on a slow train

 With commuting a distant memory, I can now relax on a train. One of the most scenic routes in the world becomes a meditative experience.  Announcements remind me to “Please remain vigilant throughout the journey [and report anything suspicious]”. Vigilant I become as I settle into the ride, noticing previously unseen details along the way.

I’m going to Amwythig (Shrewsbury) for a night away, cheekily just across the border.  A ticketing website tells me to change at Machynlleth. But it is the train that changes, not me, as my train originating in Pwllheli metamorphoses into a longer version of itself, joined by its twin from Aberystwyth. Now prepared in advance for the return, I’m advised: “to travel back from Shrewsbury, you want to be in the front two coaches as they arrive from Birmingham for stations to Barmouth and Pwllheli (these become the rear two coaches leaving Shrewsbury), and the rear two (becoming the front 2 coaches) for Borth and Aberystwyth”. Even the delightful staff are confused, particularly when the train arrives today with half of it missing. But is it the front or the rear portion? Short due to a shortage of rolling stock I’m told.

Grazing sheep safely gaze as we traverse the green sward of Powys’ Empty Quarter, and I am lulled to sleep by the gentle rhythm of the rails. I hear a Tannoy announcement. “If you wish to alight at the following stations, please tell the conductor [sic.]”. I imagine the list to include Ffordun (Fordern), Trefaldwyn (Montgomery), Abermiwl (Abermule), Scafell Halt, Moat Lane Junction, Pontdolgoch, Carno, Talerddig, Comins-coch (Commins Coch), Cemmes Road and Llanbrynmair. While clock time was constrained long ago by the need for reliable railway timetables, I picture the conductor, the regulator of your ticket,  sending passengers back over sixty years to when those stations were still there. It seems the “empty quarter” was busier then.  The title “conductor” betrays the reverie, as they would have been known as the “train guard” in those days. Carno station is at least the subject of a long campaign for its resurrection. Surely Laura Ashley would approve, having once owned the site.

Awake for the return journey I’m looking out for those closed stations. The ornate gables, fascias and cottage style architecture are a common sight along the Cambrian Line. I see old platforms, some overgrown, others manicured as the gardens of private houses. Unsurprisingly, some are landscaped to a railway theme. Others are only traceable with the aid of an old map, visible as raised patches of farm land, or revealed by a telling gate. Even those still working are curtailed in length to match today’s shorter trains. 

Sixty years ago I knew derelict Ashey Halt, picnicking in its empty shell with my parents during a wet walk on the Isle of Wight. It has now been repurposed within a heritage steam railway. More recently, on a visit to the very same, a chance meeting with an acquaintance from my new home led to a chat in my developing new language of Cymraeg; far away from home. I’d done a couple of courses at a centre overlooking the Irish Sea. An induction talk at Nant Gwrtheyrn cautioned us, while there, to be vigilant for suspicious shipping. I had no idea why. On the train today, the only thing suspicious is someone furtively writing a blog in the corner.  

LINKS

Conductor (rail) - WikipediaMontgomeryshire MP advocating to re-open Carno train station | County Times

Cambrian Line - Wikipedia

Laura Ashley factory in Carno, Powys, featured in new book | County Times

James Joyce went by train from Dublin to Trieste. A hundred years on, it’s a very different experience |

Rail travel | The Guardian

Slow Train - Flanders and Swann

just the ticket

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