I really do like taking the train. Seems that the train just doesn’t want me to get on board.
I planned ahead and booked my ticket for the third week of my animal acupuncture course. Made it to Toronto, except that the trip turned into a 5 hour bus ride.
There was a huge accident yesterday, resulting in three crew members dead and 45 passengers injured. The train derailed at a crucial intersection. Frightening. I’ve been on a bit of a news blackout (just not interested in it these days) so I didn’t even know what was going on until my husband called me after hearing about it on the morning news talk radio show.
As a result, most trains were halted today and passengers were taken by bus to their destination. I haven’t had much luck with train travel lately.
I stopped by the station a few hours before departure, confirmed it would be a bus instead and was told that it would be leaving 45 minutes earlier than I expected. I made it back to the station with plenty of time to spare, only to wait 45 minutes. During that time, I was people watching and eavesdropping on conversations between passengers. Except for one fellow, no one knew much of anything. We eventually got loaded into the three buses and received complimentary meals, drinks and snacks. The employees running the show were pleasant, given the chaos of dealing with lots of older, dazed and confused passengers. I watched all of this and fantasized about what this motley crew of unrelated people would be like if we got stranded (think “Lost”). I was more than happy that this daydream never came true.
It was even more of a circus with the addition of local camera crews interviewing people (anything is newsworthy), the adjacent construction of the new train station and the fact that the driver ran over a construction cone which had to be unwedged from under the bus before we could leave.
When we finally got on the highway, I fell asleep only to be awakened less than an hour later because the bus was pulling over onto the shoulder. One of the right side baggage doors had popped open!
Then there was the young man that sat next to me. He was polite and quiet throughout the trip. Unfortunately, he had a bad case of the sniffles. I kept myself turned toward the window, to avoid picking up any germs. Not sure that it was terribly effective. Guess I’ll find out in a few days if my strategy worked.
I was the proverbial “fly on the wall” for this adventurous and tiring day of travel. I’m sad for the people that died or got hurt in this tragic derailment. There wasn’t anything I could do about it. I didn’t have much to say. So I just watched the action and observed how other people were behaving. I don’t get to do it often but I had the luxury of time today.
Any one wanna lay bets on what might happen for my next train trip?
