In the early days of automobiles, learning to drive was an adventure. As the son of the local Ford dealer, James Allen of Port Gibson learned to drive at a young age. Allen recalls how different the Model T was from other cars. He also remembers how his father taught a local rancher to drive his first car.
By the 1960s, railroads had lost much of their freight hauling business to trucks. Ray Ward of McComb recalls how track maintenance suffered as a result. As a car man, Ward’s job was to re-track derailed cars and locomotives. He explains how he was able to do this with a crew of only two men.
As World War Two raged on, women helped keep the trains rolling back home. Bonnie Stedman of McComb remembers the work as difficult and dangerous.