Now here was a train! We were coming back from Staples, Minnesota in December 1979 on our way to Grand Forks on a cold snowy day with a full consist. In fact, we were called a mixed train. You can see a flat car or two with stacked lumber, tanker cars and boxcars with lots of other commodities. No ubiquitous train with just containers.
A trainmaster once told me many years ago that a boxcar had been put on a siding and forgot about. When they opened it 25 years later they were surprised to find it was full of 1949 Ford sedans. Believe it or not that’s how they shipped cars back in the day.
I know that container trains pay the rent but boy oh boy I just wish we could see some boxcars now and then. Maybe with a Herbie painted or drawn on the side. For those of you that don’t know what a Herbie is, let me know and I will see if I can find a picture of one and post it.