For many years, it has been my habit to practice my saxophone in my car. Living in an apartment and not wishing to bother my neighbors has forced me to find alternatives for my woodshedding, and my vehicle has served me well in that regard. In fact, I like it so well that if I ever do get around to buying a house, I will probably continue to practice in my car.
Since I love trains, my habit has been to park along a railroad track that stretches between Grand Rapids and Lansing. It has always been a fairly active route, and most days I’ve been able to count on seeing at least one train, and usually two or more, go by while I’m playing my horn.
Until recently. What has happened to the trains? Lately I haven’t seen a one. Really. Not in days. I just returned a while ago from one of my practice spots by the railroad crossing near Alto, and I didn’t get so much as a flicker on the semaphore lights.
This economy has hit a lot of folks pretty hard here in Michigan. I’ve got to believe that the collapse of the auto industry has had a dramatic impact on railroad transport. What I can say for sure is, the trains are no longer rolling along my favorite tracks the way they’ve done for so many years. I hope it’s just a temporary lull, and that railroad traffic will pick up again over time. Practice is still good, and I love being out in the countryside by the tracks, working my sax over and watching the sun set over the woods and the fields of alfalfa, corn, and soybean. But something’s missing. It just isn’t the same without the trains.
I’ve noticed a huge reduction in trains as well. The Canadian National tracks that run along I-69 from Lansing to Battle Creek go right by my work. Used to be 2-3 trains an hour.. now it’s down to maybe 4-5 a day.
The railroad industry isn’t something I’ve heard discussed on NPR or read anything about relative to the economy. But it has been a long time since I’ve seen a train go by on the CSX tracks. I figure the railroads are hurting, and I wonder where things are headed for them.
Hey Bob, cool idea. I hadn’t really tried practicing in my car before, might be a little bit harder with a tenor. Seems like you’re more of an alto player.
Amtrak is still running trains in CA, but they got subsidized by the government a few years back.
Yeah, that’s true, Neal, I’m an alto guy, and I don’t think practicing in the car would work with a tenor. Not in my Buick Century, anyway, but that’s a fairly spacious car. Even with an alto, I’ve got to move my seat all the way back and recline it a little. Soprano is a breeze, of course–I just rarely play it.
Amtrak runs in Michigan, too, and I recently heard some scuttle on NPR about a high-speed line in the works. But the freight trains are my thing, and it bothers me that their runs have slowed down so much, at least on my favorite line.