Just Another Town Along the Road

I suppose our little hamlet here is like thousands of others across the country. Someplace an out-of-area person would pass through and barely give it a glance, maybe using it as a reference point to know when to switch highways on your journey east or west, but probably driving past the town without even knowing it exists. Indeed, our claim to fame, so to speak, is the railroad which passes through the town, and in earlier days was an important source of industry in these parts. It transported coal and clay from the nearby mines and sent it to all parts of the country. Our town earned the name "Dreamsville" from soldiers riding the rails who stopped on their way to or from deployments during the second world war. It's something the town higher-ups have capitalized on, and we have a railroad festival every year to celebrate, even though railroad usage has become a mostly-forgotten mode of transportation. The warehouse right by the tracks even has DREAMSVILLE in giant letters written across it. For a few hundred dollars and the correct social status you can join the railroad committee and hobnob with the rest of the town snoots, planning things like Polar Express train rides, or steam engine shows. Neat things, to be sure, and if you ever happen into town during one of the events, by all means do stop and visit... but it's not something most people put on their travel planner. I guess every little place wants to be recognized... wants to be more than it really is. Taking advantage of its history is the way our town tries to be more than just the place where the highway splits.