Stop Hey, What's that Sound?

 "Stop Hey, What's that sound?  Everybody look what's going on..." 

Stopped train of 100+ box cars

Almost every day I drive parallel trains as they travel alongside the Mississippi River.  Many a day I also note trains waiting for another train to pass in the opposite direction.

 Changes are taking place on the rail right before our very eyes.  The change is in what these trains are transporting and I can tell you the cargo has changed.  

Tankers as far as the eye can see...

As I waited at a railroad crossing yesterday,  it was alarming to see the large number of  box cars filled with the special sand that's being 'fracked' and then tank car after tank car going the other way that at one time transported corn oil now being tankers filled with crude oil.

This is a big deal.  Why?  Because although the Keystone pipe line hasn't been completely rejected, the bulk of oil is being transported now by train across our country.  The rail traffic is becoming so congested that an additional track is being built in our area.  These trains run not only through our neighborhoods but also through   wildlife refuges, here specifically the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Government issued a warning saying that the crude oil from North Dakota is more flammable than traditional types of crude oil.  And we should heed this safety warning as accidents have been occurring. In the past 6 months there have been two major derailments : one in Canada where 47 people lost their lives and the other in South Dakota with a very toxic explosion. This makes everything "perfectly clear" we can't sit idly by as our communities are at risk. Click on this link with 2 videos :   The Latest Train Derailment.

Casseltown S.D.'s recent explosion

Towns need to make ordinances re: train cargo and have plans in place for an inevitable disaster possibility in the meanwhile.

 The lyrics of the past tend to lend themselves to whatever protest we need to confront. Even if it's the sound of the rail...

Stop, Hey What's that Sound?