The story about the cats on the railroad tracks reminded me of two other stories involving train tracks. Make that three.
The first was a news story. Even back then you had to pay big bucks to get rid of a dead refrigerator. Somebody had not wanted to pay and parked their fridge on the train tracks. Of course, the train was going to fast and couldn't stop. It hit it and parts flew everywhere. It didn't do much damage to the freight train but it did cause an uproar in the town and in the paper.
The second incident was a friend of ours. I don't recall his last name but his first was David. He was an alcoholic. He was at times a backsliding alcoholic. This time he was totally drunk. He was speeding and stopped on the tracks and got out of his car to take a leak.
The cop caught up to him then. He peed on the cops shoe. You guessed it, he was quickly arrested. They left his car on the tracks while they hauled him to jail. He got six months in jail for drunk driving and making a public spectacle of himself.
After he was release they allowed him to have his license back but he had to have one those things that wouldn't let you start your car till you breathed into the thing to prove you were sober.
The third train track story was real scary. Diane and Ruby and I were on our way somewhere when traffic was halted in our lane. It took awhile before they let us go. I don't even know why our lane was closed because when we got to the overpass we could look down over the side and see the mangled up car the train had hit.
I was amazed that the driver had walked away from it because his car looked like an accordion. He was a young driver with a permit and was supposed to have someone with him but he didn't. I think he said he thought he could cross the tracks before the train got there but obviously, he couldn't.
We were always seeing teens climbing over parked trains at the crossings. It was very dangerous because you never knew when one would move and you'd get jerked off of it and maybe fall under the wheels.
I love trains but I know how dangerous they can be.
That's just the one at the museum.