I remember seeing a black and white picture of two railroads meeting, one from the east, the other from the west. At the meeting point between Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads a golden spike was driven into the rail with a silver plated hammer by The Union Pacific president, Leland Stanford. I rarely use the train in the U.S. because in the Midwest we drive everywhere. I did take the train once from Chicago to Colorado, and the scenery in the mountains was spectacular. When I moved to Japan, I rode the subway and train almost every day.
There are many trains, The Orient Express, Trans-Siberian Express, Flying Scotsman, Blue Train, Shinkansen Bullet train in Japan, Eurostar, Indian Pacific, Super Chief, Peruvian Central Railway, Maharajas’ Express, Rovos Rail Pride of Africa, Golden Eagle Danube Express, Belmond Royal Scotsman, El Transcantábrico, Eastern & Oriental Express, Belmond Grand Hibernian, Deccan Odyssey, Shangri-La Express, Al-Andalus, Glacier Express, The Sweet Train, Kyushu Seven Stars. And the mystery of the Zanetti ghost train that disappeared in 1911 that still travels in space and time.
Time, history, and memories are how we travel back through time, and to the future, well that may be the past as well. Every day we go back in time. When we see our friends, family, read, the past returns, sometimes clearly, and slowly erodes with time leaving only the stark, deep, and burned in memories. Perhaps theses are the times when we remember a piece from a dream or experience a of deJa’Vu.
So, what is it about trains or any mode of transportation? Movement through time and space, memories of the trip, memories of life, memories of what came before. Why do we not know the mysteries of the past that leave crumbs of clues from the past? Moreover, who left the crumbs? Space seems infinite to us at the moment, but is there anyone who may know this information? As we think of the future are we planning the past? There’s the old expression, ‘Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it’, and by some mechanism we actually do that every moment we are conscious, and just need a place to purchase a ticket.
jsiwicki AUTHOR 