no. 5

[15_the_circle]

[OT from cottage renovations]

last night things ended up running late as usual but I wasn't quite ready to turn in.  it was pushing midnight; since I had been missing the daily cycling commute I decided to go out for a walk.  no destination could be more natural than heading W to the railway where as luck would have it I found myself walking up to the depot as Amtrak 5 was making its station stop.  it pauses here for a while in order to accommodate a crew change and the opportunity to refuel the locomotives.  the train runs from Chicago to Oakland Emeryville so by the time it got here everybody had found their way into their travel routines.  some passengers were out on the platform quietly chatting or taking a cigarette break.  the evening was warm and pleasant and there was plenty of time so nobody was particularly rushed about things. 

departure time came, the conductor called out the customary "All Aboaaaarrrrd" and doors slammed shut as the signal aspect reflecting along the silver sides of the high cars changed from red-over-red to yellow-over-yellow and it pulled out of its siding, gliding down the main track into the night.  as stationmaster and car knocker tidied things up I headed back to the lodgings, happy to have seen the ritual enacted once more of a night train making a station stop.  anywhere. 

our long distance passenger trains have been in decline for many years and are very nearly gone.  though what's left is merely a pathetic remnant of what once was, I am reminded of the need to ride one again while it can still be done.  not tonight, but sooner would be better than later.  not for what there is, but out of an affectionate regard for what is gone. 

Comments

[peach-salsa.livejournal.com]

Near my hometown:

http://www.samshortline.com/georgia/sam/default.htm

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

riding an excursion train on a short line is pleasant enough, and often manifests a down home bucolic charm that can be completely irresistible.  I have ridden a few from time to time, though never that one, at least not yet. 

---

but it's a completely different experience from what it's like to take a sleeper on an overnight train.  well, OK, from what it was like, I suppose.  comparisons are difficult to come up with because it really is unlike any other mode of transportation.  I need to renew that acquaintance before they are gone forever. 

Midnight trains

[(Anonymous)]

No, there's nothing else like a long-distance train ride. As the rock band Journey said in their song "Don't Stop Believing",

"...but he could the midnight train going anywhere..."

Perhaps the feelings only linger for those of us old enough to remember midnight trains before Amtrak, but for me they always evoke a sense of longing, of infinite possibilities...yes, I could get on this train and be GONE. Again, Steely Dan:

"If I had my way, I would move to a better lifetime
Quit my job, ride the train in the misty nighttime..."

And I may, soon. News when you return.

Randy

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

Amtrak 5 carries the same name as CB&Q/D&RGW/WP 17 but I couldn't bear to use it in the piece.  the California Zephyr -- the Silver Lady -- died before Amtrak and what still, for the moment, runs is not its worthy sucessor.  more like a sad ghost. 

I am glad to have ridden it then, and it is for the sake of its memory that I want to ride again.  when the long distance trains are pulled and the lines go freight-only the opportunity will never return.