Nat Read has seemingly lived enough lives for most people, traveling to every continent, including 100 countries and both poles. Yet he can still vividly recall his first and perhaps most influential memory — when he was on a jostling, crowded train with his mother 80 years ago, at just 4 years old.
It was a day-and-a-half long journey and there were no seats left for his mother, who was carrying two toddlers back home to Texas from California after seeing their father off to World War II. The trip was enough to put Mrs. Read off train travel for good, but in Nat it fueled a lifelong fascination that last month culminated in a one-of-kind accomplishment only possible after eight decades of riding the rails.
“I can’t really explain it,” Read said of his inexplicable love for locomotives. “I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t enthralled by it all.”
Throughout his life Read has tried his hand at a wide variety of life paths. After joining the ministry he quit in protest of their exemption from the draft and joined the Navy during the Vietnam war. Once his military career was over, he became a Los Angeles police officer just to see what it was like, working in the gang suppression unit.
He later tried his hand at stand-up comedy just to see if he could do it, only hanging up the mic after he made enough money to prove to himself he could make a living from it. He’s since made a living as a cartoonist, cab driver, casino worker and has published multiple books on local history and his life.
But one thing that remained consistent is that for every milestone, accolade, cause for celebration, or major life decision, a long train ride was always a part of the process somewhere along the way.
“I never tire of it,” he said. “There’s a unique quality to trains… you can’t measure their value in dollars, it’s an experience.”
At 13, Read went on a train ride with his Boy Scouts of America troop to Irvine, stopping at scenic places like…
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