Bernadette Schaefer, was 92 as of the filming of this documentary. She is also part of the shrinking group of living orphan train riders. Bernadette's birth mother admitted her to the New York Foundling Hospital when she was three months old, paying for her care there until she was no longer able. The woman surrendered her baby to the Catholic organization in early 1923, shortly after the girl's first birthday. When she was one and a half, Bernadette was sent on a train to Nebraska. She was placed with Elizabeth and Adolph Mueck, who already had eight children. The family farmed near Lindsay, Nebraska. Bernadette loved her new family and life in the country. The Mueck's formally adopted Bernadette when she was eight. 

Bernadette Schaefer: “They had a dog shepherd and they had cats and dogs and chickens and pigs and baby pigs and oh just so much stuff that I could play with. I just couldn't believe it. I felt wonderful because I felt that was the first time in my life that I felt like I was, like I had a home.”