Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow

Blogging will slow down until the week after Christmas while Mary and I get on the train for Philadelphia and New York.

According to Leslie Miller, who covers transportation for the Washington Post, on Wednessday the 17th, the Federal Railroad Administration “is trying to give communities that want to silence train whistles some peace,” permitting more gates and flashing lights at crossings. The FRA news release link is here, but may have some problems.

Most of my life has been lived within sound of a train whistle. When I was a poor college student in Portland, Oregon, the Southern Pacific ran through the kitchen of my house, or so it seemed to roommate Yiorgos Chouliaras and me.