September 4, 2008
"Put me on a moving train if I'm sick, and I'll get well. It's good for mind and body to get out and see the world"-- Maria D. Brown.
When a train whistle blows in the distance, I search the horizon for the train. When I see one racing along the tracks next to the highway, I count the cars. When I hear, "All Aboard", I wish I could jump on board and ride the train to places unknown.
Now come on and admit it. You, too, develop wanderlust when you see a sleek, speeding train.
Few among us are not stirred by a fast moving train to somewhere, anywhere. In fact, loving trains is so sacrosanct to our souls that we revere them.
Recently, I had the opportunity to remember why we do that.
On the same day, I boarded two different trains as part of a convention's itinerary. The visit to the railroad yard was arranged as a showpiece for two railroad companies. They did not disappoint, either of them, but what struck me most was the explosion of memories and longings that ensued.
Later in the day, I began to recall Johnny Cash's hit records about trains.
One of his recordings summed up his love for the rails when he sang, "I Got a Thing About Trains."
Me, too.
Soon I was humming the tune and singing the lyrics to Fulsom Prison Blues: "I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' round the bend". I followed that with a rousing rendition of a few bars of "Rock Island Line" and the "Orange Blossom Special."
I began to recall more Johnny Cash tunes about trains such as "Casey Jones", "Wreck of the Old 97", and "I Just Got a Thing About Trains".
Hey, they are catchy tunes. You baby boomers are probably singing them right now, too.
Since I am traveling and currently accommodated in a hotel, I am at this very moment sincerely hoping that the maid in the hotel hallway did not hear me sing.
Nevertheless, and even if she did overhear, the powerful emotions trains stir within us are palpable. They made me sing out loud for goodness sake.
Further, they are the very the essence of why people love trains.
Wanderlust. Romance. Mystery. Surprise.
I am ready to buy a ticket, and I do not really care where the train goes as long as it keeps movin'.
"Well if they'd free me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine, I bet I'd move just a little further down the line. Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay, and I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away...."--Johnny Cash
