When I grew up I could just make out the train tracks beyond the fields and the creek lined by brush and small trees. At night, after the 'lights out' had been called by my parents, I would kneel on my bed, arms rested on the window sill, nose pressed to the glass, waiting for the trains to pass by - no more than a line of lights on the horizon, like a string of golden pearls rolling across the black velvet of the darkness. Hearing the whistle call out through the night across the expanse signaled all is well and lulled me to sleep filled with dreams of boarding a train and seeing the world beyond.
I guess that's at the root of my fascination with trains and my loving songs which resonate with that fascination. One of those songs is '500 Miles' - performed by 'The Hooters' (also here) and so many others ... Perhaps Paul Simon has it right when singing:
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance ...
500 Miles
The Hooters
If you miss the train I'm on
You will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow
A hundred miles
A hundred miles, a hundred miles
A hundred miles, a hundred miles
You can hear the whistle blow
A hundred miles
