my question is why the hell is a train going so fast through a densely populated area
Gallup NM is here because of trains. Settled in 1880 as a Westward Overland Stagecoach stop, it became a construction headquarters for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and was named for David L. Gallup, railroad paymaster. When railroad workers went to collect their pay, they said they were “going to Gallup,” and so the name remained. Mr. Gallup was a popular person on paydays....
There is a train through here on average approximately every 15 minutes. From what I have been told, the trains just passing through can continue at the speed limit, which I think is 65 mph. If the train stops, it can only proceed at 35 mph. I am sure there is more to that.
The Navajo and possibly the Zuni first Americans believe that if you stand in front of a train and jump away at the last moment then it will scare the evil skin walkers away.
Not long after my wife came here, we were driving home after dark. There was a stopped train with several police cars parked along the road next to the tracks. Several police men were searching in the ditch along the railroad with their flashlights. My wife asked me what they were looking for.
''The other half of the body.''
It happens. A lot of deaths would be avoided if folks would ask the city council to elevate the tracks. But then you will hear the city council screaming all the way to your house..
That would also put the ''has train horns damaged your hearing? Call us for your settlement'' lawyers out of business.