The Candlelight
Sanctuary
Church Page
Acquiring the Benefits of Biblical Wisdom
on Amazon.com
Buckhart Cemetery
and
Family History
Achenbach Cemetery
God Bless America
By Jerry L. Ginther
Mostly what I remember, and liked, about school field trips is that they got us out of the classroom for part of the day, and they were always interesting. On one such trip we walked to Wyman Park from Powers School to observe a mother opossum with young in a hollow tree. The mother must not have known we were coming to visit, because she remained at home. Had she known that there would be two or three classrooms of children peering into her privacy she would more than likely have departed to the safety of a taller tree.
Some of our excursions were walking trips and some were bus trips. A special outing I recall also included a train ride. At that time the C&EI Railroad still operated its last passenger train through Sullivan. The name of that train was the Meadowlark and the carrier discontinued its operation around 1961-62. Not only was this their last passenger train, but also, it was a very short train. It consisted of one motorized, (self propelled) car. That was of no consequence to us; it was large enough to accommodate our class, as there were only a few other passengers on board.
This particular outing took place when we were in the fourth grade if I remember correctly and only involved one class room. In preparation for this trip, our teacher sent a form to our parents requesting permission and the price of a one-way ticket. We would return via school bus since there was no passenger train in the opposite direction on that day. At that time the train operated only six days per week alternating directions every other day. She also provided us with a pamphlet containing information on what we could expect to see and hear as we traveled.
Listed under what we would hear were some of the whistle signals used and what they meant. For example, two long blasts, then a short, followed by another long meant that we were approaching a grade crossing or a station. Two short blasts on the whistle meant we were departing a station or starting forward from a stopped position. Three shorts meant we were going to move in reverse from a stopped position. Things we might see were hand signals given by a trainman to the engineer communicating to him when he should stop or start the train and in which direction. Other things we might see would be freight trains in sidings waiting for our first class train to pass.
Our excursion was a short one departing Sullivan and terminating in Arthur. During the ride our uniformed conductor, the man in charge of the train, would call our attention in advance to approaching sights we could see from our seats. He also allowed each of us to go to the front of the car for a view down the tracks. This view gave us the opportunity to see several appliances that governed the movement of trains and particularly the one on which we were riding. The purpose of the trip seemed to be focused as much on train operations as it was on a sightseeing train ride. However, both purposes were of equal interest to us as youngsters.
When we arrived at the station in Arthur, we detrained and waited a few minutes for our school bus that would take us back to Sullivan and our classroom. While we waited we had an enthusiastic discussion with our teacher about the ride and the things we had learned that morning. From my perspective it would make future train rides a little more interesting. For all of us it was a practicable, hands-on approach to learning, and part of our continuing education while growing up in Sullivan.
Copyright © 2002 - 2015 Jerry Ginther, All rights reserved worldwide
