Night and day the trains still run through here. Across the desert, up and down the hills and through the long canyon, they chug along it seems like forever on their lonely way.
One runs east, the other west. They toot their lonesome horns four times as they pass through our little town. The first two whistles may say “Hello” and “How are you?” The second perhaps “See you later” and “Bye bye”.
They pass with precise clockwork during the day and they continue on, intruding on my dreams at night.
Sorry dear reader that I’ve been so carried away recently with so many other issues and been neglecting my railroad choo choo chronicles.
Like sunshine, wind and rain these trains are regular and routine as they can be. Woven within the fabric of our small town’s lifestyle they are part and parcel of our everyday world.
Electrons flow through wire, blood cells through a vein
Energy in motion like an ever moving train
A reminder of our history, nostalgia and fame
Still modern day transport, our locomotive train
Crisscross America, up and down the coast
Trucks move goods but trains haul the most
Through inclement weather, ice, snow and rain
Big iron wheels keep rolling. Yonder comes the train
Fire engines, trucks and planes
Kid’s favorite transport, still the mighty trains
Thousands of miles of tracks all across the land
New York to Memphis down to the Rio Grande
Ore the mighty Rockies, across the desert bare
We’re bound for California. Going on a tare
Connecting blue Pacific to Atlantic shore
Chalk up ten thousand miles. Go for thousands more
Clickety clack and choo choo, on we go for sure
Immobility is an illness. The railroad is it’s cure
Majesty in motion traveling through the land
Watch it sail on by as you wave a hand
Metal wheels keep turning along the endless track
We’re powering on forever. Ain’t no looking back
So sing the railroad songs, simple, quaint and plain
Such pleasures are too few. Ride that magic train
Cattle grazing on the way. Tractors bailing hay
We bid them all good day as we glide away
Scenery so splendid, it’s beauty never ended
All memory suspended. A journey on the rail
Green trees and bridges. Rocky hills and ridges
Sheer cliffs and ledges, silver streams and hedges
Landscapes in motion. Glimpses of blue ocean
Fulfilling every notion. Overwhelming emotion
It calls to all around it sounding out it’s horn
It’s off and gone so quickly like the early morn
Sunshine , wind and rain and ever moving time
They’re fragments of our world moving down the line
This old railroad poet can be reached at danhughoconnor@gmail.com
