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CLINTON, Davis County — A boy with autism who refers to himself as “train conductor Matthew” got the treat of his life when a real conductor stopped his Union Pacific train to visit with him.
Matthew Mancil, a 12-year-old who has autism and an intellectual disability, has always been obsessed with trains. The summer camp he has been attending at Meadows Park is located next to a set of train tracks, so everyday he would wave to the conductors and flap his arms to get them to sound their horn.
On Thursday instead of passing by, a train came to stop next to the park and a conductor got out to visit with Matthew. His father said the train conductor must have noticed Matthew by the tracks day after day.
“It was just great to see how nice the guy was,” Aaron Mancil said. “Stopping a train isn’t the easiest thing, but he took a couple of minutes out of his day to help my son, and man, it was all my son could talk about. He had to call up everyone he knew and talk about it.”
It may not have been a big deal to him, but it was a big deal to us. Matthew will always remember this and he'll probably be talking about this for the next two or three years.
–Aaron Mancil
The conductor brought Matthew a safety vest, gloves, sunglasses and lantern, all with the Union Pacific logo on it. After the visit, the man climbed back into his train and continued on his route.
One of the camp counselors texted a picture of Matthew wearing the new conductor gear to his parents.
“It really touched us,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier. We would love to know who the train conductor was who did it and just give him a big hug and say thank you because it may not have been a big deal to him, but it was a big deal to us. Matthew will always remember this and he’ll probably be talking about this for the next two or three years.”
Matthew’s love of trains is evident in all aspects of his life. A sign next to his bedroom door reads “train conductor Matthew” and his mother painted a train mural on his wall. He always points out trains while riding in the car with his parents and calls the Frontrunner train his friend.
He also serves as a train conductor for the children in his neighborhood, taking them for rides in his wagon and making stops at their homes.
“He’ll make all of the train noises and go up and down and take them all over the place,” Mancil said.
Mancil said Matthew is always a happy kid, but that having the train stop for him was enough to make him burst with joy. Union Pacific is lucky to have people like the train conductor who stopped as an employee, he said.
Contributing: Ashley Kewish
