As long as it's winter and a slow indoor season and as long as we were discussing movies, I would like to suggest that you get or rent a copy of the 1966 Czech film, Closely Watched Trains. You'll have subtitles, but plenty of steam and almost the entire film was shot in a rural station with plenty of signalling and telegraph. On top of that, the movie is an excellent black comedy. Like a lot of foreign films, it never got much play in the US, but deserves much more attention than it got. Much better than The Train with Burt Lancaster that came out at about the same time. You'll have to work to rent it, but I was able to buy it on DVD through Amazon.

davidwoodbury@adelphia.net