Wednesday 13 July 2011

Trains Up Close and Personal


When I was a kid growing up in a small one-horse prairie town, we lived right beside the CPR train line. And I mean right beside! Every time a freight train went past, everything in our house rattled. Of course, we didn't really notice the noise and vibration since we were so used to it, but any visitors would just about jump out of their skins the first time.

But believe me, our proximity to the railroad tracks was nothing compared to this short video of a train going past a vegetable market in what appears to be China or some other Asian country. Check it out -- you will be amazed! I can't embed the video, but click here to go to it.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

thats crazy isn't it,, scary really,,

Jim said...

OMG! Can you just imagine! I suppose it`s like anything else one gets used to....I guess.

The Dancing Crone said...

That is some market. Don't know whether to smile or be depressed or be amazed by the human spirit.

I swear I never heard the train whistle or rumble past our house until I was 17 and somebody said, "Boy those trains must bother you." Still love trains though.

Robin Larkspur said...

A feat of engineering!

DEZMOND said...

believe it or not, I also lived right beside a train line too as a kid!

Suzie said...

Oh my stars! I love trains, especially the old steam locomotives and the fancy interiors of the lounge and dining cars, but this one had me cringing until the train had passed.

All I could picture was the headline, "Train derailed by wayward basket of parsips!" Do you suppose that they give a discount for mashed potatoes, or charge more for precut produce, like in our markets?

It also reminded me of that old Kingston Trio (ok. .let's hear the collective "WHO?") song about poor old Charlie riding the Boston MTA forever because he didn't have a dime to get off, and his wife handing him a sandwich each day as the train went rumbling through the station. .why she didn't had him the dime, I don't know, but then we wouldn't have the song, would we?

I had to laugh though, when all of the awnings came out. .it was unexpected, and a fitting end. Good thing that someone has a train schedule, and heaven forbid that the train be ahead of time!

I don't know where you find these gems, but thanks for sharing it with us!

Jeanne said...

OMG!! That's crazy!
I never had much experience with trains till I was in my 20s. Hubby & I went to see his grandparents in a small Texas town south of Amarillo. There seemed to be one train after another go through that town & each one had to blow its horn on its way through. Kept me up all night!
Since then I have lived in several towns with an active train track and can remember the windows shaking in one house we lived in every time the train went through.
On another note, I do enjoy seeing the artwork which adorns many of the tanker & box cars. I know many would call it graffiti but I have seen some incredible work - all done with a can of spray paint!

Makropoulos said...

What an incredible video! I love the way all the awnings come down at the end. Thanks for posting, and sharing your own train memories.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i spent a lot of time in korea. this is par for the course. nothing surprises me!

CorvusCorax12 said...

holly cow

Winter Slytherin said...

I've always loved trains, and have through most of my life lived close to railroad tracks (a couple of miles or so, never as close as your family was).

As to the video: how dangerous! And not to mention unsanitary for the veggies.

Wendy said...

Oh my god! I think the most telling thing there is that those people hardly flinched! Amazing!
I grew up near train tracks too, and my dad is a big train enthusiast, so I can't help but love trains. I still always wave when one goes by. I'm pretty sure the drivers must think I'm insane. But it's kind of exciting when they toot the horn just for me!

Wendy S. said...

Yikes! Part of me would be terrified to have one barreling through the backyard and then another part of me thinks that if I lived there all my life, it would just be another every day happening and would be more scared if the train DIDN'T come through. Interesting and I don't know why I can't embed Youtube vids. on my blog either ;)

Judy said...

It's almost like your childhood memories...they don't even notice...just lift everything and let it go by...imagine it really is scary the first time though (probably even the second and third times)...

Dreaming of Jeanie said...

That's crazy!!

The Traveler said...

WOw. I am actually seriously impressed with the fact that all of the food laid out fit underneath the train. That is some serious eyeball measuring there! And what a testament to the fact that people will find a way to thrive even in the worst of conditions. Makes you kinda wanna smack people who complain that an event wasn't just perfect in our countries huh?

karen said...

That's just nuts!! The train seems to be gliding right over the food as well...yucky. I live with trains too....my house isn't as close by but it still rattles...just glad that the whistles have been upgraded to quieter ones. The whistle blasts annoy me more than the rattles...especially at night. Funny thing is...most people near me...neighbors...love it.

Judy said...

Debra - I have something for you...is there a way to send me your mailing address?

Jane said...

Unbelievable - they have it all down to a science - directly over the produce and nothing shifted! My great-grandparent's back fence was mere feet from tracks (a chainlink fence between) They had a hammock set up right there.

jadedj said...

Holy Casey Jones! Scared the crap out of me and I'm just sitting at my computer.

This reminds me of once with a friend when I was 10 or so, we spent an hour putting pennies on a railroad track. We had about 10 cents worth of flat pennies, or so. When I got home and opened the front door, my grandfather was sitting in the living room talking to two very large men...with pistols! They were railroad dicks. They put the fear of God in me regards derailed trains. I am not sure how they would feel about tomatoes, though.

Dancing With Fey said...

Oh, wow. Amazing video, but crazy! lol Then again, I probably only think it's crazy because I didn't grow up there, and I'm sure they'd find some things over here crazy.

Sarah said...

There were working train tracks at the end of the dirt road I lived on growing up until I was about 9 or 10. When we'd hear the whistle, my dad would pile us in the VW Bug and whisk us down to watch it go by and then we'd collect the coal pellets.

Nice remembrance thanks for sharing!

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mxtodis123 said...

That is unbelievable. My goodness. And the people seem to have it down pat.
Mary

MewlKitten said...

Wow, I can't imagine having to do that every time a train comes by my store. It's really not the best placing, but I guess they have to work with what the have.
I live near a train and when I first moved here I noticed it every time it went by. But recently I was wondering to myself why the train doesn't go by anymore, then I realized it does, I just got so used to it that I don't notice it at all anymore.

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

What the.....wow! You always find the cool stuff!!

Cheers!

Zeba said...

Oh God. Where are the safety precaution measures when you need them?

-E- said...

that's a glimpse of the future in new beijing (aka chicago), people.

Frostbite and Sunburn said...

I love the Canadian trains - they are hypnotic in size - quite mesmerising! I often find myself counting while sitting at the crossing lights .... 103, 104, 105 !!

Kal said...

Do you remember the rocks that were around the railway ties? They were multi colored mountain rocks from BC and then brought all the way to Manitoba. They were nothing like the local rocks.

My grandfather was a train engineer between the west coast and the prairies for many years in the early 20th century. I love the trains.

Leviathan said...

In Queens, New York the elevated subway (how's that for an oxymoron?) used to run literally feet away from the third base line of our local park's ball field. But nothing like this.

I'd like to show this video to the next tea partier who moans about excessive government regulation of transportation and commerce.

Andrew said...

There are train tracks right behind my apartment building, and I actually feel soothed by the sound of the train passing by....
It makes me happy. Always has.

Elliot MacLeod-Michael said...

wow, yeah i totally wouldn't live there. had a house with some friends in college where the train practically went through our backyard. we weren't told that when we leased, of course.
+followed

Magaly Guerrero said...

And people will adapt, won't they? Wow! This is intense... wonder how the veggies taste.

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Amazing... I can't believe how close everything is to the tracks...and nothing gets ruined.

yellowdoggranny said...

we have tracks that go down the middle of town..and we have oh I don't know..20 trains a day..easily.
and they stop..and block all but one of the roads..which is way the fuck on the other side of town, which means the road is jammed packed(well as jammed packed as a town of 3,000 can be)..sigh*

Blueberry said...

Wow Wow Wow. That is terrifying! I used to live right by the tracks too, but yeah, no comparison in proximity. It was like the distance that your backyard fence would be from the house.

Laeli said...

Um...wow! It goes right over their wares! That's so so so...interesting! I love how they've settled in there despite the train,so cool!

Laeli said...

And I used to live by the tracks too, right across the street. Behind us, was a bar and down the street was a Hells Angels clubhouse,lol

Unknown said...

Wow! I bet those vegetables are extra tasty after the train has passed over them!