Evocative
Last night I had a little difficultly sleeping. It was one of those nights where I woke up after a few hours, then couldn't go back to sleep right away. I tossed, I turned, I mulled things over.
That's when I heard it.
There's a railroad crossing about a mile from me as the crow flies. It's where Woodstock Road crosses the Patapsco River. The bridge is in a low valley with long, steep hills on either side. In the still of the night, I can hear the trains whistle as they pass through the crossing. If my windows are open, I can hear the rumble of the engines.
I love that sound, the whistle of a train in the middle of the night. It's so evocative, so compelling. "Where's that train going?" I always wonder as I lie there in the dark. Who's at the controls? What must that man be thinking, driving the train slowly westward in the wee dark hours.
In my mind, trains in the night always travel west. That's where all the unanswered questions are. West.
From my bed, the whistle grabbed me and pulled me along, excited, for I knew an answer to one of those questions would be revealed. But which one? There are so many.
I was asleep before the whistle's final, sonorous call.
K-
Excellent, Kem.
Yes, the trains chugging down the tracks at night is one of my fondest memories of growing up in Kenner, LA. Grew up near two sets of tracks and the Mississippi River. The river boats steaming down the river and acknowledging each other was another cool sound.
I love your train story, Kem. Wonderful.
I'm almost blocked in by trains. A mile to the east is the coal train. Always long and slow, I only hear it when the wind is right. About six blocks west is the Union Pacific. With all sorts of freighters and the Amtrack running on those rails, there's a train about every hour of the day. My favorite is the old Illinois Central just a block and a half south of my house. It used to serve Allis Chalmers. It only gets about two trains a day these days. But, the coolest thing about those trains is the old fashioned train bell on the front of the engine. Love the sound of that bell which I can hear from my house in the middle of a summer night.
I love trains.
The trains that run near me are freight trains from the Chessie System. No bells.
K-