39. Level crossing

Can you hear it? It sounds like a train just went past. That’s why the barriers of the level crossing are down. It’s so the cars that can drive over the road in the middle can’t pass, to avoid accidents. On the railways, safety always comes first!

Now the barriers are operated automatically, but for a long time there was a person next to them, to manually lift them up and down. They were usually operated by women. Maria was one of them: she worked as a guard.

Yes children. I’ve spent half my life here, next to the tracks. When a train approached, I ran to lower the barriers and made sure no-one could pass until the train had gone by. Then I lifted it up again, until the next train. And between trains, don’t think I just sat and rested. Do you see how clean this all is? This was my job, keeping the area clean, weeding the tracks... I wasn’t afraid of my job. What I liked the least was waiting for hours here on my own, keeping a check on the passing trains... That’s why I always had a pet for company.