A Tug on the Coupler

A train trip always starts with a tug on the coupler.

Sometimes almost imperceptible, sometimes not. The station platform starts to slide away, and our journey has begun. It doesn't matter whether we're sitting in a coach on a day trip into the city, or in a sleeper beginning a transcontinental tour. The power throttles up - GM's gallop, MLW's burble, and GE's chug. The countryside moves past the window, like Fred Flintstone running through the repetitive background of one of his cartoons. Who knows how many hours and miles until we reach our destination. Who knows what sights we'll see or what other trains we might spot. It will be a trip to remember.

And it all started with a tug on the coupler.