June 23, 2005

• FANTASTIC birthday yesterday. The
  folks are in town, so we went out to breakfast, hit the Army-Navy
  store, and then headed over to the railroad. Funny thing – I’ve been
  there for almost seven months now, and this is the first time I’ve ever
  actually ridden on the train instead of the engine. Pretty weird
  feeling looking out to the side instead of directly ahead.

  And so begins the 26th year of my rollercoasting life…in a recent
  chat with Jenny, I realised just how similar my life is to running a
  tourist trip on the railroad. It starts out on a nice, level surface,
  slowly, smoothly, crossing a few roads along the way. About a half-mile
  in, it starts to cant uphill, going up a 1.15% grade for almost four
  miles. After another crossing, it gets rough. There are spread rails,
  bumps, low spots, a great boneshaking ride for a couple more miles
  through two more grade crossings, until it finally reaches the top of
  the hill and starts to coast downgrade, rolling free on a smooth, even
  slope into the next station. My life’s like that – EXACTLY like that.
  The thing is, it’s a long, rough uphill battle; and if I ever slow down
  or stop pouring on the coal, the train will never make it to the top of
  the hill. I’ll tell ya now, if I can keep that up for seven trips in
  one day, fifty years down the pike is gonna be 115-pound welded rail.
  

  Well, the birthday’s over, and now it’s time for trial by fire -
  literally. Tomorrow’s my qualification run. Much obliged if you can
  spare a prayer!
  

  • 4:40 pm
  • 4 Comments