Crossings
When most of the railroads were built in this country, between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they were the main arteries of cities and the focal points of towns. Harvard professor and author John Stilgoe dubbed railroads the “Metropolitan Corridor” for their ability to bring so much cosmopolitan influence to their farthest, remotest regions. Nearly every line had at least one pair of local passenger trains everyday, which carried not only people but also mail and express packages on schedules that would still be competitive with Fedex 747s and delivery trucks. In many towns, the arrivals of those trains were the high points of the day.
Now, even as freight trains gain market share and states clamor for high-speed rail funding, most Americans have no direct interaction with the railroad. The local passenger trains stopped running decades ago and the small-town stations have closed and disappeared, replaced by bold “No Trespassing” signs in the wake of national security and domestic litigation concerns. Railroad crossings remain as barely noticed points of intersection between these public and private worlds.