A free train? Yay!

Summary

Two young women embark on a challenging train journey to pursue their education in physical education, experiencing unexpected delays and adventures along the way.

Abstract

The narrative recounts the journey of two nineteen-year-old aspiring Phys. Ed. teachers who transfer to Brisbane for further studies. They are entitled to free train travel but face a 39-hour trip due to track repairs from weather-related damage. Despite the delays, they make friends and enjoy themselves, eventually sleeping on a table in a train station waiting room upon arrival in Brisbane at 1 am. The story reflects on the spirit of adventure and how times have changed, yet the narrator acknowledges that the adventurous spirit remains.

Opinions

The author views the free train travel as both a benefit and a challenge due to the lack of sleeping accommodations.
There is a sense of camaraderie and optimism as the students befriend fellow travelers during the extended journey.
The narrator looks back on the experience with fondness, indicating a positive perspective on youthful adventures.
The narrator suggests a willingness to repeat such an adventure, implying that the experience has not diminished their adventurous nature.

Free education — a train trip included.

After a year at Townsville Teachers’ College training to be a primary teacher, my flatmate and I decided we’d change focus and become Phys. Ed. teachers. We’d have to transfer to Brisbane to attend the physical education course at Queensland University as night students, as well as continue our primary course at Kelvin Grove Teachers’ College during the day.

We were nineteen and looking forward to the challenge. The first challenge was the train trip. As students, we were entitled to free train travel in a sitting carriage. Neither of us had the money to pay for an upgrade to a sleeping cabin — only old people booked sleepers.

The train journey was just over 24 hours. Toni was joining me in Mackay, so 4 hours less for her. This was January — the start of our school year — and the wet season. Highways were often cut for days by flooded rivers, but there was no such problem with trains — or so we thought.

We didn’t count on tracks being washed out and having to be repaired before our train went on them. So we sat in the middle of nowhere for several hours at a time. We climbed down from our carriage and went for a walk — and scurried back when we heard the train whistle blow.

The rest of the time we played cards and made new friends all heading to Brisbane, our state capital, to start university, college, or boarding school. We had fun. After 39 hours, we reached our destination at 1 am — too late to catch the last train to my grandmother’s house where we planned to stay until we found a flat.

We decided we’d stay at the station and catch the first train to Granny’s in the morning. We slept in the Waiting Room on a huge solid timber table in the middle of the room. Toni and I were the only ones there, but we were too tired and excited to be scared.

I look back on those years and the adventures and misadventures we shared, and I reflect on how times have changed. Would I sleep in the waiting room of a city station now? I was thinking I wouldn’t, but if I was tired enough, I probably would. I haven’t lost my adventurous spirit yet.