The Day I Squeezed Colonel Sanders’ Chicken – St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway

Aaron and I hadn’t been dating too long and we were looking for something to do on a Saturday with Sam. Years ago I had taken Hunter and Kenzie on a train ride down in Jackson. They were probably 5 and 7ish at the time. I remember as a warm hour long rambling train ride where we stopped and had Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup sundaes. It was a good day, so I was thinking that would be a good option for Sam. She was a little older at 10, but the train ride is something that every kid should check out. However this experience was a little different than the train ride I remember.

First it was very crowded. My first ride was maybe half full and relaxing. This day every seat was spoken for with an abundance of energetic children.

It also happen to be The James Gang train robbery re-enactment day. Which meant that once we reached the stop and go back point, there was a fake town set up and the robbers would appear out of the woods. They had actual shotguns and were shooting blanks. We even had a shell fly into the window and land on our table. There was yelling and shouting then the robbers boarded the train asking everyone for their money. Not their real money but the Monopoly money we were given earlier in preparation for the robbery. They wanted it to be authentic as possible you know.

After the robbery was over and the drama done, everyone disembarked from the train to explore “the town.” There were a few buildings to enter plus an outhouse. A porch with checkers to play. And some stick horses to ride. Fun for the little people.
It wasn’t ice cream sundae day but instead watermelon and lemonade day. So the watermelons were unloaded and cut up to share. Not ice cream but not bad.

On the ride out to the stopping point, the volunteers who help the rides were  encouraging all the young kids to share their best jokes over the microphone. Sam and I remember a sing-a-long including Kumbaya; Aaron has blocked it from his memory. It was interesting. There was one mysterious guest who was quietly sitting at his own table with a bucket of KFC. Now the volunteers who help and do the re-enactment dress in period clothing, but this specific gentleman appeared to be a little out of the period. It was in fact Colonel Sanders.

Now on the ride out he was quiet, but he began to mingle with the guests on the way back. He knew it was his time to shine. He began wandering the aisles with his bucket and chicken. Although the chicken was in fact a yellow rubber chicken that squeaked when squeezed.

I will admit that I am not the most outgoing social person. I usually sit back, watch and take it all in. So I don’t have that “welcoming, come sit down and talk to me” look on my face. But the ole Colonel must have been drawn to me in someway because he decided to ease right down next to me. It became apparent that the Colonel wasn’t a talker either because he didn’t really speak either. He just quietly showed me his rubber chicken and wanted me to squeeze.

HOW CAN YOU DENY COLONEL SANDERS OF HIS ONE REQUEST? I couldn’t. I timidly agreed and gave it a squeeze. And that became the day I squeezed Colonel Sanders’ chicken.

The focus of the day was suppose to the James Gang re-enactment robbery but the Colonel stole the spotlight. It could have been because Sam was just a bit too old to truly enjoy the train or that it was just funnier to laugh at me in my moment of awkwardness or maybe Colonel Sanders is just an overpowering figure. I don’t know for sure, but he was the highlight of the day.

So if you want your kids to experience a historical train ride with the possibility of ice cream sundaes or watermelon or to just meet the Colonel then make the drive to Jackson, MO. It will be sure to be memorable in one way or another. If you have some memories of your own, we would love to hear them.

But the train doesn’t just cater to kids, there are several options available for adult outings as well, such as dinner trips, bluegrass rides, and murder mystery parties.  The St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway has an active schedule of events that you can check out here.