Do you remember riding on a train? Not a subway, but a real train? My memories probably date me, but I can remember how disgusted my mother was when I would come home wearing a black-streaked dress. Watching the steam engine come into town, I would invariably get soot all over me. Those were the days when little girls wore dresses. I can also remember riding the trains and looking forward to the porter selling ham sandwiches. Even though I knew every town along the route, it was fun to look out the train window at the people getting on or off the train.
Nebraska is rich in railroad history. It was through this state that the rails were laid to link the east to the west. You may have had ancestors who worked on the rails or traveled them. Old newspaper frequently contain information on passengers as well as arrival and departure times. They are fascinating to read.
An interesting web page is The Iron Road. It has many links to Nebraska railroad trivia, databases and history. If there are stories in your family about train wrecks and accidents in Nebraska you will want to check that link. You can learn which railroads came through Nebraska counties at Nebraska Counties Railroad History.
There are links to web pages that have information on early railroaders in Nebraska. Some of these are Grand Island - Railroad Men; Union Pacific Railroad Seniority List District 92 and Nebraska Railroaders.
There are still railroads in Nebraska. Passengers no longer travel the rails. Those are days gone by ... and I will always have fond memories of those days.
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