No complaints about train delays

I want to go on record as someone who loves trains. I rejoice when a freight train stops my forward progress. I count the cars, especially the black tankers carrying oil to the east and empty to the west, back to the oil fields.

The average train length is about 105 cars. But I once counted a train with 165 cars. A freight train goes through Roselle at about 2:30 a.m., and I am always happy to hear it if I happen to be awake, or if it wakes me. The sound is soothing to me. Maybe it is because I am retired, but I frequently say, "I have all the time in the world. I am in no hurry!" So, it upsets me when someone complains about a delay at a train crossing and thinks "they" should do something about it.

You know, if you've got it, a truck brought it. And a train probably took it to the truck. And a ship probably took it to a train. I grew up in a small town in Ohio that was crisscrossed by train tracks. It was a way of life for us. Some things in life are worth enduring, and there are some battles we should just let go.

In the whole scheme of life, waiting for a train to pass the crossing is way down on the list of things we should not be annoyed by. The ultimate catastrophe for mankind is nuclear war, and a freight train is not anywhere near that category.

Bonnie Anderson

Roselle