“HEAR THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOW”
By Jim Herron

To many, the long, distant whistle of a train signals more than just the passage of time. Laden with history, its dull, metal moan beckons us back to another era, when the iron horse carried settlers to the West, reunited families and brought together lost loves. It moved cotton bales north and steel south. It transported cattle to markets from Kansas City to Chicago and corn from the Midwest to the cities along the east coast. The legends live on in our stories and our imaginations.

Model train operators still feel the pulse of the railroad, but in a different way. Instead of a lonely whine, they hear the blaring whistles and horns, see the bright lights and tune their ears to the squealing of brakes, the chugging of the engine and the hissing of the steam. The smoke, the rails and the shoveled coal remain vibrant and real to railroad collectors and operators.

The railroad owes its life to the age of the steam. It culminated with the application of coal power to fuel steamships and railroads. Basic steam devices were in use before the 1700's, but they were simple in design and construction. In 1769, James Watt redesigned the steam engine. By doing so, he opened up the world and a new age. Soon the business world shaped itself around this new technology. The first successful train was the “Rocket,” the invention of George Stevenson in 1825. It was only a few months after this historic event that the Stockton, Darlington Railway started service as the first commercial freight and passenger line.

It took four years for the train to reach the United States in the form of the “Stourbridge Lion.” One year later, the “Tom Thumb,” weighing one ton, set the pace for the rest of the world to follow. There were literally thousands of railroads operating in America between the 1800's and the 1930's and ‘40's. The 1950's marked the very end of the steam locomotive and the beginning of the age of diesel and electric trains. Famous lines such as the Super Chief, the Zephyr, the 20th Century Limited and Sunset Limited were icons of the period. The 1960's brought the decline of passenger service. The emergence of Amtrak in the 1970's united all of the passenger service in America into one line.

On ending this, I will relate the story of the ultimate railroad steam locomotive runner. The story involves a man (who is now deceased) and his wife who owned a railroad in their backyard. It was named the Grizzly Flats Railroad, its 900 foot long track was complete with two steam locomotives, four cars, a caboose, a windmill, water storage tank (a one tank town, of sorts) and a depot station. The man began it all in 1938 just when the decline of steam railroads made it possible to purchase a locomotive for $400 to save it from scrap. The depot station was a special gift from the Walt Disney Studio. Walt Disney showed his appreciation to the man who was once chief animator in the studio’s early days and was the creator of Jiminy Cricket. The depot station was used in the set of the move “So Dear to My Heart.” The gentleman was Ward Kimball, a longstanding TCA member. One could call this the ultimate train layout.
Every time you run your toy train layout, you can see and remember the man in the “I Love Toy Trains” video , ringing the bell and always having a big, happy smile on his face. Ward Kimball loved to hear that lonesome whistle blow. He was keeping a part of history.