A train is crawling through town as I finish this post. I can’t help but watch it from my office window. Train engines usually pull an assortment of boxcars, flatcars, and tankers from different cargo companies, but this line-up is oddly uniform — a mile or two of open-topped cars, all with the same red and white livery colors, hauling coal or rock.
I don't know if you wereinspired by the latest John Oliver episode on freight trains but it's a good watch. He mentions the ProPublica coverage as well and the negative impacts on both the communities they run through and the railroads' own employees.
I woke up today with an urge to find a rural voice on Substack, buried somewhere among the political, philosophical and urban-centric posts. A quick search for the word Rural brought me to your page, and I'm so glad to have clicked on it! Wonderful writing; you describe southern Iowa in the way that I would like to explain southern Missouri, were I a gifted writer. Bravo, I look forward to reading more of your work!
I don't know if you wereinspired by the latest John Oliver episode on freight trains but it's a good watch. He mentions the ProPublica coverage as well and the negative impacts on both the communities they run through and the railroads' own employees.
I woke up today with an urge to find a rural voice on Substack, buried somewhere among the political, philosophical and urban-centric posts. A quick search for the word Rural brought me to your page, and I'm so glad to have clicked on it! Wonderful writing; you describe southern Iowa in the way that I would like to explain southern Missouri, were I a gifted writer. Bravo, I look forward to reading more of your work!