« Credit Card Offers | Main | Taking the Mystery... »
 

Entry bubble All Aboard for National Train Day!

By: Nancy | May 08, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

In earlier times, they connected us to each other and brought commerce into far flung parts of the country. Though a less popular mode of travel in the US today, trains are still a source of fascination for history buffs, hobbyists and anyone whose heart is stirred by the sound of that lonesome whistle.

I've loved trains since I was little, when my dad and I would take walks along abandoned tracks in West Virginia, where he'd tell me stories of his father's adventures as a railroad blacksmith in the 1930s. So I was happy to hear that this Saturday, May 10 is the first annual National Train Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the completion of America's first transcontinental railroad in 1869, when nearly 1,800 miles of track were joined by a golden spike in Utah. To celebrate, Amtrak is hosting special events at its largest stations around the country.

That got me wondering about what historic train info I could find by searching on USA.gov. I discovered the Library of Congress' online collection of historic railroad maps and field recordings of folk songs about railroad work and life. And I found railroad art, from historic photography to Manet paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

A lot of local governments like Gaithersburg, Maryland’s and libraries like Orange County, Florida's feature web pages dedicated to the contributions that trains made to their towns. And I discovered a number of state train museums, from California's  to West Virginia's, located in my dad's hometown of Elkins. I had no idea that was there! I'll have to stop by when I'm in town for the next Cousins Day.

Do you have any train stories or memories to share?

| Comments [4] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: amtrak  history  nancy  railroad  train 

Comments:

We welcome your comments and expect that our conversation will follow the general rules of respectful civil discourse. This is a moderated blog, and we will only post comments from bloggers over 13 years of age that relate to topics on Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog. We will review comments for posting within one business day. You are fully responsible for everything that you submit in your comments, and all posted comments are in the public domain. We do not discriminate against any views, but we reserve the right not to post comments.


Train is deeply rooted in many people's sweet memory. Thank you for this article. Wouldn't it be better to publish a train tour or steam train highlight on usa.gov when you are blogging the very topic? Just a thought. Great job.

Posted by dcrider on May 08, 2008 at 08:58 AM EDT #

Why aren't you guys talking about Public Service Week? OhMyGov.com put out a nice article about it wrapped into an article about the appeal of public service.

You guys should cover their stuff or at least provide a link in your blogroll for others to follow. They seem to be really in tune with feds and I think one of them works in the fed government.

Posted by GovExec on May 08, 2008 at 11:42 AM EDT #

you remind my memory when i was in my hometown at age 10.it was a shame that i hadn't seen any until i got

Posted by nou you on May 09, 2008 at 07:58 AM EDT #

YEAH ONE DAY I'LL TAKE A TRAIN ON A CHRISTIAN TRIP SOMEWHERE SAFE AND WHOLESOME UNTIL THEN I TAKE THE BUS

Posted by TRAINS? on May 09, 2008 at 12:35 PM EDT #

Post a Comment:
 
(Your screenname will appear with your message)
 
(Limit 2,000 characters; HTML syntax not allowed)
 

Please type 11 into the following box

Are you human? We do this because it is possible for search engines and other tools to submit this form, either accidentally or on purpose, which can cause unnecessary server traffic.