In this video interview Richard Waters describes his early years growing up in North Topeka, Kansas, and telling of the games they played in his community. He started grade school under segregation and tells how the 1954, Brown v Board decision affected his social life and education as the Topeka school system was integrated. After high school friends talked him into taking tests to become an apprentice carman for the Santa Fe Railway. He explains in detail of learning many different skills as his apprenticeship trained him in building and repairing of railroad cars. He relates how freight cars were built on an assembly line. He remembers coming to work the day after the 1966 tornado devested a lot of Topeka and the area of the shops where he worked. He and his coworkers spent most of a year and a half clearing the area and then working out in the elements until the new car sheds were built. His wife explains how happy he seems in dreaming about his career with the railroad. This is one interview from the Echoes from The Steel Rails series produced by Railroad Memories Video Productions of Topeka, Kansas

Creator: Railroad Memories Video Productions
Date: 2021