The following news item is from KCTV5 TV station in Kansas City, and was posted on their web site on 7-29-09. Someone definitely must have been watching over that little boy that he was not killed or injured.
Missing Boy Found Miles Away On Train
Boy Rides Train 52 Miles Riding Between Train Cars
POLO, Mo. -- Seven-year-old Colton Smith rode a train more than 50 miles in between train cars, leading his family scrambling to find the missing boy.
Colton has ambition to work on the railroad and plenty of toy trains. However, his family never expected the boy to end up on a train by himself.
When Colton went missing Saturday morning, Colton's mother Heather Smith thought he had gone to a friend's house. When he wasn't found on his block, the mother started to worry.
The family started an all-out search and eventually got the help of police, friends and even K-9 units from a nearby prison. The search team searched the railroad tracks, too.
"And I'm thinking 'Oh no, something tells me he got on one of those trains,'" Heather said.
A few hours later, the family discovered Colton rode on the couplings between to rail cars for 52 miles to Chula, Mo. The train traveled at speeds of up to 45 mph.
"After I found out he rode on the couplings, I was really shocked," Dakota, Colton's older brother, said.
When the train stopped in Chula, sheriff's officials said, Colton walked to a nearby house. The house happened to be owned by a woman who works as a first-responder. Officials said Colton did not require any medical attention.
Heather said she is convinced someone was watching over Colton, and based on how he described his experience, she said she is pretty sure it's the last time Colton will be testing fate on a freight train.
"I asked him, I said, 'Did you have fun?'" Heather said. "And he says, 'No, I hated it. It was scary.'"
Dakota said he doesn't quite get his little brother's obsession with trains, despite his own obsession with skateboarding.
"One day he liked tornadoes and the next day he was just the biggest fan of trains I've ever seen," Dakota said.