BROTHERS RIDE RAILROAD TO RELIVE FATHER'S PAST

The year was 1918. America was poised to force the surrender of the German forces during World War I. In Jackson, an 18-year-old man started his first job -- a fireman on the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railway.

No one really knows how long Joe Terbrock worked for the rail company. He eventually became a carpenter and was accidentally killed in 1945. He left behind eight sons.

Four of his sons took a trip through history Friday as they rode the old train in Jackson to experience a little of their father's past.

Harold, Lloyd, Len and Joe Terbrock, all of St. Louis County, took a short five-mile trip on the train. Harold had been there before with his wife, but this was the first time the four brothers had made arrangements to do it together.

"I just thought it would be a nice thing for to us do now that we are all retired," Harold said. "We just wanted to see where our father had his first job."

Back when their father worked for the railroad, the trains were the lifeblood of the iron mines. The track in Jackson was the old Belmont Branch that connected St. Louis with mines in Bismarck, Poplar Bluff, Belmont, Little Rock, Ark., and Texarkana, Texas.

The railway has been around for about 150 years. During the Civil War, the Iron Mountain carried Union troops from St. Louis to Pilot Knob for the battle of Fort Davidson. The railway also was robbed by the James Gang at Gads Hill in 1874. The gang got away with about $10,000 in cash -- a hefty sum in 1874.

At various times throughout the year, the railway company has mock train robberies it performs for passengers.

"I was hoping we would get robbed," Joe Jr. said, "but we didn't."

The four brothers enjoyed the excursion and the chance to take a look at the past and see a little bit of what their father's life was all about. Harold, the oldest, was 17 when his father died.

The train ride was also an excuse for the four of them to get together and have some fun on a Friday afternoon.

"We are always looking for an excuse to get together," Lloyd said. "My wife always asks, 'well what did you talk about?' We usually talk about nothing. We just like to get together and talk."