Midnight Freight
As a carefree lad I used to lie awake at night and wait,
To hear the mournful wail of the Nickel Plate midnight freight,
As it slowly wended its way thro' moonlit hill and vale,
Across the verdant Hoosier prairie on its silvery rail.
I dreamt of the far-away places from whence it came and went.
'Til I tasted the adventure if proferred, I'd never be content.
To be the engineer of that mighty brute was my aspiration,
And I vowed to pursue that dream with youthful determination!
The fireman stoked the coal, creating a feathery plume of smoke,
His massive hulk keeping the firebox full, never missing a stroke!
The conductor from his throne in the trailing red caboose,
Managed all, the other crew thinking him somewhat obtuse!
I even learnt one of its signals that I remember to this day:
Two long, one short, one long, meant it was crossing a highway.
I often wondered what loads it was carrying across the nation;
Corn, wheat, cattle or hobos heading for a greener destination?
I suppose that young boys dream and old men tend to scheme,
Striving their best to capture that ever elusive dream.
Alas, I never became the engineer that I wanted to be,
But it created in my soul a desire for places I pined to see!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired (© All Rights Reserved)
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