Train Dreams

There were once passageways to the old world,

strange trails, hidden paths.

You'd turn a corner and suddenly find yourself face-to-face

with the great mystery, the foundation of all things.

And even though that old world is gone now,

even though it's been rolled up like a scroll and put somewhere,

you can still feel the echo of it.

We're clear.

His name was Robert Grainier,

and he lived more than 80 years

in and around the town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

In his time, he traveled west within a few dozen miles of the Pacific,

though he'd never seen the ocean itself,

and as far east as the town of Libby, 40 miles inside Montana.

When he was sent by himself to the town of Fry, Idaho,

he was six, or possibly seven.

He never knew for sure the year or day of his birth.

How he had lost his original parents,

nobody ever told him.

One of his earliest memories was that of observing the mass deportation

of 100 or more Chinese families from the town.

Grainier was baffled by the casualness of the violence.

Come on up here.

Please, young fella.

I've been cut behind the knee by this fella they call Big-Ear Al.

And I have to say, I... I know he's killed me.

There were other memories that he pushed from his mind

any time they arose.

He quit attending school in his early teens,

and the next two decades passed without much direction or purpose.

He felt that nothing much attracted his interest

until, that is, he met Gladys Olding.

Gladys introduced herself

as if women did things like that every day.

Hello.

And maybe they did.

Hello.

I, uh...

I... I haven't seen you here before.

Oh, no, I've never, um... Uh...

- First time? - My... My cousin, yeah, brought me.

Well, his wife is very much...

I'm... I'm Robert.

I'm... I'm Gladys.

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

He found he suddenly had more interest in church

than he ever had before.

...fail you He promised

Believe Him, and all will be well

Not three months later, they were inseparable.

Right now, I could just about understand everything there is.

What are you thinking about?

Well...

I was thinking that we ought to get married.

What?

We are married.

All we need now is a ceremony to prove it.

And our cabin should have a window looking out towards the river.

Okay.

- We'll need a dog. - Mmm.

- I always wanted a dog. - Mmm.

Okay.

Open the door. Come on.

Okay.

- Hello. Come in. - What an amazing house you have here.

Can I come in?

Look at this place.

- We'll have the bed right here. - Facing here. And...

- Window? - Yeah, here.

Another here.

I want you to say my name one more time.

I just love it when it comes from you.

The sound of it.

Robert.

All of a sudden, life made sense to Grainier,

as if he'd been pulling hard the wrong way

and was now turned around and headed downstream.

The couple built a cabin on an acre of land,

and there, alongside the Moyie River,

began a little life together.

In those years, Grainier's work took him far from home.

He worked alongside men who came from faraway lands

he'd never even heard of,

places like Shanghai and Chattanooga.

It was a comfort to him how easily they all fell in with each other,

became temporary families.

But then, in the summer of 1917,

he worked a job building the Robinson Gorge Bridge

for the Spokane International Railroad.

He'd never taken up with a railroad crew before,

and he wished he'd never had.

All right, boys, he's right over here.

- That young boy working on that beam. - There he is.

Go on. Get him.

Bring him on up here.

Hey, come on.

Bring him on up.

What'd he... What'd he do?

Come on up. Come on up.

- Hold on. - Hey, you.

Yeah, but wha... what's he done?

Hey!

One, two...

Get him up here! That's it.

Bring him up. Take him on out.

What'd he actually do?

I don't even know.

What? Hey.

- Holy... - Yo, what is he doing?

You boys have shown this old river valley who's boss.

You helped save Spokane International.

Eleven miles it used to take to get around this gorge.

And you opened up a new part of the country.

I know it ain't the Great Pyramids of Egypt,

but I think you boys have done something pretty darn incredible.

Many years later, a bridge made of concrete and steel

would be built ten miles upstream,

rendering this one obsolete.

Now,

let's see if she holds.

Whoo!

I missed you.

I missed you.

Hello.

Oh, Gladys.

- Oh God. - God, yes.

Oh, shh. Shh.

I just got her to sleep.

Is she...

Go see her.

- She's just gotten so big. - Mmm.

She's starting to look like you.

Mmm.

At least she's starting to favor one of us.

No broken fingers this time?

I don't think so.

I didn't think you'd be home this soon.

I just couldn't stop walking until I got here.

- Look at that. - Oh.

I didn't expect that much after what you already sent.

We hit a soft stand at the end there.

Whoa, whoa.

Let's have a big dinner tonight.

Well, don't go to too much trouble.

No, come on. Let me show you something.

You see any of the same old guys?

Yeah. I saw a couple from the Oregon job.

They got good stories?

Yeah. They got good stories, whether any of them are true or not.

She's watching the candle. Look.

Look at that. Can you see?

Isn't that nice?

Hey, honey.

Yeah.

Mmm.

You want me to feed you?

Hmm?

- Give me some of that chicken. - Mmm...

Mmm...

- Oh, come on. - Mmm.

- She need to sleep? - Yeah.

Oh.

Yes.

What do you think?

It's a pretty funny-looking bassinet.

It's a fish trap.

Oh.

Bassinet.

Uh...

Did she, uh, wake up?

Was she crying?

Not too bad.

She just woke up hungry.

Mmm.

Do you know what all her cries mean?

Most of them, I guess.

How much does she know, do you think?

I don't know.

Hmm.

As much as a dog pup?

Well, a dog pup can live on its own after its mama weans it away.

A baby couldn't just go off and live after it was weaned.

A dog knows more than a baby till the baby knows its words,

and not just a few words.

A dog raised around the house knows some words too...

...as many as a baby at least.

What words?

I just want to hear your voice.

Well, fetch

and come.

Lay and sit

and roll over.

Whatever it knows to do, it knows the words.

Do you think that she knows that I'm her daddy?

Of course she does.

Deep down, she knows it...

even if she doesn't know she knows it yet.

Don't worry.

You'll have plenty of time to be her daddy.

Nice having you home.