no. 30 in the afternoon rain

[15_the_circle]

[OT from cottage renovations]

Amtrak no. 30, the Capitol Limited, operates daily from Washington to Chicago.  it's an overnight train, and by the time it passes the Grove it has only 20 miles to go.  while out with camera in this afternoon's rain I heard him blowing for the Metropolitan Grove Road crossing and managed to get to our historic bridge just before he did. 
(by convention, trains are referred to as he though often locomotives are she).

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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our little station is visible in the lower image.  though considered suitable for local commuter trains and the County bus line (it's an intermodal passenger facility, don'cha know?) it is beneath the dignity of streamliners to call upon places such as the Grove.  two longs, a short and a long for Aitcheson Crossing is all the recognition to which we are entitled. 

Comments

[margravine.livejournal.com]

Our train stop at the bottom of the hill is one of my favorite things about living here. I bet our towns had a similar stream of incoming pilgrims and men commuting back to the city during the work week.

Whenever I take the train home I always get a little kick out of walking up the hill through the main park and shedding the outside world as the camp meeting attendees did. I walk right past a grocery store run by the same family as in 1869. They sold the land that became Mount Tabor to the Methodists and are still here.

You've mentioned a wrangle over this historic bridge in the past I think. What's the story there?

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

>
> Our train stop at the bottom of the hill is one of my favorite
> things about living here. I bet our towns had a similar stream
> of incoming pilgrims and men commuting back to the city
> during the work week.
>

yes, we did, just like yours.  one of the enablers of the camp meeting movement was the availability of rail transport, making it feasible for large numbers of the faithful to gather for the revivals. 

though it provided the volume of attendees for the meetings, here in the Grove (and likely elsewhere as well) it was also a constant source of conflict within the camp meeting association.  with thousands converging on the place, the B&O operated excursion trains here and the C.M.A. received a rebate from the railroad on fares collected.  this was seen by some as profiting from sabbath breaking, i.e., the running of trains on Sundays.  and over the course of the season it was traditional for families to remain out here while the men would take the train into the city on weekdays to continue working. 

>
> Whenever I take the train home I always get a little kick out of
> walking up the hill through the main park and shedding the outside
> world as the camp meeting attendees did. I walk right past a grocery
> store run by the same family as in 1869. They sold the land that
> became Mount Tabor to the Methodists and are still here.
>

yes, that sensation is quite palpable, whether one is returning by rail, auto or bicycle. 

once I make it back to the Grove it is also one of those strong demotivators against leaving, even for brief intervals.  I have come to reaslise that it's better to get shopping and errands done during the week when I'm out and about anyway, else I will find reasons to put them off and the task, however useful, doesn't get accomplished. 

>
> You've mentioned a wrangle over this historic bridge in the past
> I think. What's the story there?
>

it's an ongong tussle with the County Dept of Transportation, whose wish is that in the name of "progress" it should be knocked down and replaced with something bigger.  and better.  and, of course, modern (as a sop to us one of the more recent proposals did show a bridge with a bit of retro to its design). 

usually it comes up every 20 years or so; lately it's been happening a bit more often than that.  the current round of it hasn't quite gone away though we think we may have won yet another short term reprieve.