To say the week that followed took what seemed to be an lifetime but then Friday Afternoon came and I was off to the station to wait for "Train #19" with a stop at the bank to get out the last little bit of money I was saving.
Before I knew it "Train #19" arrived and My friend was inviting me aboard. There was a delay in leaving as the Snack/Lounge car ran out of propane to cook with and the local store that sold propane tried for 15 minutes to fix a propane tank that wasn't built for the railway car.
Finally the Conductor pushed the communication button in one of the coaches and a wee whistle blew twice and the engineer released the breaks and opened the throttle and I was off on the trip of a lifetime, or at this point in my life what seemed to be a trip of a lifetime.
The following pictures at you are about to see were taken 30 years ago. They have faded but they still convey what I am going to explain.
We are about 25 minutes into the journey, I was so busy talking to John Alex and the Fireman (the memory banks have long forgot the name) I didn't think to take pictures before this. I was just too excited to remember to take any.
We just crossed the county line with Pictou and Antigonish and are about to come to the point that the railway, old highway #4 and Trans Canada Highway # 104 all come together. We are about to travel through Marshy Hope and then we will lose all sight of the the highways.
The fireman is opening the switch so "Train #19" can pull into the siding to let "Train #18" pass. You can tell the switch is aligned for the siding as the red is showing on the switch post. If the green was showing the switch would be aligned for the Mainline.
We are in the clear and "Train #18" is coming down the Mainline. It only took a couple of minutes for "Train #18" to come along. It was running a bit late and between Antigonish and here John Alex made up some of the time lost in Antigonish with trying to get the propane tank to fit.
Normally when trains meet each other the engineers usually turn off the headlight but this day the headlight on "Train #18" remained on. Even in the picture you can see how bright these headlights are. Both trains if on time met at Avondale, about halfway between Antigonish and New Glasgow.
We are now at Sutherlands River and about to cross the trestle over Merigomish Harbour into Sutherlands River. We have only a few more minutes and we will be at New Glasgow.
We are coming into New Glasgow for our scheduled 1650 hrs arrival. We will only stay a couple of minutes and then continue onto Stellarton which is only 2 miles or 4 Kilometers away. Once away from Stellarton we have no more stops until Truro.
We are halfway between New Glasgow and Stellarton and are crossing the East River. Stellarton is just a stones throw from New Glasgow.
This picture was taken from the Fireman's side of the train. Immediately behind the locomotive is the Steam Generating Car used for heating and (yes cooling) of the coaches to follow. Behind the Steam Generating Car was the Express/Baggage Car, 2 Coaches that traveled between Sydney and Truro. After this was the Coach, Snack/Lounge Car and Dayniter bringing up the end. These last three cars would be added to "Train #11 The Scotian" for Montreal which left Halifax at 1715 Hrs and would arrive in Truro at 1835 hrs, just 5 minutes after the 1830 hrs arrival of "Train #19".
Here is another view of the train looking from the Engineer's side of the train. We are now passing through the rock cuts and are getting closer to Truro. My journey is about to end in about 15-20 minutes. We are passing through the Union/Valley area and will soon be to Bible Hill. Once in Bible Hill we are pretty much part of Truro.
This is the Engineer's view of the cuts that were blasted out of the rock so the railway could be put down. There isn't much room between the rock and the Train.
One last view of the Rock Cuts that was blasted for the Right-Of-Way for the railway. The picture is old and faded but the earth is red here and quite pretty. In 10 minutes we should be backing down into Truro to end our journey.
Once I got to Truro I said goodbye to my friends John Alex the Engineer and Bucky the Fireman (I remembered his name as I got composing this) and went and bought my ticket for "Train #604" which left for home at 2110 hrs. Then it was back outside to wait for "Train #11 The Scotian" to arrive from Halifax.
About 5 minutes after "Train #11 The Scotian" arrived the train would be separated between the Day Coach and Dayniter that came out of Halifax and the forward portion of it would move ahead, back down unto the Coach Snack/Lounge Car and Dayniter from "Train #19" that I rode on. Once coupled to these cars the forward part of "Train #11 The Scotian" would pull ahead and then back down unto the rest of it's carriages it brought from Halifax.
The whole operation only took about 10 minutes to complete and at 1905 hrs "Train #11 The Scotian" was continuing on to Montreal. Now it was time to go get some Supper and then visit the Hobby Shop on Ingles Street to talk to look and dream.
Before I knew it the time came to get back to the station and wait for the Rail~liner from Halifax for Sydney. At 2045 hrs "Train #601" arrived to await the arrival of "Train #12~ The Scotian" from Montreal for Halifax which was scheduled to arrive at 2100 hrs. At 2110 hrs "Train #604" left Truro for home. "Train #601" became "Train #604" once it left Truro for Sydney.
I arrived back in Antigonish at 2317 hrs to be met by my dad. I didn't know what to expect but was relieved to see he was glad to see me get home. I expected to get a lecture but was only told that the next time I do something like this to let him know ahead of time. All he knew was I was going to the station. It was when he called the station when I didn't get home for supper he found out from the Station Agent I actually went for a ride to Truro.
This first ride would turn into a few more rides to Truro. I remember one time one of the Engineers fed me supper and let me ride home free on "Train #604".
As the years went past and I was no longer able to make these trips I realized how lucky I was to be given a ride in the cab of the Locomotive, not everyone is lucky enough to have these offers. These trips were against the rules and if the Locomotive crew were ever found out they could get into a lot of trouble.
I guess because some train men let me take some rides I in turn did the same thing in later years when I was a Projectionist. It was also against the rules to allow anyone in a Projection Room unless they were licensed and unionized or were part of the Management team. But if I saw someone interested in what went on behind the glass windows I'd invite them in for a visit.
The look in the eyes alone said it all as to how happy they were getting to see a part of the movies not everyone is fortunate to see. And I guess my eyes told the Locomotive Crews the same things the eyes of the ones who got to see my Projection Rooms.
Until we next meet.
All Aboard
"The Old Fart"
1 Whistle{s}:
I absolutely love this read. It is so similar to the experiences I had a continent away in BC! Great Site!
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