Riding the rails, the light rail that is....

I've always loved rail travel. When in Europe two years ago, my daughter and I hopped on a train almost every day, sometimes two and three times the same day.  We did a lot of traveling by train, as we visited 12 countries and visited 24 cities, and of course everyone knows that that's the way to travel in Europe.

As a young girl, being the tomboy that I was, my four brothers and I would hang out by the rails of the Erie Lackawanna in Hoboken.  I have vivid memories of the mischievous boys hopping aboard, then jumping off before the train went too far, and lest they be skinned when they got home.  I also remember that they would search for treasures aboard and if possible throw some of it off to us spectators.  As a young woman working in New York City, I would ride on the Path trains to Penn or Grand Central to get to work. 

I don't travel much by train anymore, but that's not to say that I don't miss it.  As a matter of fact, the novel I'm working on, is a mystery that takes place on an Austrian-Czech train en route to Prague.  I've had oodles of fun researching the different lines and uploading pictures of the many trains, specifically the older ones.  The suburb where I live is by no means a sleepy countryside in Europe.  We do however, have a railway that meanders along the town's edge by the river, as it takes passengers back and forth into Hoboken, from where they hopped on the Path into New York.  The train stop is only several blocks away from my home.  Some nights when I'm in a zombie-like state with insomnia, the sound of the train as it signals that it's pulling in and out of the station, lulls me back to sleep.  Yes, I have traveled on the train in my town but since I own a car (a must if you live in the suburbs), I don't have the need to do it often.

Much to my surprise, when I visited a friend in Jersey City during the late summer, she and I took a walk down the street to release some of the stress we've both been under.  It was a nice night for a walk.  Folks of all ages were up and about, enjoying the last days of summer. We ended up at the Light Rail station, only several blocks away from my friend's brownstone.  Entering the station's long corridor and taking the elevator down the hill to Hoboken, brought back wonderful memories of the time spent riding the rails in Europe.  What a pleasant surprise!  The Light Rail, which in that particular area runs along the hill that separates the two towns, starts either in North Bergen or Union City and takes one into the Path and Erie Lakawanna stations.  My friend Neri and I had so much fun on that cool autumn night, that we promised to hop on the Light Rail soon.