The Story Continues...

Now that you have had a few days to sit and wonder about the railroad track I showed you last week, I'll add one more thing to the mix: the train station just a few feet away from the unused track. Running in front of the platform is the current track that is now used in this town, which I mentioned briefly last time.

Let me say up front, I don't know for sure whether this is the original train platform or not - it didn't look like it could be the original. Currently, the structure holds an historical exhibit for the town with old photos and statistics. Even if it is not the station used when passenger trains used to travel this route, I think it is probably still a good representation. (I looked around but could not find out when this one was built.) Doesn't this look just like the platforms seen in countless black and white photos, from which politicians used to stump or friends and family used to wave goodbye - which is what caught my attention...

This train station is located pretty much in the geographic center of town, so it most likely became the center of town. Someone could stand along the railing and look out onto Main Street or the town park. Given the location, it was probably easily accessible to most residents; so, if there was a big event or an important announcement to make, what better place for such an occasion than the town train station?

I stood in the gravel lot, with the late-afternoon traffic passing by to my right, wondering what sort of events took place on this platform:

Did any celebrities travel this route?

Any town "birthdays" take place on this platform?

Or, any politicians that may have stood there with dreams of winning an election?

People in town probably no longer depend on the train like they did years ago: most residents have their own car for transportation; trucks probably transport whatever goods have to enter or leave town. Much like the one railroad track that parallels - and terminates - next to this train station, the building is, at least, representative of what life was probably like in this town 60 or 70 years ago...and makes you wonder what another 60 or 70 years will change.

That's the Golden Perspective...what's yours?