By Mike VanBuren
From the Early August 2014 North Woods Call
Many years ago, when I lived and worked in the Antrim County community of Mancelona, I often walked at night in an effort to relax my mind and think.
Many times, I trekked along the Michigan Northern Railroad line, stepping from tie-to-tie, scuffing along in the cinders, or balancing on one of the heavy steel rails. It was good therapy that reminded me of my childhood explorations of the old Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw tracks near our home.
I sometimes imagined following the rails across America, through the rural countrysides and urban areas, and actually thought that one day I would take such an extended hike. But, as it often does, life and work got in the way and this remains one of the unfulfilled dreams on my “bucket list.”
My fascination with railroads comes naturally, of course, because both my father and grandfather were railroad men—the former a locomotive engineer and the latter a hostler. I was a railroader myself—a locomotive fireman—for several months after I graduated from high school, until I became weary with the regular layoffs, and was pulled away by college and other pursuits.
I have long thought about railroads from a conservation perspective, as an environmentally friendly way to move freight and passengers. One of my college professors once claimed that rails were better than blacktop, because a set of tracks take up much less space per mile than the typical interstate highway favored by modern trucks and automobiles.
That sounded reasonable to a 20-year-old bachelor of science student at a state-funded university, but some transportation experts say trains present their own set of problems.
Not surprisingly, the American Railroad Association (ARA) says there are plenty of ecological benefits to railroads, which the organization says have a unique ability to reduce highway gridlock, lower fuel consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut pollution.
In 2013, for example, railroads reportedly moved a ton of freight 473 miles on a single gallon of fuel. According to an independent study by the Federal Railroad Administration, railroads are on average four times more fuel efficient than trucks.
If just 10 percent of long-distance freight that currently moves by highway switched to rail, the ARA says, national fuel savings would approach one billion gallons per year and annual greenhouse gas emissions would fall by more than 10 million tons.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, says that freight moved by rail instead of highway is estimated to reduce emissions by two-thirds.
Furthermore, a single freight train can carry the load of several hundred trucks, freeing up space on the nation’s overcrowded highways and reducing pressures to build and maintain costly roads.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, passenger trains can efficiently move large numbers of people in comfort and safety—and at higher speeds—than are possible with other ground transportation options. More energy savings and reduced air pollutant emissions may be possible through development of high-speed rail systems, the agency says.
Critics insist that the biggest environmental threat produced by trains is the amount of carbon dioxide they emit, although the “carbon footprint” left by a train, compared to an automobile, depends on how many passengers are using it. A train full of passengers leaves a significantly smaller carbon footprint per capita than a car with just one person.
It is also said that, though trains are more fuel efficient than cars, they still consume a tremendous amount of non-renewable fuel each year. They can disrupt local ecosystems by interrupting migration patterns, destroying habitat and even killing animals attempting to cross the tracks. And railroads are often built with little or no consideration of the local flora and fauna, the critics say.
Then there is noise pollution, which often reaches dangerously high decibel levels that can irritate and stress both humans and animals.
There sometimes seems to be no perfect solution to our environmental problems short of exterminating the human race and giving the planet back to the apes. But more intentional use of railroads could probably help a lot.
My father has often lamented the steady demise of railroads, which were at their historical peak when he was growing up. I feel the same way and would much prefer to travel by rail than by plane—if trains could just get me where I’m going on time.
But maybe that’s the real problem with our society. We’re in far too much of a hurry.
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