HARLINGEN, Texas — It was 17 years in the making for 22-year-old Dominik Torres.<\/p>\n
The Valley Morning Star reports he recently waited impatiently at the Union Pacific Rail Yard on Fair Park Boulevard in Harlingen for his dream to become a reality.<\/p>\n
Vivid memories of his grandfather make him smile every time he hears or sees a train. He had yearned to ride in a locomotive since he was a young boy.<\/p>\n
Dominik’s grandfather, Gonzalo Gonzales, or “GG,” was a train engineer for 45 years.<\/p>\n
“We got to ride on the train, we got to travel on the train all the time,” said Dominik’s mother Velma Torres.<\/p>\n
Gonzales promised Dominik he would take him for a ride on the train. But Dominik, who has cerebral palsy, suffered a stroke at age 5. And soon after that, his grandfather was diagnosed with cancer and died before he could take Dominik for a ride on the train.<\/p>\n
He has dreamed of boarding a train since then and he feels a strong connection to them because of his grandfather.<\/p>\n
“When we travel and hear a train, we know my dad is with us,” said Velma.<\/p>\n
She said the sound of a train is a sign to them that he is always with them. Dominik nodded his head in agreement.<\/p>\n
Velma is friends with Cameron County Constable Eddie Solis on Facebook and saw that he had been on a train during a railroad crossing safety event last year.<\/p>\n
“She follows me on Facebook and saw that I was on a train one time and contacted me,” said Solis.<\/p>\n
Solis, who often goes out of his way to help children, said he contacted Union Pacific Special Agent Juan Sosa to see what could be worked out.<\/p>\n
“Thankfully, he was able to help me out,” Solis said.<\/p>\n
So on that Thursday afternoon, wearing a train pin on his lapel that belonged to his grandfather, Dominik waited anxiously in the car for Solis and his Precinct 5 deputies to arrive, as well as Special Agent Sosa.<\/p>\n
While he waited, he clenched his fists and excitedly shook his arms up and down and exclaimed, “I’m gonna get on the train!”<\/p>\n
His dream was finally coming true.<\/p>\n
When Constable Solis and his deputies arrived, Dominik was put in his wheelchair and they waited for Agent Sosa.<\/p>\n
His face lit up even more when Sosa drove up.<\/p>\n
He was presented with a railroad cap, a yellow engineer’s vest and other mementos by Sosa.<\/p>\n
Solis helped him put on the vest and then pushed his wheelchair across the rocky rail yard to the waiting locomotive, part of Nebraska-based Union Pacific.<\/p>\n
Dominik was in awe of the train in front of him.<\/p>\n
Solis climbed up onto the locomotive to figure out how they were going to get him up there. He looked down and saw Dominik staring at him.<\/p>\n
“I know the wheelchair doesn’t to fit through here (stairs) and I think Dom was looking at me thinking, you better get me up there,” Solis said, laughing.<\/p>\n
So after some brainstorming, they decided to move him to the other side of the train.<\/p>\n
The rocky terrain made it somewhat difficult to push the wheelchair, so Special Agent Sosa and a captain the Precinct 5 Constable’s Office held on to the sides and guided the chair through the rocks with Dominik smiling the whole time.<\/p>\n
It took a team effort to lift Dominik out of the chair and carefully up the stairs. Once he was on board the train they put him in the “driver’s seat.”<\/p>\n
He looked out the window and waved, then wanted to know what all the controls were. He especially wanted to know where the horn was.<\/p>\n
He had his mother use FaceTime with relatives the whole time he was on the train to excitedly share his long-awaited desire of boarding a train like his grandpa.<\/p>\n
After spending some time at the controls, he was helped outside to the walkway that runs alongside the locomotive.<\/p>\n
Everyone sat along the edge of the walkway for a photo and then just spent time sharing their excitement with Dominik.<\/p>\n
His smile never left his face.<\/p>\n
He even suggested going for ice cream afterward, his treat.<\/p>\n
He was still very hyped up about what was finally happening after so many years.<\/p>\n
Solis suggested to Dominik that he throw his hat up in the air. He threw his hat up, like “Hey I did it!”<\/p>\n
The group carried him off the locomotive and back to his wheelchair. His dream had come true. His grandpa would be proud.<\/p>\n
“When I was sitting up there with Dom, I felt like a kid again,” Solis said. “I saw how excited he was and it felt good, it really did. I’m glad we got him up there”.<\/p>\n
“What we did here, it came from the heart, and we came together to help them out.”<\/p>\n
“It was nice to help make his wish come true,” added Sosa.<\/p>\n
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