Criss Cross

Criss Cross, originally uploaded by susanvg.

This blog helps me stay fit. I feel compelled to go out and take a photograph, so off I went for a good walk, but still did not get a shot that made me happy. The day was grey - no bright sun to create strong converging lines (daily shoot), just grey mist making the lines disappear in the distance.
The railroad bisects Casselman and the haunting sound of the train whistles can frequently be heard.

Aug 27/10: Freight Train

Aug 27/10: Freight Train, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Trains are still important in Canada, bringing goods from one part of the country to another. This is a train summer for me. I was standing on the platform in Stratfod, waiting for the train to take me home when this freight train passed. Another trip next week, this time for work.

The railway is what connected our country. The last spike was hammered in to join our country coast to coast 125 years ago. The car has become king, but we need to look again at the importance of rail for environmental reasons.

"There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run" (from Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy). A new book is available illustrating this wonderful song. I've just ordered it. Let's celebrate the railroad.

Day 166: Steel Rails

Day 166: Steel Rails, originally uploaded by susanvg.

The railway stations in many small towns have closed. Here in Casselman, if you book ahead, the train will stop, no longer at the station but at a small hut. Otherwise it barrels through blasting its horn at every level crossing. The station is being transformed into a tourist centre.

The railway is what stitched Canada together, crossing from Atlantic to Pacific. In the past it was the main mode of traffic, linking remote centres to the larger centres. Cars, trucks and planes have become dominant. I still love train travel - it's fairly comfortable, much less of a hassle than plane travel and I can sit back and let someone else do the driving.