just thought someone else might find the story interesting - felt like sharing.
Does anyone move by train anymore? Seems to me big trucks and highways take care of all that business these days. I bet the trucks don't even piggyback the long hauls across the country. Does mail travel by rail anymore? What about consumer level shipping? I think we talked in another thread about seeing UPS and FedEx piggybacking the rails. What about cattle? Or do they just do local slaughters and ship the bits and pieces in reefers?
Just thought someone else might find the story interesting - felt like sharing.