May there always be a beautiful train to be enjoyed.

A Beautiful Creature Is A Train

Few things made by man capture the heart as does a train.
A train of any size is readily accepted as a gentle monster
from the moment of sighting, or hearing its special whistle.
When alive and running, a train is a living creature and
beautiful in so many ways.

The brain of a train is the engineer, an experienced and
trusted person, who loves the contraption being driven.
The engineer tends his partner tenderly; adjusting and
persuading the massive and palpitating contraption to
do the will of its master.

In operating a steam engine train there is beauty in
seeing it move. Powered by heat and water into steam,
its huge wheels turn in unison with the lesser ones
connected to rods, shafts and levers, to pull at high
speed a lengthy cadre of passenger or freight cars.

From inside a train a passenger can know pleasures
unlike those anywhere else. Walking its length from
one car to another can be done nowhere else, and
dining on the best of food is absolutely beyond
belief. Afterward, your seat is a tempting bed.

At night a passenger train seen from a hillside, is a
slithering serpent of destination, rolling on tracks
toward an unseen terminal. Its self contained lights
are eyes to spot danger, and to guide its charges
past possible problems of the dark.

It matters not if a train hauls cargo or passengers.
It is a miracle of engineering and design. A sole
passenger on a train is in almost total seclusion.
Where else is it possible to get one's beauty sleep
during travel, and still stay on the ground?


2007 F William Broome