I LOVE trains. My neighbor to the north is the Canadian
National Railway and still, after all these years, I get excited when I hear
that far off whistle and feel the powerful rumbling. 
When my family first moved
here in 1969, at the first sound of a diesel engine we would stop what we were doing and run for the tracks. At that time it was the Soo Line Railway and
they had the friendliest engineers who would always reward our efforts with a toot
on the horn. The conductor on the
caboose would follow with a wave and salute.
Once each year we were
treated to something extraordinary. A
group of retired railroad employees had purchased an old steam engine and
restored it, along with several vintage passenger cars. Their annual outing consisted of a run right
past Bon Bon Pond. The sights and sounds of a steamer are beyond
words and something everyone should experience.
Today, the wonderful Soo has sold
out, the cabooses-with their conductors-are gone, and the Canadians aren’t nearly
as neighborly, but it’s still a thrill to watch these magnificent monoliths, mementos
of the day when the American West was wild and rail was king.
