Pappy's Train Chase

 Pappy was standing at the checkout counter at the library when he heard the whistle. He had been at his book club meeting and had picked up a couple books to take home with him.

    While he waited, a mother took her son out to watch the train go by. Pappy was imagining that the train would be gone by the time he got outside. Finally the librarian gave him his books and he was able to leave. The boy and his mother were coming back in and both of them had big smiles on their faces. When Pappy got outside, all he could see was the very end of the train disappearing as it rode away.

    In his car, Pappy followed the train. Being careful as he drove, he watched the railroad tracks, watching for the train. The road was right beside the tracks, but he couldn’t see the train.

    Coming to a stop sign, he waited for a couple cars in front of him to go. When it was his turn, he heard the whistle again! He couldn’t see the train, but he knew it wasn’t far away.

    He finally caught up with it. It wasn’t moving very quickly. It was a short train with two engines in the front, a boxcar, seven hoppers and a third engine at the end.

    He came to a spot where he could pull over and got out of the car and watched as the train went by. The engines were painted purple with yellow stripes. Even though the train was going slowly, it was LOUD!  From where he was standing, he was able to look down at the train. The river could be seen behind the train. He got back in his car and drove a bit further down the road.

    He stopped at another spot and watched it passed by. The engineer waved when he saw Pappy.

    The road was a long one and he easily passed the train again. Coming to a crossing, Pappy pulled over to wait for the train.  This time, since he was at a crossing, he heard the trains whistle. The engines were loud, but the whistle was even LOUDER!

    The engineer waved again and smiled as the train rumbled past. The engineer was probably happy since Pappy was standing well away from the railroad tracks. It can be dangerous standing too close to the rails!

    Pappy watched the train get smaller as it continued down the tracks. He got back in his car and headed for home. As he drove, he thought about his morning and smiled. He had spent some time with his friends talking about books, he had brought a couple books home with him and, he had chased a train.

    He hoped that he had gotten a couple good pictures but even if he hadn’t, he had enjoyed watching the train go by. Maybe he’d send the pictures to his grandsons, Mateo and Nico!

    Pappy was happy, what a great way to start his day!