“All aboard,” said the conductor and you knew the train was leaving very soon. Riding the trains was such an adventure when I was young. Since my dad had worked on the railroad before his untimely death, my widowed mom had a lifetime pass to travel on the Union Pacific railroad. This was in the days before airplane travel. The only way to get around was either by private car or a Greyhound bus on two-lane roads that stopped in every little town, or you could take the much faster passenger trains.
We made many trips between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City by passenger train. It was quite comfortable with the overnight sleeper cars. You could sleep all night in curtained bunks, and wake up the next day at your destination. The diner car was convenient. It was fun to sit and eat a hot meal while watching the scenery go by the big picture window. When we arrived at our destination, we were met by my loving grandparents at the depot.
The depots of those days were fancy buildings with impressive architecture, and clean furnishings. From issuing you a ticket to taking care of your luggage which was checked and put into the baggage car, you were well taken care of. It was on the trains that I saw my first black person––the porters who were so helpful. The conductor collected tickets and announced stops along the way. There were even public restrooms on the train cars with flush toilets that emptied right on the train tracks. Wasn’t that something? Hot and cold running water was available, almost better than at home.
Staying at my grandparent’s home in Milford next to the railroad tracks in their company home was very noisy. The trains came by at all hours. Sometimes it would sound like they were going right through our bedroom, but they only lulled my grandparents to sleep. They were used to the sound and the whistles. It was their livelihood. They would notice if a train was late.
In the 1950s, when commercial airplane travel became more popular, it almost put passenger trains out of business. You could now make the trip from California to Utah in several hours rather than the 14+ hours the train would take. Many passenger routes were cancelled. My mom’s lifelong pass on the UP railroad wasn’t much good anymore.