Mostly what I remember, and liked, about school field trips is that they got us out of the classroom for part of the day, and they were always interesting. On one such trip we walked to a nearby park. The school was, by today’s designation, a primary grade school in Sullivan, Illinois, hosting grades 1 through 3, located several city blocks from the park. My schoolmates and I were in all probability between 6-9 years old within the years of 1952-54, give or take a year. The purpose of the excursion was to observe a mother opossum with young in a hollow tree near the entrance to the park. The mother was obviously unaware that we were coming to visit, because she remained at home with her young. Had she known that there would be two or three classrooms of children peering into her privacy she would more than likely have removed to the safety of a taller tree.
Some of our trips were walking trips and some were bus trips. A special outing I recall also included a train ride. At that time the C&EI Railroad still operated its last passenger train through Sullivan. The train was the Meadowlark and the carrier discontinued its operation around 1961-62. Not only was this their last passenger train, but also, it was a very short train. It consisted of one motorized, (self-propelled) car. That was of no consequence to us; it was large enough to accommodate our class, as there were only a few other passengers on board.
This particular outing took place when we were in the fourth grade if I remember correctly and only involved one class. In preparation for this trip, our teacher sent a form to our parents requesting permission and the price of a one-way ticket. We would return via school bus since there was no passenger train in the opposite direction on that day. At that time the train operated only six days per week, alternating directions every other day. She also provided us with a pamphlet containing information on what we could expect to see and hear as we traveled.
Listed under what we would hear were some of the whistle signals used and what they meant. For example, two long blasts, then a short, followed by another long meant that we were approaching a grade crossing or a station. Two short blasts on the whistle meant we were departing a station or starting forward from a stopped position. Three shorts meant we were going to move in reverse from a stopped position. Things we might see were hand signals given by a trainman to the engineer communicating to him when he should stop or start the train and in which direction. Other things we might see would be freight trains on sidings waiting for our first-class train to pass.
Our excursion was a short one departing Sullivan and terminating in Arthur, a distance of approximately ten miles. During the ride our uniformed conductor, the man in charge of the train, would call our attention in advance to approaching sights we could see from our seats. He also allowed each of us to go to the front of the car for a view down the tracks. This view gave us the opportunity to see signal appliances that governed the movement of trains and particularly the one on which we were riding. The purpose of the trip seemed to be focused somewhat on railroad operations as well as a sightseeing train ride. However, both purposes were of equal interest and educational to us youngsters.
When we arrived at the station in Arthur, we detrained and waited a few minutes for our school bus that would take us back to Sullivan and our classroom. While we waited, we had an enthusiastic discussion with our teacher and the station agent about the ride and the things we had learned that morning. From my perspective it would make future train rides a little more interesting. For all of us it was a practicable, hands-on, approach to learning and part of our continuing education while growing up in our community.
Jerry Ginther has a degree in Christian Ministry and is the author of Acquiring the Benefits of Biblical Wisdom, available in e-book format on Amazon.Com. He and his wife reside in Texas.