We Don't Get to Watch the Trains
By Stephen Yerkey
About the song:
"I used to drive to work past Cape Horn—this big canyon—near Colfax. I always loved it there. It's really beautiful. They used to run the Central Pacific Railroad around the cliff. Now the railroad runs through there. I knew there was a lot of history connected with the railroad. I read a book about the Transcontinental Railway and the Chinese who worked on the railroad—they came up with the technology to use dynamite to make the roadway. California was built by Mexicans and by Asian people. It was built by white people, too, but also exploited by white people and when I wrote the song, I wanted people to know that."
– Stephen Yerkey