Tuesday, October 19, 2010

人生列車: 漆黑隧道 / Life's Journey: Dark Tunnels


I read with interest my friend Space's Oct 17, 2010 blog article "隧道 Tunnel" in which he remembers the first time he went through the Lion Rock railroad tunnel in Hong Kong獅子山隧道. In the postscript, he draws a parallel btwn the numerous dark tunnels of a train trip and the many ups and downs during life's journey. Here is the exchange.

Space:

>> ... 記得第一次跟學校(小學)去旅行,乘搭火車去新界,經過獅子山隧道時,突然陰暗了的車廂,而窗外漆黑黑的一遍,小時確實有些害怕 ...

>> ... 當人生的列車進入隧道,由光明轉到陰暗,再由陰暗變成漆黑一遍,列車仍然要走著,但卻不知道要走多久,才能由漆黑轉到光明,唯有拼命地向前方走著、走著,尋找那一線曙光。到終於跑出了隧道,終於見到光明,但又怎知到還有幾多條,更長的隧道,更漆黑的隧道,就在前方呢?...

Haricot:


Thank you for the childhood memory!! I too remember being afraid of riding the train thru獅子山隧道 when I was little. So, my father would take me out to the open gangway in btwn cars to confront my fear.

Inside the pitch-dark tunnel, I could hear the grinding and screeching of steel against steel from underneath the passenger cars. I could sense the groaning and bumping of the coupling that barely held the cars together. I could feel my face catching the tunnel air as the train rushed forward, its cargo lurching this way and that way. I could smell the thick diesel exhaust coming from the locomotive ahead, a comforting reminder that someone somewhere was in control.

But what I did not know at the time was that many years later, my father's words would still ring true in my ears: "Son, there is nothing to be afraid of !!!"


Photo Credit (top to bottom):
* Kowloon Canton Railway 九廣鐵路 museum: Diesel engine locomotive no. 51, retired (
Wikipedia: Kowloon-Canton Railway)
* KCR locomotive no. 54 coming out of the northern exit of the Lion Rock tunnel and entering 沙田大圍 (undisclosed: there are undesirable pop-ups from this site)
* The same exit, after the tunnel has been leased to the natural gas company 隧道被租予煤氣公司作為連接九龍及新界的煤氣管道之用 (
http://www.hk-place.com/)

References:
*
Please click the following link to read Space's original blog article http://mindnecessity.blogspot.com/2010/10/tunnel-english-channel-bbc-deep-beneath.html
* Wikipedia/KCR:
"九廣鐵路 Kowloon-Canton Railway"
* Wikipedia:
"筆架山隧道"

8 comments:

新鮮人 said...

我對火車有主觀感情,
因為小學就要自己搭火車由馬料水去沙田返工,
雖然不會經過獅子山長隧道,
但也要經過一兩個短隧道,
可能習慣了,
不會有任何恐懼,
只記得濃烈的柴油味和黑暗裏和同學攪鬼的趣事,
有機會都可以在自己blog裏和大家分享一吓!

the inner space said...

Hari 兄講乘搭柴油火車時代,我的記憶已經模糊有沒有乘搭過。看到荒廢了的筆架山隧道,這個是柴油火車時代的隧道,當時還是單軌雙向行車。

自從九廣鐵路英段,改成電氣化火車,與及增建雙軌雙向行車,就開通了獅子山隧道。

小時去新界旅行個次,是搭柴油火車呢?還是電氣化火車呢?已經不復記!!!

不過我乘搭火車最多時間,是到馬會兼職,做電話投注的時代,每逢賽馬日都要由九龍搭火車,入沙田馬場看台底層的電話投注中心上班。

當年,沒有得選擇乘大巴士,人雖然長大了,再不太驚恐黑暗的獅子山隧道,不過在旺角站上車後,就閉目養神,畧是休息,準備以後四五小時的繁忙接聽電話投注的工作。

現在駕車出遊,我還是多行遠些,繞道由西貢經馬鞍山去大埔以北的新界區。去沙田大圍就沒有選擇,唯有行獅子山汽車隧道,或大佬山隧道囉。

新鮮人 said...

SPACE,
真係好想知究竟我哋有無同時間係沙田馬場做過同事呢?

Haricot 微豆 said...

新鮮人:

>> .... 有機會都可以在自己blog裏和大家分享一吓!

好啊好啊 !!!!

Haricot 微豆 said...

Space:

>> .... 馬會兼職做電話投注

So, did you make any money on the side yourself, or was it disallowed?

>> ... 大佬山隧道?

What/where is that? If and when I visit HK, I should ask you for direction b4 I go !!!!

the inner space said...

微豆兄:馬會兼職是不准投注和擁有投注戶口的,當然有人利用朋友家人投注。

但我學到的是“賭”字得個貧,賭仔是無發達的,祇有愈踩愈深,一次好彩,反而成為以後的後患無窮!

大老山隧道是由九龍的新浦崗到馬鞍山,已經有二十年歷史。


另新鮮兄:我兩旁的都是師奶,沒有靚仔靚女,我又唔埋堆,獨行獨往,一收工就走人,從來不和同事交往。

新鮮人 said...

space,
我只是想知係咪同期做過啫!

Haricot 微豆 said...

Space:

>> .... “賭”字得個貧

逢賭必輸,貪字變個貧,完全同意!!!

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