I've never had the luxury of eating in a dining car. Even during a period when my employer allowed me to travel first-class, I could never bring myself to indulge in such extravagance - I just settled for a pork pie, some crisps and a cheese baguette, washed down with a bottle of Coke. (That was in the days when I still bought products made by the Coca-Cola Company - I have since boycotted them as I do all companies whose policy is to achieve world domination in their field and who engage in the exploitation of the weak).The idea of on-train dining is part and parcel of the romance of railways, along with sleeper cars, something else I've not tried. In part this is because they too are fiendishly expensive and also the fact that British carriages are of very restricted width. This means that I would need to knock a hole either through into the corridor or into the outside world in order to accommodate my long legs. My feet would be exposed, tickled all night by passing ladies in feather boas, bent on trysts with travelling salesmen in second class, or turned to blocks of ice in the great outdoors.
I hope that one day I will experience the pleasure of lying in a bunk listening to the clackety-clack of the rail joints and the mournful echo of the horn, and realise the pleasure of watching the world unfold through a dust-smeared window. There are two railway journeys in particular I'd like to make - The ‘Canadian’ from Toronto to Vancouver and the ‘Indian Pacific’ from Perth to Sydney. Both pass through great tracts of sameness. What could be better than that for cogitative pursuits?
Who knows? It may happen, given a following wind and a fast get-away car.
7 comments:
Oh yes, the Indian Pacific, we see her regularly in the station, we might just join you all on that one :) I'm sure we'll have much to talk about.
Feathered boas, how romantic?..not?..on cold feet. giggle giggle giggle
Picturing you with your head on the berth and your feet out the window. A pity you didn't get the train meal when it was on somebody elses' tab!
Humming "One More Ride" by Johnny Cash now. I live quite near the train tracks and hear the whistle twice a day and once deep in the night. A few times as a child, I hopped the freight train between my town and the next. Great fun, trains are.
You echoed my thoughts, Dave. I've always thought there was something so romantic about traveling by train and luxurious dining cars. I don't know that I'd sleep well on a train, but I'd certainly love watching the scenery go by while dining on scrumptious food and fine wine.
If your reasons were not enough to stop drinking Coke, I wouldn't drink it just because it corrodes my stomach. Ucky. Not sure what a cheese baguette is, but it sounds good to me!
Breakfast in bunk too, I hope?
Oh there's nothing like taking the train through the mountains and sitting in the glass-topped observation car. Or treating yourself to a meal in the dining car, what luxury. I love trains, always have, the way they look, the way it feels to go from car to car, the noises, swaying from side to side as you walk down the aisle. Never had money to sleep in a bunk, just took extended uncomfortable naps in the seats, but oh I love trains.
Such a thing speaks of romance that is well worth a long wait.
Thank you, all, for your fascinating comments. I shall never be cured of the railway bug but it's a fairly innocuous disease and harms no-one else too badly.
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