“Many times the wrong train took me to the right place.”
- Paulo Coelho
-
Do you like train songs? We must like them as a people because there are 800-plus train songs in existence. In general, trains aren't part of our cultural lives like they once were, but still, they hold some magic in our collective conscienceless.
Even though I wouldn't call myself a train lover, they've always held some charm for me and have been a part of life in some fashion. If you were a child in the era I was, when every other show on TV was a western, you saw plenty of trains pulling into dusty frontier towns, depositing women, children and a few non-cowboys. One of my beloved shows at the time was The Wild Wild West with cool secret service hero James West and his sidekick, Artemus. It seems like they were always on a train planning or doing some daring thing.
I've talked before about when I was growing up, our farm had a functioning railroad that was on our land and ran a few hundred yards behind our house. The train went through twice a day, down from Kirksville to Quincy, IL in the morning and back in the afternoon. I just took it for granted. It was always there. Standing by the track in the back yard waving at the conductor was no big deal. In town, those same tracks ran right behind our four-field baseball 'complex," Robinson Field. Kids spent half their summers there, playing, watching and/or fooling around with friends. It was THE gathering spot from June-August. Foul balls and home runs landed by the tracks with some regularity. When they did, a mad scramble ensued. Retrieve one and exchange it at the snack bar for a snow cone.
Living in Memphis for thirty-plus years, trains were a daily part of life, primarily as an aggravation. There was a major line that ran right through the middle of the city. If you were trying to get north to south or vice versa in the heavy traffic area of east Memphis and the train came along, which was often, too bad for you. You would just sit for however long. There was one underpass that helped you subvert it if you happened to be close, but otherwise, put it in park. It was something you factored in if you were trying to get somewhere on time, because you couldn't predict when it might show up. I've seen a few Evel Knievel moves by people ignoring the flashing/ringing arm coming down and scooting on across. Not surprisingly, someone gets killed every year and several injured trying to beat it. We lived only a couple of miles north of the tracks so the lonely train whistle was a late night and early morning companion.
My inaugural visit to New Orleans was on Amtrak from Memphis there and back. It was before the new train station was built downtown. If you took the 5:00 a.m. south, you had to go stand out in a field like a hobo and wait for it to come along and stop for you and whoever else. Combining a first train ride and a first visit to New Orleans is something you don't forget. I have stories.
Trains have been part of our American culture since they first showed up in the 1820s and they still hold fascination for many. I have several family and friends that have worked for the railroad in one way or another over the years. I wonder if they have a favorite train song? I have three. It seems like if you're gonna sing a train song, you oughta have a harmonica handy.
Robert Earl Keen pays tribute to the great Todd Snider tune.