Subway Adventure - Part 2

---- continued from Subway Adventure Part 1

With our flattened pennies securely in our pockets, (see the actual penny from the story here) Lowel and I walked along the tracks towards the maintenance access ladder at the end of the platform. It seemed like it would be much easier than wriggling up onto the platform the way we did it before - grabbing the edge of the platform and, with a jump, pulling ourselves up. Easier on the shirt-front too.

When we got up onto the ledge we found it to be about shoulder-width; plenty wide enough for two seventh-grade kids to walk along for any distance.

"Are you sure about this," I asked Lowel one last time.

"What are you, scared?"

"No. I mean yeah, a little. What if another train comes by?"

"Well, if you're scared..."

"OK. Let's go," and we started into the tunnel.

You'd be surprised how quiet it is in these tunnels. And the further in you go, the quieter it becomes. We were about 30-50 feet in when all we could hear was water trickling into a puddle somewhere off in the dark, the loose cement grinding under our shoes as we walked and a low rumble from trains running off in the distance.

The tunnel we entered was different than the image shown above/right. First, the walls were vertical and the ceiling was horizontal and significantly lower - only a couple of feet above our heads - just enough room for the subway cars to fit through. There was no fancy arched ceiling. Second, not only did it get quieter the further we went into the tunnel but it got very dark as well. Every so often we'd come across a low wattage bulb that was covered with what seemed like a quarter inch of soot so that it didn't give off much more than a faint glow. Occasionally we would pass a rectangular opening in the wall to our right, about the dimensions of a small door, but it was way too dark to see anything beyond a few inches. We couldn't tell how deep these openings went.

The tracks between the Dekalb Avenue and Atlantic Avenue subway stations do not move straight ahead but rather in a curve so that the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel' was not yet visible. We had kept glancing back behind us to keep our eyes out for the next train, but so far the coast was clear. Having the Dekalb Avenue station still visible behind us had been a comfort, as well.

With the sound and darkness being what it was, we began to see things in the tunnel. On more than one occasional both Lowel and I thought we saw people walking towards us, on the tracks, out of the shadows. We definitely saw either small cats or large rats scampering around down on the tracks. Without having to say anything to each other, we increased our pace.

About this time, we heard a train coming from somewhere and the sound was steadily growing in volume. Glancing behind us we could still make out the lights of the Dekalb Avenue station, so we knew the train wasn't behind us. We figured it must be coming from the direction of the Atlantic Avenue station. Sure enough, a few seconds later, rounding the bend in front of us were the lights from an on-coming train.

The sound grew to such a level that Lowel and I had to cover our ears. Granted the train was across the tracks and on the other side of the tunnel, but when it was even with us the sound was deafening - even through our hands. In the dark tunnel, the light from the windows of the train passing by, blinked with the frequency of the panes of the windows and vertical steel support girders for the tunnel, with the effect being that of a strobe light. Crazy!

After the train finally passed by us, the sound and light show slowly diminished as the distance increased. Our pace, however, quickened even more.

For the last couple of minutes our attention had been focussed on the possible dangers lurking around us and dealing with the assault on our senses that the passing train had provided. We hadn't looked back towards the reassuring light from the Dekalb Avenue station in a while. When we finally did, there was no station in site. We then realized that we must have reached the mid-way point between stations. There was no light in front of us and no light behind. There was only the dim light of the soot encrusted bulbs to guide us. It was very dark.

This was about when we heard the next train coming. And this time it sounded as if it was coming from behind us.

To be continued------