SilverRails.net

We found this place about five years ago when out on a Sunday tour.  It was autumn, our favorite time of the year for leisurely country drives down never before explored lanes and dirt roads.  It was a pastime we had always enjoyed when the sun was bright and the fall foliage was at its prime, or we might have just been bored with the day and wanted a change of view.
Doug was always the first to notice a shiny new tractor in someone's yard or maybe how neatly the rows of split wood had been stacked, ready to be brought indoors for the colder days that lay ahead.  Gardens were always colorful this time of year, hardy mum's added splashes of color and seemed to thrive in the frosty air.

We noticed the "For Sale" sign up ahead:  my eyes narrowed to the little stone dwelling perched on the hill in close proximity to the railroad tracks.  For some time we have harbored a dream of finding a retirement place where we could see and hear the trains every day.  On our third drive by, we took note of the realtor's number then headed straight home to make the call.
The house had been listed that day, and there was already an offer to purchase.  We made sure the realtor knew of our serious interest, incase the current offer didn't materialize.
Amazingly, and to our delight, the first offer fell through so to make a long story short, that day we became the proud and enthusiastic owners of that little stone house beside the tracks.

Five years have passed since that day and in the meantime we've completely gutted, rewired, insulated, installed new plumbing, replaced the roof, and put on an addition for more living space.  Some landscaping has been started, we've built a garage and a garden/machine shed, the barn has been shored up and an outdoor wood furnace has been installed.  Finally, in January 2010, we retired to our little house where we eagerly looked forward to seeing and hearing the trains pass by.

It is not a busy line with, at most, eight to ten passenger trains and just a few freight trains each day traveling on the single track.
Over the course of the past few years we've enjoyed watching them pass by the house as we worked on one project or another.  Doug, of course, waved to them all and a few of the engineers even tooted a "hello".  I, on the other hand, dreamily wondered if any of the passengers were headed to Toronto where they would board the "Canadian" for four days of being pampered as they journeyed through glorious countryside on their way to Vancouver or "ports" in between.

Monday through Friday, at precisely 6:45 a.m. the southbound VIA to Brockville sounds its horn which has a very friendly, great pitch, quintessentially the perfect sounding horn to be awakened to each morning.  On the other hand, Sunday through Thursday somewhere between 8:00 and 9:30 p.m. a southbound train rumbles through with the most dreadful sounding horn.  There is no escaping it and you just hold your breath until it passes.  When it does trundle by it startles the coyotes into yipping and howling to show their displeasure too.  Three hours later back it comes heading north with horns blaring.

On different occasions I have tried to capture the sound on my camera but somehow it foils my attempts.  There are no street lights where we live so the nights are pitch black unless there is a full moon to help us get our bearings.  In spite of stumbling in a large rut, having the tripod collapse, the batteries in the camera die from the bitter cold and nearly freezing to death myself, I persevered for several nights to no avail.  No sooner would I get inside and start removing my parka and boots than I would hear him wailing through.

Near the end of February I decided to take a thermos of coffee outside and wait the whole night if need be, if that was what it took to tape this phantom train.  About 11:00 p.m. I detected the familiar wailing a few crossroads away.  The night was cold, windy and starless as I set the camera on the tripod and waited.  When he finally did pass he was having one of his better horn days and it didn't seem too bad.  But, if you listen to the whole tape you can definitely hear the coyotes howling.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBxODukenI0       The quality isn't the greatest on this tape, it was pitch black when I took it and the wind was quite strong.  I've since found out that a simple cheap mike attachment would take care of most of the background noises.  Oh well, live and learn.  If you listen to the complete tape you can hear the  horn a second time as he crosses a little, barely used, dirt road a bit further down the line.