Respecting the Power of a Locomotive

Photo taken by Rodney Medeiros, submitted to Standard.net. 01/08/14.

Yesterday morning, I was surprised to hear that there had been a train wreck in Weber Canyon, which
is just a few miles from where I live. Though the complete details of the wreck are still under investigation by Union Pacific, we do know that one train rear ended the other, causing five railcars and three locomotives to be thrown off the tracks. Several cars rolled downhill and spilled their cargo onto the adjoining highway, closing down all but one lane of traffic. Luckily no one was seriously hurt and grain was the only real casualty. (You can check out news reports and an eye-witness video taken shortly after the wreck HERE at KSL.com or HERE at Standard.net)

As I looked at the pictures and videos of the crash I was incredibly surprised how much damage had been to the derailed cars. They were all smashed up and torn open--destroyed. I had always thought that such destruction to a train could only be achieved by Hollywood and demolition crews with the aid of explosives, machinery and purposeful maliciousness, but as I've studied the wreckage my respect for the amount of power and force that travel with these state-of-the-art iron horses increased.

Photo taken by DYLAN BROWN/Standard-Examiner. 01/08/14.

I've loved trains ever since I was child. The sound of their horns, the stampeding rumble that followed them over the tracks, and the sheer awesomeness of the work they can do fancied my young mind endlessly. And I suppose that living in Ogden, UT, which was an epicenter of railway traffic and one of the wealthiest cities in the state during the rail period of US history, has only added to that infatuation. The old Union Station downtown is one of my favorite places to visit. Though now it is only a faint shadow of its former grandeur, the station gives visitors a chance to learn about the roots of Ogden's former fame as well as a hands-on experience of the evolving US rail system. Ogden is to me as Radiator Springs was to Sally Carrera in Disney/Pixar's Cars. What I wouldn't give to experience pre-interstate Ogden, Ogden in its heyday, Ogden when 11 sets of busy tracks stretched out behind the station and influential people like John M. Browning, George S. Eccles and others all lived in and around Ogden. What I wouldn't give to see trains take back at least some of their influence over passenger travel across the USA. To see the station re-open for mass public traffic would be a dream.

Whatever becomes of the US railroad industry, one thing is certain: I will always respect the might of a locomotive. I will still get chills whenever I hear a train horn or feel them rumble across the tracks, and I will still mutter whoa as I watch the tracks and ties bow under a train's weight. Some things are simply too amazing not to stand by in awe. Just ponder on all that power rolling by you on the tracks, and then think about the things more powerful than locomotives that mankind has been able to construct.