The train ride to Banqiao Junior High School took about 50 minutes each way. For three years, every school day, I had to get up very early at 6:00 am. Since Mother was not an early riser, Father would cook or warm up my boiled rice, which I ate with a few items such as pickles, peanuts and/or leftover dishes, for breakfast. He also prepared a box lunch for me to take along in my bag. I would then walk to the train station, which was about 1 mile away, across from National Taiwan University's main gate, to catch a train at 7:10am. The first stretch took about 40 minutes, on what we called a narrow-gauge train, to Wanhua (万华). Then I would transfer to a regular train. See map below:
we lived at 1, I transferred at 2, and Banqiao Junior High is at 3.
The difference between a regular train and a narrow gauge train is the width of the track.
The narrow gauge train is cheaper to operate, and convenient to build. All male students learned how to jump up onto or down from the train while it was moving quickly.
Tom, do you remember a Lin Garden in Bangqiao? Did Yuan Ger and Xiao Jia live in Bangqiao for a while?
ReplyDeleteYes, Lin's Garden was very nice, it is just south of Banqiao.
ReplyDeleteYes, Yuan-ge and Xiao-jie were living there for a few years. He was the chief of police in the county!