The way out to the Wal*Marts was smooth sailing, but as we drove back into town we noticed a strange traffic backup. Okay, it’s a train, no problem. We couldn’t see the actual train crossing the tracks, but off to our right, across what would someday be a corn field, we could see the train, and it wasn’t moving.
We sat and waited for it to start moving, but it didn’t. After about 5 minutes and 5 cars giving up and turning around, we turned around too. We got back into Seward from the west, but the train was blocking highway 34 as well. Turning north, we found the locomotive parked in front of Hughes Brothers.
No idea why it was stopped, but at least we could get around it. I took Lauren home and went back to get a picture of the engine, because that would make a better post.
While I was taking the picture, the train started moving. Backwards. It was then that it hit me. It was a coal train. It should have been heading west. It was heading north. Someone must have given the engineer bad directions to Wyoming. Oops.
Brad says
I wonder where the turn was. Do you suppose it backed up all the way? Don’t railyards have some kind of spinny thing that turns trains around? I think I saw that on Thomas the Train once.
lsommerer says
They are working on our train spinning thing at the moment. Without it, they would have to backup about a mile.
Lauren says
Lauren had to go home due to intestinal distress, in case you were wondering. (You probably weren’t.)