Crowded Train

The hypnotic sound of the train journeying across the continent is like the hum of some big metallic mother, singing to the passengers a little lullaby about all the different worlds that they are passing through. You sit, surrounded by strangers, and feel an odd sense of peace and calm, unlike so many times spent with friends, and slowly you slip into a dream that seems to last forever. A passenger train is one which includes passenger-carrying vehicles. It may be a self-powered multiple unit or railcar, or else a combination of one or more locomotives and one or more unpowered trailers known as coaches, cars or carriages. Passenger trains travel between stations or depots, at which passengers may board and disembark. In most cases, passenger trains operate on a fixed schedule and have superior track occupancy rights over freight trains. Oversight of a passenger train is the responsibility of the conductor. He or she is usually assisted by other crew members, such as service attendants or porters. During the heyday of North American passenger rail travel, long distance trains carried two conductors: the aforementioned train conductor, and a Pullman conductor, the latter being in charge of sleeping car personnel. Many prestigious passenger train services have been given a specific name, some of which have become famous in literature and fiction. In past years, railroaders often referred to passenger trains as the "varnish", alluding to the bygone days of wooden-bodied coaches with their lustrous exterior finishes and fancy livery. "Blocking the varnish" meant a slow-moving freight train was obstructing a fast passenger train, causing delays.