A New Look at Train Travel

From "A Railway Carriage", by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows, the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart run away on the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever! "

I make no apologies for starting my article with one of my favorite poems of all time. Robert Louis Stevenson's "From a Railway Carriage"

Robert was born in 1850 and left us in 1894 after an amazing literary 44 years. This incredibly descriptive work was published in 1906 in a work called "A Child's Garden Of Verses.."

As I boarded the train yesterday from Gatwick Airport in London on my way to Bedford, England to spend Christmas with my daughter and granddaughter my mind drifted back to my love affair with railways.
During my youth in the British Air force I recall many a night on a British Rail station bench following a night on the town. In the 50's, the time period of which I speak, there was always a roaring fire in the waiting room during the cold winter months, and I might add a convenient bathroom!
A scarce commodity in those post war years in Britton.

In the 80's I again renewed my railway affiliations when I became the proud owner of a disused, would you believe, Mortuary Railway Station!

I was living in Sydney Australia and convalescing in Hospital after Cancer surgery, the details of which I will not bore you with, when I notice an article in a magazine saying that the local government was seeking a useful project to occupy what was now a disused railway depot right in the heart of Sydney. It was once the departure point for trains carrying the deceased to a more congenial resting place at the Rookwood Cemetery on the outskirts of Sydney.

Once the city graveyards began to overflow an alternative resting place was sought and Rookwood was selected. The journey by horse drawn carriage, which was far from pleasant during the extreme heat of the Australian summer, was replaced by the more rapid facilities of Australia's rail system.
A train would depart the "Mortuary Station" with a somberly dressed gentleman carrying a red flag walking in front and would in my understanding stop to pick up its now deceased passengers and their entourage along the way. (Visions of Monty Python's "Bring out your Dead" come to mind.)

With the advent of the motor vehicle the train facility fell into disuse and had over the years been used for all sorts of different uses, including a freight depot for a local Brewery.

To cut a long story short, I, in my misguided youth decided it would make a great historic restaurant and purchased several restored carriages and opened the "Magic Mortuary Station Pancake Express"

I lost my 'caboose' (that's rear-end in railway jargon). To say the least it was a financial disaster! I still think the idea was great but the location on a back street and difficulty of access combined with a number of other factors with which again I will not bore you, caused its demise!

As usual I digress - The train ride from London's Gatwick couldn't have been more pleasant, from the assistance of the porters to the facilities on the train itself were outstanding! Including a space age toilet that I found utterly amazing!

One hour and fifty minutes literally to the minute, we arrive according to schedule.

And all the way Robert's poem ran through my head.

If you haven't taken a train lately- and I'm not talking subway here!; I sincerely recommend you do!

Happy traveling.

Dr. Peter J. Shield PhD (http://pjshield.com)