disused siding · twenty-three years · last in service 2003
a second-class compartment carriage, livery long faded to a colour without a name. it was shunted into the siding the spring the line south was closed for repair and never quite re-opened.
inside, the seats remain in their rows. the moquette has gone to a pale grey, the antimacassars are still pinned down, the racks above hold a forgotten umbrella and a great deal of dust. the lavatory door is locked from inside.
the rails under it are rusted continuous. brambles have taken the coupling. a birch is up to the level of the door-handle. the sliding window in the third compartment moves an inch when the wind is from the right direction.
field-note: at certain times of evening, the windows reflect what is not there: a row of indented seats, occupied.