The Coal Train Rumbles by Sturgeon Falls

One of the things to think about trains is that modern society probably wouldn't have happened without them.  They are a fairly efficient means of shipping goods long distance over a vast land mass.  I realize that ships are more efficient, but it is kind of difficult to get a ship from say Kansas to California.

The next time you see a train, think of all the stuff that is carrying for either the production of other goods or manufactured goods for sale. 

 In this case, we have the CSX engine and it would be carrying coal.  The real version would likely be carrying this coal from West Virginia to one of the steel mills that dot the Midwest.  Given where I think Sturgeon Falls would be, this is likely a train carrying from West Virginia to Gary, Indiana.  Although in reality, that train would be a little further south in Northern Indiana. 

 This could also potentially be carrying coal to one of the inland power plants.  Even though many of Michigan's power plants are serviced by ships, there are a few that can't be serviced by ships or get supplemented by train shipments.

 Typically one of these trains would have more cars than shown here but I don't have the space for that, so I'll be content to pretend.

 Just a closeup of the engine from my favorite angle.

 And since I had the camera out and the train was relatively accessible, I took pictures of my Union Pacific engines.  In this case, they would be loading grain from the silo I don't have yet.

 So the train sits in the yard waiting. 

And a shot from my favorite angle.  I'm tempted to get brave and start weathering these so they look more realistic.  I mean, you never see an engine this pristine in the field.  I'm also going to add a little more terrain.  And the grain elevator will be in progress at some point.