something neat i found in the closet

[Anonymous]

Last summer my mom asked me to help sort out some of our old family photos, some of which go back to the '30s or thereabouts. I found something pretty neat buried amongst all the memorabilia. An old train ticket from my mom's dad, who was from Connecticut but was stationed in San Francisco during WW2 between Navy voyages. (The records don't quite specify, but it's likely he was a frogman; they just refer to him as "explosives expert" or something rather vague like that, so it does seem kinda shadowy.)

But anyway, shortly after the war he married my mom's mom in Stockton (in California's Central Valley south of Sacramento), and returned to his home in Connecticut. And I found what was likely the train ticket folder from his return voyage, dated December 1945. Apparently he traveled Western Pacific from Oakland to Chicago, New York Central to NYC, and the New Haven to Old Saybrook, Ct. It's pretty neat how such an item can put history, such as old, long-gone railroad lines, into perspective, particularly when you find direct evidence of your own ancestor traveling that way. At least it sure seems like quite a find to me, since even the then-mighty New York Central disappeared 14 years before I was born.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you just "found" a neat little keepsake.

Sometime to look upon and bring back some thoughts of days gone by.

I am happy for you. I hope you find a way to keep it safe yet available for viewing.

Thanks for sharing. [:)]

[dknelson]

This is something to look for in estate sales. For a lot of people a train ride in the old days was a big deal and they saved tickets, menus, pullman items, timetables, travel itineraries, etc. It is still possible to find these things but often they are in a stack of papers and alas often family members throw them out as being of no value or interest.

Dave Nelson

[dharmon]

Sounds like he was a UDT Under Water Demolition Team guy....they were kind of the precursors to SEALs and EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal guys...They would blow up enemy mines or unexploded ordnance. Also they would go into bad guy land before an invasion and record tide data to plan the asault and place explosives on obstacles to cler them just before H Hour.

[Mookie]

I never find anything neat in my closet - just dirty laundry! I am bummed! [|(]

[cherokee woman]

I don't either!! I'm bummed out with you, Mook.

[ironhorseman]

We've found amonst grandpa's old stuff:

The Baker Locomotive Valve Gear booklet, by the Pilliod Company of Swanton, Ohio, 1925.

Two railroad passes for my great-grandpa and his wife dating to 1940 and 1950. He worked for the M-K-T.

A skeleton key with Mo. Pac. written on it. The date is kinda worn off. I think it was 1968 or 1969.

And various old postcards with train on them.

[Anonymous]

My Grandpa was a pump repairer for the Southern R.R. While going through stacks of papers after my mom's death I found two railroad passes that entitled him to ride passenger trains for both the Southern and the Seaboard Air Line R.R. It surprised me that a competing railroad would issue a Southern employee a pass.