All Aboard !

     Who doesn't like trains?   the sound of the whistle blowing in the distance...   the chug, chug, chugging along the tracks...   and  "All Aboard!"

     My 4 year old son, Gregory loves trains.  For his 3rd birthday I re-decorated his bedroom.  We said goodbye to Peter Rabbit and Friends and hello to Thomas (the tank engine) and Friends.  He has more trains than he knows what to do with and knows the difference between steam engines and diesels.  We took a family trip to Strasburg,PA in the beautiful Amish country near Lancaster.  We rode on the Strasburg Railroad, slept in a train car at the Red Caboose Motel   http://redcaboosemotel.com/   and even visited the train museum.  I would recommend this trip to any train enthusiast.
     Gregory's grandmother (my mother) also loved trains when she was a child and had her own set.  Gregory's great-grandmother, Eleanor (my maternal grandmother) worked in a token booth selling tokens for the subway (probably in Brooklyn,NY because that's where she lived).  I just called my mother to verify her mother's employment with the subway and she said that she had no idea.  Well, I didn't pull that out of a cloud.  I know I heard someone (my mother or aunt) mention that my grandmother sold tokens so that's what I'll believe.
     My grandmother's uncle (on her mother's side), Stephen Duper worked for the railroad according to the U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; position: semi skilled switchman, railroad.
     My grandmother's grandfather (on her father's side), Daniel J. Davis had a tragic experience with the railroad.  My great-great-grandfather was deaf but knew when the train was approaching by the vibrations he felt on the ground.  On 29 May 1937, Daniel J. Davis, age 77, apparently didn't feel the vibration and obviously never heard the train that struck and killed him.