Mar 28 2007
Firsts on the Iron Horse
A First for Me
I’ve clung giddily to a trolley car as it flattened the rolling San Francisco hills. I’ve snorkeled off the Florida keys. I’ve hiked up an extinct volcano in New Mexico and posed for a picture near its rim, and on the same trip felt the sting of blowing sand at the Great Sand Dunes. I’ve leaped from trees, my life entrusted to a freshly trained belayer at the other end of the rope. I’ve shivered in a sleeping bag in an Ozark canyon while condensation drops froze inside my tent.
Last weekend I had another first. It seems rather simple compared to some of the aforementioned, yet has eluded me all my life.
I rode a train.
Shannon and Ben alongside me, Aunt A and LC across from us, I watched the drab scenery slide past. There I was, riding the rails just like pioneers did before the automobile and the airplane signaled the passenger train’s demise in the United States.
I manage to sneak into a photo, courtesy of Aunt A.
Sadly, compared to the glamorized versions I’ve seen in the movies and on TV, the ride itself was mind-numbingly boring. There were no mysterious noises or nerve-wracking shimmies; no Native Americans chasing us on horseback; nobody running along atop the train to escape a dastardly villain; no Firefly-class spaceship lowering itself within rope ladder range to drop off its robbing brute.
It felt and looked a lot like a bus ride, with the added bonus of ceiling fans. Long banks of windows on either side of the cabin revealed blurry, busy scenery up close, while the landscape crawled along behind it. Most was scrub brush, once we passed the forgotten apartment buildings, trailer parks, and run-down homes. Apparently nobody who can afford to move prefers to live near railroad tracks.
On the train, only the folks dressed up like conductors and engineers reminded me of old times.
A First for the Boys
On a lighter note, the train featured Thomas the Tank Engine in the lead. Just a facade for the day, the little blue engine was the spitting image of his counterparts in Ben’s toy bins and on the stop-motion animated show. He was our impetus for attending.
Ben and his cousin, LC, both turning four this summer, brimmed with anticipation at seeing Thomas the Tank Engine, and riding with him. We arrived at 8:15 a.m. and stood in line for about an hour. This is not a good idea with toddlers, but we made it through without much conflict.
For the entire 25-minute ride Ben and his cousin didn’t seem particularly interested, because they couldn’t see Thomas, but they had a good time once Aunt A gave them a snack.
Ben and Shannon wait for the ride to start.
They perked up when the ticket lady came by to punch our tickets, even though she didn’t use rapid-fire hole punches to form cryptic clue words (nod to The Polar Express).
After we debarked, the boys stepped livelier and ran from one attraction to the next.
The highlights of the day were a talented magician, free temporary tattoos of favorite Thomas characters, and a clown name Dubble Bubble blowing long streams of large bubbles for the kids to chase. We were about three kids back from seeing Sir Topham Hatt when a young woman announced that he was going on break.
Also notable to Ben was the KidSteam train ride, wherein the child sits and “pedals” with his or her hands to propel a miniature train car along a small circular track. The boy in front of him impeded his progress, and just as Ben got settled into his groove the ride ended. Despite his protests and staying seated after all the other kids had left, he quickly recovered from being untimely ripped from the seat.
Ben mostly stared in wonder at the magician, but his cousin’s infectious giggle got everybody near us laughing. As usual, the physical comedy shtick was the one thing that made Ben laugh.
Although a short period was bumpy when a hungry Ben was grumpy, we had a good time.
*LOL* Looks like Ben had a great time!
Is that your sister, or Shan’s?
I think I’ve only been on one train ride… and it was one that rides along the Connecticut River (an old steam train) during the fall when the leaves are changing.
Hey, I like your shirt , Mark. I bet Strider never had boots that nice.
And was that a MacBeth reference when Ben was ‘ripped’ from his seat on the pedal train ride? Cause I’m always on the look-out for Shakespearean subtleties. Who isn’t?!
Dex would have gone nuts at seeing that life sized Thomas. But probably been similarly bored once inside the actual train part. And I like how that picture shows Ben fleeing in terror from the clown. (Well, he’s smiling, but I like to think that the clown is some gross parody of Pennywise from Stephen King’s IT.)
Fun!
Dave - I have only one sibling — my brother Charles, who comments her on a fairly regular basis. That’s his wife.
Simon - Thanks. I love long-sleeve tees, and that’s one of my favorites.
Yep, it’s a MacBeth reference. MacDuff was “from his mother’s womb/ Untimely ripped,” which meant he was the only one who could slay MacBeth, because the Witches’ prophecy said no man born of woman could do so. For years I thought it was from one of Julius Caesar’s speeches (in another of Shakespeare’s famous works), thus inspiring the name for Cesaerean Section (C-section for those who don’t know the full name). Julius Caesar was indeed the inspiration for that name (but it’s not clear whether he or just one of his ancestors was born that way), but not because of anything Shakespeare wrote.
Sorry. I took Shakespeare I and II in college, and this stuff just rushes out on its own. God knows there’s nowhere else I’d use it.
Ha! I hadn’t thought of the IT clown. Ben actually was chasing a bubble. I was afraid that might be lost without a bubble somewhere in the picture.
What a cool event. Glad Ben had such a great time.
I love the trains and often vent (although oddly never in my blog…hmm, have the fix that) about the deplorable state of the American rail system. Yeah, it’s a bit bus-like. Yeah, the houses near the tracks are a bit run down. But once you get out of the city, tracks tend to follow rivers, giving really beautiful scenery. Plus…unlike a bus, you can get up and move around, take a stroll to the observation car. When I lived in N’awlins, I took the train to and from Missouri (hurray for the train they call the City of New Orleans) and just really loved it. I’d travel that way all the time if it were all managed and updated a bit better.
Also…is it just the picture or do you and Shan have the exact same color eyes?
Man. I check my email and see Mark has a post about Iron Horses, and I get all excited cuz I think you rode a motorcycle. One click later I discover it’s not to be. Same kind of iron, different kind of horse. Oh well, Ben had a good time. Ben’s probably too young for the whole Harry Potter thing, but I’m sure he’ll rediscover trains when he starts into all that. So in the future when you do take a spin on a bike, will the inpending post be titled Seconds on the Iron Horse or Firsts on a different Iron Horse or Wild Hog on my Street?
Moksha - mine are bluer, of course! ;-) (But Benjamin’s are the bluest of all.)
Josh - not to burst your bubble, but we’re not big fans of motorcycles over here. I don’t want to be gruesome and depressing on Mark’s blog, so we’ll tell you why another time. How’s sweet baby R doing?
Moksha - So, you rode through Arkansas on that train. I’ve heard of that run, and it is scenic.
Our eyes are pretty close to the same, but as the lady said, Ben’s are bluer.
Josh - Well, it wouldn’t be my first. That was a long time ago, and motorcycles were a huge part of my life throughout childhood (well, it slacked off a little when I got my driver’s license). But, my riding was almost exclusively offroad. I didn’t even have a bike that was street legal.
Shan - Nothing, really. Just that you were the prettiest one on that train.
“Shan - Nothing, really. Just that you were the prettiest one on that train.”
Thanks, and huh? What is this in response to?
Shan - I just meant that I had nothing to say, except that compliment.
Ahhh…a little blog cheese from Mark and Shannon. I’m going to call it Bleese.
I’m glad everyone had a good time, and I just wish I would have been there.
Do you remember that time we took the Greyhound bus to Kansas to visit the Grands? Whewww…that was a haul wasn’t it. We should have taken the train.
What a fun post this was :-) I wish you’d enjoyed the train ride more. I think maybe the movies have glamorized and romantacized them a bit much. Great pictures. My favorite is the last one of LC and Ben. Looks like a poster.
Mokker, I just heard “City of New Orleans” today as a matter of fact. Oh wait, that was on your wedding cd. Sheesh. This short-term memory-loss-thing is getting to be a problem…
Charles - Yeah, we don’t do that very often, so I figure everybody can handle it.
We missed you, for sure, bro. The boys played with the off-the-door Hot Wheels ramp and with the dinosaurs, among many other things. They also had some great backyard swingset sessions.
That Greyhound bus trip was brutal, but I kind of wish I could do one like that again now that I’m older. Great material, I’m sure. We had some pretty memorable airport experiences flying to see them, too.
Linda - Definitely the movies and TV have made them look mysterious, romantic, funny, etc. We didn’t have any of that, really.
I like that last one, too, even though Ben’s face isn’t visible.