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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

THE END OF THE LINE



Last Saturday as we walked the Kendrick Trail where the railroad bed has become a walking /cycling path, I was reminded of a day long ago when I rode that route on a train.

When my mother grew up in the village of Orofino, Idaho – back in the nineteen tens and twenties – the train was an important means of travel. In fact, even in the early ‘50s, I remember going to the depot with my parents to pick up this or that relative who traveled in by train. The passenger train soon disappeared from Orofino, and then we were left with a rickety old bus that no one wanted to ride.

In the summer of 1962, the railroad announced that passenger service between Lewiston and Kendrick would be discontinued. It was meaningless to me, but my mother wanted us to experience the train one last time and bought tickets for as many of the family as she could arrange. For the life of me, I don’t remember if we rode Kendrick to Lewiston or Lewiston to Kendrick. (I think it was the latter.) We only rode one way, and my dad and my sisters’ spouses were there to greet us after the ride.

From the vantage point of 50 years, I appreciate how my mother felt. She wanted to give her children a little part of history, a little of what she remembered of a way of life that was coming to a close. In reality it was already closed. Mostly, she wanted to experience it again for herself because she knew she could never do it again. Silly what seems important, isn’t it? She hadn’t ridden the train in years, and if she’d been told she had to, she probably wouldn’t have been happy about it. Mother loved the independence that her car gave her. She loved knowing that she could go anywhere she wanted to whether she wanted to or not.

As memories go, though, that train ride is a good one. My dad took the picture above. Back row, l to r: Harriet holding baby Rachel, Mother, me (Kathy), and Nina; in front: Becky, L.J., and Polly. Nina's baby Shann was about a year old and didn’t go with us. Nina said it was silly to take him because he wouldn’t remember it. KW

8 comments:

  1. How fun! I remember Mom would ride the "Bug" to Lewiston with friends every now and then to shop when I was kindergarten/or younger. With the train station right downtown in Lewiston, they could walk to the shopping district, enjoy a lunch, and be back home by dinnertime. Since Mom didn't drive, it was perfect for her.

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  2. I remember that train ride believe it or not. I must have been about 6 because Rachel is just a baby in Mom's arms. (She is in the picture too :) And I think we went from Kendrick to Lewiston. But that was a long time ago and my memory may not be quite right. Seems to happen more after 50. :) I remember Grandpa driving in the station wagon along beside us. Amazing what things we remember and what we don't. But I think about that train ride every once in a while. Good memory!!

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  3. I'm sorry I overlooked Rachel! I'll correct that. In fact, I confirmed her birth year with Harriet in order to date the picture. For some reason -- probably because Daddy didn't finish the roll of film until the next year -- the slide says 1963, but we know it was 1962 because Rachel is a baby.

    Note that L.J. has the diaper bag. And Mother and I are wearing matching mother/daughter sundresses that she made.

    That's right -- we did watch Daddy (Grandpa) keeping pace with the train on the highway.

    I think it's too bad we didn't more fully embrace train travel and make it cost effective. A lot of factors figure into that, but as Chris points out, it was doable to ride the train to Lewiston for shopping. And -- it was doable to ride the train from Lewiston to Portland for shopping. Those who did so told me that the train left in the evening and arrived in Portland before the stores opened, so one could shop in the morning hours and then travel back in the P.M.

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  4. Seems strange to see what fun you were all having without me. Don't I feel left out! It's fun to see the cousins as kids--so cute!

    Mom's cute, too--I just already knew that. :)

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  5. Yes, by putting off your arrival for 20 years, you missed out on this and other events. That's why we tell you about it here. However, you gained an era that was right for you.

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  6. But Hallie, wait, you didn't already know that I was cute???? haha.
    It must have a fun trip because it's one of the memories I still have. :)

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  7. Oh I've known you to be cute my whole life. I was just surprised to see that a minneature you is even cuter than I could imagine! :)

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  8. Here's what L.J. said --

    I just read your post about the train ride. We got on in Lewiston and off in Kendrick. It would have been fun to have ridden all the way to Moscow. I can remember how cool it was to see the hiway from the train tracks. I remember all the car rides to Lewiston wondering what it must look like from the train, then I knew!!!

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