For those of you who have romantic notions about the newspaper business, may this be a cautionary tale. There are times when things don’t pan out as imagined.
On Sunday, for example, I thought it would be fun to try and get some sort of aesthetic shot of the free GO train ride to Kitchener. The free ride was to celebrate weekday GO commuter service from K-W and Guelph to Toronto.
I thought the lower corner of Church of Our Lady might offer a different view. Not to be. A bit too far away, and the background was disappointing. Then I heard a train a-chugging. “Either the train is leaving early or my clocks are off,” I thought to myself. I bolted to my car and raced to an intersection where the GO train may pass. I ended up taking a photo – from my car – of a VIA train travelling west.
“If people hoping to ride GO train end up on VIA, there will be a lot of disappointed people,” I mumbled. “Can’t be,” I mumbled, not entirely convincing myself.
So, I waited and waited and waited at the corner of Yorkshire Street and the railway tracks. And I paced. And I wondered if a GO train leaving the Guelph station would ever happen.
The shot – GO train in the foreground and a sun-highlighted Armoury in the background – will be a nice touch, I told myself.  An acquaintance bicycled by and assured me there are double-decker GO trains riding the rails. Then I waited some more.
After about 40 minutes of standing outside, doubting myself, wondering if I should call it a day, I heard the “clang-clang” of a train. Camera at the ready, I aimed for the Armoury.
Then I realized there was a train travelling  towards Guelph and not the other way around. I figured it was a freight train, but nevertheless trained my camera on it. Lo and behold, it was a majestic double-decker GO train heading to the Guelph railway station.
I climbed into my car cold, dazed and confused. In Switzerland the trains run on time. In Guelph, it seems, they run backwards.
• • •
While thankless as the above experience may have been, we Triblets were passed a bouquet that almost makes it all seem worthwhile.
A person involved in the arts community called me out of my office cave to effusively thank the Trib for promoting varied artistic endeavours that go on in Guelph.
She kindly noted that while sometimes we might wonder why we do what we do, our coverage – notices of upcoming events and such – means a big bunch in terms of exposure and ticket sales to varied Guelph groups. It was most kind of her to say so, and I shared same with staff. And she is right; sometimes we do wonder if we make a difference. Nice to know that we do.