VENTURA : Kids Ride Rails for Transit Lesson

David Reimers’ eyes widened and he stepped back from the platform’s edge as the train approached.

“That could carry a whole lot of people,” the 6-year-old said. “It’s so big it makes me dizzy.”

The 8:26 a.m. San Diegan did carry a lot of people Friday morning, most of them kindergartners from the summer program at Will Rogers Elementary School.

Sporting conductors’ hats and clutching their lunches in brown paper bags, 52 Ventura children climbed aboard at Amtrak’s new Ventura platform and made the 12-minute journey to Oxnard as part of a transportation-oriented field trip. For many, it was their first train ride.

“I’d like to go, but I have other obligations,” said Robert Wyse, a carpenter who was seeing off his three children. “I’ve never been on a train either.”

Fortunately for Carol Grenfell and Lorraine Brown, the teachers who organized the trip, there were plenty of parents and other supervisors on hand. Adventures with Alice, a Ventura travel agency, helped with the travel arrangements.

“Here comes the train,” squealed Jaime Wyse, 6, letting go of her father’s hand and lining up with the other children.

“Are we moving or is the world moving?” asked Jaime’s twin sister, Jessie, as the train pulled away.

The silver passenger coach picked up speed as it cut under the Ventura Freeway and crossed the Santa Clara River. During the ride, children familiarized themselves with the mysteries of rail travel, including doors that open when a button is pressed and seats that recline, if you push hard enough.

Ten minutes later, the train pulled into the Oxnard Transportation Center, a huge complex compared to the one-track station at Ventura.

The children marched into the high-ceilinged station, occupying most of the chairs and scattering toward the bathrooms and drinking fountains.

Hands washed and thirsts quenched, the troop was led through La Gloria marketplace on 4th Street and over to Plaza Park for lunch next to the Rotunda bandstand.

After a tour of the Oxnard Library, the group walked to the bus station--hand in hand, of course--and crowded onto a local South Coast Area Transit bus for the trip home.

Compared to the train trip, the bus ride was pretty boring, most of the children agreed.

“I’ve been on a bus before,” said Heather Drake, 5.

“They were tired by the end,” Grenfell said. “It’s quite a big deal taking that many kids out.”