Jimmy Del Ponte On The Silly Side (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) Note: The following article contains stories about trains and railroad tracks. Railroad tracks are extremely dangerous and should be treated with the utmost safety and caution. The Red Line rumbles beneath Davis Square and soon the Green Line will travel through our fair city. But for many years, trains used to chug through Davis Square crossing Willow Ave, and then onto Cambridge. Remember watchman's tower in the Square? The following are some personal recollections of folks growing up when the train ran through the 'Ville. If you're old enough to remember it, you no doubt have train-related stories.

Davis Square traffic was two-ways and always getting held up while the train chugged through and was a pain in the neck for dad. But as kids, we loved watching the choo-choo go by from the back seats of the '54 Mercury. I remember watching the boxcars and tanker cars go by as we were on our way to Grandpa's house on a Sunday. Sometimes we would count all the cars. One friend told me she once counted 117 cars!

A couple of my friends recall placing a coat hanger strategically on one of the rails that would trigger the crossing signal at Willow Ave. How about sitting in the Somerville Theatre and all of a sudden special effects were added. The train going through the square shook and vibrated your chair, and the entire theater. Remember walking on a single rail for as long as you could balance without falling off?

Some daring souls actually hopped the freight. This was very difficult and extremely dangerous. It was easier getting on a slow moving train, but treacherous trying to jump off after it had gained speed. Here is a testimonial from a friend of mine who shared his scary train tale: "We hopped a freight one time from near the square and it did not stop until we were almost in New York. We got caught by a guy who was manning the caboose – who thank God was from Somerville. He just gave us a ration of crap about being stupid, etc., then he took us to the caboose and let us ride home in there. He never called our parents or anything. We also spent hours playing I the boxcars behind Hastings and FB Jones."

Didn't Jones make those concrete garbage buckets with the metal lids that were buried in our backyards? That is a pleasant memory of the guy walking into the yard on a hot summer day to empty the swill. I digress.

The International Paper company was near the tracks near (Warwick and Clyde Streets I think) always had a few parked boxcars outside their plant. These were great places to hang around in during the cold winters of our youth. In the summer we would go "down the tracks," with plastic buckets and gather polliwogs (tadpoles).

We actually ate the wild rhubarb that grew along the tracks. Many a Somerville teen had their first under-aged (illegal) beer and first puff of a cigarette down the tracks. I can still remember the smell of the freight train after it passed through. We often put pennies and nickels and dimes on the track so they got flattened out. Did you do that also? That was a popular Somerville youth activity back in the day. The tracks were a regular walking route to the Western Junior High School (now the TAB building at 167 Holland St – home of the Council on Aging).

Here is another memory: "We too lived alongside the tracks on Warwick St. We caught polliwogs and played along the tracks when our grandfather wasn't watching. As was said before, we also waited for the train to rattle through to put us to sleep at night. My favorite memory is calling out to the guys in the caboose to ask them for chalk. They'd throw out big pieces of the chalk they used to mark the cars. We were not allowed to walk the tracks to the Bingham School, but crossed the rail bed as a shortcut under Nono's watchful eye."

I walked those tracks to and from the Bingham School every day for 6 years. We would find snakes and frogs and collect them and charge the neighbor kids like 5 cents to come in our yard to see them. 10 cents to touch them. A good friend once drove his VW bug on the tracks, ruining his brakes. He thought he got away with it until one of his father's friends ratted him out when he saw his car emerging from the tracks.

Those of us who grew up in Somerville have many memories of the railroad tracks. The tragic and sad ones I have kept in my heart. John Roderick is the Somerville resident expert on train history. Be sure to check out "The Freight Cutoff" on his Facebook page. Thanks to all of you who chimed in with your memories.

I'll see you at Amelia's Kitchen in Teele Square on Thursday night from 7-9 pm for Italian food, American music and Somerville friends! You can email Jimmy direct at jimmydel@rcn.com.