Train After Rain

Daughter #1 planned an early Christmas present for both of us. Because Grand #1 is going to school in Germany and her family will travel there for this Christmas, Daughter #1 and I will have our Christmas without them.

She has never taken the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad trip. I took that train long ago with Larry and his parents. In the southwest part of my state, taking the train requires careful planning, a day by car each way, and overnight stays. Daughter #1 did a good job with the planning. As I said, we decided that this trip would be our Christmas present to ourselves.

It was to be a weekend trip, leaving our homes on early Friday for the drive to Durango, checking in to the motel for the first night of stay. We drove in rain most of the way. She had planned that we would take the train on Saturday, but no reservations were available for that Saturday, so Sunday was the designated day for the train ride. We were somewhat disappointed that the ride would be on Sunday, but willing to accommodate that need.

The rain continued most of Saturday. We had an opportunity to pay a visit to a good friend who lives close by Durango – still in the rain. When we rose from a restful night and ate breakfast at the motel, the sun was shining with periodic bouts of cloud cover. We congratulated ourselves that, indeed, Saturday would not have been good for us to take the train in the rain.

The train station has no parking for the handicapped and, for two people who have a hard time walking, the distance from the parking lot to the train station was not easy to navigate. But, walk we did under an overcast sky, congratulating ourselves that the trip was planned for Sunday, not Saturday with the rain.

Yesterday’s rains (four inches in a few hours) had caused enough disturbance on the track that yesterday’s train was stuck in Silverton unable to return to home base. That meant that the car that we were scheduled to ride was in Silverton, not in Durango for us to board. But, we were assured, the car we would be in on today’s train would have a vista dome quality to it.

It did not, however, have windowpanes. Window spaces for looking out – no panes in the spaces. It is autumn in the high country – we were going to travel to 9,302 feet in Silverton. As it turned out, we were not going to travel to Silverton. The track between Durango and Silverton was awash in at least one place making the tracks unsafe for traveling over them. We were only going half way. We would turn around and travel back to Durango.

We were promised that blankets would be available for our car’s occupants and, indeed, they were. They did not, however, keep out all of the cold as the wind blew into the car through the open window spaces. We sat with the blankets wrapped around us and over our heads. It was still cold. Really, nothing to keep our legs warm,  even though we were all dressed in long pants. Daughter #1 and I were not the only ones who were cold and shrouded in blankets.  Also as promised, the ceiling of the car was a vista dome, like the car we should have been on that was stuck in Silverton. There was little to see out of the top of the car; we would rather have windows than the vista dome.

Compounding the no-windowpane problem was the fact that because the rain had poured the day before and there was much water sitting atop the vista dome, the water had to go somewhere draining down the side of the car into what I suppose were gutter-like parts to carry the draining water away. Except where we sat. Something was wrong with the “gutter” above Daughter #1’s seat. Rain from the roof drained directly onto the bottom part of the open window space and onto her shoulder. She used paper towels in the best way she could to mop up the water, wring the water out of the paper towels, and replace them to catch more water as it cascaded from the top of the car. At times, we thought that no more water could possibly be up there to descend on her right shoulder and back – parts of her sweater became soaked with ice cold water. Not so – it just kept raining into the car. There was no way to “slide over” on a seat to get out of the water. These seats were single seat occupancy.

When the train was turned around, heading us back to Durango, we thought surely, the water would be done. She and I traded places – we were sitting in seats that faced each other. Now, sitting in the seat she had occupied for the first half of our journey, we really  thought that I would not have to deal with the bath she was getting. Again, not so! Now, it was my turn to have the water cascade down the side of the car and in through the no-pane window spaces, onto my shoulder, sweater, and blanket that had been supplied. We had a lovely car attendant Maria who did what she could, but the cold water kept coming.

Daughter #1 kept reminding both of us that “this is another adventure.” I thought, it is an adventure I could do without.

My favorite part of the entire trip was that for the first time ever, I SAW a ghost – spirit, or whatever you want to call it. If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I have a ghost Jenny. I estimate that she is in her twenties, red haired, and the only way I know she is here is that I can smell her perfume – the perfume of a younger woman. Don’t ask how I know these things. I just do.

On a trip as long as this train ride, there comes a time when it is time to use a restroom. So, when it was my turn, I walked to the restroom located in the car just behind ours. It was on the end of the car at the door leading to the connecting platform between the cars. Of course, with so few restrooms, there is a line. In front of me was a woman in what appeared to me to be a flowered cotton dress, a man immediately behind her, and me. Close to this mix of people was a gentleman, sitting in the car, just relaxing. The woman in the restroom came out and went on her way down the aisle of the car away from us. The woman in front of the man in front of me entered the restroom, pulled the door shut and latched it. The door did not swing shut by itself. The restroom occupant had to close the door.

The gentleman in front of me and I waited and waited and waited. We were standing in the way of people walking between the cars, so he moved into the other car – on the other side of the restroom door, to get out of the walkers’ way. I moved to one side of the passage way on my side of the door. We waited for what seemed to be a long time. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to her, but thought she maybe she just wasn’t feeling well. After about ten minutes, our car attendant came to us an said, “Are you still here?” She knocked on the door of the restroom and, hearing no response, opened the door – which was not locked. No one was in the restroom. “Wait a minute,” said the man who was next in line. “I saw her go in there. Didn’t I see her go in?” Both the man who was still sitting in the other car and I agreed. We had all seen a woman go into that restroom and shut the door. And, yet, there was no one in the restroom when the attendant opened the door.

The gentleman was clearly confused that he had seen the woman enter the restroom, and she was not there when the door was opened. I think he might have been more disturbed with the incident if there had not been two other person who saw the same thing. When we were back in Durango, departing the train, I asked Maria if the train was often visited by a ghost. She said, “Yes. We’ve named her Queenie.” And, so, I’ve SEEN my first ghost. It was exciting!

Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.