During the early part of this decade, it was not uncommon when driving in my town to get caught by several fully loaded freight trains every day. It was frustrating, but a common fact of life in our little town. Your tardiness was easily explained by one word-train.
When the down turn began there was at first a subtle shift in train traffic, almost unnoticed. As the bottom approached, travel by car was almost unimpeded by trains-their whistles were rare-maybe once a week you had to sit waiting for a train to pass. On one of those occasions it dawned on me that the lack of trains was a sad indicator that business was slowly coming to a halt. Not much need for lumber, car haulers were much less frequent and coal traffic was way down as well.
Things are getting better. Although employment figures are still pretty dismal, there are some signs that the economy is improving.
GM's early emergence from bankruptcy/restructuring and improved sales figures for domestic auto's from GM, Ford and Chrysler are a good first step. *Dokka Fasteners Inc. - The new-to-Michigan manufacturer of hot-formed bolts primarily for the wind industry- plans to invest $21 million to establish a manufacturing, coating and distribution operation in Auburn Hills. Health care has become Michigans' biggest jobs provider, passing the slimmer ranks of auto related jobs. All of this makes us a more diverse economy and may attract other business and increase housing needs. So now when I get caught by a fully loaded train, (and that is happening much more often) I take a deep breath, put it in park and say a little thank you because things are looking up.
* Source GovMonitor.com
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