by Mary (Lockwood) Branin
Photo: Jean, Mary, Florence 1943
Since the war years of the 40s had brought gas rationing it was impossible to talk the parents out of the family car. We had to be content with confining our leisure activities to Escondido so a group of teenage friends decided to ride their bicycles to the beach at Oceanside and come back home by train.
We left home at first light bringing a sack lunch. I remember packing oranges so I could get a drink along with my snack. There would be no pedaling into McDonalds for hamburgers and a coke. My eyelashes got heavy with dew as we rode through the early morning fog.
We followed Highway 78 which was no freeway in those days. It had one lane in each direction and a dirt shoulder which would crumble and narrow to almost nothing in some places. Either traffic was very light or we were very lucky but we made the trip safely and evidently our parents were reasonably comfortable with our adventure.
The group usually consisted of two Lockwood girls, Mary and Florence; Mary Anne Humphrey, Bonnie Schoneman and occasionally a serviceman whom we had met through the Methodist Youth Fellowship group at the local Methodist Church.
We would have a few hours to spend on the sand before it was time to catch the train which left between 3 and 4 p.m. The train was a daily, used mostly for freight but had one old passenger car near the caboose. For 35c each we could ride and stow our bikes in the baggage. We bought these tickets from a train station agent who was very handsome but quite old. He was probably nearing his 40s. There was not a lot of passenger travel at that time and a hearty slap of the seats would raise a big cloud of dust.
On one of the trips the train stopped somewhere in the country between Vista and San Marcos. We were told the engine had broken down and the crew was sending back for another engine. We would have to be patient. We climbed off the train and picked wild flowers along the tracks to while away the time.
When we finally arrived at the depot it was four hours later than scheduled and had grown dark. Our parents were worried. I remember Dad was very upset about our tardiness. Several parents were waiting at the station at 11 p.m.
It was not unusual for the train ride to take longer than we took biking over to the beach. Only one time we tried a different route. We took the Del Dios Road through Rancho Santa Fe to Encinitas and turned north on Highway 101 to Oceanside. The route was longer and contained more hills and we were really pushed to arrive at the Oceanside depot in time for our ride home.
On another excursion we pedaled to San Diego through Poway. The driver of a pickup truck gave us a ride up the grade to the Scripps Ranch area. From San Diego we took the Inland Stage (Greyhound Bus predecessor) home and shipped the bikes via Webb Brothers Trucking. On one excursion involving the MYF, the train was traveling so slowly that some of the group hopped off and ran along beside the train. Fortunately, it maintained the speed.