You know what they say about trains... That is a line from a song that is stuck in my head. I've googled it and really got nothing. I like trains. They make you feel like you are going somewhere else. There is so much American imagery connected with trains. We stood there in the field and felt the ground shake as the train rolled by. Tremendous weight and power. I liked that part of the film we saw last weekend.
I completely overslept this morning. I was nice to actually sleep for a change. I have to travel 50 miles to stack 1800 bales for a fellow. He is trying to find someone local. It is a $700 job but I have to drive down Highway 18, and 99W though couple towns or cross the ferry and we bought the stacker we could afford, not the best one for driving down the highway. 40 mph on 99W, oh boy!
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I spent a portion of my childhood riding trains. My maternal grandfather worked on the PRR and we use to travel to see our relatives in the east. There is nothing like train travel unless you have to rush to be some where else.
ReplyDeleteSize and power seem to have a mesmerizing effect on most people. Just think of the drawing power that steam boats, steam trains, big old airplanes and even the modern versions of these things have on people! I love the ground-shaking rumble of a C-130 for instance. I think nearly all of us are affected somehow by such things.
ReplyDeleteI'm visiting because I saw your link on Gorges Smythe's blog.
ReplyDeleteIn the '60s while in the service, I'd use trains for travel because they were cheap to travel on and much faster than the bus lines. I remember the repetative "clickety clack" could put one to sleep in a hurry.
Think I'll sign up as a follow and I invite you to look over my blog sometime if you wish.
I miss the trains. Our town lost all its grain elevators, then the rail line went. Lasted almost 100 years. Played a big part in my parents and grandparents lives but now only a memory.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting aspect of train travel is feeling like you're going through the unassuming back door of places. Kind of like slipping through a city in the alleys. Everything is closer and more intimate, from the backyards and laundry lines to oncoming traffic which was other trains. All perceptions sharpened by the sense that I probably wasn't really supposed to be traveling in Mr. Burlington J. Northern's box car.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing more poignant and haunting than the sound of a distant train whistle in the night. It represents mystery, the distant past, and strangers with separate lives traveling to distant places. I felt the same sense of awe about the aircraft carriers on which my husband was stationed in the Navy. What a marvelous perspective on size and your own personal insignificance!
ReplyDeleteI've always liked trains but then i grew up reading old books and surrounded by old stuff. My grandma used to tell me stories about her father (i think) that used to work on the railroad. I wish I could remember them.
ReplyDeleteI like to travel by train you can walk about and talk to people. Once I was traveling by train and someone killed themselves by jumping in front of the train. We had to wait for the coroner to come out on a weekend and pronounce the guy dead. I went to the club car at the end of the train and talked to the drunk folks who saw him after the train hit him. They didn't think we needed the coroner to tell he was dead. They had to use two sheets to cover him up.
Anyway thanks for the comments not going to respond to each as I'm going to bed.
Ok, collieguy tell us more...
ReplyDeleteAnd convnitkepr1 thanks for visiting please stay.
And frumpyhousewife Aircraft carriers are HUGE. I toured the submarine at OMSI and that would drive me insane.
And misladydeborah, you had a fun childhood!
And Gorges I like the big radial engines of a B-17 or a DC-3. Evergreen Airlines used to fly their B-17 around a lot. That was amazing.
And Ralph, the rail lines are coming back around here. I like to see that.