DEPARTING RANCOR OF POLITICAL DISPUTES: ALL ABOARD FOR SERENITY

DEPARTING RANCOR OF POLITICAL DISPUTES: ALL ABOARD FOR SERENITY
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter

THIS WAS THE LAST RUN OF TRAIN NUMBER 25 INTO KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. THE MILWAUKEE ROAD'S LAST INWARD BOUND TRIP FROM CHICAGO TO KANSAS CITY WAS ON 27 APRIL 1958. MY UNCLE JIM HUFFSTUTTER WAS THE CONDUCTOR ON THIS TRAIN FOR YEARS; HE WORKED FOR THE MILWAUKEE ROAD FOR 45 YEARS BEFORE RETIRING IN THE EARLY 60S. BORN IN 1905, UNCLE JIM BEGAN WORKING FOR THE MILWAUKEE WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 17. HIS OLDER BROTHER, FRANK HUFFSTUTTER, A WORLD WAR ONE VET, HELPED HIM GET ON. MY DAD AND MY UNCLE JIM LEFT LAREDO, MISSOURI AND MOVED TO KANSAS CITY IN 1922. UNCLE FRANK WAS INVOLVED IN A LOCOMOTIVE EXPLOSION AND WAS RETIRED WITH A RAILROAD PENSION. UNCLE JIM WORKED HIS WAY UP TO CONDUCTOR THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. WHEN THE PASSENGER TRAINS WERE DISCONTINUED IN 1958, UNCLE JIM WAS 55 AND TRANSFERRED TO FREIGHT. HE TOLD ME TALES OF HOW HE HAD TO WALK FROM THE CABOOSE TO THE DIESEL WHILE THE TRAIN WAS MOVING, SOMETIMES DURING THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT. IT WAS A PERILOUS FETE IF HE WAS TELLING ME THE TRUTH. UNCLE JIM RETIRED IN THE MID 60S AND HE AND MY AUNT MOVED TO A LITTLE FARM IN NORTH MISSOURI. AUNT DOROTHY PASSED AWAY IN 1972. UNCLE JIM EVENTUALLY MET SOME LADY FRIENDS, ONE WHO ENJOYED TRAVELING. THEY DECIDED TO TAKE A FLIGHT TO LOS ANGELES TO VISIT HIS SISTER, MARIETTA MCDANIEL. HE LIKED FLYING, HE SAID, THOUGH HE HAD VOWED TO NEVER GET IN A PLANE. HIS NEXT TRIP WITH HIS LADY FREIND WAS TO MEXICO CITY. HE SAID HE LIKE THE MUSIC, THE FOOD, BUT DID NOT CARE FOR THE WATER. UNCLE JIM WAS A MAJOR FIGURE IN MY LIFE; HE PASSED AWAY IN AUGUST OF 1984. I THINK OF HIM OFTEN; I THINK OF HOW HE AND MY DAD, TWO YOUTHS, WERE ON THEIR OWN IN THE 20S AND HOW THEY SURVIVED. UNCLE JIM'S STORY IS QUITE INSPIRING AND I WILL BE WRITING MORE ABOUT THE TALES HE TOLD ME ABOUT HIS YOUTH IN LAREDO, MISSOURI AND ABOUT HIS MANY RAILROAD RECOLLECTIONS. HE WAS, INDEED, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. ALTHOUGH I NEVER CALLED HIM DAD, HE WAS THE ONLY DAD I EVER REALLY HAD. IN DREAMS, QUITE FREQUENTLY, I HEAR HIS VOICE SPEAKING TO ME. OR AT LEAST, IT SEEMS AS IF I HEAR HIM TALKING WITH ME.