Dick Riffle Reminisces Abour RR's




This is from Dick Riffle -age 93 who grew up in Lindley . He now resides in the State of Washington, is still very active and a wonderful source of information about Lindley during the time that he lived here. Many of today's residents will recall his brother- Henry Riffle.


In one of the frequent E-mails that we exchange,I made a comment about how long the trains that run through Lindley have become due to the recent increase in gas drilling business in Tioga/BradfordCounties ,Penna.


I think you will enjoy the reply that he wrote .


You sparked a "memory" when you mentioned the railroad passenger trains. I have a photo of the old Lindley railroad station. Did I ever send that to you ? My Mother used to take me to Corning once in a while on the passenger train. They were coal-burning engines.. Passenger cars were hot inside. No air conditioning except to open a window. I remember a cinder came in the open window one time and got into my eye. It was fortunate that it had cooled off coming through the air.. Mother used to take me on the train to Lawrenceville to visit her sister, my Aunt Bertha Putman. Bill and Dorus Norwood's grandmother with whom they lived used to go along the railroad tracks and pick up the coal that had fallen off the cars loaded with coal. They were very poor but managed to survive. Bill is in the Lindley Baseball team photo. I ran around with Dorus which my Mother did not approve of because he smoked cigarettes from the time he was 10 years old. He did not influence me in that direction. I never smoked until I was 18 and quit at age 21 when I dedicated my life to Christ. Grandma Nowood's income was from a job for the Post Office. She would take the bag of outgoing mail, climb up a short ladder on a post along side of the railroad and hang the bag near the top. When the passenger train came by it slowed a bit and a man on the railroad mail car would snag the bag with a hook and at the same time throw out a bag of Lindley mail which Grandma Norwood would bring to the Post Office. I don't know when they discontinued that method of mail delivery to Lindley. I don't suppose there are any folks around besides me that would remember that method.. I had a compete physical last week and the Doc did not find anything wrong (except my hearing). I wear hearing aids. They are not perfect but I would have a hard time hearing without them.. End of medical report ! Have a great weekend !....Dick..


In response to the comment about the Herrick family and their interest in railroads, yes -they do have a wealth of knowledge from their years of working on local railroads. They do share some of the stories when we do our reminiscing at Historical Society meetings.


Historical Society meetings are free -open to the public- no dues-no officers- just a friendly group who meet to share an interest in history .


Our next meeting is November 17th -7 PM at the Lindley Town Hall. Leon Golder , affiliated with the Patterson Inn in Corning will speaking on the Blacksmith Shop at the Inn .He is interested in information about Lindley blacksmiths ,their names and location of their businesses.


Remember all are welcome to attend and learn more about local history. Who knows, we might even get Alton or Jack Herrick to talk about working on the RR.


Kitty




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