Long Canadian Pacific trains bring a small town's busy Main Street to a standstill each day

A westbound Canadian Pacific train makes its way into Jackman, Maine.
(Photo by Linda Coan O’Kresik, Bangor Daily News)

In Jackman, Maine, drivers waiting to cross Main Street can spend 30 minutes idling as Canadian Pacific Kansas City trains pass through the heart of town. Daniel O’Connor for The Maine Monitor reports, "More than 3,000 cars and trucks pass through the railroad crossing every day."

Doubling as U.S. Route 201, Jackman's Main Street and the railroad that divides it connects Quebec with "southern Maine and the rest of the Northeast," O’Connor explains. "Trains passing through town sometimes exceed 200 railcars, stretching for more than two miles in length. . . .That’s longer than 90% of North American freight trains operated by companies like CPKC." Some of the wait time can be blamed on aging rail lines and increased traffic.

Jackman, Maine, is 16 miles from the Canadian
border. (Northern Outdoors map)

Locals tried to avoid Main Street during the hours when trains were scheduled to cross, but train schedules varied too much. Waits can be extended when an international border scanner, which checks trains for illegal goods from Canada, notifies Customs and Border Protection that additional scanning is needed.  

For Jackman residents and Route 201 travelers, the long and unpredictable daily train waits are frustrating and pose a potential danger. O'Connor explains, "With the town split in half for part of the day and ambulances on one side of the track, trains could delay responses during an emergency."

Maine’s border shares seven rail crossings with Canada, but Jackman’s border crossing "is the only one to see a clear increase in shipping year-over-year," O'Connor reports.

CPKC has made rail improvements to "upgrade the rails in the area since it acquired the route in 2020, but said border security caused slowdowns in Jackman," O'Connor adds. "Many in town seemed to accept that the long trains were just part of life up north."

Quick hits: Appalachian brooms; soap science; school lunches on tour; summer train traveling; escaping the heat

Cynthia Main makes handmade brooms, Appalachian style.
(Sunhouse Craft photo via the Yonder)

When a talented crafter with an entrepreneurial bent got busy making handmade brooms, a new sustainable business in Appalachia was born. "Rural arts programs helped Eastern Kentucky maker Cynthia Main develop Sunhouse Craft, a sustainable business with an Appalachian sense of place," reports Kim Kobersmith of The Daily Yonder. "Main is driven by sustainability and community. With larger revenues, she can pay her small staff a living wage and offer her restored historic storefront as a community gathering space, while moving closer to her goal of developing a 100% local supply chain."

Pioneering women of the 1800s spent grueling hours over a fire making soap every spring. Sounds horrible, but soap itself is somewhat of a miracle. "The discovery of soap dates back approximately 5,000 years, to the ancient city of Babylon in what is today the country of Iraq," writes Paul E. Richardson for The Conversation. "Although billions of people use soap every day, most don’t know how it works. As a professor of chemistry, I can explain the science of soap. . . Soap molecules come together and surround the grime on your hands. The water-loving heads of the soap molecules are on the surface, with the water-fearing tails inside the micelle. This structure traps the dirt, and running water washes it all away."

 

Philadelphia children eating a 'three-cent dinner' at school.
(Science History Institute photo via Smithsonian)

Since the late 1800s, Americans have been arguing over kids' school lunches, but beyond the controversies, the topic offers an interesting look at the U.S. diet. "A new exhibition in Philadelphia spotlights the evolution of American nutritional health through a unique lens: the school cafeteria," reports Sonja Anderson for Smithsonian magazine. "Medical inspections revealed that schoolchildren were malnourished. Many had scurvy or rickets, diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies. . . . Philadelphia and Boston became two of the first cities to offer meals to public school students in 1894. According to a statement from the museum, the exhibition features a tiny aluminum token from 1909, which a Philadelphia child would have used to purchase a 'penny lunch' at school."

A California Zephyr trip is chockablock with scenic
views. (Amtrak photo)

Summer is a time for growing gardens, hiking, swimming, dodging mosquitoes, slathering on sunscreen, and, if you're lucky, taking a long vacation. "Here's how one writer used the $500 Amtrak rail pass to criss-cross the U.S. over the course of one month," writes McConnell Quinn for Condé Nast Traveler. "Unlike planes, where everyone stays in their bubble, trains are oddly social — a rotating cast of characters and glimpses into lives I’d never otherwise encounter. With the USA Rail Pass, I crossed the country three times in 30 days. . . I watched the Pacific creep into view on the Coast Starlight, rode the California Zephyr through the Rockies at sunset, and drifted to sleep somewhere in Texas on the Sunset Limited."

July's heat is surely coming, and for those of us with limited air conditioning options, planning where you will go to keep from baking -- beyond grocery store freezer aisles -- is a priority. One of the all-time favorite spots for escaping heat and humidity is movie theaters. AMC theaters must know they are part of some people's melting prevention plans because "beginning July 9, the movie theater chain will offer 50% off adult movie tickets on Wednesdays for those part of the AMC Stubs rewards program," reports Ramishah Maruf of CNN News. 

Summer is also a time for great reads. It could be on a beach, by the pool, in the grass with your horse or any number of amazing places to chill out and read. Not sure which book to kick off your summer escape? Try one from this list of books that will be made or have already been released as 2025 movies. Wilson Wong of The New York Times writes, "Here are some of the thrillers, romances, sci-fi page turners and detective novels coming soon to a screen near you. This is a running list. Check back for more updates as the year goes on."

"The first novella in the Murderbot Diaries series, 'All Systems Red,' follows a security android that secretly hacks its own operating system, allowing it to think and act independently," Wong writes. "But when an expedition goes strangely awry, resulting in several scientists’ deaths, the robot must help the humans in its own unit unravel the mystery before a similar tragedy befalls them." Murderbot premiered on Apple TV+ on May 16.

Quick hits: Hop on a historic train; new farming trilogy; free immigration resources for journalists; Big Foot sightings

Cumbres & Toltec Railroad riders enjoy being 'lifted'
137 feet high on the High Cascade Creek Trestle.

As summertime vacation beckons, consider boarding a historical train and chugging through parts of North America you've never explored. "Railroads revolutionized transportation in North America, permanently accelerating the pace of travel across the continent," reports Michael Harmon of The New York Times. "Today, many of those railroad tracks host an assortment of historic excursion trains, inviting riders to slow down and enjoy a grand day out." The Skunk Train, the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, and The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad are all spectacular picks.

When young people leave home, they often see life through the lens of their upbringing. For author Jane Brox, that lens is generations of family farming in Dracut, Mass. Brox added a third book to complete her trilogy, In the Merrimack Valley, which celebrates early immigrant dreams, farm routines that enrich daily life, and all that is gained and lost when young adults set out into the world. Danny Heitman for The Wall Street Journal writes, “Brox created a multipart work that is more broadly about the nature of origins — what we might owe to the places where we started. Even and, perhaps, especially when we leave them."

Reversing a previous decision, the Trump administration "temporarily reinstated dozens of fired federal workers who help screen coal miners for black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust," reports Maxine Joselow of The Washington Post. "The screening program offers contracts to radiologists across the country who are certified to evaluate X-rays for black lung. It also employs epidemiologists who recently concluded that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia has black lung — the highest level recorded in 25 years."

The Immigration Reporting Legal Guide is a free resource developed by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to help journalists navigate coverage of the complex web of federal and state entities that make up the American immigration system. The guide divides the topic into three parts: Immigration-related public records, how to access immigration proceedings and and details about journalists' rights to observe and record immigration enforcement officers on the ground. The guide is available in English and Spanish. There's also an extensive collection of free legal resources.

Spring and summer can be glorious times for hiking, fishing and taking nature walks. But sometimes, uninvited buzzing guests such as wasps and yellow jackets come along on warmer-weather adventures and sting humans -- often for unexplained reasons. And while no anti-sting plan is foolproof, Ashley Leath of Country Living has a few suggestions.

• Don't swat at wasps. Swatting tells a wasp to release pheromones that will trigger other nearby wasps to see you as a threat, exactly what you don’t want to happen.
• To prevent wasp nest building, try putting up a fake wasp nest. Wasps are territorial and don't like waspy neighbors.
• Don't remove a large yellow jacket nest on your own. They can sting more than once. Call a professional.
• To remove a smaller yellow jacket nest, read here.

Mysterious, massive and yet strangely elusive, Big Foot remains a North American legend with hundreds of sightings by locals, tourists and scouts paired with an equal number of people who are outspokenly skeptical Sasquatch exists. Beyond the argument, a separate exploration has formed which asks why some people want to believe that strange and unlikely creatures lurk just out of plain site. Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder writes, "I’m more interested in exploring why mysterious wildlife inspires obsession and fanaticism, and what it says about the American environmental psyche."

     
         Map by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder, from Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization data

East Palestine's controlled chemical burn in 2023 spread pollutants to at least 16 states, new study shows

Norfolk Southern's controlled burn spread chemicals
to surrounding states. (Adobe Stock photo)

In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to an explosion and a toxic vinyl chloride spill. The subsequent controlled burn, which was intended to prevent further explosions, created a plume that spread air pollutants to at least 16 states, according to research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, Zack Budryk of The Hill reports. The cloud "reached as far north as New England . . . according to researchers from the University of Wisconsin. They found the overall radius spanned more than 540,000 square miles."

Researchers studied soil samples before and immediately after the spill to evaluate the burn's reach. "They found evidence of high chloride concentration in states including Virginia, South Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as particularly high concentrations near Canada's border with New York, an area downwind of the crash site," Budryk explains. 

The chemical plume may have also changed precipitation pH levels in surrounding areas. "Researchers found unprecedentedly high, or more basic, pH values across a broad belt in the Midwest and Northeast," Budryk reports. "They also found elevated alkaline and earth metals levels, in some cases within the 99th percentile of measurements for the last decade."

The study's lead researcher, David Gay, said, "All of these pollutants are important in the environment because their accumulation has an impact on the Earth's aquatic and terrestrial environments in many ways."

In March 2024, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, testified at a Senate hearing that the deliberate burn was not necessary because there was no risk of additional explosions.

A year after the East Palestine derailment, some residents have not returned home, and others report health problems

The site of the East Palestine train derailment.
(Photo by Cara Owsley, The Enquirer via USA Today)

More than a year has passed since the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, left the unsuspecting community of 5,000 living in the aftermath of a hazardous chemical explosion and its mitigating "controlled chemical burn." Many residents believe their lives are forever changed because of toxic exposure during and after the disaster.

Five days after the accident, Ohio officials announced that it was safe for residents to return home. "But five families who spoke to The Cincinnati Enquirer . . . just before the one-year anniversary say they're still dealing with health problems," reports Elizabeth B. Kim of The USA Today Network. Despite the lack of scientific studies tying the derailment's toxic spill to long-term health problems, "relocated families are still experiencing symptoms and foot many of their medical bills without help from the railroad or the government. They don't consider their East Palestine homes to be safe, and they're worried that moving back will worsen their symptoms."

Financial help from Norfolk Southern ends on Feb. 9 for families who relocated to other areas. "Some of the symptoms families say they face are chronic, and others are acute, appearing suddenly after a short period of time spent in one's home," Kim writes. "Christa Graves, 49, has had migraines before, but they increased in frequency from weekly to daily starting last February. . . . While Norfolk Southern offered to relocate people living within a mile of the derailment site, Graves lives 1.2 miles away. The railroad denied her request for relocation assistance, and her family has been unable to move out ever since."

Despite residents' reported health problems, the town's air and water have repeatedly passed quality testing. Anne Vogel, director of the Ohio EPA, said, "The agency is not planning to offer more residential air testing following those initial results," Kim reports. Ohio EPA "has also continued weekly sampling of the municipal water system since February 2023 and reported that no contaminants from the derailment have been detected."

Beyond ongoing health issues and expenses, families who have been unable to go home "described the crushing blow of losing their homes, sometimes passed down for generations," Kim reports. "Candy Kiehl still feels a strong connection to her East Palestine house despite feeling unconvinced that it's free of contamination." Kiehl told her: "That was my grandparents' house. That's where my mom passed away. That's where my dad passed away. But is it safe? I don't know."

U.S. rail gets an infusion of cash from Maine to Alaska; projects will include new or improved tracks in rural areas

Department of Transportation map via Route Fifty

Almost every state will receive federal money to build or improve its passenger rail, reports Daniel C. Vock of Route Fifty. "President Joe Biden, known for decades as the Senate's most loyal Amtrak passenger, unveiled his administration's vision for a more robust passenger rail network throughout the country, with more than $8 billion in funding for big-ticket projects and grants for better service in nearly every state." The administration has ignored criticism that many Americans don't use rail enough to warrant that amount of funding.

While many allotments will go to bigger cities, more rural areas will also glean new or improved tracks. "The administration will spend nearly $94 million to add capacity to Chicago's Union Station. . . $27 million to upgrade tracks used by Maine's Downeaster Amtrak route and $15 million to eliminate bottlenecks in Montana," Vock writes. "The so-called Corridor ID program’s planning grants include proposals to upgrade 15 existing rail routes, add or extend service on 47 new routes and develop seven new high-speed rail projects, according to the administration."

The administration is also pushing to "lay the groundwork for future passenger rail upgrades," Vock adds. "The Federal Railroad Administration is giving half a million dollars each to 69 projects in 44 states to help with planning for service expansions. . . . Some of the ideas — like restoring service through the southern tier of Montana — have been talked about for decades. Colorado is getting money to plan service along the Front Range, linking many of its major cities."

States can refuse the federal money, but those that accept it are more likely to have a history of passenger rail support, Mike Christensen, the executive director of the Utah Rail Passengers Association, told Vock. "The vast majority of proposals receiving funding have been preceded by years of grassroots organizing that ultimately culminated in the proposal."

Rail employees who flag safety concerns are often penalized or even fired, according to a new report

Train cars at a Denver facility.
(Photo by Eli Imadali, special to ProPublica)

Rail workers who report problems such as load defects, faulty brakes, malfunctioning valves or other dangers often face retaliation, including furloughs and terminations, report Topher Sanders, Jessica Lussenhop, Dan Schwartz, Danelle Morton and Gabriel Sandoval of ProPublica. "Railroad companies have penalized workers for taking the time to make needed repairs and created a culture in which supervisors threaten and fire the very people hired to keep trains running safely," according to the report. "Regulators say they can't stop this intimidation."

While train derailment may be the most dramatic breach of train safety, other dangerous close calls, including escaped train cars carrying flammable materials, are on a long list of problems train corporations don't report. "The government trusts the rail companies to fix the underlying problems on their own, to heed workers' warnings," according to the report. "But as railroads strive to move their cargo faster, that honor system, ProPublica found, is being exploited. To squeeze the most money out of every minute, the companies are going to dangerous lengths to avoid disruptions — even those for safety repairs."

To substantiate its story, ProPublica "examined 15 years’ worth of federal lawsuits against rail companies, interviewed hundreds of workers including managers, listened to hours of audio recorded by workers and pored over decades of regulatory, judicial, legislative and industry records," according to the report. "We identified 111 court cases where workers alleged they had been disciplined or fired after reporting safety concerns; nearly 60% ended in settlements with the companies. Three in recent years resulted in jury verdicts of over $1 million for fired workers."

Rail inspectors who flag safety concerns are dubbed "complainers" who slow everything down and decrease profits. Supervisors that let issues slide are rewarded, ProPublica reports. "[Rail companies] use performance-pay systems that effectively penalize supervisors for taking the time to fix hazards and that pressure them to quash dissent," according to the report. "As a result, trains with known problems are rolling from yard to yard like ticking time bombs, getting passed down the line for the next crew to defuse — or defer."

Rail employees punished or fired for reporting safety problems can turn to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for whistleblower protection, but the agency takes "so long to conclude investigations that many workers, tired of waiting months for rulings, remove their complaints and sue the companies instead," ProPublica reports. "Once that happens, OSHA has no legal authority to continue its investigation, barring the agency from exposing repeat bad actors or patterns in the industry’s abuse of whistleblowers."

Read the full investigation, including the lengths many rail employees have gone to keep trains safe and how the rail companies have responded.