I rode many many LDs before Amtrak. As a 3-1/2-year-old, Hartford, CT, - NYC-GCT with Parents. Scared when the I-4 Pacific came into the station asd cried, So Dad carried me to the head-end before boarding at placed my right-hand on the main-rod. Possibly.that is how and why I became a railfan. He was with me, then a 15-yea-old, on a late June 1957 open-car fantrip in New Haven In 1937, now age 5, we visited my sister Gertrude, summer camp Wicosutah, Hebron, NH, side of Newfound Lake. Night Boat to Boston, and Boston & Maine to Plymoth, return the same way. Next year, age 6, first Pullman sleeper rides, NY-GCT - Concord, NH, Camp Wahkeenah camp sleeper, with Dad giving me a quarter, 25-cents, to give to the porter going. Last pre-Amtrak (30 April 1971) trip had the UP 448 on the headend Rawlins Cheyanne, and see the pictures.
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What a mensch! The perfect thing to do to calm a little boy’s fears. My dad, too, taught me not to fear being near a steam locomotive or loud machinery.