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E X C U R S I O N T R A I N
A rake of Midland coaches in maroon: What memories they stirred of times when trains Were really trains that stretched out long and one Could walk their narrow lurching corridors And slide compartment doors french-window style To step into a parlour dimly-lit By little bulbs; plush cushions with a pile Of mottled blue on each deep corner-seat, And sagging nets of luggage racks above Three framed glass-covered prints depicting wild Dim Scottish landscapes, and frosted cones of Lampshades over mirrors on the panelled Grained-wood walls, redolent of softer days When steam smelled sweetly in a clinging haze.
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