I started to write this as a play on the old, famous folk song, "I've been working on the railroad", but decided against that.
You see, I grew up living close to the train tracks, so they've always been quite familiar to me. However, a year and a half ago, we moved our business office to a building right on the tracks. It makes for some interesting sales calls at times, but overall it just provides a reminder that the world outside of these walls is moving.
There are plenty of stories that come with living close to, or having an office basically right on the tracks. Some of them are pretty boring and you'd be unlikely to find them interesting - little tidbits of knowledge/experience. But there are certainly some more extreme examples as well.
Just last month a girl was walking on the tracks early in the morning and didn't heed the trains horn, getting struck and killed. There were swarms of police and CSX personnel at the scene and then an hour or two later, the scene had been cleared - train back on track (sorry for the pun).
At the right time of the day, as the sun begins to set, it aligns very nicely with the tracks and a water tower further down the way. It makes for a nice scene, a weary reminder of industrialization and the effect of humanity on the planet, but still nice. One day I was able to catch the train coming through in connection with the sunset. It made for a pretty nice shot I think.
I'm sure many of you share similar experiences with train tracks, as pervasive as they are in our lives, even taken for granted. What's some of your most interesting stories?
