We were on the Canadian National Railroad that transported the old family station wagon, as well as our family, all across Canada! My sister and I had our own bunks and all, it was so much fun! Our beds were up above us, while we had places to sit and look out the windows. We each had our own private facilities with commodes, sinks, mirrors, etc. Mom and Dad had their own shared room in another train car up front a few cars ahead; my sister and my bunks were in a car that maybe had a dozen or so private sleeper rooms in it such as ours. I was probably about 12 years old.
Mom would come and fetch us when our family's shift for dinner was on. The food was great, as was the service, but we kids were far more interested in exploring than such amenities then. We had plenty of time in which to do so too, for the train took some three (3) days to traverse Canada.
We made good friends with the Caboose man as we called him. It was such a great adventure watching everything disappear behind us as the train moved forward. We'd never experienced anything like it. I think we even got a tour of the front engine once, but I don't recall a lot about it other than there being so many dials that it seemed beyond me how anyone could keep track of them all!
We had toys with us, books and magazines to read and all the usual things you'd expect kids to bring along, of course. I had a slinky toy, which was like a 3 inch wide spring made of metal; you may remember these although they seem to be made of plastic these days. I think it was the second day we were on board that I discovered I could let it hang down off my top bunk and it would bounce right back up! Well, I was doing this when a lady walked by through the isle, which was not very wide. I waited while she went by... just as soon as she was past me, I let it bounce on down into the isle again. On its way back up, it caught the back of her dress and pulled it way up almost covering her face! She didn't see me above her at first! She was too busy trying to "unruffle her feathers" so to speak. Meanwhile I was up above her trying my hardest not to move, and not be seen nor heard, while at the same time trying my hardest not to burst out laughing hysterically!
Needless to say, I failed at trying not to be seen, as she looked around frantically for what or who on earth had been so fresh with her. I had a short hairdo, and this was around the time of the Beatles with their penchant for long hair then being popular. I think she may have thought I was a young boy! I'm not sure. Anyway, she gave me a look that could kill, needless to say! Then she said, "HARRUMPH!" as she walked off in a huff. I was still trying not to laugh my head off and so was unable to say a word!
I was most thankful that my parents were not around at that moment, nor staying in the same car as we were, or I would have caught "it" for sure! Thankfully, I never saw her again.
As time went by, the novelty of all this wore off. My sister and I became maybe a bit bored. Anyway, when the train stopped early one morning, before our parents were awake, we decided to get off and explore a bit. We often did this when staying in motels, because our folks liked sleeping quite a bit later than we did. So, there we were off away from the train a bit when the conductor asked us if everything was alright. We assured him that it was, not realizing that there were not any folks scheduled to disembark at that stop. I'm not sure what the stop was for, probably just to take on supplies.
There we were standing a ways off from the train and he again asked us again if we were OK. We assured him that we were. He looked at us rather strangely and said that the train was about to leave. He didn't say the usual, "All Aboard!" or anything, so we had not known! Needless to say, we got our little tails back on that train faster than speeding bullets!
Oh! The things we never shared with mom and dad...
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