Chugging along

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- Ebner Hall has been around trains a long, long time.

He started working for the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. in East St.

Louis during the Depression years when he was a 19-year-old. Now 85, Hall

lives at Autumn Years, a home for Alzheimer’s patients in Costa Mesa.

But even after spending 30 years listening to train whistles, Hall is

excited by the whistle of a miniature train that arrived at the home as a

donation from the Santa Ana Rotary Club last week.

The O-gauge train comes complete with its caboose, compartments,

tracks and a surrounding village setting built by Gordon Bricken, former

mayor of Santa Ana. Bricken, an acoustical engineer by profession,

enjoyed the process of building it, said his daughter, Patricia Bricken.

“He was happy that it was going to such a noble cause,” she said.

Building trains was just a hobby her father has toyed with for the

last four years, Bricken said.

The miniature at Autumn Years was donated to honor Martin Lockney, a

35-year member of the Rotary Club who also is a resident of Autumn Years.

The train is not a toy, but a memory aid that can have a therapeutic

effect on individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia,

said Autumn Years spokeswoman Jane Preston.

“I call it brains and trains therapy,” she said. “It brings back

memories of taking the train or watching trains for these people. We want

to capture those memories.”

Alzheimer’s patients often have a good long-term memory while their

short-term memory becomes affected by the disease, Preston said.

“Exercising their long-term memory by making them talk about the old

days keeps it alive,” she said. “They’re really enjoying this.”

It certainly brings back memories for Hall, who looks at the model

train with mock disdain.

“I’ve been dealing with the real thing,” he said with a smile. “This

is for kids.”

But he let out a whoop of joy as the black caboose fired up and

chugged along the tracks.

“Whoo-whoo!” he said, pumping his fist as he air-tugged what would be

the train’s whistle.

“I loved working on the railroad,” he said, remembering his days on

the job. “I retired as a foreman. I just loved meeting all these nice

people.”

Hall’s housemate, Barbara Aune, teased him.

“Ebner, I thought you were done playing with trains,” she said.

“No,” Hall replied. “I’ll always like ‘em.”