Slurry with the fringe on top

The other evening we heard a train approaching, and we both commented that it sounded different than the usual freighter that passes by… quieter, smoother. At first, we figured the sound was carrying differently due to the blanket of heavy, wet snow that we got as an April Fools Day present. But no, the locomotives were also different than the usual creaky New England Central engines we usually see.

The whole train was comprised of these white tanker cars, and they are all labeled “Limestone Slurry.” Lee said she had noticed something similar the day before but hadn’t thought anything of it. Well, well, we say to ourselves, why are trainloads of limestone slurry heading south all of a sudden?

It turns out that limestone slurry is primarily used to clean the emissions from coal power plants, which incidentally creates gypsum to be used in drywall manufacture.

Without actually knowing anything, I don’t know whether this represents a good thing or a bad thing… cleaner coal is good, but all coal is bad. Drywall seems basically good. Activity on our local rail lines seems basically good.

But prescience is unequivocally good, like flying or becoming invisible. Two of my recent “Trade Unionists for Trump” posts specifically call out slurry and locomotives. So, if anybody needs a stock pick or a lottery number, hit me up, just sayin’…