Train Adventure

 Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station

Train Adventure

 

My niece was having a naming ceremony for her youngest child and my son Alastair was to be the ‘Godfather’ and he was going to say a few words at the event which was in Edinburgh. On the same day my wife (ex-wife now) was going to a seminar/training course in Newcastle I think it was, and she was leaving from Edinburgh by train.  We didn’t live in Edinburgh, but the smart way was to kill 2 birds with one stone.  The plan was my son, and I, would park the car and drop my wife off at her train. It was a great plan, and we’d have more than enough time to drop her off then go to the naming ceremony with plenty of time to share and catch up with everyone before the informal ceremony started. It all went like clockwork; we found a parking space near the train station in Edinburgh city centre, and we escorted my wife to her train carrying her luggage in the process. We found the platform and went with my wife onto the train so that we could put her luggage on the luggage rack and then say goodbye. Everything went perfect and we were just about to leave my wife when the train chugged into action. My son and I bolted for the door but to late, we were leaving the station, and the next stop was Berwick upon Tweed just over the border into England and that was some distance away. My son and I just looked at each other before we went back and told his mother the news. Of course, we were panicking because we were on a schedule, we did have some leeway, but we didn’t think it would be enough. We then went to find the train conductor to explain the situation and to pay for our tickets. He was very understanding as he smiled and said we were not the first ones that this had happened to.  Instead of taking our fare, he issued us a ticket which we were to give to the conductor on the way back so that we wouldn’t be charged. He then said that we should arrive in Berwick upon Tweed at about the same time as the other train heading back to Edinburgh if both trains were on time but there was a very small margin of error to move from one train to the other. As we neared the station, we both said goodbye again to my wife as we readied ourselves for a quick dash to the other train not knowing how big the station was and where our new train would be. 

 

 

Berwick Upon Tweed Railway Station

 

We hovered at the door until the train stopped and they opened, then we were like two greyhounds racing for the other train and this time fortune smiled on us, it was a small staion and we made it, just! Once we got back to Edinburgh it was a mad dash back to my car and a race to my niece’s home, but we made it by a whisker.