13th of May – Train Day

Posted bySarahPosted inArt, maychallenge, PhotographyTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

train_day
Train arriving in Station, S-Bhf Schöneberg, Berlin (May 2017)

 

Happy Train Day!

After a couple of days of rest for my arms, I hope I can get back to where I started this month and continue with my May challenge of World Days. (Those tendons are still quite testy, so please don´t tell them what I´m up to. 😉 )

For me trains and railways are like the supporting veins that run through our cities and landscapes, connecting us with each other and giving us wings without leaving the ground.

I nearly use them daily and I´m grateful for this very convenient means to travel that requires of me only to lean back if I´m lucky enough to catch a seat and enjoy the ride. They are – mostly – efficient, punctual – if we are lucky 😉 – and also eco-friendly.

Trains are also a fascinating objects in literature, just think of  “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie or “Night Train to Lisbon” by Pascal Mercier, two books I absolutely adore.

And of course, one of the most famous trains is the lovely Hogwarts Express – a train I longed to ride in from the first moment I read “Harry Potter and the Philosopher´s Stone” by J.K. Rowling so many years ago!

And let´s not forget the trains in visual art as well – one of my favorite paintings in the National Gallery in London is “Rain, Steam and Speed“(1844) by one of my favorite painters, William Turner.

And what about you? Do you like trains?

 

Published by Sarah

Artist & Illustrator

49 thoughts on “13th of May – Train Day”

  1. “For me trains and railways are like the supporting veins that run through our cities and landscapes, connecting us with each other and giving us wings without leaving the ground.”
    So well written Sarah! Love this analogy you’ve made!
    Also that’s a great picture:)
    Hope you’re feeling better health- wise….
    My favourite train journey has to the ones we took whilst in Italy from one city to the other.It is etched in my memory! 🙂

    Like

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Culture, Heritage, and International Museum Day | Zimmerbitch

  3. I love your photo Sarah. You would get on so well with the boy-child. His first love as a little boy was trains — which is unfortunate in a country that has a fairly pathetic rail service. Luckily, we got to travel to Melbourne fairly often and he could get his fix of rail travel. I associate train travel (mainly pleasurably) with living in England; although I hated the first few months of commuting while i got used to all the informal rules and rituals of my fellow passengers.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much, Su!
      I bet I would if he comes after his mum! 🙂 Which I´m fairly certain he does 🙂
      Glad you managed to provide him with a fix every so often – I didn´t knew that rail service is so uncommon in NZ. I dream of traveling through Australia one day by train, or even do the Transsiberian! Not the Orient Express though 😉 xxxxxxx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thank you 🙂 Auckland and Wellington have (some) commuter train services, and there are a couple of scenic, tourist-type trains that operate but generally, most people don’t travel by train most of the time. My in-laws did some train trips in Australia and really enjoyed them. I can’t remember exactly which ones, but I think m-i-l went to Alice Springs and Darwin on one! I was always really keen on the Orient Express, but a friend travelled on it recently and said there were no showers. Ugh! Is that why it doesn’t appeal to you? Or are you an Agatha Christie fan? I love the idea of the Transsiberian, and maybe a trip across Canada. 🙂 xxxxx

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Ugh! No showers on the orient express? I didn´t even know that! Yes, it was the Agatha Christie novel that put me off a little, but the no showers bit is probably worse than murder 😉 xxxxx

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Hehe. Yes, I think the danger of being murdered (especially by 12 people in concert) is pretty remote, unless they really object to how you smell with no shower available. OMG: now I’m worried too.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I’ve never read Night Train to Lisbon, so I’ll have to try it. As for trains, I love the sound of them on the tracks and hearing the whistle in the distance. My sister is a huge fan of Am Track, and travels by train whenever she gets the chance. I’ve not ridden on Am Track, but hope to some day.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I´m sure you will like “Night train to Lisbon”, Ann! It´s a marvelous book! The sounds train makes have inspired so many artists, writers and musicians alike I think, it´s no wonder that it appeals to you too 🙂 Hope you will get the chance to travel by train soon!

      Like

      Reply

  5. I promise not to breathe a word to those pesky tendons, Sarah. I get tennis elbow at times, but thankfully, haven’t had it for awhile. I do love trains and have never been lucky enough to ride one yet. I dream of taking a train trip across the United States someday as I have heard there are some marvelous excursions out there to book 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi Lana! So sorry for the very late reply – my tender tendons exploded with pain this past week and I had to forgo any writing. Still need to rest them a lot…
      Thank you so much for your lovely comment! I hope that someday you will make that train ride through across the US – it would be a wonderful trip I´m sure! And provide you with enough stuff to write a dozen more novels I think 😉
      I´ve also got tennis elbow and I think it might be the cause for the whole trouble with my arms…
      Have a lovely Sunday! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’m so sorry to hear that, Sarah. I wish you a speedy recovery. I have been plagued by migraines this month 😦 …I was going to try and keep up with your challenges. Maybe next month will be better for both of us. Your post about the trains has inspired me, though…and I plan to write something about them for sure. I’m always optimistic about someday. Take good care of yourself and likewise have a lovely Sunday!

        Like

      2. Oh, no! I hate migraines and am too familiar with them! Poor you! It´s really terrible, and only people who had it know how horrible it is. Do you know what might be the source of it? Sometimes with me, it´s my back, actually a blocked nerve in my neck that causes it. I hope they´ve left you by now so that you can enjoy being creative again! I look forward to read your train inspired post! Take good care of yourself and have a lovely weekend! 🙂 ❤

        Liked by 1 person

      3. A lot of time when I get them it’s because of too much work and not enough sleep. Stress, you know. Also sinus headaches from allergies evolve into them. Things have been much better lately. Thank you do much for the good wishes, and good wishes right back to you, Sarah. Have a super weekend!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Stress can be so harmful, not just for the body but for the soul as well. Wish I could learn to handle it better, but then what could I complain of? 😉 Wish you a stress free and relaxing weekend! 🙂 ❤

        Like

  6. Fantastic capture again, you really have ‘an eye’ for photography.
    It’s been quite some years I’ve been on a train, not my favorite kind of transportation. However, I agree with you; another great topic for art.
    XxX

    Like

    Reply

  7. France does trains really well too. I love trains. They are my absolute favourite mode of transport. Even in Britain where the rail network I used to commute to London for work for years was like a limping llama I still loved watching the countryside whisk by from my seat and the civilised pleasure of quietly reading a book snug in a slightly over large seat. As a child, I loved ‘compartments’ with their tweedy-velvety banquettes and sliding doors and the first time we went skiing as a family in Austria, we took the train from home to London, London to the boat and a variety including a steam train across Europe to the Tyrol. Apart from my mother insisting that we get on the wrong train (which was going to Budapest from Innsbruck) and being saved in the nick of time by our courier who had turned his back on the country ducklings, it was beyond memorable for a little girl of 6. I also tasted my first Ritter chocolate on that journey and another love affair began! Happy belated train day. I. Love. Trains. 🚊 🚂 xxx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh, yes, the TGV! Look so much forward to ride in it I a day! And all those beautiful French train stations, and not only in Paris – an absolute dream! In England I loved to commute between Staines and London – 45 minutes to read my novel before heading to the RIBA library and do some research for my master thesis, it was grand! 😄 All those busy looking man in their suits, headed for the city and women in too thin business clothes in winter 😉 England is soooo beautiful and to watch it pass by from a train is like magic!
      What a wonderful childhood memory you have – and I completely understand your love affair with Ritter chocolate 😉 It is only rivaled but my liaison with Lindt chocolate 😂 xxxxxxxx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yes, they’re very well-done.
        The town I live close to is beside a river, and the sea walls have murals painted on them. They’re quite lovely also.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Wonderful shot of the Berlin train station in monochrome, Sarah! Yes, trains are a great form of public transport… besides being eco-friendly. 🙂 One has more time to read … or relax before reaching your destination. Happy train day! Lovely post. ✌ 😃

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. Beautiful photo, Sarah. Trains are the way to go, if they’re not overcrowded. They always made me think of adventure when I was younger. Where I live there are many miles of old railway lines that haven’t been used in several decades, and they wind through some very rough and scenic country.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much, Óglach! 🙂 I agree, overcrowded trains are quite a nuisance and I ride in them more often than I would prefer. At uni I often took an earlier train in order to avoid feeling like a canned sardine 😉 I would love to walk along these old railway lines, they often provide wonderful material for photographs! Have a lovely Sunday! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  16. Yes! I love train too for transportation and all of those you mentioned and more. I like those scenes on Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter series too. Those were fun and excitements.

    Train is also fascinating engineering piece as a whole. Train wheels that ride on track are tapered a bit to keep train on track during turn. I am not sure they still do this or not (I doubt it though) but way back the metal wheels and tracks do not have good friction for train to get moving. Train needed to carry sand and poured in front of the wheels on the engine head to provide friction. Cool idea. I am wonder how they solve the problem these days.

    I still like to watch model trains if I come across one 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I also love trains for their fascinating engineering – it´s one of the most important inventions of humankind I believe. And thanks a lot for providing us with these very interesting facts! I haven´t heard of it before but it makes perfect sense, and I would also love to know how it works today. Maybe we can find out… 😉 Have a lovely Sunday!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment