Dan Action

Orange Blossom Special October 6, 2008

Well, computer life has been strained over the past two weeks. My laptop shit the bed and Nathalie needs hers for school more than I need to ramble on and type real slow, so no postings of late. I get a new computer tomorrow and that should get me on here a lot more regularly.

Tonight on my way home from work I had to stop and let a train pass on the tracks that follow the river through downtown Philly, that is to say,the tracks sever me from my house quite definitely. I could climb the stairs and pass over them unharmed, but what do I look like; an able bodied human? I mean I’ve got a bike to carry and my commute home is no cross race.

Regardless of my laziness, this was no run of the mil freight cutting across my path. This was the Tropicana train. Close to a mile of cars all done up in orange. If you’ve ever heard the Johnny Cash song “Orange Blossom Special” this is the train to which the songs title refers to. Back in the days that I used to ride Freight trains to get all over the place, this is one of the ones I always wanted to ride. The train is one of the only non-stop, east coast high-priority trains. Pretty much a 24 hour ride from Jacksonville, Fl to here. Not many other trains can boast such efficient travel up or down the Eastern seaboard. The tracks of the nation are laid out much like the highways; the east is a jumbled mess of sorts and it tapers out to a few main routes north/south and east/west as you draw across the map. Not to mention all the different lines that own the tracks of certain regions makes it hard to get a ride more than a few hours in any direction while riding in the east. It was nice to see this train, in part because I knew it would not stop too long and keep me from getting home. Oh yeah, just in case you were all like ” I’m gonna ride that train like Johnny Cash or Jimbo Credit (not having a great time right now)”, I  will tell you that there are no ride-able freight cars at all on it. The trick is you have to ride it in one of the engines. No feat for the hesitant or timid.