Valentine ISD gets schooled on train history
By Lonnie Flippen
The Valentine students from grades K-12 attended an assembly on Friday, November 3 and looked at pictures of Valentine and heard information presented by Mrs. Lena Slover and Coach Lonnie Flippen about their memories of Valentine when they were growing up in the community during the 1950s and 1960s. Mr. Bill Storey sent a packet of information dealing with his memories of life in Valentine in the 1940s.
The presentation focused on the railroad and how the town had been established as a railroad town and grew with the railroad and then declined when the railroad decided to move the division point from Valentine to Alpine. Some of the pictures showed Valentine at a time when the Southern Pacific Railroad had its repair shops here. Valentine was also home to one of the few roundhouses in Texas where steam engines could be turned around and sent another direction. One picture showed Valentine having at least seven sets of tracks near the depot.
After the p resentation was given, the students were then made aware that on November 16 the entire school, along with six teachers, will board the passenger train in Alpine and travel to El Paso where they will be picked up by the school bus and returned to Valentine. Our thanks go out to Mrs. Engle and the school board for allowing the school to take this educational trip.
