Green Neon

15 Full moon

The next day flew by for Tom. In order to bridge the time until he met Sophia, Georgios and Nikos, he unpacked his camera for the first time since his arrival in Greece, a simple Agfa camera that at least had the feature of being able to adjust for sunny and overcast weather. He had promised his friends and family to take lots of pictures, but every time he thought of taking the camera with him he dismissed the idea. He just found it annoying having to lug this thing around and take care of it.

But today he needed it. His best friend at home was a fan of steam locomotives and had commissioned him to take photos of express trains in Greece. Tom also found these monster machines fascinating. The railway he had to use every day to get to school had only been converted to diesel locomotives two years earlier, and he had been allowed to ride in the steam locomotive's cab a few times.

It wasn't just the grandiose old technology that interested him. He had also found it particularly impressive that the ledge above the chute for the coals was used by the locomotive crew to keep a huge tin coffee pot warm.

There were two train stations in Piraeus. One was the terminus for the trains from Central Europe. These express trains were still running under steam in Greece, so you could see and photograph the really large machines in operation. The other station belonged to the Peloponnese Railway, whose narrow-gauge tracks were crooked to the naked eye, suggesting rather bumpy traveling.

First he went to the international train station, where the "Orientexpress" from Munich was supposed to arrive at noon. The luxury train wheezed into the station on time, and he was able to photograph the huge locomotive during its shunting manoeuvres.

Afterwards he visited the desolate Peloponnese railway station. Behind the pretty station building there was only one platform and a few sidings, all on a much smaller scale than the international station. All around was a wide area strewn with rubbish, over which the midday heat was brooding.

A passenger train to Kalamata with 4 passenger cars and a small steam locomotive with an enormously high chimney was waiting at the platform. The locomotive smoked and hissed while traveling hawkers offered passengers small dishes such as souvlaki or pieces of fruit, which were bought in large quantities.

Nobody was moving except on the platform, because the midday rest was observed here too. Several different types of narrow-gauge locomotives were laying around, and on a track further away a freight train with cute little carriages was waiting to depart for the port city of Patras. The whole system seemed a bit like it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.

Tom used up the whole roll of 36 photos. As he was leaving the station grounds, he noticed two men lounging around in the forecourt. The green lettering "Police" shone on their foreheads. Tom felt uneasy. Now, if they were actually here because of him, they would have another excuse for making trouble for him: taking pictures at train stations was strictly forbidden. But he had promised his friend photos, and promises should be kept.

He made his way home, giving the police officers a wide berth. He lay down to take a nap, but his dreams were dominated by a hook-nosed man who wagged a crooked index finger at him. It was almost 5 p.m. when he woke up in a sweat. He ate a few slices of white bread with jam and then devoted himself to personal hygiene.

His thoughts revolved around meeting Sophia. For the time being he suppressed thinking about his completely different and more important problems. He only had a faint idea about this evening up to the point where Nikos was supposed to distract Georgios. Tom was completely in the dark about what would happen after that. He consoled himself with the fact that the idea for the visit to the Acropolis and for the diversionary maneuver had come from Sophia, so she would already know what to do. Apparently she had more experience with such things.