Trains are not your average get-us-from-point-A-to-point-B transportation. They're often mythologized -- the romance of the rails, the historic Harvey Girls, the wide-open adventure -- even while they remain an everyday part of many lives.
And in a world where everyday things tend to lose an aura of fantasy and fun, that's major. The romance of trains, and their chugga-chugga, work-work realities, will be celebrated on National Train Day, which is happening on Saturday, May 7.
It's a free event that's going down in several major cities, including our own major city. Oh, and look how helpful; turns out that one of the world's great train stations happens to be located downtown.
Union Station will be the scene for historic rail car tours, and kid crafts, and mind-growing exhibits, K-9 demos and looks at high-speed rail. Model train buffs will have much to enjoy, as will those who have to know how all the gears and cranks and railmabobs work on trains.
(We realize that "railmabob" isn't a technical term, but we're hoping to become further educated about train equipment during the day.)
It's free, and it is on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Just let the boss know you may not be in Monday, if you happen to hop a train to Omaha, or Albuquerque, on the spur of the moment. What with all that romance filling you up. It happens.
