The Journal-Record - Bicentennial Edition Thursday, July 1, 1976 Section B, Page 1 "DODDLE BUG" WAS ONCE THE ONLY TRANSPORTATION When you mention "Doddle Bug" in the presence of anyone who grew up around Haleyville, Hackleburg, Hodges, Vina or any of the way stations between Haleyville and Corinth, the term evokes a nostalgic memory, especially during this Bicentennial year, when memories bring back the past 200 years of the Nation's history. The area was always railroad-oriented, because a good number of the men worked for the Illinois Central. Beginning in 1903, when the first Illinois-Central train puffed across the Brushy Creek Trestle north of Hackleburg, and ending in 1941 when the little local ceased being listed in the timetable of the I.C., the "Doodle Bug", as it was affectionately known to the people, served a multiple purpose. It was made up in Haleyville, and began its run at 7 a.m. Once a week, Dr. John ROBINSON, a Haleyville dentist, rode it to Hackleburg and spent the day working. (His son Fred, remembers going with Dr. John, and trembling with fear as the train slowed and swayed across the 200-foot wooden trestle.) Along the route, children flagged the train and rode it in to Hackleburg to attend school, catching it back home on its late-afternoon return trip. Twice a year, spring and fall, mothers took their children up to Corinth to outfit them with clothing. Business-men rode up to Corinth to do their banking, there being no easily-accessible bank nearer. Cotton-growers took samples to the brokers in Corinth, and sick people rode up to see doctors there. Not all the traffic was of a business-type, however. Whole school classes caught the "Dood" and went on class-picnics. One local lady in Hackleburg recalls riding two miles out to Wiginton in the morning, spending the day with a friend, and riding back in the evening. Couples would go up to Corinth on a fine Sunday, eat lunch, stroll around town or otherwise entertain themselves until time for the return-run at 5 p.m. Mrs. Margaret PARKER of Fayette now 90 years young, whose husband was engineer on the train, says that her daughters and their friends were considered most fortunate, because they were allowed to ride the train on into the yards where it was run onto the round-table to be turned about for its return-run. And Bill BEDFORD, a Russellville attorney, remembers being allowed to ride in the cab of the engine when he was about two years old: a highpoint, he assures you. Other faster, more luxurious trains ran the I. C. rails, such as the Seminole, and the city of Miami. But the little "Doodle-Bug", with its engine, mail and baggage car, and its passenger car is the one everyone remembers with undying affection. The Illinois Central has merged with the Gulf, becoming the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad; the long wooden trestle has been long-since replaced with one of steel; and paved roads and modern automobiles have obviated the necessity of the local. The ICG's press representative says that no pictures of the little local exist in his files; but there are many mental pictures in the minds of those who rode it.