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It was now 7pm. I was exhausted following the ten-hour hitch and getting a bit desperate as car after car passed me, despite the placard I held which read 'FRANCE: £10?' Just as the streetlights began to buzz a van screeched to a halt a couple of hundred metres down the road, I grabbed my impossibly heavy rucksack and lurched after them. "Ten Quid?" he asked, before opening the door of their small van. I was to share the back with several crates of beer that they'd just bought in the duty free...

European Tales: Switzerland 1996, a lengthy tale

Joseph Tame
2006-06-30 17:53:26

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to ferry the hundred or so Japanese holidaymakers back to their tour buses. The first train left, with about forty passengers on board. I remember sitting in the buffet watching it depart, followed by a second train. About ten minutes later the second train reappeared with a lot of agitated people on board. Word quickly spread that the first train had been blown off its tracks. Scheidegg had seemed quiet, but all of a sudden men appeared from everywhere, carrying blankets and first aid kits.Didi and myself quickly joined the chaps running down the railway as fast as possible. It was such a struggle to not get blown down the embankment and onto the scrub, let alone move forward. At points I had to fight as hard as I've ever fought, just to stay in one place. When I finally turned the corner in the track, I couldn't believe my eyes.The train was just lying there, on its side, surrounded by people. It was all so... strange. The passengers were being helped out of the front of the train through the broken window. It was a miracle that no one was killed. Most were just in shock, and only a couple had minor injuries. We all clambered into the back of a truck, comforting the passengers. Later that day they were all ferried down the mountain fifteen at a time in a Piston Bulley, a huge powerful monster on caterpillar tracks that was capable of conquering any incline. Two days later a few of my colleagues (including Didi and Jaime) starred with the train in several national newspapers. Following a few days of being cut off by the weather and buckled railway tracks, life once again resumed normality. By mid November the stresses of working, eating, and partying with the same people all of the time began to get to me. This was especially apparent in the case of Alex, the very one who had been so welcoming in the first place. He had a 'large' personality, and tended to impress it upon all those around him. I found it very difficult to deal with him telling me what ...