I was born in late 1914. When I was small, we lived in a small town in Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis.
The Illinois Terminal ran through our town and on to Peoria. Just before Christmas, we rode it to Peoria and then took the Rock Island to Ottawa, near where my grandparents had a farm.
One year, when I was 12 and my sister was 10, there was a big ice storm that took down the wires for the train. So our parents got us tickets and put us on a steam train to Decatur. There, the trainmen helped us off the train and we waited for an Illinois Central train that took us to Peru, Ill.
The Rock Island station was only 50 feet or so away, but the trainmen made sure we got there. Another wait and on to Ottawa, where our grandparents were waiting. The trip was a lot of fun.
