Trains

I rode UTA's Frontrunner to Provo Saturday morning. Regular service started Monday, so Saturday was a free ride. At least between Salt Lake Central and Provo. I woke up earlier than usual for a weekend and caught the bus at 9am. I decided to go for the morning hours because I had an event that evening. I also assumed the line would be shorter than the afternoon hours. In April 2008, when Frontrunner debuted, Jay and I stood in line for hours before we boarded for our hour ride to Ogden. My assumption proved correct, because when I got off the UTA Trax Blue line at Salt Lake Central, there was hardly a line. When I boarded the train, I had my choice of seats. So different than four years ago when I boarded a standing room only train. When we finally pulled into the Provo Station, there was a long line forming. I took a picture and texted it to Isaac, who had plans to ride it free that afternoon.

When Isaac was born I took my last round trip to Seattle from Salt Lake City on Amtrak. I had taken my first trip on Amtrak five years earlier on the same route. My love of traveling by rail blossomed with Amtrak and I didn't realize how much I missed trains until Frontrunner opened up four years ago. There is just something about riding a train.

A few summers ago in 2009, I took a trip on the Heber Valley Railroad with my mom, my sister, Mary and her best friend, Deborah. The cars were pulled by a steam engine locomotive. There was a dining car like Amtrak and passenger cars like Frontrunner, except it was a single level of seats instead of two. We sat out in the open air car, which was what Mom preferred. She had a taken a few train trips in her youth.

Although my love affair with began with Amtrak, it really started while I was living at home. Growing up I would often see the freight trains north of where I lived. Sometime when we go to Paul, Burley, Heyburn or Rupert, we get stopped at the railroad lights waiting for the freight line to pass. If there were a lot of cars following the locomotive, we would count the cars. Sometimes when I couldn't sleep at night I would hear a train north of us, passing thru the night. The conductor would blow the whistle as the train crossed roads. It was comforting because I knew I wasn't the only one awake. When I traveled to Seattle both times on Amtrak, the train would pass thru Southern Idaho in the middle of night. I always wonder if there was someone awake who could hear the train and I wondered if it was as comforting to them as it had me for me.

I like trains, probably because I have such good memories and will continue to create good memories. After all, I usually ride the UTA Trax Red line home from work most weekday nights.