"Yonder comes the train!" Uncle Shad yelled to the crowd, "Keep clear of the tracks!"
We obediently stepped backwards, children of all ages and their families, to see the locomotive steaming down the tracks, a monster of a train billowing clouds of black smoke against the sky and making a tremendous noise. The whistle blew, a high shriek that caused many of the women to flinch and cover their ears. Few enough of the folks who lived on the mainland had ever seen such a sight and those who had traveled the forty miles from the island were entranced by the vision thundering toward them. Uncle Shad busied himself in clearing the tracks and getting everyone a safe distance away from the approaching monster - then he stepped onto the platform, a lantern in one hand and a shiny whistle and chain in the other
The train screeched to a halt with a violent shaking of the ground around it and clouds of smoke and steam. The engineer, grinning from ear to ear, waved his cap at the crowd and let go another ear piercing blast on the whistle. Men in uniforms with shiny buttons and starched caps descended the little sets of steps between the railroad cars with passengers following. Each conductor gave his arm to each lady and led her carefully down with a tip of cap and a smile. A wildly exotic assortment of baggage collected on the platform, including a small dog kennel containing a tiny terrier in a frenzy of excitement. Tourists of all shapes and sizes gathered and grouped together, looking around with expectant faces at the ocean and the boats, the watching crowd. Rattletrap taxis from the grand old hotel high on the hill appeared and then it was over and the train pulled out, headed back to Yarmouth, Halifax, St. Andrew's By The Sea. My grandmother gathered us up for a lunch of lobster rolls and fresh scallops at Bill Brown's, a cafe that overlooked the harbor and was much loved by us all, and afterward we shopped and played along the coastline til it was time to head home.
We obediently stepped backwards, children of all ages and their families, to see the locomotive steaming down the tracks, a monster of a train billowing clouds of black smoke against the sky and making a tremendous noise. The whistle blew, a high shriek that caused many of the women to flinch and cover their ears. Few enough of the folks who lived on the mainland had ever seen such a sight and those who had traveled the forty miles from the island were entranced by the vision thundering toward them. Uncle Shad busied himself in clearing the tracks and getting everyone a safe distance away from the approaching monster - then he stepped onto the platform, a lantern in one hand and a shiny whistle and chain in the other
The train screeched to a halt with a violent shaking of the ground around it and clouds of smoke and steam. The engineer, grinning from ear to ear, waved his cap at the crowd and let go another ear piercing blast on the whistle. Men in uniforms with shiny buttons and starched caps descended the little sets of steps between the railroad cars with passengers following. Each conductor gave his arm to each lady and led her carefully down with a tip of cap and a smile. A wildly exotic assortment of baggage collected on the platform, including a small dog kennel containing a tiny terrier in a frenzy of excitement. Tourists of all shapes and sizes gathered and grouped together, looking around with expectant faces at the ocean and the boats, the watching crowd. Rattletrap taxis from the grand old hotel high on the hill appeared and then it was over and the train pulled out, headed back to Yarmouth, Halifax, St. Andrew's By The Sea. My grandmother gathered us up for a lunch of lobster rolls and fresh scallops at Bill Brown's, a cafe that overlooked the harbor and was much loved by us all, and afterward we shopped and played along the coastline til it was time to head home.
The train ended it's trip having delivered it's cargo of tourists and mail, catalogue orders and livestock, auto parts, canned goods, fuel, medicines. It had brought progress and we had seen it arrive.
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