Stories about the Orange Train Depot

Birmingham, Alabama

The depot has a special meaning to me for several reasons.  In 1945 my dad traveled from Birmingham, Alabama, to Orange, Texas, to go to work at the DuPont plant.  Mother came later with three children, ages 1, 3 !/2, and 6!  We arrived in Orange by train.   For many years after that my grandmother came to see us and she traveled by train. I remember picking her up at the depot.  In 1965 my Air Force husband got orders for Viet Nam.  Knowing that he would be flying for the next year, he decided to go to San Francisco (departure venue) by train so he could see parts of the United States that he had never seen.  Like the song says,” a slow boat to China.”  Seeing him leave on the Sunset Limited was very emotional for me.  But he make it back home in 1966!

Kay Jobe Box, Stark High School, class of ’59

Dallas, Texas

We came to Orange in 1943 on the train with our mother.  Our dad was already in Orange working at the Navy Base, where he worked until 1976.  We rode the train to Dallas many times.  That is where our parents were from.  So, we have good memories about the train, seeing the people we loved

Carol McClelland and Mary Lou Kennedy (twin sisters). Stark High School, class of ’59

Liberty Texas

We rode the train to Liberty, Texas in the early fifties.  I remember the ride was great fun but it was always cold in the train car!

Scott Jackson. Stark High School, class of ’59

Sunset Limited – California

My sister and I took the Sunset Limited to California to visit our aunt and her family.  I was a rising senior and my sister, Beth, was entering the 9^th grade.  On our return, the train had to be put on side rails as there had been a wreck on the tracks ahead.  We were in Sanderson, Texas, and there is nothing there and it was HOT.  We were delayed about 12 hours.  The experience (six weeks) cemented our sistership.

 Mary Kate Burgess. Stark High School, class of ’59

New York

My dad was transferred to Orange in 1938.  He went back to New York when his father died and married my Mom on that trip.  When Barry (my brother) and I were small, we went to New York dressed in our cowboy clothes and boots.  Folks would see us get off the train and ask if we had horses and oil wells in Texas!

Susan Levine Hirsch. Stark High School, class of ’59

Oakland, California

In December, 1962, I rode the train to Oakland, California, to training for the U. S. Army.

Eugene L. Coulter. Stark High School, class of ’59

Mississippi

Most of our family lived in Mississippi.  My mother and I caught the train at the Orange Depot.  We rode the train often and boarded in Orange.  When we arrived in Orange (from a trip), my daddy was waiting for us.

Patsy Garrard Reese. Stark High School, class of ’59