Dear reader...
THERE ARE SOME things that feel at their most magical during the festive season. To travel by steam train is a treat at any time of year, but on a crisp December day as I wait on the frosty platform, it is as if I have stepped into a Christmas card.
I am making a short journey through the Cambridgeshire Fens. The air is freezing, and the steam from the engine crystallises in the air as if a great rolling cloud has fallen from the sky. The smell of soot and steam are heavy in my nose and throat. The whistle is shrill; a sound of days gone by. It is time to step aboard.
Wrapped up against the cold, hands deep in pockets, scarves and hats bound against the chill, passengers crowd around the doors. Stepping from the platform into the carriage, the warmth is enveloping; welcoming everyone with a comforting embrace. I find my seat and hunker down next to the window. The fabric is worn, and I can feel the springs beneath, but it is not uncomfortable. Many passengers have rested here before me; each scratch on the woodwork or scuff on the seats a sign of the train’s history.
It judders and lurches forward before slowly picking up a rhythmic pace. Wiping away the steam from the window, it frames my view, creating a series of scenes as we follow the route of the river: summer houses along the water’s edge, closed up for the winter; canal boats moored, with a hungry heron using one as a spot to peer into the frozen water; frosty willow trees, with their huge weeping canopies hanging like curtains over the fields. Above the trees, the sky is heavy, like a vast, grey blanket.
The track curves, and I see the engine ahead; its shiny green livery picked out against the frosty landscape. We have nearly reached our destination. I can feel our progress slowing, and, ahead, more passengers wait with eager anticipation for the return journey. Putting my gloves back on, I alight and join the throng. It is getting dark and is noticeably colder. If this was really a Christmas card, I think it would just be starting to snow…