LIVING NEAR THE RAILROAD TRACKS

In this conversation Betty talks about the early days of their marriage when they lived near the railroad tracks.  The house was heated with a coal furnace.  Steve would go to the railroad track to pick up loose coal that had fallen off the coal car. They used that to heat the house.

One time when it was really cold, and they had little money, he went to the tracks but could find no coal. He climbed on to the coal car when the train was stopped and knock some down. They also burned old railroad ties.

Betty also talks about the time Helen got worms from the barn kittens and then tried to run away from home when she was forbidden to play with the cats.   There is also a story about Helen falling out of the back seat of a moving car.

Betty:  We got real desperate; there have been times when he climbed up and knocked down a few pieces.

Bob: Pieces of coal?

Betty: We were desperate.  And our fire wood was mostly those railroad ties. You know, they take the ties off and replace new ones, used to bring them home and saw them up and that produced a lot of heat.  That creosote in it, that was hard on everything.

Bob: So you lived near a railroad track?

Betty: We lived close to the railroad track, yes.  Did I tell you about Helen running away with the kittens?

Bob: No.

Betty: Oh you didn’t hear about that one?

Bob: No.

Betty: Helen was sick so I took her to the doctor. The doctor asked was she playing with any animals or anything?   Yeah, she used to play with the kittens out in the barn.  The cats had a litter of kittens; she used to play with the kittens.  So the doctor said that she had worms. He told me, take her, keep her away from those kittens and gave her a prescription to take care of the worms.

So I kept the barn door closed and I kept a close eye on her. The two girls (Pauline and Helen) would be out there playing in the yard.   And once I couldn’t find her and I called her and I went around the barn and I went around the chicken hut and I couldn’t find her.  Then I heard a car honk the horn, there she was close to the railroad tracks with a kitten under each arm running away with the kittens.  If that car hadn’t honked the horn, how far would she have gotten?  What would have happened?

And then another time I lost her in the car.  There were four of the kids there screaming and fighting, they usually did (Pauline, Helen, Johnny and Jim).  Usually there was a lot of screaming in the backseat.  There were four of them in the backseat.  We had a ’39 Plymouth.  And someway, somehow, the back door accidently came open.  The kids screamed all the harder.  I did not know why they were screaming so loud.  I looked in the rearview mirror, there was Helen running behind the car and the only thing that she got hurt, I think her thumb was a little sprained.

Bob:  How fast were you going?

Betty: I don’t know.  There was no speed limit at that time.  It was fast enough but not quite that fast because it was on gravel, it was gravel before we got to the pavement.  Some of the things that kids will do and things that happen with kids.  Those were different types of (car) locks and you just lean on it, you know, and it opened up. (end of quote)

Here is a 1939 Plymouth similar to the one that Steve and Betty owned.