On a train

I love trains. When I went to work for the old PennCentral (later part of Conrail), I was the fourth generation in my family to work for the railroad. If my mother is to be believed (and she is, and since she's no longer with us she's pretty hard to argue with), I was conceived on a train. I have railroads in my blood.

As a special treat, Amy got us discounted tickets on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway. After Kennedy's soccer game, we loaded up Titi Amy, Tio Dan, Kennedy, and Kai and headed north for a train ride through the valley.

Things have sure changed in this beautiful valley since that day in 1969 when the seriously polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire, a fire ironically started by a spark from a passing freight train. (That fire by the way was the inspiration for Earth Day.)

The river and the valley have been cleaned up. Hundreds of miles of bike and hiking trails follow old railbeds and the towpath for the old Eire Canal. The CVSR follows the route of the original railroad that helped bring an end to the Eire Canal.

One of the cool things about the CVSR is the Bike 'n Ride option. They have a special car with special attendants so bikers can take their bikes on the train to various trailheads along the route. For $3 you can take the train to whatever trailhead, get off, ride, and either ride back to your car or for $3 more catch the train back. On this Saturday afternoon there were a bunch 'o bikers. I can't imagine how many there will be and how crowded this train will be in a month when all the fall colors are out.

We don't have trains in Puerto Rico anymore. There used to be trains to haul sugar cane and they added passenger service to get people from "la isla" to San Juan. But no more. I miss the sound of trains, the feel of trains. This was a great adventure for me and to share with our grandkids. I absolutely loved it!