Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new with you. I think in listing inventions that really changed mankind trains would have to be right up near the top. It was trains that stopped my Mom from worrying about my older brother. As a first time mother she panicked when it Mike seemed to lag behind other children his age when it came to walking. The doctor told Mom not to worry that Mike was just lazy and would walk when he felt like it. I could have told her that but I was too busy getting into everything. One day a train passed by the house and Mike got up and walked to the door to watch it go by.
Trains in the United States made it possible to cross the entire country in a few days rather than long months. I took my first cross country train ride when I brought my brother Reid out from California. It is something I wouldn't mind doing again. I wrote about the trip here. I love taking pictures of trains and doing art work.
When I lived in California I rode BART to work for many years. Of course we frequently called it BAT because there was nothing rapid about it. BART proved the computer programming mantra GIGO (garbage in garbage out) when the original design failed to take into consideration trains breaking down. They have finally gotten around to expanding BART and I was able to get from the San Francisco Airport to Concord via BART.
One of the sounds I love the most is the train whistle. It is a melancholy sound that brings to mind adventures that I would like to take. I would love the United States to have a nationwide rapid transit system. It would be the best way to travel with someone who is disabled.
BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)
One of my favorite pictures are these train tracks.
These pictures are from the trip I made from California to North Carolina.
All Aboard
Trying to Escape the Storm
Next Stop the Moon