OldTroubador's blog post - Steel Rails and Asphalt

Rivers and canals were the first superhighways
Horseback and wagon taking it home on the by-ways
In the 1800’s, they laid the first rail
To fill up the stores, bring in the mail.
For a hundred plus years was rail’s first golden age
Then Ike built us highways, turn a new page
Ribbons of concrete and asphalt for hauling the loads
Large cities, small towns, the coasts connected by roads
Time passed, demand grew, the roads they got bigger
Losing passengers and freight, the rails suffered from rigor
The 60’s and 70’s nearly sounded the death knell
The ref counted to ten, then almost rang the bell
But now is the time for rail’s next golden age
Trucks and trains work together, turn a new page
Trucks bring it to railheads to be loaded on trains
Cars, lumber, and paper; coal, cotton, and grains
Overseas containers, all ride double stack
Road trailers on flatcars riding piggy back
At the end of the line, they’re unloaded and then
In ride the truckers to haul them again
Men driving the freight out on the right of way
Working through dark of night and light of day
In competition and sometimes together
Bringing it to you through all manner of weather
Pulling up granite grades
Drifting down hills of basalt
Bringing home the bacon
On steel rails and asphalt

I have gone into the railyards myself a few times to drop off and pick up trailers. The work at an intermodal facility is ongoing controlled chaos. Road trucks entering and leaving, all of us lost too, yard tractors hustling, huge cranes deftly and gently placing containers on railcars and road rails. How all this is kept straight, where everything is located, how equipment shows up at just the right time is a ballet of large machines dancing across a stage thousands of acres in extent. It is an amazing process. I have been to the yards in Chicago, Kansas City, Memphis, and St. Paul. I have entry passes for BNSF, Union Pacific, and Norfolk Southern yards. Yes, there is fierce competition between the two modes, but, working together, they provide economical solutions to logistics across the country. If the freight is not time sensitive, then rail is definitely the way to move freight across the land. I personally have given up some long distance loads to the trains. But, for the loads involved, it was the best way to go.
I have also had a closer experience with the trains. No, the Freebird never dented the front end of one. It happened at a paper mill in Virginia one night. As the loading of my truck finished, the local train crew was retrieving and spotting cars at the same mill. Truck traffic came to a halt, as the tracks went across the driveway. The switchman was standing by my rig with his radio, waiting to give me the all clear. As soon as he received it, he waved me on. I hollered down to him,”Could you ask the engineer to blow the horn as I go by?” I was told yes, and I heard the switchman talking to the hostler on his brick. As I drove past the lead engine, two long blasts sounded. Knowing a bit about ‘horn talk’ I gave the same in reply. I was answered by one final long horn, and again, I responded in kind. I know I was smiling large as I left; I hope the engineer was too. It was a special moment, two opposing modes of freight, reaching across through the darkness, greeting each other and wishing safe travels to the other.