Timble2
Imaginary Person
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2003
- Messages
- 6,047
- Location
- In a Liminal Zone
ARCHIVE: http://web.archive.org/web/200107171449 ... rain.shtml
Ghost Train Station
My brother Mark had a job where he had to turn up very early to a non-passenger rural station to see in a coal train, then wait an hour or more for the next. He cannily rigged up a little comfy bed and would take a snooze in the interval, always waking well on time. One morning he heard a train come in and rose up, put on his shoes and hurried outside, opening and closing a couple of heavy doors on the way. Outside he was puzzled to see, not a battered deisel pulling trucks but an old steam loco! Looking around he saw that the entire station was different. Where there had been a rundown old platform and boarded-up buildings was now a smart, busy station, with passengers in Victorian clothing with women in crinolines and men in top hats. Crisply-uniformed railway employees moved about, carrying flags and pushing luggage trucks. Mark spent a good few minutes taking in the scene, noticing details such as a stone staircase which had appeared to his left. All seemed very real, and Mark felt interested and curious rather than afraid.
Then a man approached him, dressed in a railway uniform with a hat. 'It's all right, Mark', he said. 'You're dreaming. Go back to sleep.' Mark says this man was very friendly so he decided to do just that. So he turned round, walked back to his railway building which seemed perfectly normal, opened and closed the same doors again, kicked off his shoes and lay down, eyes closed.
Immediately he opened his eyes, sat up, and heard his train coming in. He went outside as before and there was the usual dilapidated station. He was too busy to worry about this experience, which had seemed very pleasant anyway, and it wasn't until much later that he was shown some 100-odd year-old photos of the station. It was of course exactly as in his vision, right down to the steps which are now hidden under a ramp.
Carla
Ghost Train Station
My brother Mark had a job where he had to turn up very early to a non-passenger rural station to see in a coal train, then wait an hour or more for the next. He cannily rigged up a little comfy bed and would take a snooze in the interval, always waking well on time. One morning he heard a train come in and rose up, put on his shoes and hurried outside, opening and closing a couple of heavy doors on the way. Outside he was puzzled to see, not a battered deisel pulling trucks but an old steam loco! Looking around he saw that the entire station was different. Where there had been a rundown old platform and boarded-up buildings was now a smart, busy station, with passengers in Victorian clothing with women in crinolines and men in top hats. Crisply-uniformed railway employees moved about, carrying flags and pushing luggage trucks. Mark spent a good few minutes taking in the scene, noticing details such as a stone staircase which had appeared to his left. All seemed very real, and Mark felt interested and curious rather than afraid.
Then a man approached him, dressed in a railway uniform with a hat. 'It's all right, Mark', he said. 'You're dreaming. Go back to sleep.' Mark says this man was very friendly so he decided to do just that. So he turned round, walked back to his railway building which seemed perfectly normal, opened and closed the same doors again, kicked off his shoes and lay down, eyes closed.
Immediately he opened his eyes, sat up, and heard his train coming in. He went outside as before and there was the usual dilapidated station. He was too busy to worry about this experience, which had seemed very pleasant anyway, and it wasn't until much later that he was shown some 100-odd year-old photos of the station. It was of course exactly as in his vision, right down to the steps which are now hidden under a ramp.
Carla
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