About Trains

For the past couple of decades, whenever oil prices spiked, I wondered if this would be good news for railroads. Trains in Europe are still very much a thing, and I’ve traveled by train in England, France, Germany and Spain. There are rail connections from Providence to Boston and to New York City. Of particular interest to me, though, is the economics freight rail vs semi tractor trailers. It seems to me that freight trains should be a more efficient use of petroleum, albeit trucks can travel to more places.

Last fall, I noticed a bunch of trees that had been chopped down next to what I had assumed were disused railroad tracks near the Ten Mile River Bikeway where I walk every other day. A few days later, I saw a half dozen freight cars pulled by a Providence & Wooster locomotive pass by. This morning, I saw a short set of freight cars pulled Providence & Wooster engine headed Northeast, and thirty minutes later, the same train was traveling the other direction. I don’t know if this is new or just that the schedule overlaps with my current walking schedule.

There’s a history of train songs in the American folk tradition. Probably the most familiar is Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans,” made famous by Arlo Guthrie. Johnny Cash is alleged to have called “City of New Orleans” the “best damn train song ever written.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SfPyg-mGhU