THE TRAIN
There is something about a train
that conjures up a spirit of adventure,
inciting our wish to travel somewhere
far away, unknown and unexplored.

Above you see a portion of a piece of antique fabric with images of old trains and a date below each of them.

Trains are fun! Just ask anyone who has ever set up an electric train to run around his Christmas tree! In fact, trains are so amusing, there is a restaurant in Maine that features electric trains that run clear around the perimeter of the rooms, close to the ceiling.

We like the sounds of trains: “Choo, Choo.” We all may remember the children’s story called, “The Little Engine That Could.” The moral of the story is that the train said, “I think I can, I think I can…” and he did! Don’t ask me for more details than that. I’ve not read the story in at least half a century!

Another story was told in my family. It seems that a certain cousin was more likely than not to catch a free ride on a northbound train, every now and then, from Georgia to Manchester, New Hampshire, to visit relatives. The young man was considered a bit of a hobo!

Lots of movies features scenes on a train, particularly old movies. Today, trains are fast. They are more sophisticated. The Amtrak line runs virtually within yards of the home of someone I know. While visiting, we have to stop conversation for awhile, and in the meantime, the passing train makes the house shake, rattle, and roll.

There are scenic trains that are much slower, such as the Cog Railway in New Hampshire. Surprisingly, I don’t think I’ve ever rode that train, although I have lived in the state most of my life, and that train is a tourist attraction.

As we ride through New England, the old railroad ties are still in place, but most of them hardly ever or never used. I like to imagine the time when the railroads were so important for transporting goods and people. Then again, I often wistfully wish that I lived in another time and place, when life was seemingly less of a hardscrabble affair.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed seeing this piece of fabric, a small “piece of the past.”

Patricia Cummings

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 2:24 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.