Stuck on the Train Tracks
None of us really knew what Jett was up to but as he drove onto the train tracks that only had a metal stop sign warning in place, we were hoping a train wouldn’t come. There were two tracks and Jett drove fully onto the first one. Thinking that he was seeing to our conversation beforehand about how close Tatton’s wheel span would be to the tracks we didn’t pay attention to the train that was headed our way.
This as you probably think only happens in the movies, getting stuck on the train crossing with a train coming, well no. It happened to us on Friday night as Jett stalled the car (I’m pretty sure he did anyway) and looking to the right of us we noticed big lights on the train track. Wondering what it could be our hearts started to race when we heard a huge whistle, we knew it was a train.
“Reverse, Jett reverse it,” shouted Shawn in desperation and although the train was a fair distance from us it was gaining ever so quickly. Starting the car back up and reversing I don’t think we were directly in its path but we were desperately close. Three seconds passed before the train started to pass us and how lucky we were, it was a freight train with at least 40 carriages.
Jett Hits the Dirt Track
If the panic of a freight train heading directly for us wasn’t enough, Jett took us to the next level. Heading to the other side of the train track where there was some sort of a dark and dusk dirt track we headed down it. Jett didn’t hesitate on pushing down the accelerator fairly hard and with that we started speeding down a dark dirty track that was only wide enough to fit our small car.
To each side of us there was either long grass, large boulders or the thickness of the bush where you could get cleaned up on a telegraph pole every hundred meters. The dirt track had gravel amongst most of it and this along with the dirt made it easy to slip and slide. Turning on the high beams Jett just planted his foot down and for a little while the anxiety was kicking in as I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t think Jett knew either.
Coming up to a turn with a telegraph pole right on it I couldn’t see it until it was right upon us because of how dark it was. Slipping and sliding in the dirt Jett picked up speed as we started heading around 80 Km/h on this dirt track for rally driving. That’s exactly what Jett was doing as he done a handbrake around a corner, narrowly missed a huge puddle of water and then came to a sharp turn that needed us to almost come to a stop.
While Jett was going through this course like a madman trying to maintain a record pace we were sitting back in our seats exhilarated as our hearts were racing as fast as the car. Once we made it past the sharp turn we came to another straight that Jett pushed into third gear and on this long but narrow road the road was as bumpy a ride as a fat hooker. If there was a minor mistake with the steering along this long stretch we would probably come off course and into oncoming bush trees but climbing a slight hill progressively we saw no signs of that.
Reaching the top of the hill it looked as if we were headed to a cliff because from the back seat I couldn’t see anything in front of us. As Jett done a handbrake I noticed that it was only a steep slope and it led into the TAFE at Macarthur Square. Jett had taken us on a roller-coaster ride and the only difference, the dirt accumulated on the car.
My Lead Foot Debut
In all that madness Shawn and Tatton also had a go where Shawn was pretty much as in control as Jett was but Tatton really had some problems. Apart from driving like a granny he was driving over the bumpiest parts without even trying and he had no coordination meaning we almost hit a lot of things. When we reached the part at the TAFE Shawn invited me to also have a go since I was the only one who hadn’t had a go.
Jumping into the driver’s seat I didn’t bother being polite to the pedals and as Tatton advised me later that I had a lead foot. On top of that Tatton also noted that I’ve only got two speeds when driving, stop and go and that sounds about right of me. Either my foot was flat to the floor or I was pumping on the brakes for a rapid decrease in speed, I was hell on wheels.
Not hesitating on speed but not getting out of second gear I caned down the hill which was mostly dirt and grass. Making my way towards the sharp turn I just hit the brakes hard and done a slight slide into that and putting it into first gear pummeled out of there. Once again increasing my speed and whizzing past the skinniest part of the track with a telegraph pole on one side and the train tracks on the other I was egged on by everyone laughing in hysteria.
The best part was when we came up to the huge puddle that engulfed half of the dirt track and having to sacrifice we went straight through it with one tire, made a huge splash. That got a huge crowd reaction as we slipped to the side somewhat and continuing on the journey we came close to the train crossing. Everyone thought that I was going to keep driving fast as the dead end was coming up soon.
Sliding Around the Dead End
Knowing better and having this lead foot of mine I pounded on the brakes and turned the wheel to do a half circle. Still sliding I slipped it into first and finished off the slide. As everyone caught themselves a breather I pushed it into reverse and let the tires rip once more far enough for me to get some sort of three point turn happening.
In the middle of the course I was losing control of the steering as we slid to one side and then correcting it we slid to the other. Almost coming off the track I took it under control and continued on. Tatton’s steering is touchy and loose and I know that his front wheel drive can’t help that much.
Shawn Ends the Night
Gravel flying everywhere, mud pounding onto the car, dirt covering the road for our next journey, that was the exhilaration for our night. For Shawn’s second turn which came after my go we headed back into the midst of the collecting dirt clouds. Dealing us plenty of gravel that was flicking on the bottom of the car we slid around corners, sped quite easily and gained speed to reach third gear on occasions.
Hitting some huge bumps in the road that sent us a couple of centimeters from the ground we came to the sharp corner where Shawn pulled up the handbrake. Sliding around the corner we under-steered and found ourselves on an angle going around the bottom part of that road. Taking our little short cut and regaining control as we came back onto the dirt road he continued on with his hot pursuit of time and using the handbrake one more time at the end of the course and doing a 180 we finished our little era of rally driving.
Diary Of A Mad Chaos is a daily diary written from March 1996 until today, of which individual books and book series have been created, namely “The Lost Years” an exploration of young, entwined love, the “Wubao In China (猎艳奇缘)” book series which provides an extensive comparative analysis of the cultural differences between Eastern and Western societies, and the book titled “Foreigner (华人)” an exploration of race relations in Australia.
