A Blonde's Perspective - Train approaching

By Jan Stadtherr

There are some things about moving into a new home that take a little getting used to. Not just where all the light switches are but even remembering the path to the appliances within my new kitchen, which is completely opposite from the previous one. Can I attribute my extra steps to the color of my hair or is it the aging process? I think I hear both.

And then there are the trains! We were not aware that there were such things in our new neighborhood in Alexandria. But we found out the first night at 2:30 a.m. I sat up in bed quickly as if I had a bad dream of a train hitting our house. We soon learned they can be at any hour of the day. The whistle/horn is blasted at least three or four times as the train approaches the railroad crossing, followed by the rumble, clatter and steady chug of a train making its way down the track. The neighbors say we’ll get used to it and not even know it’s there. Hah!

Including a bit of nostalgia, I’ve have been getting used to trains nearly my entire life. As a child living in Cook, Minn., whenever I heard a train coming, I would run down the road to wave at the engineer and then wait for the red caboose to receive more waves from the men who sat up in the cupola. There was something exciting about seeing that great machine thunder down the tracks. I was convinced the engineer was just as thrilled to see me as I was to see him.

During my early single days, my only train ride was from Minneapolis to Duluth. At some point during the trip, I apparently felt the need to contribute to the atmosphere. I belched loudly. Two friends traveling with me were so embarrassed they probably wished the train had a boxcar marked “Passengers Who Should Know Better.” I, on the other hand, apparently considered it a successful addition to our journey. Passenger service in Alex was suspended in 1971.

Researching train traffic, there are currently four to seven trains coming daily through Alexandria which are the Canadian Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The number of Canadian Pacific trains coming through is expected to increase in 2027, possibly from seven to eleven due to a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railway Company.

There are currently 6,365 miles of tracks in Minnesota. Today, 4,000 miles have been abandoned and renovated into bike and walking trails that attract many visitors to the state helping to increase the tourism industry.

But the live tracks still carry the familiar sounds of railroad life: the not so distant whistle, the metallic clank, the vibration of the rails and the unmistakable roar as a train passes by.

Maybe that is what we are really hearing from our new home—not just noise, but a little piece of history. Those trains remind us that the railroad helped build many towns and connect generations of people.