The Banker (Part 5) – aboard the troop train
In Findlay’s compartment acquaintance was quickly made with fellow travellers. The odd troop would poke his head around the sliding door to locate buddies from civilian life. By the time the steam locomotive chugged out of Germiston station, the initially tense atmosphere began to loosen a trifle. The new recruits tentatively began to ease into small talk and some light-hearted banter. Findlay, not a gregarious type, settled into a corner of the compartment and tucked into a book he had brought for company. Railway stations and sidings, it appeared to the young men, was an invitation to the locomotive to slow down or stop. Troop trains seemingly adhered to the progress of a milk train. Each stop along the route added a layer to the monotony of the journey. Shortly before nightfall a bedding crew did the rounds. They rolled neatly folded sheets, blankets and pillows from leather bedding bags onto bunks that had been slammed into position. Green railway seats rapidly formed into be...
