The Orphan Train movement constitutes, perhaps, the largest migration of children in human history. Between 1854 and 1929 some 250,000 youngsters, from babies to 14 years old, were rounded up from the streets and orphanages of the big cities in the Eastern United States. They were bathed, given new clothes, and sent away on orphan trains to be placed in foster homes. Nearly every state received these orphans, with an emphasis on those in the Midwest. Some of the children found families. Some found hard labor and abuse. Today, there are an estimated two million individuals who have descended from those who road the orphan trains. Orphan Train riders were sent to 45 states, using existing commercial passenger railroads. The Orphan Train does not refer to a specific locomotive or series of passenger cars, but rather to the movement, itself.

-Adam Miller

Orphan Trian song and story