West Texas beckons

It was that same summer that Billy died, I guess, when Uncle Dan and family moved to Mertzon, in Irion County, West Texas [365 miles away]. He was to be the Superintendent of Schools in Mertzon, which was 30 miles west of San Angelo. They sent their furniture out on a train.

Mama and I got to go home with them for a few weeks and spent the time with them.

The train to San Angelo was an all-night ride. The seats could be made to face forward or backward. I remember no tables in between.

I do remember the smoke and cinders, but thought nothing of it. When you rode the train, you got dirty. That was just a given.

I guess there was a diner on that train, but we could not have afforded to use it. We had a sack lunch. A train employee came by with goodies, much like a vendor at a ball game now. It looked yummy, but we couldn’t afford it.

I never saw any vendors meet the train with food at the different stops. It probably would have been frowned on, since there was food to be bought on the train.