The Old Man Who Waves at Trains

There's an old man in my town who waves at every passing train from a lawn chair beside the tracks. He's been doing it for years. Engineers blow the horn back at him.

I finally stopped one afternoon and asked him why. He told me he'd worked for the railroad for forty years as a signalman, and he missed the trains when he retired. "So I come say hello," he said. "They say hello back."

He introduced me to the 3:15 freight, the 4:40 passenger, and the 5:05 that "always runs late, bless it." Each time a train came, the horn blew twice, and he waved his cap.

I bring my son there sometimes now. He waves too. The engineers wave back at both of them. My son thinks that old man is the most important person in town. He might be right.