Typically, while my wife is away for an evening, my son will request that we “watch trains.” We have two ways of doing this, pulling out documentary VHS tapes highlighting the glory days of steam or trans-continental train rides, or going to YouTube. Last night he wanted YouTube–to which I happily agreed–and the first video we found was a delight.
It was recently uploaded on the 19th of February by a user to whom I’ve subscribed. It shows a Norfolk Southern freight train taking a route down the middle of the street in Fayetteville, North Carolina (see video at end of post). I know tracks running through the middle of a street exist as I’ve seen a track going down 1st Street in Brainerd, MN, through a residential area, but those seem inactive. Living in the Twin Cities, I’m used to sharing the road with Light Transit Rail but have never had the pleasure of driving in a lane next to a freight train.
Tracks running where a sidewalk normally would be in White Bear Lake, MN
If I ever found the schedule, I could position myself in the Midway area of St. Paul, where there are tracks running down two streets from the Minnesota Commercial yard towards RockTenn Recycling. These are currently active as evidenced by tracks (no pun intended) in the snow during winter. Even so, the Midway tracks are somewhat of a back road in an industrial area and not a major road.
The closest I have come to witnessing street running is watching Minnesota Commercial bring a string of cars through downtown White Bear Lake. Though tracks running parallel to the road are common, the fact that they run where a sidewalk would normally be located, makes it somewhat unique. If I ever have to use the laundromat downtown, I am sure to be there between the hours of 9 and 10 a.m. on a weekday just so I can step out and watch when the train comes through at 10 miles per hour.
There is definitely something intriguing (and yet dangerous) about sharing the road with a train. My three-year-old son (who finds it “silly” when he sees video of people eating on a train) found it extremely “silly” that a train would drive down the middle of a road. I hope he and I see some of of our own street running in the future (as well as take a pizza run on the Osceola).
The video below, was posted by jfreelan1964 on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmCp98tR3Aw) February 19, 2010. I have no affiliation with it and embed it within this post only for ease of viewing.
