An Expert Guide to Dealing with Those Pesky East End Trains
Follow these East End train tips to spend less time sitting in your car and more time enjoying wherever it is you were headed before a train derailed your day.
My big East End “train story” comes from sometime in early 2021. I had just moved from Eastwood into a rental home in Magnolia Park, and I decided to pick up some kolaches from a bakery off Lawndale one Saturday morning. Although it took me fewer than 10 minutes to get to the shop, when I began my journey back home with my treasured and piping-hot kolaches in tow, I encountered a stopped train. After some trial and error, I eventually found my way around it. Then I encountered another one. Then another.
I had already lived in the East End for five years by this point, but I had never witnessed so many trains stopped at various locations at the same time. As I fruitlessly weaved my way through the neighborhood that morning, I felt like I was trying (and failing) to untie the most intricate of Gordian knots. Frustrated, I gave up and hopped on the highway. After looping around the entire neighborhood, I eventually made it back home some 45 minutes later, with a bag of very cold kolaches and what felt like the beginnings of a migraine.
Everyone who lives in the East End has a story like this, one in which a stopped train so royally messes up your day that the retelling of the encounter ventures into tall-tale territory.
“There were five trains, and it took me two hours to get home,” I might say, between sips of a G&T at my favorite local watering hole.
“They were all parked in the shape of a pentagram. I saw the devil himself inside the first car,” I'll add if I’m feeling extra dramatic.
The East End, due largely to its historic layout and infrastructure, is the land of stopped trains, and more of them stop here than any other neighborhood in the country. Fortunately, some help is on the way. The city was recently awarded a $36.9 million federal grant to build a series of underpasses in the neighborhood. While this will eventually bring some much-needed relief to train-weary East Enders (especially to all of the townhome dwellers in rapidly gentrifying EaDo, which is—quite unsurprisingly—the main area being focused on by the project), it will take some time before we’re able to benefit from these underpasses.
Although I’m looking forward to that day, I learned my lesson from my fateful kolache run. Since then, I’ve put in the work to find alternative routes around the train crossings. I’ve also adopted certain strategies, ones already known by some people who live in the neighborhood, that have turned parked trains from a major headache into a (mostly) minor inconvenience. I’m sharing these tips so you can spend less time sitting in your car and more time enjoying wherever it is you were headed before a train derailed your day.
Tip 1: Know your routes.
If you’ve lived in the East End for more than a hot minute, there is no excuse to not know alternative routes around the train crossings you deal with on a daily basis. Spend some time learning the layout of the neighborhood and where the underpasses and bridges are, which are key escape routes in worst-case scenarios (hint: a lot of them are located in EaDo). You should do this in your free time so you’re not figuring out the lay of the land during a train-induced time crunch. While it’s hit or miss, I’ve found that certain at-grade crossings are almost always open even if a train is stopped just a few blocks down the track. With time (and a bit of exploration) you’ll start learning where these crossings are as well.
Tip 2: Never wait for a parked train.
I shouldn’t have to say this, but please do not pull up to a train that is at a full stop. While the train could start moving again in a matter of minutes, it could also end up sitting there for several hours. If you see that a train is already parked, just turn around and find an alternative route. While this tip may seem obvious, I can’t tell you how many times I have observed people park themselves in front of stationary trains—people who don’t live in the neighborhood, I’m guessing.
Tip 3: Always leave an exit.
Waiting for a train to pass that is still in motion is anxiety-inducing. As you watch the train slowly—usually very, very slowly—roll its way by, you might find yourself scrutinizing its motion for any sign that it is slowing down. If you’re lucky, the train will keep on chugging along until the path ahead is clear. If you’re unlucky, the train could end up parking itself on the tracks, leaving you sandwiched between a train crossing and several cars behind you. To avoid trapping yourself this way, make sure you leave yourself with an easy exit. You can accomplish this by not pulling up right next to the train crossing or bumper to bumper with the car in front of you. If you’re going to wait, make sure you stop a little back from the tracks behind a cross street, a turnaround, or the entrance to a nearby parking lot (if you can do so safely). If the train you’re waiting for ends up stopping, you can easily leave and find an alternate route. If you don’t leave yourself an easy exit like this, then I hope you’re good at directing traffic, because you’re going to have to exit your car and instruct all the people behind you to back up and turn around.
Tip 4: Just keep moving.
There unfortunately isn’t a way to predetermine if a train is going to stop. If you decide to wait for a train to pass, you could end up sitting in your car for a solid 15 minutes only for it to stop right in front of you, meaning all your waiting was in vain. While I haven’t crunched the numbers on this, it sure feels like these trains stop at least 50 percent of the time. I’m a proactive person, so if I see a train (even if it is still in motion), I immediately find an alternative path around it. The best way to do this is to start driving in the opposite direction that the train is heading until you find a clear intersection. You might have to drive 15 minutes out of your way, but that’s much better than waiting 15 minutes with the hope that a train will pass and then having to spend an additional 15 minutes finding an alternative route after it ends up parking itself.
Tip 5: Report stopped trains.
This one isn’t really a tip; it’s more of a helpful outlet for frustration. If you encounter a parked train and you feel like venting about it, call Union Pacific at 888-877-7267 to leave a complaint. Although it’s unlikely such a phone call will lead to any sort of real change, if enough people start calling the company to report train stoppages, perhaps Union Pacific will start feeling the pain. The company makes billions in profits every year, but it’s a very small and symbolic way to make them pay up. If anything, it’s much more productive and proactive than just ranting about stopped trains on social media while doing nothing about it. Don’t be those people.
