80-Year-Old Man Builds a ‘Dog Train’ to Take Rescued Stray Dogs for Rides

80-year-old Eugene Bostick is a former railroad worker from Fort Worth, Texas. Having officially retired about 15 years ago, he has a much more fun and meaningful job now – a train conductor for rescued stray dogs.

Living on a dead-end street with his wife and brother, where people sometimes leave their unwanted pets, Bostick has been rescuing abandoned dogs for years.

“People sometimes come by and dump dogs out here, leaving them to starve. So, we started feeding them, letting them in, taking them to the vet to get them spayed and neutered. We made a place for them to live,” he told The Dodo.

Shortly after retirement, the 80-year-old man found a fun way to bring joy to his rescued pets – he built a special train to take them on trips around the town and its picturesque surroundings.

Before building the train, Bostick used to take four or five dogs for rides in a trailer connected to a tractor, but at some point, when the rescued strays became too many, he realized the trailer was too small to accommodate everyone. This is how the idea to create a ‘dog train’ was born.

Bostick took eight blue 55-gallon fiberglass barrels, cut holes in them, put wheels under them and tied them together. Once or twice a week, the 80-year-old man takes his four-legged friends on an hour and a half trip around his farm, the town and the nearby forest.

Having worked on the railroad all his life, the 80-year-old man is very serious about his conductor duties: he has put numbers on each car and has assigned seats for all of his furry passengers. He has even put pillows in each car to make his dogs feel comfortable during the weekly tours and has installed a wooden ramp to help those who find it difficult to board the train.

The dog train doesn’t only cheer up the four-legged passengers but also entertains locals who love taking pictures and videos of it. But Bostick says that for him it’s all about making his rescued dogs happy and he will continue his business as long as he is able to.

“I’m getting up in age. I’m 80 now, so I suppose it can’t last too much longer, but I’ll keep it going as long as I can. The dogs have a great time. They just really enjoy it.”

Let’s hope that this amazing man will live many more years, bringing joy to his furry friends and inspiring other people to do good deeds as well. A cruel and heartless world like ours needs more people like him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PYF97kiDbc