34 It Happened in Iona must to show one's stuff. Potato cars or reefers were a special curiosity piece with their thick doors, smooth interior finish and coke receptacles for heating. Loading potatoes was the main activity at the siding, but turnips, hogs and pit props were also put aboard, with coal and lime being the usual cargos unloaded there. The passing through of the morning and evening train six days a week was a normal part of life's rhythm at our place and one might think that these dual events each day would pass unnoticed. Not so. The train was a true magnet, drawing the attention of those outdoors. Even for those inside the house it was normal to go to the window and never miss this moving sight which brought with it the shaking of windows and rattling of dishes. One of the simple and perhaps legitimate games kids played was to lay pennies or nails on a rail just before the train's arrival. Moments later it was exciting to recapture these scat¬ tered articles well flattened and burning hot from their ordeal. One of the greatest moments for kids, however, was to wave to the driver and to have him wave back at us. It was a signal honor since the man at the controls of this big moving machine was the envy of many a youngster. The Murray Harbour train was slow indeed and the backing up and shunting of cars at many stations was simply taken for granted. However, the story that one could step off the moving train, fill his pockets with mushrooms or blueberries, then stop on again was a slight exaggeration! The train was good for the countryside and especially so for us. Even the quiet of the empty track had its own mystery about it. One could put his ear on a rail and hear a faintly ringing sound, making him imagine that through these ribbons of steel he was somehow hooked up to the great wide world. He was.