For years, children at the West Liberty Labor Day Festival and the Belle Center Fourth of July Celebration could count on one thing– somewhere nearby, a kind and smiling man on a garden tractor would be pulling a barrel train geared just for them. That man was Bob Detrick.

This year, many noticed his absence. Bob passed away in June at the age of 86. He left behind his wife of nearly 60 years, Janet, three daughters, Karen, Cheryl and Marilyn, nine grandchildren, and growing generations of great-grandchildren. Yet, he also left a legacy of joy carried on four wheels, connected to several unique and colorful, barrel cars, known affectionately as Grandpa’s Express. The train began with a simple dream.

“He saw them advertised in a sale bill,” Janet recalled. “He said, ‘I’ve always wanted to have a set of those.’”

Bob and his twin brother, Wilbur “Bill” Detrick, purchased the barrel train in the spring of 2010 shortly before Janet retired. The train had already been used at events around West Liberty years earlier, but Bob immediately began improving the barrel cars. “We did a lot of work on them after that,” Janet said.

There were modifications, repairs, and innovations. A trailer seat added to the end became known as Grandma’s Caboose. Bob widened wheelbases, added brakes for hills, and constantly tinkered to make rides safer and smoother. “He just loved figuring things out,” his daughter, Karen Walters, said with a laugh. But the train was never really about machinery. It was about people.

“It sounds like he’s having as much fun as they are,” spectators often told the family while watching Bob circle children through endless figure eights. That observation was true.

“His smile,” his daughter Karen said. “Oh my gosh.”