By Chris Barber

Trains share the month of May with many other days that get recognized at a national level. We found one lengthy and popular list that includes Salami Day and Cheese Pizza Day, among others. National Train Day, however, which was celebrated last Saturday, May 10, outshines them by miles—many miles, in fact.

This is why: On this date—May 10—in 1869, the U.S. marked the completion of the first transatlantic railroad. More specifically, the railroad tracks from the west finally joined the railroad tracks from the east in Summit, Utah. Crowds gathered to mark the event that day with the ceremonial hammering of a gold spike at the connection point.

There are many reasons to celebrate this day, even now, especially in the southeastern Pennsylvania region, where its residents watch the East Penn Railroad carry essential freight past them daily with its characteristic whistle at every road crossing. Rolling by in those cars are sugar for our Tastykakes, propane to heat our houses and corn for our crunchy potato chips.

If you need more incentives to mark the importance of Train Day, here are a few.

The first is that, as America grew, even from its very start, trains paralleled the nation’s growth and reflected its historic spirit year-by-year.

President Thomas Jefferson recognized the country’s destiny from the very beginning as he sent his explorers, Lewis and Clark, to investigate the western lands of the country by way of their water—the Missouri River. That big canoe trip is still known as “The Corps of Discovery.”

As these long-ago explorers traveled, they even had the courtesy to send a member of their crew back to Jefferson with a new animal they found along the way: a prairie dog.

Then, as trains were developed to bear those loads over the land rather than the water, they stepped in to enable the nation to move westward and develop even more.

The second is that the construction of the train bodies, which are huge, heavy, made of metal and challenging to construct, reflect the spirit of Americans to work hard to develop technology to overcome challenges.

From the very beginning of this nation, with the likes of Benjamin Franklin and other creative thinkers, Americans are characteristically obsessed with finding new ways of doing things.

Amazingly, the first trains even pre-dated the first cars. Along the way, the rail track construction workers, albeit low-paid immigrants, were able to put together a railroad bridge over the Mississippi River in 1856 and lay down tracks that made their way over the treacherous geography of the Rocky Mountains. And when those tracks met, they came together perfectly – west to east.

The cars didn’t show up until 1885.

The third reason we celebrate National Train Day is somewhat magical.

Trains, both passenger and freight, carry with them a charm that no other means of transportation has. People don’t take a “sentimental journey” on a helicopter, and Arlo Guthrie doesn’t sing that a Chevy is the nation’s “Native Son.”

Additionally, model trains and their sets historically have surpassed planes, cars, ships or and even rocket ships as the toy children never seem to outgrow as they get older. Many adults still have their old trains, and they play with them in their cellars. People still take pictures of trains.

There are probably more romantic songs written about trains than any other form of transportation. (“Don’t you know me, I’m your native son?” -Steve Goodman, “The City of New Orleans”).

Folks still stop to watch trains when they are passing by.

Grownups not only save these “magic carpets made of steel,” but they even keep buying new toy ones from Lionel, which lately has offered for sale little boxcars that contain the modern phenomenon of train art/graffiti.

What is it about trains that tugs our hearts?

Is it the ability to sit in a train and feel relaxed, have a snack, and observe the scenery without the interruptions of traffic jams?

Is it the chance to view and appreciate the vast variety and wonder the nation’s geographic growth and creativity has yielded?

The answer may be elusive.

But wherever that charm comes from, May 10 is undeniably a great time to celebrate trains.