Trips To Hico (1)

After we moved to Clyde we never returned to the Hico area as residents, but we visited there quite often.  Shortly after moving to Clyde, World War II began and our trips to Hico were quite infrequent for the duration of the war.   That’s what made each one of them a big deal.  We had a 1936 Ford pickup, which we had to keep as our family car all through the war.    We changed out numerous clutches and transmissions.  We also did more than one engine overhaul.   I think I could probably still work on a ’36 Ford pickup.

Throughout the war, the speed limit was 35 miles an hour, so a trip to Hico, which was only about a hundred miles, was a major undertaking.   You had to worry about gasoline, which was rationed to 3 gallons a week.  You couldn’t buy it without ration coupons.  Actually, we fudged a little bit when we took trips.   We were allowed to buy tractor gas for the farm. You weren’t supposed to use it in your automobile, but everybody did.   The 3-gallon allowance was nationwide, but the powers that be in Washington never calculated West Texas distances.    We didn’t make too many trips to Hico that way, but when we did, it was always an overnight visit and sometimes longer than that.   We had Bales relatives to visit in that area as well.   Daddy hated to leave home because he had livestock that needed to be cared for and you always had to find somebody to take care of milking and other chores if you left overnight.

Most of the trips we made were by public transportation and just involved Mama and me.  I looked forward to every one of them.   My favorites were the train trips.   We would ride the “Sunshine Special” on the Texas and Pacific Railroad from Abilene to Eastland.  You would always see a lot of men in uniform on the train.  There were always signs in the depot with Uncle Sam pointing an accusatory finger and asking, “Is this trip necessary?”  The trains were still pulled by steam engines and it was always fun watching those big wheels get started and to hear the unique steam whistle blow.   It didn’t take long to ride to Eastland.  Once we got to Eastland, we had to wait until late afternoon before we could catch the “Doodlebug” that ran to Hico.   The Doodlebug wasn’t much of a train.   The Doodlebug was property of the MKT  (Katy) lines that ran on a spur from Waco to Stamford.    We would catch the Doodlebug late in the afternoon and ride on into Hico.   

While we were waiting, we usually watched a movie matinee in Eastland.   I especially enjoyed movies with people like Johnny Mack Brown and the Durango Kid.    Once, however, the only movie was The Invisible Man.    It was scary and I had bad dreams when I got to Hico. I still don’t care for the horror genre.