Railroads

Friday

Teresa Mull

Why we should be more thankful for America’s rail system

In recent months, the train track that was bustling during my small Pennsylvania town’s heyday has been back in use, hauling coal to ports that ship it overseas. The train blares its whistle around 7 a.m., waking our sleepy town with a bygone sound of enterprise. The whistle blows again around 5 p.m., and people rush to watch the train chug on through. Real train buffs, with expensive cameras in tow, line the tracks at dawn. It’s novel, old-timey, and thrilling. But otherwise most of us never think about trains. Most Americans, for that matter, never think about trains.

Thursday

Jonathan Bydlak

More rail trouble could be on the horizon

Economic news over the last few months has been bleak. Whether it’s inflation, supply chain disruptions, or the threat of recession, worrying news abounds. But among the headlines, there was a topic that briefly bubbled to the surface before being all but forgotten: a potential strike by the country’s railroad workers. Amtrak, in anticipation, canceled all cross-country routes, but Labor Secretary Marty Walsh averted a strike at the eleventh hour by negotiating quite literally through the night to find an agreement with the workers. It’s easy to forget about rail. In a time when inflation and potential recession are dominating headlines, transportation issues just don’t seem as interesting.

Saturday

Ed Zotti

How Canada will conquer the US

It’s difficult to get people to take the idea of Canadian world domination seriously — and I admit the notion snuck up on me too. My first inkling came last year, when I found out Toronto was on track to overtake Chicago as the city with the second-largest number of skyscrapers in North America, New York being the first. But then came the news about Kansas City Southern, at which point I realized: Canada is on the march. You’ve probably never heard of Kansas City Southern. I hadn’t either, and my knowledge of railroads — that’s what KCS is — is well above average. Here are two of the three things you need to know about it: 1) The KCS originates in Kansas City and heads south. You might have figured that out for yourself, I suppose, but railroad names can be deceptive.

Canada