Railroad Crossing | Pad Patter 11.16.23

Hey! What a fun series of questions! I grew up not too far from a set of RR Tracks - a train on there maybe once a day? We used to put pennies on the tracks and get them smashed.

Right now I live about 7 miles from the original train track of my youth, and I can hear the train whistle late at night! All of my neighbors hear it, too, but we are soooo far from the tracks! It's down a straight shot with no trees or buildings to block the sound waves.

Like HaveADrPeppa, my maternal great grandfather worked for the B&O RR! He was in the real estate division and met my grandfather as a callow youth when the B&O purchased some land from his dad (my paternal great great grandfather) and subsequently got him to meet and marry his daughter (my grandmother). All of which I learned through genealogy, so Monica, yes, you need to start now gathering stories and photos. It's unbelievable what the older kids know that the younger ones don't know in any given family...and what's available from small town newspapers and obits. And the backgrounds of family photos!

 

Yes, I've lived near railroad crossings and gotten stuck waiting for trains. I usually like to see what companies have boxes on the trains. When I was a kid, you could see a long train pass by regularly from my great grandmother's yard and I used to like to count the cars on those trains when we'd visit.

We traveled down to Miami several years ago to see BYU play in a bowl game. It really was not a bad way to go except that we got stuck waiting for hours on the return trip because another train hit a car on the tracks. (It happens way too often around here.) That is the extent of my train travel.

 

Have you ever lived near a railroad crossing?
Not near a crossing, but I do live in a very historic rail road town. The historic Union Station is the center of town and our main landmark. It's probably 4 miles from my house but sometimes I can hear the train horns from here.

Have you ever used a train for transportation? Only occasionally, sometimes if I'm going to downtown Salt Lake City. When my kids were little sometimes we would plan a trip just for an excuse to take the train because that was half the fun.

 

Yes, from birth until I left my parental home.
When I get stopped by a train I just listen or sing along with the radio.
And yes I did use the train for transportation. In wintertime, I used to go by train and bus to school. Way too cold and wet during those months to go 12 miles by bike.

 

I'm a BYU graduate, so I'm a Cougar for life.