He Took the Midnight Train…

…going anywhere...  I am required to now add this link: Don't Stop Believin'

Sorry but I had to do that one, we were split between references to that song and comparisons to the Hogwarts Express form Harry Potter the entire afternoon and the first hour of the train ride.

Well in fact it was not a midnight train to anywhere but to Moscow.  Now Russia is not known for its efficiency or punctuality but I guess their train system is the real exception.  I was told in history class that the Russian train system has stayed they same over the last 100 years despite huge government shifts and massive changes in Russian society no one is willing to mess with a system that works.  The train we rode has been running on the same schedule (with only a few notable interruptions) for almost 100 years.  It runs with military like discipline and timing and that does show.  When we got the platform of our overnight train it was like a scene from a movie. 

There was Russian classical music playing in the background that got louder as the departure neared, the conductors in overcoats and military style hats standing at attention along the rail line and for some bizarre reason the front of the locomotives still have big red stars.  We set off at the stroke of at 11:59 exactly and in fact the only thing missing was a person running along the platform of the slowly accelerating train waving goodbye in classic movie style. 

In fact for some reason I had the images and plot Agatha Christie book (and the good movie) Murder on the Orient Express stuck in my head as I got on board.

We have a compartment with 4 beds the bottom ones like couches and the top ones fixed like bunk beds.  It was a bit tight quarters, but certainly better in terms of both space and ability to sleep then an airplane would be.  So after stowing all of my luggage and making sure the door to the compartment was locked tight (theft is a major problem on the trains) I was able to slowly drift off to sleep listening to the sound of the train on the rails.

This is certainly an interesting way to travel, and an effective use of time to get 6 hours of sleep in and arrive exactly at 8am to begin a full day in the city.  I have never really heard of this being a real option in the US, but I could see a train leaving from OC and running to the Bay area as an overnight train being quite a good option for travel that I would actually consider using.