A little background on my train fetish can be found at Tracks Of The Past.
The other day I stepped back into my childhood in the physical sense, albeit for just awhile. Mentally, I spend a lot of time there, savoring some memories, seething over others, thinking of writing about them, good or bad, but rarely do I replay a part of the past outside of my head and again enjoy childish acts. But, on Sunday, I did so. I revisited the train tracks alongside Alexandria’s Ben Brenman Park with a plan. While I usually loiter about the tracks, trying to catch a photo of a good sky or listen for approaching trains, all the while keeping Lucy from continuing on with her walk, this Sunday I came ready with a pocketful of pennies, each destined for the rails.
Veering off of the wide, paved path that runs parallel to the tracks, I crossed a short piece of field, then followed the worn path through a few yards of thicket that leads to the crushed-stone ballast cradling the tracks. Not to be left out of the task at hand, Lucy agreed to stand guard and look out for oncoming trains. A very important job for obvious reasons.
To help find the coins, once transformed, I carefully placed them, 14 in all, atop four rails, 10 ties apart. I spaced them along the shiniest part of the rail, the part that looked to bear the brunt of the tons of weight. Only a few hours longer would have brought results, as the Cardinal, on its way from Chicago to New York, would be the next passenger train to come through, but that was a little too long as we had already been out for awhile in the heat and humidity. So, home we went.
Come Monday morning, too impatient to wait for an evening walk at the tracks, we took Lucy there for her morning walk and excitedly started the hunt for pennies. Some traveled far, a few feet or so, while others laid by the rails…
The fruits of my labor. Of 14 coins, 10 were retrieved. Not bad.
Only a few were recognizable, and while some were bright and shiny, others looked charred, possibly something picked up from the track or the wheels.
So, the past was revisited and although I wasn’t crouched in front of the train station being shooed by the conductor as happened years ago, all in all, it was a cool experience, just as happened years ago…
Lucy!!!!! Get away from those train tracks right now!!!!!
I remember doing that when I was a kid…more recently, I lived in a place with a housemate who’d kept this pumpkin out way too long after Halloween. So, when day when she came home, I had to tell her it got run over by a train. Of course she just HAD to ask how the pumpkin got on the tracks in the first place…
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oh wow. I love the pennies. We were in Hartford recently at the kids science museum and they have this mini-howitzer that fires pennies into some kind of kryptonite or something. . . we destroyed about 50 pennies that day. They actually get shredded from the force. I wonder why they have this at a kids museum? Please be careful on the tracks. . . trains travel more quietly and run faster than when we were kids. I mean I think they’re quieter, my hearing isn’t worse and I’m not moving any slower. Am I?
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“Crouched under the train station being shooed by the conductor”… hhhmmm…. for some reason…that sounds nostalgic…almost romantic!!! hahaha!!! :)
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This is a Holly we don’t know much about yet – the Holly that plays dangerously with trains! Thank goodness for Lucy’s sharp ears, eh? Must admit, the pennies look cool :)
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Hi drjay. There are three or four sets of tracks here, and Lucy always pulls to cross to the other side. Turns out there’s a small (and rather icky) creek there—she’s lookin’ for a quick dip. And did you really lug a pumpkin to the tracks? You know, that is very David Letterman, and I hope you stuck around for the show. Now look what you’ve done—I’m wantin’ to put fruit on the tracks…
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Hi Koe. Hmmm, I know what you mean about the gun. They could’ve at least disguised it as Barney or Kermit spittin’ pennies, right? Yeah, at the slightest sound of an oncoming train, we’re outta there—the noise scares Lucy. Yes, Koe, just keep repeating, “My hearing is fine and I’m as quick as ever.” :o)
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Hi Charity. Yes, it is definitely a piece of nostalgia…and romantic? Maybe, the old train station and all. Not so much my crouching, though…yikes. :o)
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Hi Svasti. Actually, I’m a huge chicken…afraid of my own shadow. And your comment reminds me that I still haven’t finished my damn About page. Thanks…really!
What a special post to read on a really hot day, the kind of day that actually makes me woozy and spacey and dreamy, the kind of day where reading this was all it took to travel back to watching the trains travel through downtown Reno. My mother would tell us about how kids used to put pennies on the tracks when she was a kid – but my sister and I never did it.
Your description of the excursion, the planning, Lucy’s help was beautiful and nostalgic, and the shots of the pennies are truly magic. If they don’t bring you good luck I can’t imagine what could. :)
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That was such a treat! Yes, I did that too as my grandparents lived pretty close to a train track and while we waited, we counted cars. But now that I see the flattened ovals…I want to MAKE something with those little treasures!!
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Hi Holly,
Great tale. In the UK there are so many trains that tracks are effectively out of bounds – you can’t get near them at all.
The pennies look amazing.
Cheers
PM
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I’ve stepped back into my own childhood while reading your post. It’s like I’ve read one of my favourite short tales, it’s suggesting and, as someone has mentioned above, nostalgic. This is the way I like the stories to be.
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Holly, I am chuffed to bits that you followed up your story and went and put some pennies on the track. It’s fascinating to see how they are changed, some are wiped almost completely clean…and your skill in finding just the right, shiniest part of the track really speaks of a childhood experience. As Plastic Mancunian says it just would not be at all safe in the UK to try this – trains fly past every couple of minutes or so and kids do get killed regularly on the tracks. I guess it’s good we have so many trains even if the system is pretty chaotic. Sigh. So anyway, no squished pennies for me.
Having sad that, oh how I would LOVE to try a pumpkin. That would make a great little youtube film.
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Hi Lydia and thanks so much. I’m glad my story brought back some memories of your own. So you also grew up close enought to trains to hear them…I don’t know about you, but I still don’t mind them. And luck from these pennies would be a bonus!
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Hi willoaksstudio. How neat, a fellow…uh, I don’t know what we’re called…penny trackers? Anyways, I thought these might make a nice pair of earrings…definitely some sort of jewelry.
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Hi PM and thanks. Glad you like the souvenirs. My only thought as to why these tracks are so accessible is that they’re only a mile or so away from a station and trains usually crawl through this area. Just an assumption, though. I know it’s probably against some sort of rules to be on them, but you know how kids are. ;o)
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Hi Secret forest and glad you liked my piece of nostalgia. Thanks for stopping by, too!
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Hey Bird. I’m glad you liked my antics because I had a fun time with it. I can definitely understand keeping clear of busy tracks, though, as they’re nothing to play around with. When I take the train to visit family, it’s a 10-hour ride, mostly through depressed mountain areas, and sometimes people’s homes are only yards from the tracks. That’s scary! I should post some pics sometime…
What a fun activity that would be great to share with kids too so they can see how to flatten pennies. You can do this at the zoo or amusement parks in one of those machines, but this is much cooler!
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