The first of many rail crossings today
Day 46
Trains!
May 11th, 2010
I'm walking across America.
That's the idea, at least. I'm walking westward from New York City for nine months or so. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be in Oregon when the clock runs out. If nothing goes according to plan, maybe I'll end up in Peru or Mongolia or Pennsylvania. You can read all about the details of my trip if you're so inclined.
Email me at matt@imjustwalkin.com
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Here's my progress so far:
I remember as a kid visiting chicago as seeing these VAST car yards. I’m 45 now and I think I was 21 at the time… I never really thought of what it takes to supply a huge city with food and clothes and such.. even the power lines going into the city are vast and go on for miles.. just WOW for first timers that are away from home esp in small cities. Whoa, over whelming at times.
Oh, how I remember being caught by these trains on the way to work from Munster up to 700 Hoffman Street. No matter how you tried, you could never really get around them. And sometimes those trains would sit for over 20 minutes. You learn to leave plenty of space between you and the guy in front of you, just so you can do a U-E in search of another route. That was 30 years ago. I’m north of Kansas City now, and there is only one set of tracks. Yippee! But gosh, I really miss Lake Michigan and Chicago!
Thanks for sharing — yep this is near (in?) my hometown (Hammond) — as Lorilyn said above — spent much time waiting for the trains to pass (Hammond used to be in the Guinness book for most train crossings per square mile — a dubious honor).
Many of the dads worked in the Steel Mills — unfortunate that you did not get up near Lake Michigan — very nice dunes up there you would have enjoyed — interesting to see beautiful beaches and then look up and see the Steel Mill.