The DiZzy Train Ride

Today I got into the train at Station A, for a happy pleasant ride. But the ride was not very pleasant as I thought. Most of the time it was overspeeding and half the time I didn’t get what the tone of the Loco-pilot was.

A lot of times I went out to check how the train behaved at that high speed, whether every bolt was in perfect condition, and got in to feel the enormous thrill. And I saw the boys playing inside the compartment. Finally, I felt dizzy and I fell down in a swoon and a lot happened.

But I enjoyed that ride very much. That taught me a lot, yes a lot of things. Why was that train so important? Let me explain.

When I got into the train, the Loco explained to me about the position in Station A. And then he started explaining what methods were used to find the position in Station A.

Just like the crazy old man Italy, he explained the position of the train.

Suddenly he stopped his blabbering speech and started the train. I was amused by its power, with sudden acceleration the train attained a constant uniform velocity. I saw the embankment moving backward. And through the window, I saw a raven flying exactly with the train just like the embankment. Suddenly a familiar man got into my mind and said, “It is uniform velocity.”

My bad luck hit, the blabbering Loco-pilot also saw that wonderful raven and embankment in their uniform motion. He started explaining about velocity from three perspectives: from him, the embankment, and the raven. He explained that in a really good manner.

And he ended with the question, how does the velocity of light appear in those three perspectives? I had a doubt about that Loco, I hoped that guy must have attended the light festival of Michelson and Morley. I heard about that festival, the guys who entered there were confused about the speed of light. But this guy did not seem confused. That was interesting.

Suddenly two lightning bolts struck the train at the same time. That crazy dude relaxed and started questioning, “Did the lightning strikes really hit the train at the same time?” He continued his questions about time and simultaneity. The great man in my mind murmured about the light from each lightning bolt reaching me.

That Loco-pilot started again with a laugh, I think he had a clue that I had an answer. Two lights reaching me at the same time is simultaneity, but our train was moving in one direction. So the light from one lightning strike reached me earlier than the other one. If that was true, then the ancient belief that time is absolute in every subset of the Universe was false. That made me curious and confused.

From the corner, I heard a tremulous sound, “Railway track is two-dimensional.”

On the side of the embankment, I saw the length-defining marks. The Loco-pilot continued his speech, about how we can measure the distance in the embankment from the train. Usually, we do the calculations by choosing two particular points from the embankment and two points in the train, using the velocity with some precise calculations, we can find the distance. But the velocity is dependent on time. We already raised a big question about time and simultaneity. I was totally confused here, the questions started to orbit the core of my mind.

• Is the distance between two points measured in the embankment and from the train different?

• How can this be possible?

  
  

And a lot more questions creating like a chain reaction. I felt dizzy. I heard the Loco’s announcement clearly: “We request every passenger to tighten their seat belts and hold any strong objects, because we are going to trespass our speed limits. We are going to see the things nobody has ever seen. Let’s explore that realm.”

I was curious + dizzy, I hoped I could find answers in that realm. Now the man in my mind told me to think about simultaneity. The Loco started telling about simultaneity of events at higher velocities. I was a little bit confused, but his arguments were clear. He mentioned a lot about uniform motions. And he made a twist, saying our clocks were ticking slower than the clock on the embankment. He backed it up with logic and maths.

He made very clear arguments on simultaneity and time dilation. I wanted to stop the train to look at the effects of time dilation. I stopped the train after 5 minutes in ultra speed. But at the embankment, already 30 minutes had passed. Wow, I wondered, what the crazy Loco told was true. His maths never failed. I swooned on the embankment. The glowing eye from the engine compartment was watching me. I sat on the bench for a few minutes and started thinking.

Then I got into the train. I just noticed the precise meter on the train calculating the distance it had travelled. And by the motivation of the great man in my mind, I counted the distance marking pillars on the embankment. I suddenly noticed the train had travelled less distance than the length I calculated from the pillars. Finally, I found out the logic and maths the Loco told actually answered the previous question about length.

I noticed the transparent pipe filled with liquid and I found the regular pulse of energy moving through it at ultimate speed. The Loco started speaking with an ahem, “Now you have the question with velocity. Because your precise calculations affect the addition of velocity.” Without the wait, I stopped the train and got out to the embankment.

I sat on the bench and did the calculations. Without an announcement, the train started moving and I missed it. But I was not worried about it. I calmly sat and calculated the speed of the energy pulse outside the train. Yeah, the calculations worked. I wondered at the genius mind of that Loco.

And I took a motorcycle for rent to reach Station B. On the way, the man in my mind summarised the great experience of this train travel. That doubled my curiosity. And I enjoyed the ride.

I found the train at Station B. And an old man sitting on the side bench. Suddenly, I saw the crazy Loco get out from the engine compartment. I remembered that man, the same familiar man in my mind. I was amused by that man’s look. I shouted, “Mr. Einstein!” He looked back and smiled at me. I was happy and sat on the bench for some relaxation, because I was so tired. Then I heard the quavering voice:

“Well! Well! Well! The Space is 4-dimensional.”