The Love of Trains Spans Decades

By -
Raising two young male offspring has revealed to us one of life's great truths: Boys love trains.

Myles' love for the rails was apparent before he turned a year old. I still remember Christmas of 2011 when he received a Thomas and Friends gift set and spent the next 10 minutes or so saying "Choo Choo!"

He still loves trains, and is playing with a wooden railway set as I type this entry. And it seems baby brother Briggs shares a like for the locomotives with him. He will watch while Myles is watching train videos on YouTube, and he smiles and laughs as he looks on.

What we didn't realize is that there doesn't seem to be an age limit for the "Boys love trains" axiom. I've found that I enjoy riding light rail and commuter rail where we live when I need to get somewhere without a car. It's even more fun when we get to ride as a family or when I just get to ride with Myles. Last time we rode the FrontRunner, he pretended it was the Polar Express and I was his conductor, saying to everyone who walked by, "This is my conductor, he always listens to me." (Oh, that I could live up to that!)

But I'm just a kid at 35. The boys' love for trains was exposed at its ultimate height earlier this year when our beloved Grandpa Garden expressed a desire to ride the Wasatch Front's commuter rail line. Cindy suggested that I take him for a ride, so we arranged it.

I picked him up and we went to the Orem FrontRunner station. We boarded the train and settled in for the ride. He was instantly blown away by how fast we were going, and that was before we could see the cars on I-15 as we passed them. He shared facts about the history of the areas he saw as the train made its way through.

We made it to Salt Lake City and rode the TRAX light rail for a while before turning around and heading back south on the FrontRunner. Grandpa told me how he once took a train from Salt Lake to Reno, Nevada, and rode in a Pullman car when he took a job in that city. It gave me some wanderlust for a long train trip myself.

Boys from age 3 to 83 and everywhere in between show equal measure of joy and amazement at trains, and it's been fun to witness both ends of that spectrum as we ride the rails.

Photos from the Journey with Grandpa:




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gardening...Joy or Pain?

By Trishman Tribune -
Image
After weeks of dreaming that the soil in our garden would turn into nourished, soft dirt I determined it appropriate to start planting. This weekend Rob and I took to the garden (once again), but this time are blessed with the virtue of seeing some fruits of our labor. Albeit through rocky soil, there is growth. I've taken some photos to let you in on our plans for the garden this year.  Strawberries!!  Yum! I've never planted strawberries before, but Grandma Garden says these are the sweetest strawberries she's ever grown. Besides, she supplied me with the starts and I figured it's worth a try.  Peas are the next item that have started to sprout. Actually, Rob and I planted these from seed a couple of weeks ago and are now seeing growth. Rob planted one row and I the other. His are growing heartily and strong, while mine are still  struggling to break through the soil. They are determined though. I've never grown peas, so this will be a fun adventure.  Here comes t...
Read more

New Adventures

By -
Image
**WARNING: New Mother topics addressed below, read at your own discretion.** Today was the beginning of our new adventure with cloth diapers. The ones we've selected are super cute, and seem to fit M very well. Unfortunately, today was also the day Mr. M had several bowel movements. (Sorry - if this is too much information.) M generally only messes one to two diapers in a day, but today we hit a record high of seven! That's right, SEVEN; and cloth nonetheless. Perhaps the cloth is so comforting his body just releases so much easier. ;) However, it was a great day. M was wonderful on our car ride to Idaho for Thanksgiving and entertained many with his adorable laugh. We are trying to get it recorded to share with everyone, but M is still concerned with the camera activity. I did catch a few photos that help define his little personality. Enjoy! M loves his bathrobe and looks like a complete "lounge out" male when he wears it. (Thanks Erin and Jesse!) I also love...
Read more

When you're 16 going on 17

By Trishman Tribune -
Image
At any given time, at least half my family will be singing that "Sound of Music" tune when they open this page. I know how to aggravate the symptoms of "singing disease." But the reference has nothing to do with Liesl, Rolf and Maria; rather, this is a tribute to KG, Paul and Ray-Ray. The Boston Celtics — the reason I started watching basketball, thanks to my Uncle Pat — have won their first NBA championship since ... about a year before I started watching basketball. (I was 8, if anyone's keeping score.) And they went from 16 championships to 17 championships. Paul Pierce, left, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen But I was fortunate to have the night off and be able to watch it with my dear wife, Cindy, who not only tolerates me watching and endlessly commenting about sports, but she chimes in with some good points herself. "Garnett is so intense, but he has fun, too." Had I been at work, the above headline would have been my suggestion to the sports department...
Read more