Make a train station an important part of your story.

Posted in Narrative on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 74 stories

“To Become A Brakeman” by Davie McGuinn

Submitted to Contest #168

Jaybird reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch of Bugler tobacco. He then took out a folded section of yellowed newspaper, tore it into a quarter sheet, plucked out the last of the pouch's contents, gently rolled the tobacco in yesterday's farm foreclosure notices, and rolled a crude cigarette, licking the flap to make it all stick together. A man's land wasn't worth much more than that paper puffed into a hobo's lungs those days. The stationmaster already knew Jaybird would be bumming a dry match for his cigarette, so before Jaybird...

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“The Station Manager” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #168

I finish my breakfast and hurry down the hall to the front desk of my train station. It’s early yet, so not too many commuters have arrived. I’ll operate the ticket booth until Sue comes to take over. The early morning commuters generally have season passes, so they don’t have to purchase tickets. The shoppers who like to go into town for the day do. Or perhaps folks that are going to the theater or museums. It’s my job to see that everything runs smoothly and, if I can, on time. I am the station manager, a...

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“Train I Ride” by Abigail F. Taylor

Submitted to Contest #168

Shelley Glazen tapped her cigarette against a homemade ashtray. It was misshapen and cracked with age, but it had been her first attempt at art, the first time she fell in love with creating something with her own, rickety hands. Now, decades into her hobby, she found joy in teaching others at the community center. At seventy-three, Shelley was proof anyone could take up a skill and make something beautiful. She taught both throwing clay and Beginners' Drawing. “It's not about getting famous on the ticky-tock!” she said on the first day of c...

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“Charing Cross, 1942” by Liv Anderson

Submitted to Contest #168

CHARING CROSS, 1942. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be spending my twenty-seventh birthday alone, in the buffet bar at Charing Cross, and rather enjoying it, I’d have never believed them. But a lot has happened in the last year or so and frankly there’s nowhere I’d rather be. Of course I could have gone out with Jimmy Fenton from Accounts, who inquired ever so politely if I’d finally accept his offer of a drink this evening to mark the occasion, but quite honestly I’d rather not inhale his cigar smoke, and I’m certainly no...

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“Midnight” by Ema Fancher

Submitted to Contest #168

Eileen shivered from the lack of sunlight and the abundance of adrenaline. Hazel eyes darted left and right, scanning the tangled mass of naked trees and the empty parking lot. She gripped her cardigan tight as she all but ran across the crumbling asphalt. Upon reaching the wooden porch of the station building, she huddled in the shadowed corner while her numb fingers fumbled to find the proper key. She’d done this job for the past month and silently scolded herself for her continued anxiety. Thirty days ago, she told herself the work would ...

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“The Birthday Station” by Peter Presscott

Submitted to Contest #168

A man was standing at the train station. I immediately noticed it. I was on my usual route home when I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I forced my board to a full stop and looked at him. There was a man in a tuxedo standing on the platform of the long-abandoned train station. It struck me as fascinating, but also weird, and suddenly I felt the instinct to run. It’s the ability to defy our instincts without being trained that makes us human, that’s what I’ve always believed. It’s that ability that allowed me to walk toward the m...

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“Destined Destination” by Julie Pruitt

Submitted to Contest #168

[death] “Lev, you know we love your writing,” Mikhail Katkov said to the incensed writer. “But the last installment of your novel is a catastrophe.” Lev sat with folded arms across his chest. If he spoke, he knew that all hell would shake the corridors of the Herald. “My wife believes it is a great novel,” Lev finally said through clenched teeth. “Naturally your wife would say that … she’s your wife. Lev, I’m giving you my honest gut opinion – you will be laughed out of the country or stoned if we publish this.” The publisher ...

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“The Midnight Train ” by Annie Halloin

Submitted to Contest #168

The Midnight Train Based on a true story ROME, 1944 The air raid sirens sounded like Satan’s screams. Not that they were unusual anymore. They howled in the mornings. They howled in the evenings. They howled during afternoon tea. Maybe it was bravery or maybe it was exhaustion, but no one seemed to mind them very much anymore, if they minded them at all. People simply stepped over the rubble—the recent casualties of stone and mortar—as they continued on their way. These buildings had stood longer than their lifetimes or their gr...

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“RAILROADED - THE HEIST” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #168

We only had a slim to vague idea of the latest request from our friend and film producer Terry Traynor when he reached out at the last minute to ask to have us work an angle in his latest storyline. Bourbon Street Films was his calling for years and we stepped up on occasion to lend a hand or twirl a skirt or whatever was needed for his next cleverly dreamed up storyline. It always proved to be the best time spent in a most fun and creative way ever imagined. Just a different type of art scene for me and he made it click. The latest movie an...

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“Xartha Station” by Christine Howells

Submitted to Contest #168

The train station at Xartha has always been my favourite place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Every few minutes, a new onslaught of tourists would pile into the station, creating a cacophonous racquet that filled the air. Today I was in my usual hiding place, amongst the pigeons in the rafters, where I was quietly watching the never-ending circus that had come to experience one of the most popular destinations in the galaxy, Xartopia. ‘Stay close!’ ‘Mind your feet! ‘Watch out!’ came the cries of concerned parents, as their young pointed,...

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“Derek Zimmer's strange encounter at the train station” by James Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #168

The train station had been deserted for some time now. One of the light’s flickered on occasion and the odd car would go by, a fox would laugh, an owl will call but other than that all was silent. The train-station was very small and built for this one train line for a train that stopped every half hour. Once it hit around eleven it came and momentarily broke the peace. It crawled out of the darkness like a snake, the light from the cold concrete station reflected of the train’s glossy panels as it slowed down to a halt and the doors opened ...

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“There's No Going Back” by Robyn Hart

Submitted to Contest #168

(Trigger Warning: Story contains mentions of abuse, substance abuse and depression.) Raised wrong, abandoned at the age of five, left to fend for herself in the great big world. It already seemed like it couldn't get any worse for Willow, right? Wrong, it could. To add to the pain that was her existence, she also was assaulted at six years old on the streets, how she managed to survive as long as she had was truly a miracle. There was one shelter that really looked out for her, the people there had basically raised her. Of course, as vol...

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“Seasons Change” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #168

The tree was part of me. I made a detour so I could see it every day as I went shopping in the nearby village of Laverton. I saw it as the seasons changed and the years rolled by. I lived alone and dreaded the day, possibly not too far away now, when I would be too old or ill to make the trip. I would never cease to love the tree as it was part of you too.There was a warm May evening from so long ago etched perfectly and permanently on my heart. "Surprise!" you'd yelled when I opened the door and saw you, bike in one hand, picnic basket in t...

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“Helpless Panic” by Megan Michelle

Submitted to Contest #168

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? “What do I do?” the frustrated words escaped her mouth in a whisper before she could stop them. Ainsly took a few steps down the crowded walkway of the platform after following the crowd exiting the train. She slowed to wait while the busy patrons rushed off to their next to-do. Once they all disappeared into the belly of the station, Ainsly found a bench in the middle of the railway area and sat down, gazing up at the curved steel beams supporting the massive station around the trains. Each set of...

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“Another Track” by Matthew Langford

Submitted to Contest #168

There were not enough seats, so Winston found himself in the space between carriages. Standing over his trunk, he battled to keep it upright and not sliding by squeezing it between his knees. He watched the corrugated black rubber, straddling the coupling mechanism beneath, be pulled one way then the other by carriages moving in different directions. Fifteen travellers, with their luggage, occupied this unsteady space and, if that wasn't bad enough, ticket collectors, those making their way to the toilets as well as the lost and aimless, dee...

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Make a train station an important part of your story.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 74 stories

“To Become A Brakeman” by Davie McGuinn

“The Station Manager” by Ralph Aldrich

“Train I Ride” by Abigail F. Taylor

“Charing Cross, 1942” by Liv Anderson

“Midnight” by Ema Fancher

“The Birthday Station” by Peter Presscott

“Destined Destination” by Julie Pruitt

“The Midnight Train ” by Annie Halloin

“RAILROADED - THE HEIST” by Debbie Curtin

“Xartha Station” by Christine Howells

“Derek Zimmer's strange encounter at the train station” by James Reynolds

“There's No Going Back” by Robyn Hart

“Seasons Change” by Kate Kilbee

“Helpless Panic” by Megan Michelle

“Another Track” by Matthew Langford

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone looking out a train window.

Write a story about a character who is moving on, literally or figuratively.

Write a story about a character who misses a train, for better or worse.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Bon voyage.”

Contest #168

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

105

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: