Why is It that No One Knows Anything About Trains?

Today it is all gone except for Amtrak. Kids don’t see the big freights trains and steam locomotives. They are generally not exposed the railroads of today. The Freeway Highway System has moved away from the tracks of our railroads. In the past the highway was usually built next to or within visual sight of the railroads. Kids like me would look out of the car and see all kinds of trains.

From this kind of experience kids, boys in particular, would be looking for model trains at the local department store for birthdays or Christmas. It brought excitement when kids would see a model train at the local department store at Christmas. Children would want to see the latest catalogs from Lionel or American Flyer.

Visiting a train depot was always a great experience to see the new streamliners and other railroad equipment. Many children lived very close to the mainline of a railroad or roundhouse. They could see the operation of a railroad in action.

Many of my friends grew up in the Midwest where a large number of railroads existed. Many times a father or relative worked for the railroad giving kids a chance to see a big steam engine up close or even getting a ride once in a while.

This was a great learning experience for a lot of young people. Some of them became famous photographers of the steam age and trains in general. There have been several artist who lived in the 30’s through the late 60’s painted some of the most famous art work on trains any where in the World.

Unfortunately this wonderful period of American History is all but gone. The steam engine was replaced by diesels, the roundhouses are gone, access to any railroad in this period of time is practically impossible. Because of the lawyers law suits are common when someone is given access to a railroad and hurts himself. No one takes responsibility for their own actions so all of us suffer because of a few.

Unless you have been exposed to the world of railroads it is very unlikely that you will ever be interested in them and their unique history. The libraries in this country are filled with historical books on the American railroads. However, if you are not exposed to this way of life it is improbable that you will pick one of these historical books to read.

Children are being robbed of one of the most interesting sagas of American History. With out the railroads the expansion of this country would have been very difficult. Trains are colorful and nostalgic and bring out the kid in us that makes us dream wonderful adventures about trains. Transportation devices have always fascinated the people of this country and should never be lost. The train may be the exception.

Even so people will flock to a train station or highway where one of the few big steam locomotives is visiting their area. Several railroads including the Union Pacific have kept or rebuilt steam engines for advertisement, excursion trips, and special train fares such as the one held in Sacramento, California a few years ago. Unfortunately these occasions are rare and most folks never see these huge steam giants.

The only way American will ever understand the various histories of this country is to be proactive in enlightening ones children. The transportation in this country is appalling. The technology to produce and build high speed trains in this country is already here. In fact it has been around for thirty years. We are to self centered to doing anything about anything unless something bad happens or a huge need is required for our survival.

To give you an example of what can be done we go to China where they have contracted the Germans to build them a Maglev train that goes over 300 miles per hour. This technology has been around for several years and has been tested on a regular basis in German.

The system uses magnetism to generate a high speed system which rides on top of magnetic coils. By giving the magnetic coil a great deal of electricity and polarizing the magnets to all positive or all negative cause the vehicle to move. If you have ever tried to press magnets together that are the same polarity you can’t. Plus and minus attract each other where the same polarity pushes away from each other. The pushing is what makes it go and by increasing power to the magnetic coils increases the magnetic flux which accelerates the vehicle even faster.

This is only a nut shell of what real makes Maglev work. I’ve watched it on discovery channel but my total knowledge of this system is way too inadequate to explain the total concept. I’ve just tried to give you look at a system based on my understanding.

There are other systems being developed by the Europeans. The railroad test track in Colorado run by the U.S. government is used to determine what would be the best technology for the United States among other railroad needs.

The old excuse is it costs too much money. If you let everything thing slide it will cost many times more to fix the problem. These technologies need to be taught to our children so it peeks their interest in trains and other types of transportation. If we intend to hold the technological edge we enjoy we better fix what we have and worry a little bit less about everybody else’s problems. That said, we should never give up our freedoms and ignore threats to our nation.

In the years I’ve spent in the Aero Space Industry I’ve learned that this country can do anything it wants to do. The trouble is nobody wants to do anything except gratify themselves. What a sorry state of affairs that is especially to our children. The old adage is nothing begets nothing.

Joy Ball has been involved in the restoration and maintenance of a variety of Brass Model Locomotives. Through her years of expertise, Mrs. Ball has perfected the art of train restoration often spending countless hours preserving vintage Brass Locomotive to the running condition of even the newest Brass Model Replicas. It should be noted that the above article was written by Joy’s husband Michael Ball.