I recently had the good fortune to travel to Brenham in the Texas hill country for work. It is a small country town, German in origin, north west of Houston. The last time I traveled for work was in the UK, to grim industrial towns in England. This trip was much better with perfect spring weather in Texas (hot summer weather in UK).
I used to be terribly frightened of railroad crossings but since moving here, I have had to get used to them. Most of them around me have no barriers so the train uses the horn for miles – a sound I love. Sometimes on a quiet night I can hear them at night about 4 miles in the distance. Now I just stop briefly at the railroad and check there are no trains (not everyone stops…) The crossing above was right in the middle of the old section of town.
These train company names immediately bring nostalgic memories of old American movies and I dream of jumping on a wagon to travel across country.
Or at least I think it is abandoned – it is sometimes hard to tell out in the countryside. As I child I would have constantly been on these train lines imagining the destinations.
This is just one part of a very long train that had dozens of wagons. They sometimes are so long that it takes 20 minutes for one to pass.
As I was leaving the Super Walmart I noticed this field of bluebonnets, followed by red wildflowers and finally yellow. The sky was very overcast and it gave a surreal feel to the field. I attempted a photo watercolor below.
Postcards from Kerry 
This was amazing Kerry thanks for this article I love it!
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Glad you loved it – everyone loves trains!
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Oh you’re so welcome Kerry! I love trains! So good!
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Nice excursion. Love the field of bluebonnets and the watercolor
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Thank you, Joseph!
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You’re welcome
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💋
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Re the SANTA FE FREIGHT DEPOT — is that that in the same town where the Santa Fe High School shootings took place recently, or does the SANTA Fe in the photo refer to the name of the railroad? In any case, love the pix and your commentary.
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No, the Santa Fe shooting happened at a small town south east of Houston close to the water. This Santa Fe refers to the name of the railroad company. Thank you!
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Love the pics. Pictures remind me too of old movies. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Mmm! Was in Callander today. Passed Keltie Bridge caravan site. ☺️
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That brings back happy memories of Scottish hills. 🏴
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I always stop at railway crossings, even those with lights and barriers, much to the annoyance of people behind me. I was newly licensed driver when I saw an awful train car accident. It never left my mind. But I love train travel. On my bucket list is a trip on the Orient Express.
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That would make me anxious about rail crossings, too. I always fancied the Orient Express. The closest I got was a Hogwarts train from Vienna to Budapest…
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Very timely post. We’re taking the train tonight from Salt Lake City to Denver.
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Lucky you! I have yet to travel on an American train but would love to. What scenery you will see on that trip. K x
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Enjoyed reading, Kerry, thanks! 🙂
OT as to your request for a password to my blog(s): for a while I have canecelled any access to my blogs and set them to “private” until I can decide (how) to comply with the EU data-protection rules. As I’m travelling now, I don’t have the time to do that. Depending on whaat decision I come to, I’ll open the blogs again for everyone without a password or stop blogging altogether. Meanwhile, I’m not posting anything. So you won’t miss anything while you don’t have access. I hope you don’t mind then that I’m not sending a password. Sorry about the inconvenience.
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No problem at all, Pit. I noticed that WordPress has put a generic notice on my site which I assume is good enough? Perhaps I should think about it. Have fun traveling and look forward to hearing from you when you return.
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Love railways, in particular those abandoned and their related architecture – old station buildings, bridges etc. I’ve blogged before about the Texas border town of Langtry for its connection with Jersey’s Lillie Langtry who wrote about her visit there in 1904 – by train. The line has long since closed.
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That’s fascinating, Roy. I remember watching a series about Lillie Langtry in the 70s. El Paso, for example, was rather glamorous back in the day so I could understand why a celebrity would visit.
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You would love the city I live in which is literally surrounded by train tracks. There is no way in or out (save for the interstate and one overpass) without having to go through at least one crossing. I think they’re all gated now, but many of them weren’t when I was growing up (Some didn’t even have lights). Here, crossing an everyday fact of life, and the best way to get rear-ended is to stop and look for a train…… nobody does that (The trains still honk for miles even with the gates).
You would also love that a number of our crossings are near switches or are used by the local steel plants to move freight back and forth. This leads to many fun instances where the train is parked across the road for upwards of 5-10 minutes while the switch is thrown… and maybe just for fun will inch forward a bit, then back up, then move forward a bit, then….. yeah, we love our trains.
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That sounds like a perfect place! Our first two houses were next to rail lines. 🚂
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Love trains and train stations! The field of wildflowers is beautiful and what a lovely photo watercolour you made of it, I can easily imagine this to hang on a wall! 😄
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Thank you, Sarah! That compliment means a lot to me.
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Yup – I love trains too. I love trains all over the world but here I love the sound of the bells and horns – so evocative to a simple European on a big adventure!!
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Evocative is exactly right!
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Thanks, Kerry! We are sure having fun. Yesterday it was a walking tour of Cincinnati, today it’ll be bicycling on the Little Miamin Scenic River Trail.
Have a great Memorial Day,
Pit
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You, too, Pit.
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If the tracks are shiny, watch out!
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Never thought about that…LOL!
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😃
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Very interesting blog Kerry. You are so observant!
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Thank you so much, Liben. I am as curious as a cat and don’t believe the law of trespass applies to me…
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DO keep stopping at those crossings, for crying out loud. An early lesson I remember being drummed into me by my mother, at any of several unguarded crossings near us in rural Ohio. Stop, look listen. Maybe out there in Texas you have a long, clear view and can easily see nothing’s coming, but there’s no coming back for a do-over if someone miscalculates. Thanks for the look at some local color.
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We live in a sub-tropical forest in the south east of Texas, so no clear sights and long roads for the most part. Every so often there is a fatality but not as many as on our interstates.
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Brenham is an adorable town and you’ve captured it perfectly!
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Thank you so much, Nancy!
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Nice photos! In my quest to hit every single Texas county I’ve been to Brenham(Washington County). Did you grab some blue bell ice cream while you were there?
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Thank you! I didn’t get any ice-cream but I had some wine in a bistro. Does that count?
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