I swore it would be the last train I ever took. Until the next time. Montreal to Toronto by car can be done in six hours. At the time, my crappy clunker may not have taken me outside the city limits. Trains are fast. Or so I thought. Instead of six hours, I will be in Hogtown within three, or even two hours.
Right. Because trains in Canada travel at 400 kilometres and hour. Unfortunately the train was not fast, and unfortunately it stopped at every village, town and city along the way. Yes, the milk run. It ended up being an eight hour ride.
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| ...and now turn right |
And to make matters worse, I had to buy a crappy sandwich from the train steward or ticket taker, or waiter, or whatever you call them. It was a lot of money for a lousy sandwich. I guess I cannot blame anyone but myself for not bringing with some grub to munch on.
My next train ride wasn't as bad. I flew Montreal to Newark. Took the bus to the train station. Some-guy-who-worked-there told me to go to the wrong platform. After a ten minute wait I figured it out and found the right train. I walked from the train station to the hotel, arriving smack in the middle of the wedding ceremony that I was invited to attend.
Even though I was late, I ate a lot of food and drank a lot of drink to make up for it. I had a real good ending to this story but I seem to have lost my train of thought.
Today is day 21 of the thirty day writing challenge (February edition) as arranged and hosted by Nicky and Mike over at WeWorkForCheese.com. Go check out their site to see what they wrote and see all the other participants.
Now I'm left to wonder whether this was an actual story, or whether the entire thing is a sham -- a framework to set up your punny punchline. ;)
ReplyDeleteThere are some clues. You just have to follow the tracks
DeleteI agree- was this real? This was wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter? I am trained for this.
DeleteAh-ha-ha-ha. Good one, Shawn. I tracked that tale right to the end and then you got me.
ReplyDeleteI hope I wasn't off the rails
DeleteReal or not, it was a good story. I had already written about my train story, so I had to make one up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. I got the idea while sitting there listening to Coltrane...
DeleteTrains always seen like a good idea until you are on one.
ReplyDeleteI planned on a five hour trip and was bored after three and had to sit for eight.
DeleteHah, funny! Trains in Finland are awesome. I always prefer them to the car.
ReplyDeleteI think the train system in Finland is much more developed than here. Although are underground Metro system is pretty advanced.
DeleteI hate it when you get on the train, only to find out it's the local. I did that once in Wales... not only was it the local, but it was the wrong train/destination. I had to spend 3 hours going up the mountain and coming back down since it was the only train on that run.
ReplyDeleteI got on the highway in the wrong direction. I realize my error after 30 minutes.
DeleteI've only taken the train from Toronto to Montreal once. That was enough for me. The only good part about it was the wi-fi.
ReplyDeleteI went in the pre wi-fi days. Pre cell phone days. I think I had my Walkman and my calculator watch.
DeleteI think the best train out there is the band. (Remember "Drops of Jupiter"?)
ReplyDeleteNo. That's a train wreck. :)
DeleteI think we all end up resorting to silly puns in the end, don't we? We are all train wrecks of the Internet. ;)
ReplyDeleteJust as long as we don't rail against authority
DeleteI think trains are always slower than car. It's that whole comfort thing...
ReplyDeleteAnd the whole music thing...
DeleteGo, gonna board, gonna board,
Gonna board the midnight train.
Gotta go, gonna board
Gonna board
Gonna board the midnight train
Hey Shawn! D'you know, I think I was ON that train in the photo. I was drunk. No wait, I was DRIVING the train. Yes, that sounds right. Indigo
ReplyDeleteMan, Indigo. You have a one track mind.
Delete