Story the Fourth: Trains

I'm a big fan of trains as a way of getting where you're going. They're safer than cars, faster than walking, and much, much freer of irritation than airplanes. Train travel places the traveller in a slightly surreal state of being: the landscape slides by, gradually changing. If you fall asleep, you awaken in a distinctly different place. Some would say an airplane does the same, but honestly one bunch of clouds that you have to dislocate your neck to see through two layers of semi-transparent material look much like any other. In any case, the unique environment of trains can lead to odd experiences, and so I shall relate one such. This event took place when I was about five. My parents and I were taking a cross-country trip, by train, to visit an aunt in California. For anyone who hasn't done this, it's a three full day trip, which means sleeping on the train at least twice. During the second night, somewhere in the wilds of the American west, we were awakened by the train crew with the news that due to heavy rainfall, a bridge somewhere farther along the line had literally fallen down. It was stated that we might well have to get off the train and get shuffled to another on the far side of the ravine by bus, but that we should 'wait and see'. For what, we weren't entirely sure. The mystery persisted for at least an hour, at which point we were informed that the Army Corps of Engineers had been dispatched and that they had erected a temporary replacement bridge. We were unaware that this was a thing, and the attitude of the train crew was less than reassuring. However, after only a few more hours the train began to inch slowly forward. It made its way over the 'temporary replacement bridge' with much groaning of metal, and we were on our way again.