https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j28wMmimNQI&list=PLgGrd_4x5e7qThnPTuZXXqww526BiCa3k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE1uIMMp5os
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh9j60yvacQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNWzSBvgrRs
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976
The golden days of my life continued in Atlanta. Days of rolling down hills in barrels turned to nights of falling asleep to the wind moaning around the sides of our cabin and the rain drumming on the tin roof. In the distance I heard a train whistle, and thought about the people on the train. In the winter I explored in my snug little sheepskin jacket, wondering at the way the world had become covered with icing. In the summer I imagined what shapes the clouds made and dreamed of going beyond the mountains. We loved music, and either records or the radio played all day in the house.
And so it was that I turned five. One day my mother had a plan. Looking back I see that there was some thought given to the plan. She decided that we should all go camping. That sounded fine. She bought a canvas army tent, probably from the same place she bought my treasured little jacket, the army navy surplus store, she said. What soldiers had they made those tiny jackets for? It must have been summer, because it was warm and my brother wasn't in school that day. Mother decided that we should all go down to the railroad tracks, about a half a mile away, on the pretext of picking up the railroad spikes to anchor the ropes of the tent.
So off we all went, Mother, Bunny, Button, Baby, our dog Amos, and me. Baby was a little lassie of two, so Mother carried her. It was about a half mile to the railroad crossing, and then we began walking down the tracks. This was my longest walk so far in my life and I was intrigued at the possibilities of how far I could travel. About another half mile down the tracks, and we came to the South River. It was also the first time I had seen the South River, and but Mother knew all about it. We found spikes everywhere and collected them as we went as if they were pieces of gold.
Across the South River was a long, tall train trestle, about 60 feet high and an eighth of a mile long. This fascinated my mother, and she encouraged us all to walk across the trestle. I had some doubts about this, but she told us it was perfectly safe. Did we see the little box built off the side of the trestle in about the middle? We should run to that if a train came. If that was too far we could leap off into the river. It would be fun!
My brother Bunny ran onto the trestle and I followed him, and so did the dog. The dog was alarmed about it though and kept barking to warn us but he refused to leave us. My sister Button followed me for a little way, but the wood slats of the trestle were spaced so far apart that there was plenty of room to fall through, especially for small people, and she was only four and turned back.
We came to the other side of the trestle, and Bunny suggested that we go back to the other side. My heart sank to realize I would have to cross the river again, and it was then that I realized that neither Button nor Mother were with us. So we went back over the trestle, Bunny, me, the dog and the angels.
I was still following Bunny and when we got back across the river, he stepped off the tracks a few feet ahead of me. I stepped off the tracks, but on the same instant a train began to pass me at very high speed. I never saw the train until it was passing me. It was about a foot from me, only one step.
Unfortunately, I was being sucked by the momentum of the train under its wheels. I was unable to move away from it for the force of the pull, and I was only able to keep from being pulled under the train by standing perfectly still. So there I stood for an eternity, trying my best not to breathe or blink or run. I hoped my mother would rescue me and managed to see her and the others standing around 20 feet from the tracks. Mother's hand was over her eyes to block the sun, as she watched the train with a big smile. No, mother wasn't going to rescue me.
I held on to my position for dear life, but after a few minutes I realized I was losing the battle. I hoped the train would slow down but suddenly the suction from the train increased to a level I couldn't withstand. I knew I was going under the wheels. Just then I saw the rear of the caboose, and it was over.
There's not a very good explanation of how this happened. My sister even pointed out to me once that the trains passed on a schedule that Mother probably would have been aware of.
More to come.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE1uIMMp5os
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh9j60yvacQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNWzSBvgrRs
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976
The golden days of my life continued in Atlanta. Days of rolling down hills in barrels turned to nights of falling asleep to the wind moaning around the sides of our cabin and the rain drumming on the tin roof. In the distance I heard a train whistle, and thought about the people on the train. In the winter I explored in my snug little sheepskin jacket, wondering at the way the world had become covered with icing. In the summer I imagined what shapes the clouds made and dreamed of going beyond the mountains. We loved music, and either records or the radio played all day in the house.
And so it was that I turned five. One day my mother had a plan. Looking back I see that there was some thought given to the plan. She decided that we should all go camping. That sounded fine. She bought a canvas army tent, probably from the same place she bought my treasured little jacket, the army navy surplus store, she said. What soldiers had they made those tiny jackets for? It must have been summer, because it was warm and my brother wasn't in school that day. Mother decided that we should all go down to the railroad tracks, about a half a mile away, on the pretext of picking up the railroad spikes to anchor the ropes of the tent.
So off we all went, Mother, Bunny, Button, Baby, our dog Amos, and me. Baby was a little lassie of two, so Mother carried her. It was about a half mile to the railroad crossing, and then we began walking down the tracks. This was my longest walk so far in my life and I was intrigued at the possibilities of how far I could travel. About another half mile down the tracks, and we came to the South River. It was also the first time I had seen the South River, and but Mother knew all about it. We found spikes everywhere and collected them as we went as if they were pieces of gold.
Across the South River was a long, tall train trestle, about 60 feet high and an eighth of a mile long. This fascinated my mother, and she encouraged us all to walk across the trestle. I had some doubts about this, but she told us it was perfectly safe. Did we see the little box built off the side of the trestle in about the middle? We should run to that if a train came. If that was too far we could leap off into the river. It would be fun!
My brother Bunny ran onto the trestle and I followed him, and so did the dog. The dog was alarmed about it though and kept barking to warn us but he refused to leave us. My sister Button followed me for a little way, but the wood slats of the trestle were spaced so far apart that there was plenty of room to fall through, especially for small people, and she was only four and turned back.
We came to the other side of the trestle, and Bunny suggested that we go back to the other side. My heart sank to realize I would have to cross the river again, and it was then that I realized that neither Button nor Mother were with us. So we went back over the trestle, Bunny, me, the dog and the angels.
I was still following Bunny and when we got back across the river, he stepped off the tracks a few feet ahead of me. I stepped off the tracks, but on the same instant a train began to pass me at very high speed. I never saw the train until it was passing me. It was about a foot from me, only one step.
Unfortunately, I was being sucked by the momentum of the train under its wheels. I was unable to move away from it for the force of the pull, and I was only able to keep from being pulled under the train by standing perfectly still. So there I stood for an eternity, trying my best not to breathe or blink or run. I hoped my mother would rescue me and managed to see her and the others standing around 20 feet from the tracks. Mother's hand was over her eyes to block the sun, as she watched the train with a big smile. No, mother wasn't going to rescue me.
I held on to my position for dear life, but after a few minutes I realized I was losing the battle. I hoped the train would slow down but suddenly the suction from the train increased to a level I couldn't withstand. I knew I was going under the wheels. Just then I saw the rear of the caboose, and it was over.
There's not a very good explanation of how this happened. My sister even pointed out to me once that the trains passed on a schedule that Mother probably would have been aware of.
More to come.
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