The Endless Allure of Trains: Why We Can’t Look Away

Trains, Trains, Trains 

I have never understood the fascination with trains.  

Is it the freedom we think of when we see a train?  We simply sit and away we go.  Is it the rhythm of the rails (too cliché ?). 

There really is something very soothing about the sound of railroad cars rolling along tracks.  That steady rhythm as the steel wheels charge down the steel rails, almost hypnotic.

Is it the history and the nostalgia of the rails?  The first trans-continental railroad connecting the east coast and the west coast.  

Maybe it’s the lifestyle of the hobo; knowing you could jump on a freight train and go anywhere, for free?  

There are those that love trains.  Maybe that’s you?  Something brought you here!.  

Now be honest, picture a “train enthusiast” and tell me you don’t see the image of an old man in a basement in bib overalls and a engineers hat.  I admit, I do love to put out trains during Christmas.  My train-fling is seasonal.  For others it’s always “train-season”.  My wife is one of those people.  I have asked her what it is about trains that draws her in and I get a vague memory from her childhood and a description of a train with a track and smoke and a track switcher.  OK.

Now I ask, what is it that grabs you about trains?

Link to Trains video    https://youtu.be/Nm9LKUO_5Gc