How Susan met Alan and he taught me to drive a train
Excerpt from the book I am writing on my life and the life of Alan Harris
This occurred at Happy Hollow Park, San Jose California
After months of working at the park Susan was asked to learn the operation of running the front office. This was a huge step up of responsibility. Susan learned to give announcements over the parks PA system for events and puppet shows, Lost children. She learned to keep track of the lost and found. To supply first aid when it was needed to staff and customers alike. She gave directions, took reservations for the park’s birthday facilities. She gave directions to the park over the phone and in person. And she learned to create ticket books of ride tickets, soft drinks and snacks that were sold at entry to the park for a discount. And last but not least, how to use a Commodore Pet computer to do the ticket book accounting at the end of the day. This last skill was taught to her by Neal Kinney the park director himself as he had helped design and build the system with his cousin John Barlow.
The front office was the face of the park and contained a lot of PR work and Susan encountered all of the upper management of the park on a regular basis. She also called and facilitated San Jose maintenance staff for mechanical issues on the rides. Though she was young, just turned seventeen, she was stoic and mature. Always work focused and diligent in completing her tasks. In her down time and on rainy days she would draw images of dragons, unicorns, horses, and all things magical and mystical for fun. And soon she developed a portfolio of sorts of dragons and the like.
And then one day while eating lunch in the breakroom on a cool spring day she glanced out the window at saw a tall slim handsome young man walking around with two other men surveying the train tracks that were being laid at the entrance of the park.
She couldn’t help but stare. And finally, she asked Jennifer Shultz the senior rec leader running the cash register behind her, “Who is that tall blond guy working out on the train tracks”? And Jennifer said “Oh, That’s Carolyns son Alan”. Susan knew Carolyn, wife of Neal the director of the park, she ran the puppet theater and performed all the accounting for the revenue of the park daily. Susan had met her the few times she had to cash out a cash drawer. And Susan had examined the puppets as they hung in the puppet theater and asked Carolyn questions about them. Their construction, how they moved fascinated Susan. Puppets were engineering and artistry rolled into one.
So, Susan boldly stepped out in front of the castle gates and went and introduced herself to the three man entourage, touring the train tracks. And that is how she met Dick Reid, Mark Landkammer, and Alan Harris.
Dick and Susan shook hands as she introduced herself and let him know she had been watching their progress from afar but that she was really interested in the train. And while Dick and she were chatting, Mark and Alan ran back and for the first time ever, pulled the train out to test the tracks on the loop at the park entrance. This test was to see both how the trains wheels were handling it, and how the tracks would handle the train with a couple of passenger cars attached. Right now, the loop worked fine for 2 passenger cars, but when 3 were attached or 4, the wheels popped off the track as they navigated the turn. The distance between the cars was slightly off as measured by Dick Reed and they noted down the necessary adjustments and parked the train.
And for the first time ever, Susan saw the brightly colored yellow and red propane powered ¼ sized train meant to haul passengers from the gates of Happy Hollow to the gates of the Historical Museum at the far side of Kelly Park. She was in awe. She had no idea they had been building all that tucked away in the train yard behind a locked gate with the privacy screening.
And for the next few weeks every time she had a break she would wander out to the train or back to the train yard to see the progress, talk to the guys and marvel at what they were building. They were almost at launch and ready to start taking passengers.
Richard “Dick” Reid and Susan became fast friends. Though she was just a girl in her late teens she was clearly fascinated by how the train was constructed, she knew a fair amount about automotive work, tools and engineering. And Dick described having the wheels to the train custom poured of steel. Adapting the engine of a pacer car to propane and inserting it into the custom train body they had assembled. It was fascinating and Dick liked having one more apprentice to teach.
Mark and Alan contributed comments and they all made jokes from time to time. Alan was a bit shy, so Susan went out of her way to talk to him. Using her best “art commissioner, drama performer” voice from high school she engaged him in conversation. And then one day soon after she found him on the train tracks alone with a breaker bar, and it became a pivotal moment. When she stalked up, she noted he looked a bit like a scarecrow. His oversized overalls just a bit to short for his lanky legs and a bandanna hanging out of the back pocket like a flag. His leather work boots kicked out comically. She challenged him with “what are you doing”. And he grinned back and said “Setting the world straight, Its my job!”. They both laughed. And then he nimbly jumped over the tracks to the other side showing off, so she followed suit. That made him laugh even more and she joined him grinning. And then he put his head in the air and went into a full rendition of Steve Martins “Happy Dance” and she joined him both acting like Snoopy or Steve depending on which generation you care to copy and laughing like loons. And then they shouted “I am just a wild and crazy guy”. And they said it at the same time.
And a whole new appreciation for each other was born. She traces back to that moment in time, to when she fell in love with him. That he could be so silly with wild abandon and carefree and fun.
And from then on, they were like peas in a pod. bumping shoulders, occasionally tickling each other. On rare occasions stealing kisses or caresses. But not going too far. Never asking the other out. And sex only several years later. They made a habit of stopping by wherever the other was working to chat. Because he knew he could be silly with her he opened up, and it opened up something in her as well. She became bolder. She also developed a need to just hunt him up every time she was at the park just to be near him. It became their ritual. She didn’t know what he thought of it, but he seemed to like it. And for the next two and a half years, Susan dated, but did not get involved with a boyfriend. In a way, she was keeping herself open for Alan and waiting.
And then the day of the train reveal to the public came and she was in the front office. Neal had a cousin named John Barlow who stopped by the park to take photos of the park of the train and the event. And John stopped in the office to introduce himself and wait for Neal. And as Susan and John got to talking Alan walked in. Alan had been tasked with asking Susan to create an announcement for the public as to the departure for the train to presell tickets. They talked about that for a few minutes and Susan told Alan she would write something up. And then John said, “I would like to take some photos of you two”. And so Alan stepped through the half door of the front office and stood next to Susan and Susan said, “well we might as well give him a show” and she gave Alan a huge hug. Alan was a bit surprised, and the results were clear in the photo.
Alan hugged her back and then set her back on her feet and they turned and looked at each other. And as they made eye contact electricity hit, and she reached up gently with her left hand and for the first time ever touched Alan’s face, breathed on his neck and then gave him a kiss on the jaw.
John had been shooting photos of all of this. And said, “why don’t you give her a kiss Alan”? Susan and Alan’s eyes were locked, he was nervous. But he leaned forward and held Susan and their lips touched briefly.
It was like an electric shock was unleashed, her whole body lit up and her face flushed. Alans eyes were on her though he had drawn away. But their hands were still holding hands. And with that, he shook both her hands up and down and said, I have to get back to it to her as she nodded speechless. And the spark of interest between them became a flame.
It was rare after that when they would meet that they did not touch. They had a fascination for each other. They wanted to be next to each other, they talked to each other sometimes like they were the only two there.
She expected he would ask her out, but he did not, and months passed by. Meanwhile, Carolyn decided she needed a new apprentice in the puppet theater and took Susan aside to ask if she was interested. Susan was delighted! So, Carolyn gave Susan the opportunity to play with a marionette and hand puppets to get used to the controls. Over time it became second nature to operate the puppets. Susan could walk the marionette, make it bow, turn, wave its hands, talk. And the hand puppets Susan learned to move with grace and simulate walking and developed the ability to grasp things with the small hands.
And then Susan was assigned to the puppet theater and her time was spent inside the park, away from the entrance and away from Alan. In between puppet shows she was tasked with giving staff breaks and assisting with running special events and checking out the cash drawers at night with each cashier. Susan became part of the management team, eventually getting a ring of keys to open all of the locks in the park and all of the responsibility that came along with it. Susan could be tasked with anything, and they knew she would participate fully and do her best to handle every challenge in a professional manner.
Spring came around and a work crew was working on a new bathroom near the entrance. They entered through the side gate of the park to perform their work and frequently would leave the gate unlocked. The staff of the park had to be diligent as this became a safety issue as well as a loss of revenue. The public could enter or exit at will with the side gate hanging open. And despite being asked the work crew on the bathroom refused to keep the gate locked.
And on the heels of that they decided to have a staff party in the spring to go with some college interns who had been training at the park to learn some job skills. That evening, everyone brought potluck and the college interns who were primarily Korean brought exotic food that was marvelous. Everyone enjoyed themselves and sat around listening to a boom box. A few of the bolder younger crowd got up and danced and Susan joined them in a group dance.
After, sweaty and happy she wondered over to sit with the management crew and see how everyone was. There was a backhoe parked in the middle of the lawn next to the party. And the main bathroom there was still not working as the crew had messed up when putting the bathroom in and the pipes did not meet. So the project was still ongoing. Robin had had some wine to drink and looked up at that backhoe and said, I really hate those guys. They have made us play nanny to that gate all day long.
Susan followed Robins gaze thoughtfully and said, well what do you want to do about it? Robin got a look on her face and said, can you disable that backhoe? Susan pursed her lips in a smile, laughed to herself and said, oh, probably. And with that she got up and stalked over to look the backhoe over. Dick Reid followed her as did a couple other young men. She had that huge ring of keys on her hip, she now wielded the power. The backhoe bucket was chained to the frame, but loosely. She examined the tracks to see how they were constructed, and then she went into the operator’s seat and noticed the access plate below the levers was locked via a standard city padlock. Looking at the number on the lock she fished through her ring of keys and matched it up and opened the lock. Inside was clearly the wiring to the keyed ignition switch. She played a mental game, picked a wire, broke it off and moved it over manually, and the engine turned over. Second try and it started. Everyone at the management table started clapping! Susan soon had both ends of the tractor dancing to the disco beat of the boom box.
Dick Reid was grinning. He knew his young apprentice was a genius but to watch her in action live was a treat. And then suddenly a police car showed up at the side gate to the park. Dick motioned to Susan, and she killed the engine on the backhoe and set the shovels down and closed up the plate with the lock in one swift motion. Leaving the ignition broken.
The police officer wandered over and asked, “was that backhoe running”? And Dick answered. “Yes sir it was, my gal here came over and shut it down”. “It just started spontaneously”. The police officer repeated the word back “Spontaneously you say”? “Yep, but its off now” replied Dick. And then Dick shook hands with the officer and introduced himself as the engineer and designer for the train. Taking the conversation elsewhere as Susan slipped away back over to the management table. They all high fived her.
One weekend the crew who normally ran the train, Dick, Alan and Janna Dicks wife and Susan Mcarthy were away for a family party. And Dick and Janna approached Susan and asked if she would run the train for the weekend.
This was a huge and new responsibility. The train ran through Kelly Park out in the general public. The area was relatively unprotected, crossed several in park roads and the public did frankly stupid things. Sometimes people would step right in front of the train while it was moving, like the train could stop on a dime. Sometimes they allowed the children to pile rocks on the tracks which could derail the train. The adults would insist it was “no big deal” even when faced with a furious ride operator who would have to stop the train and clear the tracks.
And Alan was tasked with teaching Susan how to operate the train, how to get it out and set it up, fuel it with propane, put it away. He had her sit cramped with him in the train operator’s cabin. Both their legs tipped sideways either direction and their knees brushing. And he wore his striped train cap, but when she joined him in the cabin, their knees just about touched, and he put his hat in his lap.
He went over the controls, explained the acceleration, the air brakes, and then the complicated series of signals with the air horn to signify a road crossing 2 long a short and a long, or entering the train style. Alan explained it’s the law, even for their small train. They spent the day operating the train together. Alan remained all business, though they talked and got to know each other better. And he flashed her a smile and said, “you got this” and he gave her his home phone number should she run into trouble. It was the most time they had spent together to date. She was still mystified that they could share so many moments and she knew he liked her, but so far had not asked her out. Was it her age? Did he have a girl at home? She was afraid to ask. It may lose the magic. He seemed to not want to be specific either. Then again, she knew she could never invite him home. She could not tell him about those realities for her. To be the broken girl in front of him would be devastating. She had finally found a place to be whole and she protected it fiercely.
Susan was nervous. They wanted her to run the train by herself for the entire weekend. And yes, Susan had done similar things in the park, but Susan wanted backup. So Susan asked her best friend Jenny and partner in crime if she wanted to work at the Park for the weekend. And well, as it usually worked in those days, Jenny said yes. So, as typical teen girls do, they architected their outfits, coordinating to wear black pants, white shirts with collars to contrast starkly with the red vests and black conductors hats they would have at the park. And Susan got permission to have Jenny on staff for the two days.
Susan tasked Jenny with collecting tickets and supervising the people on and off of the 4-car train on one end. And Susan helped people off the train and operated the ride and sold tickets on the side of the train carrying a lap apron with the tickets and cash. And Susan drove the train for the day. Susan was only 17 years old and Jenny was 14. Dick and Janna hired Jenny after that weekend. They were so impressed with what the girls had done that weekend and how they ran things, they made it standard for the crew to wear a white shirt to contrast with the conductors red vests and the train looked and ran fantastic.
And Susan returned to her puppet palace.
Susan’s mother at home had become increasingly impossible for her to be around. While Susan had been gaining confidence working at the park. Getting her driver’s license by having Jennys mom take her to the DMV to take the test. Susan could now drive herself anywhere. Susan taught herself to drive on the freeway which terrified her mother. Susan’s mother had insisted on driving to the park via the backroads when she had to take Susan to the park, which took a half an hour or longer to get there. Susan had learned the way home via the freeway from getting rides from Irvin. She was becoming more adult and more independent daily. Susan’s mother started a campaign at home to suppress Susan’s independence. The car she had been driving was a family car, but it had not worked at all until Susan had taken it over. Her older brother had told the family it had “put a rod through a piston” and it was ready for the scrap yard. Susan went out and tried to start it. It would turn over briefly, run for a few seconds and then die. So, Susan pulled out a book from the family library called “Fix your Chevy” and read up on how to tune up a car. And Susan went and bought a new distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires and she proceeded to give the chevy a tune up. She even used the timing light in the families tool box to set the spark plugs to fire on time. 2 before top dead center was the sweet spot for that 70 chevy 350 V8 engine that was in there. And the car then ran perfectly. But suddenly after all of the work she had done, and even though she was the one maintaining the car, she was being harassed over what she did with it. So she only took it to work, no longer took it to school. Susans mother started invading her room, rearranging her closet sorting her clothing by color and not the coordinated outfits Susan had set up. Going through Susan’s magazines, her drawers. Her things were disturbed, disrupted and some she simply could not find the things she needed to go to school or work. It was a huge invasion and she fought with her mother. Her mother would also take the paperback novels she was reading and go read them herself Susan had bought and paid for them with her own money. And the money that Susan stashed in her room hidden turned up gone. But apparently nothing she owned or paid for was her own. Susan had stopped using the bank account after her mother had cleaned that out. And well, her mother took her cash.
Her mother insisted it was “her house” and Susan must submit to it all. She was also busy telling everyone Susan had Cystic Fibrosis and then when asked the dark truth that Susans life would end abruptly and probably soon. Susan had very carefully never taken her mother to the park or allowed her to meet any of her workmates. She also never brought any of them home. Nor did she talk about her home life to her workmates. None of them, not Alan, not Carolyn knew the pressures she was going through.
Comments