Back in the early 1970s there was a TV show called ‘Alias Smith And Jones‘. As described on the internet … “This Western features outlaws Hannibal Heyes (Pete Duel) and “Kid” Curry (Ben Murphy) trying to go straight …” My friend Jody Videen and I both liked the show. We each took a characters and played around like we were them. He was the “Kid” and I was Hannibal.
One summer day about 1972 (we would have been 11 years old) we decided we would be those characters and walk the Soo Line railroad tracks from Luck, Wisconsin to Frederic, Wisconsin. Distance was seven miles between towns by car. It would have been something similar by railroad.
We made no particular calculations. We did not bring snacks or water. We did not tell our parents what we were doing. A train went by a couple of times during our journey. We hid in the farmer’s fields that lined the tracks when we heard the whistle. Occasionally we would put down a penny on the rail so that the train would run over it and flatten it.
A few hours went by and we had only walked half way to Frederic. It was getting dark. We were smart enough to realize we weren’t going to make it to Frederic and back. Highway 35 was only a few yards from the tracks, so we quickly hitched a ride back to Luck.
I remember that day because it was full of innocence. We were two mid-western U. S. boys with no care in the world – looking to fill our lives with adventure. Obviously there was an element of danger and it was probably illegal to walk the tracks and put pennies on the rail.
Today, the tracks are gone. The railroad bed has been turned into a recreational trail called the Gandy Dancer Trail. The red line in the image below shows the old Soo Line railroad bed.
