Take the Sunday Train To New Westminster Quay!

With sounds of slithering steel tuned off, I take stock of past journeys including those made in inclement weather aboard the eastbound Sunday train to New Westminster Quay. The quayside is a delicate visual spread spoiled easily by anticipation but best enjoyed with an open mind that appreciates the caprices of nature. The breathtaking wonders of this waterfront provide equally for the creative and the dissipator. I shall make several journeys to find more camera angles, place my photographs in perspective, or to infuse in serenity.

The swooshing ceases temporarily at 22nd Street as I scan the clutter-free platform and begin to wonder when the first bill would be posted here! Just then, the sound of gliding fine tempered steel cut through my thoughts reducing 22nd Avenue Station to a vanishing point while projecting New Westminster into focus. Columbia Street is an important land mark and inches away from the train station but I must postpone excursions up this street till restorations are complete, and cranes and scaffoldings removed, soon eh?

I stop for a moment atop the pedestrian bridge spanning the railway tracks to absorb the warmth from the coppery tracks fired up by the evening sun before entering the public market. Murals by artist P. Hopkinson tell of the past and glorious days in the royal city. I look at a painting of the September 2nd 1929 Queen's Park Exhibition opened by Churchill smoking a fat cigar after which I buy myself a hot drink and settle down to get warm. I love the calmness and the open space here but cannot help wishing for more traffic to revive the market.

Sufficiently warmed up, I venture into the cold to look at the Paddle River Adventure boats, check out the massive pillars of that magnificent inn that bestrides the quay, watch trains traverse the skybridge, spot a rainbow in the horizon, and pray for the day when the rotten portions of the wharf will be rebuilt so I can get nearer to the sky bridge from the quayside. A couple jog by as the wind brings the rhythmic clanking of trains in the distance. For those who have found homes on Quayside drive, I say how fortunate...