D: Downtown Train

Tom Waits released the song Downtown Train in 1985, but Rod Stewart's 1989 #3 hit cover version is the one most of us remember. (Depending on how you feel about Mr. Stewart, you are either humming the song right now or cursing me for putting it in your head.)


Fort Collins has its own downtown trains--freight, not passenger--that rumble through on a daily basis. For safety reasons, they are slow, and their horns are loud enough to crumble masonry. They impede vehicle and pedestrian traffic at the least convenient times of day, including noon, rush hour, and whenever I have somewhere important to be and/or have to pee. (Why yes, it is all about me. Thanks for asking.) On a somber note, the trains have also been involved in tragic losses of life and limb.

Still, whenever I am on foot downtown and hear the train coming, I hurry to a spot where I can watch it pass.

(I don't know who that guy is. Cute dog, though.)



Oh, and here's Tom:

Comments

liz young said…
Love Tom Waits - not so keen on rod Stewart! Nice post.
I really like the Bob Seger version of that song.
Catherine Stine said…
Hiya
I used to work down near Union Station in Denver. That was before all of the renovation. I have many cool memories of it. I used to love Tom Waits, and Ricky Lee Jones. I even saw Tom in concert once. My tastes run more to alt rock these days. I'm over from A to Z. I think I'm #1144 (Catherine Stine's Idea City) if you want to stop by. Cheers!
Shaun said…
That is one badass train. So wish i had something like that running though my town.
Many thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. Will be following your blog through this challenge and beyond.
Shaun
Valleys ShutterBug
K.T. Hanna said…
Love that train. We don't have many running around here. I miss them from Australia and Germany.

Thank you for sharing this - and I had no idea the Rod Stewart version was a cover!
M said…
Thanks for visiting my blog. I was in Fort Collins on the way to dropping my son off for college in Colorado Springs...by way of a lot of sight seeing first. And yes, I do enjoy the songs in my head now...
Happy A-Z April!
Kate said…
We don't have anything like your train going through town. It must be quite majestic to see. From my bedroom window I can see the freight trains passing by. Whenever I hear one I have to glance out the window and look at it.

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