Like I said I literally enjoyed the last historical period of the TGR. When I lived with an uncle and his family, they moved from 'Puna to Five Rivers so me and my cousin had to take the train to 'Puna RC. The fare was 4 cents one way. You could by a weekly for 40 or 60 cents(can't remember exactly) or a monthly pass. The conductor use to punch the ticket at the station gate or in the train.
When I moved back to St. Joseph to my Moms, I used to take the train from the Wasa station to Picton Halt near the cemetry. The were some funny and hilarious incidents that used to take place and surprisingly(for me) little violent incident. But there were 3 things(incidents). that still stands out in my memory. One is train hopping. Guys used to hop on or off the train while it was in motion at some speed. I used to do it it. But I knew my limitations. Misjudging the speed of the train while trying to hop on or off could have caused embarassement(tripped an fall on the platform in front of everybody(girls)).
There was one incident where I and a friend decided to hop off the train at Picton. I hopped offf first. I was cool safe landing. But my friend hopped off after and misjudge speed when he landed on the gravel platform. He stumbled forward on the ground and began to roll towards the trai line. As he was rolling towards the line ,there was a big box(contained batteries for the carriage lights) below the carriarge, which hit him and push him away from the track. Guys for a split second a millions (really) ran before my eyes. The big man was not ready to call my buddy. I stopped hopping train....... For a week. I was back at it again, but at the last carriage.
The second was train storming. Riding the train without paying. Anyway, a stormer got cornered by a conductor by the steps in the last carriage. No way to run. No way to hide. Train just left St. Augustine station towards Curepe and picking up speed. Show me your ticket or Ah taking you to the St. Joseph police station. The dude take a look at the conductor, contemplated a little and jumped out the f--king train which was speeding by then. The dude went kayle-kay-tay in the bush. Then jump up and
his teeth and punch his fist up in the air at the conductor. That was absolutely crazy.
Allyuh,bare with meh. Then the last one. Girls/Romance. man use to do serious tracking on the train. Girls for so. School girls. Office girls. I never saw anything explicit. Things were "conservative" by todays standards. But there was one girl who we( the lil boys) used to call "cat-eyes". Looked a bit like Tyra Bank. Use to go convent in 'puna. This sharp dressing dude used to religiously check she in the train to school. All the lil boys were jealous of this guy, because all the boys were in love and lust with she. I really wonder what became of them/he/she.
That is some of it guys. Ah don't want to bore allyuh.
