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The train makes a station stop in Martinez and I spy
an
old locomotive crouching beside the track. The Southern Pacific
owned and operated this line until it's recent acquisition by the Union
Pacific Railroad.
When I was a kid, the Santa Fe railroad ran through my home town.
I'd listen to the train horns all day. The trains came from unknown
places and passed through, rarely stopping, to places I could only imagine.
Somehow it seemed magical, a magic I still feel when I see trains today.
In all that magic, I somehow hated the Union Pacific. I don't
know why, it didn't run anywhere near our town. I suppose the Santa
Fe felt like my railroad, and like a sports team, I felt partial to the
hometown team. And I realized, looking at this locomotive, I still
hate the Union Pacific for no good reason. |
