Do you live in a train town?  You don’t have to wonder if you do.  You’ll know it when your car trips are timed with the  possibility of being stopped to wait for a train.  Consequently, you may end up early for appointments, but at least you won’t be late.  For decades, we had only one overpass running North on the West side of town.   Finally, they built another running East– miles away– on the South side.  The politicians who run the city apparently think the blocked train crossing problem has been solved.  But it hasn’t. Because the inner city  is surrounded by train crossings.  An overpass doesn’t help if you’re trying to get to city hall, the University campus, the  hospital, the library,  or many of the businesses and homes that are located in the town’s inner core. Train towns test your patience.

CSX, a country wide rail service , has had a terminal here for over 100 years.  Sadly, they decided to run their tracks right through the center of our town, and they aren’t about to move them.  Fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles are often hampered while waiting for a train.   Frequently, if you’re running errands , you will be stopped not once, but twice, and sometimes maybe even three times while getting from point A to B to C.

Outwardly, our city seems like a desirable place to live, work, and raise a family. We have five colleges .  One is a top rated engineering school. We’re blessed with numerous parks that are well maintained  Housing is inexpensive compared to the rest of the country. Why, then, do people leave?  Our population peaked out at 72,000 in 1960 . Now, it’s dwindled down to about 60,000, and it’s still falling. Looks like folks are eager  to get out of this train town.

Many of the “natives”(people who’ve never lived anywhere else) are puzzled. With all that our city has to offer, why don’t people want to stay? Let’s say you’ve moved here from a train-free city.  All of a sudden, your life has changed. Unless you live very close to downtown,  you’re shocked to find that you will have to wait for a train to pass several times a week.  Sometimes, you have a lucky streak.  Not a single wait for a train all day. . But that’s an anomaly.

I can remember living in Florida, and driving 1500 miles without waiting for a single train until arriving in my hometown.  If you’re a long termer, you’ve developed coping mechanisms to deal with the waits.  A book or magazine. .  Perhaps a few minutes of meditation.  And there’s always the cell phone, unless your battery is getting low.

Every once in awhile someone announces that CSX will be fined it they make you wait more than five minutes at  any given crossing.  But the rules are seldom enforced.  Sometimes, a train will come to a dead stop in the center of town  at 5 p.m. Traffic backs up for miles.  When the track finally clears, everyone  rushes home to collapse..  CSX breathes a sigh of relief.  They’ve gotten away with another traffic stall, because  everyone is too tired to report it.

But here’s the bright side.  Train towns test your patience and develop  your frustration  tolerance .  Consequently, we must be one of the country’s most patient cities.