This post was inspired by a post on scoutie girl: planes, trains, automobiles & bikes. Tara's post reminded me of my childhood and "flying" everywhere on my bike. I haven't rode a bike in years, but I certainly feel like I have been missing out.
Trains
I have been fascinated by trains lately. We took a trip out to Western Pennsylvania in the fall, and saw the marvel of the Horseshoe Curve. (Apparently, we missed the best part because the park was closed when we were there, so we didn't get to go up actually in the curve.) Two trains actually pass by either other around the curve. The front of the train and rear of the train are right across from each other at one point.
(I also found the graffiti on the trains intriguing.)
We also visited a railroad tunnel that basically went under an entire town!
We waited and waited for a train, were about to give up, and then.....we heard the whistle! It took a while before we saw the lights in the tunnel for the train. It was so exciting to see the train after so much anticipation!
While I am not an avid railroad buff by any means, I do enjoy trains. I think the reason is because trains are such a large part of our history and such an amazing technology at the time of their invention. To think of how they transformed transportation and the places people, and commodities, could go. We definitely take this for granted now.
There is also something so alluring and romantic about the whoosh of this large machinery rushing by you, trying to figure where it's going and where it's coming from. Traveling by train is also magical because you can feel the tracks under you, and hear the clicking (not to mention that you don't have to worry about driving!)
This is the Howard Tunnel in York County on Rails to Trails. It used to be used for trains, but now it's for walking!
2 comments:
I've always wanted to take a long trip. My boyfriend and I have been talking for awhile about taking the City of New Orleans train from NOLA up to Chicago at some point to visit our friends there. I've heard it's a beautiful ride.
I also wish that more people would start seriously looking at implementing more light rail and high speed trains in the U.S., the way they are used in Europe and Asia. We've developed such a car culture here though, and even with oil prices skyrocketing and everything else, it just doesn't seem like it's at the top of anyone's priority list...
I would love to take a long train trip, too!
I agree with you, it is such a car culture and I would love to have more train options for travel. I actually hate driving.
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