Trains have fascinated me since childhood. Perhaps the fascination was a part of my genetic code. My paternal grandfather, Charles James Coddington, 1879-1926, whom I never knew, was a railway express clerk; my maternal grandfather, William C. Watson, 1898-1982, worked for the CB & Q all his life. But the fact of the matter is that I was train-happy long before I took an interest in genealogy.
Whatever reason motivated me, I watched every train I could when it passed by and memorized the name of the railroad which operated it. And, yes, I waved to the engineer because I was told that, if I did, he would wave back and that, if I was very lucky, he would toot his horn.
One Christmas, during my days in Hinckley, I received a Lionel train set from my parents. What young boy didn’t have a Lionel set? I played with it endlessly. General Mills manufactured a breakfast cereal called Kix; on the inside of the box were printed images of various train cars. When the box was emptied, one could tear it open, cut out the images, fold them in the right places, and collect a complete set. I ate Kix until it came out my ears in order to build up my collection.
Of course, I rode on trains, as well. On a train, one could watch the scenery pass by in total comfort. The only disadvantage was that one could not stop and examine the scenery up close. One had to look quickly in order not to miss something interesting.
Two railroad experiences stand out in my memory. The first was my only ride on an electric train. Aurora was a terminal for several electric trains from the 1920s to the late 1950s; when they went out of business, a great treasure was lost. The Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin RR had its offices in the building on the northwest corner of Broadway and New York Street, one can still see the inscription “Terminal Building” on the façade, but the boarding platform was north of the building behind the old American Well Works. The train ran along the east bank of the Fox River until it reached St. Charles at which point it crossed the river and continued along Illinois Route 31 to the Elgin terminal.
The second railroad experience was a ride on the famed Burlington “Zephyr,” the first train in this country of high-speed, 60 miles per hour, inter-city rail. When it was retired, another treasure was lost. With relatives, I rode the Zephyr from Aurora to Quincy, along the Mississippi River and back. We sat on the upper deck where the view was superior. It was a blast!
Which brings me to my main point.
Other nations have high-speed, up to 200 miles per hour, inter-city rail, and their citizens take the service for granted. The world’s richest Nation, on the other hand, merely has dabbled in such a service because there have been too many vested interests in preserving the status quo. The sole such train operates between Boston and Washington, D.C., but it has never been fully-funded and runs on antiquated tracks, affecting its efficiency considerably. America is missing a sure thing.
The Chas envisions a Nation-wide system of high-speed rail, as follows:
• Boston-New York City-Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington, D.C.-Arlington, Va..
• Cincinnati-Nashville-Atlanta-Orlando-Tampa Bay-Miami.
• St. Paul/Minneapolis-Milwaukee-Chicago-St. Louis-Memphis-New Orleans.
• Chicago-Indianapolis-Cincinnati-Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Philadelphia.
• St. Louis-Kansas City, Mo.-Denver-Salt Lake City-San Francisco.
• New Orleans-Dallas-Albuquerque-Phoenix-San Diego.
• St. Paul/Minneapolis-Pierre, S.D.-Billings, Mont.-Spokane, Wash.-Seattle.
• Salt Lake City-Las Vegas-Phoenix.
• Seattle-Portland, Ore.-San Francisco-Los Angeles-San Diego.
• Kansas City, Mo.-Oklahoma City-Dallas-Houston.
• Atlanta-New Orleans-Houston-San Antonio-Albuquerque.
With high-speed rail crisscrossing the Nation, we’d put an end to the problems associated with automobile ownership-congestion, air pollution, high costs of ownership, and a large portion of traffic fatalities. It would take time and money, of course, to convert to this system, but having cleaner, faster, and less expensive transportation would be well worth the effort.
Just a thought.