Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Business in Mandan

We had business in Mandan yesterday, lunch with Mary’s family, and a visit at the Heritage Center where I  got reacquainted with some of the folks I’d worked with while volunteering there. The pictures included here feature a man who dressed the part in the museum and loved showing off the old car in the lobby. He knew quite a bit about it and said his wife’s grandfather had refurbished it after finding it in a rundown condition.


On the drive home, I saw something I’ve never seen. Coal trains are common on the rail line that parallels I-94, but my wife and I both noticed something very different about this one - it was much longer than usual, twice its usual length. As we drove along we came upon three engines in the middle that seemed to pull and push at the same time. Then as we drove to its head there were two engines powering along. What was the benefit of two trains being hooked together? One engineer in control? The long snake was probably meant to be broken up somewhere ahead, but still I wonder. And waiting at a crossing would’ve taken twice as long.




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