Braking Hard.

It's early June now. It's 12.50pm. I'm sitting in a school cafe in Caserta drinking lemon tea. Outside the sun is shining brightly on the trees in the garden. The only sound is the reassuring hum of the A/C unit. There's no-one here.

Another academic year is drawing to a close. This has probably been my busiest one yet; you name it and I've taught it. Thursday has been the most frantic: 3 schools, 2 subjects, 2 towns! And of course when I got to Caserta station it was still 3 o'clock. Some things never change eh!

Yet other things inevitably have and progress has been made on many fronts-
not least the Italian one! Yes, you guessed it! I am not only in possession of a B1 certificate in Italian but also of citizenship. It's taken 2 and a half years and been quite a journey.

Time now surely to take a well-earned break. In fact Sardinia in 10 days is the next station stop. Hopefully I will be going at half-steam by then. The only thing I can say now is that I'm breaking hard!

It's no easy feat though and it takes some time.

When the brakes are applied to a passenger train travelling at 80 miles an hour, the engine will travel a further  mile before it stops.

The beauty of braking is that whilst slowing down you can look back along the tracks.  So beyond the poppy fields and misted mountains, what do I see?

The face of my dear and faithful friend of 18 years. Boris. Now at rest in the garden he made his own.

The finished bathroom. A project so long in the making. Now a daily joy!

Still braking hard, I try to map out future travel. Inevitably I will revisit some familiar destinations but there will also be  new station stops. Half-hidden  now in clouds of steam most of them being quite a bit further down the line.

A steam brake acts directly and immediately.The sudden opening of the brake valve can easily result in overbraking by locking the wheels. Theoperation of a steam brake therefore requires a great deal of experience from the engine driver. As Carlin stated:

'When you step on the brakes your life is in your foot's hands'.

Braking hard indeed is no mean feat! I just count on my long experience on life's tracks and my tried and tested travelling shoes. Next stop Sardinia!