Catch a Train and See...Something

I was sitting in a train at Blacktown when a group of three German tourists arrived and occupied ten seats on my carriage. At least I'm assuming they were tourists. From the amount of gear they carried they might be immigrants or possibly slightly desperate removalists. They were, of course, backpackers. Backpacks somewhat larger than my apartment sprawled expansively over the seats while their owners (or possibly handlers) huddled together and read pocket guide books on Australia. Since they got on at Blacktown I'm going to assume the guidebooks aren't particularly good.

After sitting at Blacktown for long enough to make the hardiest soul want to leave the train finally consented to taking me, the Germans and a couple of young girls discussing their boyfriends bail possibilities on a sweeping tour of Sydney's western suburbs as seen from the upstairs level of a not particularly fast train. Seven Hills came and went before I could ask it what it thought it was doing. Pendle Hill slid by, I didn't see a hill and I'm not entirely sure what a pendle is and it was gone before I could ask. I don't think its fair to record my impressions of Toongabbie. Despite a certain amount of rain the place wasn't flooded so I wasn't seeing it at its best.

Our noble metal steed thundered onwards towards Parramatta which pleased me greatly and then left Parramatta which pleased me even more. The increasing number of signs in Arabic made me think I was close to home but sadly it was only Auburn so I sat back down again. Strathfield has a very impressive station which only makes the rest of the suburb that much more of a disappointment. Sliding through the inner west the quality of the graffiti increased along with the rental values. In places like Newtown and Petersham they convert old factories into pretentious apartment blocks. Out in Blacktown they square the circle by building apartment blocks that look like factories. Finally, panting gently, the train arrived at Redfern and I hopped off. Like many places in Sydney Redfern has more platforms than it has trains but at Redfern the ratio is closer to parity than most.

I love catching trains, not only are they the best way to travel but in New South Wales there is always that small feeling of achievement you get when you see one at all. Cars and buses have to wrestle with other traffic and the view from an aeroplane gets boring after a few minutes (Oh look! Another cloud). Also if a train crashes it happens immediately. One second you're fine and the next, bang, twisted metal and howling sirens. In a plane crash there is usually a few minutes between the realisation that you're going to die and the actual moment of death. I suppose this could be useful for the religious who want to take a stab at last second redemption but for me it would just mean several minutes of cursing that I paid my electricity bill.

Obviously there a places trains can't go, the sea for example and most places in New South Wales. Unfortunately one of the places trains can't go at the moment is where my parents live despite the presence of tracks and even a station. Trackwork necessitated the changing of trains twice and then catching a bus for the final part of the trip. All of which is a very long winded explanation of what I was doing catching a train at Blacktown.

Incidentally, for those who think I've been rather cruel to the western suburbs I freely admit that there are worse places but you can't catch a train to Manly.