Sunday, December 08, 2013

Tales From a Train: Introduction

It was quiet as the train pulled into Dodge City—too quiet, because we weren't in Dodge City at all.

I'd hoped to be awake when we passed through Dodge, just so I could say I was there, and my watch told me we had another twenty-five minutes to go.  Then I realized I had reset my watch from Central to Mountain time before retiring for the evening, so Dodge was already thirty-five minutes in the past.

It was quiet as the train pulled out of Dodge City ...
*
Somewhere in New Mexico (Photos
by your humble blogkeeper)
The train ride from Chicago was leisurely, pleasant, companionable, and entertaining in a way only travel by a method other than flying can be.  In the coming days, I hope to bring you tales of technologically advanced Amish, a convention devoted to gourds, and an old guy named Shaky Ray who has an elevator in his closet and who just can't stop performing surgery.

Fullerton, Calif.
In the meantime, the Southwest Chief got me to L.A. an hour ahead of schedule. When was the last time a plane did that?

© Peter Rozovsky 2013

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10 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Remarkable! By train across country! I am envious. Of course, I hate airplanes, so if I couldn't drive, I would opt for the train. But I would be thinking of Poirot all the while.

December 08, 2013  
Blogger seana graham said...

Nice photo of Fullerton. I spent several grade school years in Buena Park and we had family friends over that way, though I don't remember anything about the town apart from our friends' home.

December 08, 2013  
Blogger Roman Noir said...

wow, you made it to Lost Angeles! Will you be speaking at a noir event?
cheers and welcome!

December 09, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Seana, all I had known about Fullerton is that a branch of the state university system there, and I know that only because that branch has had good baseball teams. For that matter, I knew about Riverside, the previous stop, only because it, too, has a university branch there.

And now I know that Fullerton also has trees that look good against the sunrise.

December 09, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Thanks, Roman. This message is coming to you from the John C. Fremont branch of the public library, and I am here in Los Angeles solely for fun, and not for speaking engagements.

December 09, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

R.T., I could have been thinking "The Lady Vanishes" or "North By Northwest" or "The Thin Man" all the way, but I was not. But I hate flying, too. I might even take the train back instead of the plane.

December 09, 2013  
Blogger Unknown said...

"North by Northwest" would be my choice, especially if Eva Marie Saint were riding along with me. And, no, I do not mean "riding along with me" as some sort of noir euphemism.

December 09, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

There's a nice scene in The Thin Man where Myrna Loy and William Powell throw their stuff together in a compartment just as their train is pulling in. I remember Nick crumpling some delicate garment of Nora's into a ball--and also sneaking a drink, naturally.

December 10, 2013  
Blogger Photographe à Dublin said...

Lovely photos, Peter.

Thank you for sharing.

December 10, 2013  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

Thanks. These trees and canyons, unfamiliar to an Easterner like me, have had me looking up, up, up since I arrived.

December 10, 2013  

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