It was always sad when my summers as a child on the Vineyard would end… it’s still sad for me when I have to leave the Island
My parents and I always left the day after Labor Day, we sailed from Oak Bluffs, and usually on the Nobska.
Back in the 1950’s my parents and I traveled to and from Martha’s Vineyard by train… the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad’s Cape Codder went from Pennsylvania Station in NYC right to Woods Hole… or vice versa at the end of the summer.
The train stopped at what is now the staging area for cars waiting to get onto the ferries. The tracks ran under the overpass in the left corner of the photograph below. It was literally only steps from boat to train. Train service ended in the 1960’s.
I loved riding on the train, still do. The trip to NYC took about 5 hours and then we arrived in Pennsylvania Station in NYC.
But we weren’t done with our train travels yet, we still had to take a train from Pennsylvania Station in New York to Pennsylvania Station in Newark, New Jersey. From there I think we took a taxi home.
We traveled light on our way home, I would have my favorite doll, Beverly, and my teddy bear with me and my parents would have a small suitcase with a few belongings in it, the rest of the things… like ALL my toys we sent to and from the Vineyard by Railway Express.
It took days for the rest of our things to arrive home and I would watch every day for the Railway Express truck to arrive.
It was bittersweet seeing that truck as I was happy to have my toys and things back but it also meant the official end of summer for me.
There were always dreams of the next summer and the next one and the next one…
