Burlington Northern pulling out of the world

[sovay]

I love hearing the whistles of trains going by in the night. I can hear the train itself, too, like a whisper gallery, rushing and clicking under the noise of the rain. Those wheels and whistles are part of what tells me that the city I live in is still alive.

Comments

[cmcmck]

We used to live above a railway tunnel and the only time it ever woke us up was when the first train up to London, the 4.30am DIDN'T run! :o)

[sovay]

We used to live above a railway tunnel and the only time it ever woke us up was when the first train up to London, the 4.30am DIDN'T run!

I understand that! (I hope everything was all right.)

[jesse_the_k]

....and I love how they connect us across this massive continent, since the BN(SF) rolls through my town as well.

[sovay]

....and I love how they connect us across this massive continent, since the BN(SF) rolls through my town as well.

I am very glad to know that.

[asakiyume]

Me too. Lovely mournful sound that gives a sense of distance and time.

[sovay]

Lovely mournful sound that gives a sense of distance and time.

I just heard another whistle blow as I was replying to this comment. More trains and fewer cars would make me happier in general. We used to have the lines; then we ripped them out. Rebuild them with the rest of the infrastructure and this country might have a chance.

[asakiyume]

Rebuild them with the rest of the infrastructure and this country might have a chance.

Amen!

[newredshoes]

This is my favorite, favorite Tom Waits song, and one year my Yuletide writer did a freaking 10K original story about it and I die happily every time I think about it.

[sovay]

This is my favorite, favorite Tom Waits song, and one year my Yuletide writer did a freaking 10K original story about it and I die happily every time I think about it.

It may well be my favorite. That's wonderful.

[gwynnega]

After reading your post, I immediately had to listen to "Folsom Prison Blues."

I can hear train sounds from my apartment from time to time, but I had lived here a long time before I realized that was because the famous Glendale Station is just a couple of miles away. It's nestled in a side street, so I drove right past it for years.

[sovay]

After reading your post, I immediately had to listen to "Folsom Prison Blues."

That's fair! And makes me think of Caged (1950), which also uses the motif of the train whistle blowing to signal freedom, movement, everything the women behind the bars don't have.

I can hear train sounds from my apartment from time to time, but I had lived here a long time before I realized that was because the famous Glendale Station is just a couple of miles away. It's nestled in a side street, so I drove right past it for years.

In the magical-thinking way of well-loved movies, I really want to visit it sometime. I am glad it is close to you.

[gwynnega]

I really want to visit it sometime.

It is well worth visiting!

[mme_hardy]

Yes. Yes to all of this. One of the few good things about living in the South was the constant sound of train whistles in the night. On the flip side, I finally saw "wrong side of the tracks" first-hand. In a lot of small Southern towns the railroad tracks run right down the middle of town. No elevation. No separation from pedestrians. Just right there.

e:
Steve Goodman, "City of New Orleans"

[sovay]

One of the few good things about living in the South was the constant sound of train whistles in the night.

I hear you. I would miss it very much if I moved from where I'm living now, just as I would miss the sea.

Steve Goodman, "City of New Orleans"

I love that song. I learned it from a live recording by Arlo Guthrie.

[mme_hardy]

That's where I learned it, too. I thought I'd link to the songwriter's version instead!

[sovay]

I thought I'd link to the songwriter's version instead!

It's good! I am always glad to hear songs in their original voices.

[mme_hardy]

It's always a surprise, isn't it?

(Guilty secret: I almost always prefer Dylan covers to Dylan. Nashville Skyline being the exception.)

[sovay]

(Guilty secret: I almost always prefer Dylan covers to Dylan. Nashville Skyline being the exception.)

I have it on good authority that you are not the only person for whom this is true.

(I like a lot of Dylan singing his own songs, but "Farewell, Angelina" belongs to Joan Baez and, although I didn't hear it until recently, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is really Odetta's. Tom Petty did the definitive "License to Kill.")

[mme_hardy]

Zevon's cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", recorded when he knew he was dying, is unbelievable. Killer guitar solo by Springsteen, too.

[mme_hardy]

Hour this works, I'm on mobile. https://youtu.be/jKHFWpaTUmY

[kenjari]

And of course, Hendrix' version of "All Along the Watchtower". I'm also partial to Siouxsie adn the Banshees' "This Wheel's on Fire".

(I am another of those who prefers it when other people sing Dylan's songs.)

[sovay]

And of course, Hendrix' version of "All Along the Watchtower".

How could I forget Jimi Hendrix!

[edit] Having not paid much attention to Dave Matthews at all, I realized I would have to take him seriously when I heard his cover of "Watchtower."

[heliopausa]

Oh, yes! And they make so much and amazingly varied music.

[sovay]

And they make so much and amazingly varied music.

They do!

[brigdh]

Oh, that is the very best sound. There's something so lonely and also friendly about it, somehow at the same time.

[sovay]

There's something so lonely and also friendly about it, somehow at the same time.

Yes! You can hear someone else is out there in the dark.