ELGIN — Just fewer than 100 veterans and their families gathered May 17 at the Elgin Depot.

It was an overcast Saturday morning and the sky threatened rain, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits as they prepared to board the annual Veterans Train with the Eagle Cap Excursion Train.

“We really want to show our appreciation of their service,” reservation manager Peggy Weishaar said.

Every year the volunteers behind the excursion train put together two veterans specific rides, she said, which are free to veterans, active military and first responders, such as police, fire and emergency personnel.

Among the riders this year was 98-year-old World War II veteran Kenneth Anderson.

“This will be an interesting trip,” he said as the train set out from the depot.

Anderson, who moved to Baker City in 1989, grew up in Minnesota. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at just 17 years old. Anderson was a “motor man” in the engine room and worked on the engines of landing craft.

He was first stationed in Alaska and later in San Diego. Anderson was there for two and a half weeks, he said, as everyone practiced landing in preparation for an invasion of Japan, but then the U.S. dropped the bomb and ended the war.

After the war ended, Anderson’s military career continued loading cargo in the South Pacific.

Anderson used the GI Bill to get a degree in mining engineering and geology in 1950. He has been a mine manager, consultant and owner. He’s still involved in mining to this day, Anderson said, because he can’t bring himself to quit.

“It’s been a fun life and I’ve done a lot,” he said.

Dave Cross accompanied Anderson on the Eagle Cap Excursion Train. The pair first met while living across the street from each other in Baker City. Cross, who served 27 years in the U.S. Army, helped facilitate Anderson’s 2022 trip to Washington, D.C,. with the Honor Flight of Central Oregon.

Although they are no longer neighbors — Anderson now lives at Meadowbrook Place Assisted Living — Cross continues to keep an eye out for veteran specific opportunities.

Cross recently helped Anderson book a trip to Hawaii after Anderson told him he wanted to see an exploding volcano.

Anderson said while he saw Hawaii from a distance during World War II, he had never been to the islands before and wanted to see a volcano. Unfortunately, he said, the volcano stopped erupting when they arrived and started back up upon their departure. Regardless, it was a good time.

Cross helps veterans all the time, Anderson said, and arranged the trip on the excursion train.

Riding the train brought back childhood memories for Anderson, whose father worked on the railroad in northern Minnesota — hauling cargo from the iron mines to Lake Superior. Anderson fondly recalled riding in the caboose with his father.

“It was very nice,” Anderson said as the train rolled back into Elgin.