Trains down Memory Lane

This morning I ventured downtown on the commuter train. It has been years since I rode the train to the city. Yesterday, my hubby took my hand across the street to the train station...yes we see and here the trains from our front door. He showed me how to purchase a ticket and where to get on...Jules is so full of detail. He says that I am not good with machines and he is right.

I arrived 10 minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive and purchased my ticket. I stood on the platform and there I had a flash of the past. As I saw in the distance the headlights of the train approaching, I remembered when Kelly-Anne was in film class at Concordia. She did a documentary on the trains of Montreal. It was a one man show and a very good piece. I remember she filming the commuter train at Montreal West station. I don't know what became of that film...oh how I would love to have a copy of it.


I boarded the train and of course there wasn't a seat to be had. I held my ticket in my hand assuming that a porter would come by and take it from me...at least that is what I remember from way back when... a gentleman in a black suit and tie with a cap on his head who politely would ask for your ticket. To my surprise, there wasn't an employee to be had on the train. Later in the day coming home from the city, there were "want to be police" manning the trains. The employees looked like cops dressed in bullet proof vests, a waist band full of gadgets and in big bold letters written on the back of their jackets INSPECTEUR. Oh boy, have things changed or have I been living in a bubble all these years. Our society has evolved to the point where such a thing as gentlemen employees have now turn into bossy thugs. It has come to this point now on public transportation that the commuters have to be protected and controlled. I haven't heard of any crimes on these trains...but then again, things do slip through the cracks unheard of.

My goal today was to help out my dear friend at her church Christmas Sale. Remember those Christmas Balls ? Well, they sold out in no time flat. I even have orders to fill. A special friend came by and made a purchase and at the same time took the above picture of me. She says I'm photogenic....I say I don't think so...oh,, how I have aged in the past four years.

The day at the sale also brought back memories of the olden days, where people had time to knit, to sew and to get involved in church activities. Organizing a bazaar is a big undertaking. Only committed people can pull it off. Today I saw that at the church. People working together with one common goal.

Despite the changes of the life of the commuter train, I guess I have to evolve and go with the flow. The train is great and I hope to have this experience again. It was so nice not to have to have driven in traffic, looked for parking and to have to run out every couple of hours to put coins in a meter.

A suburbanite I will always be!