What metaphors are used in The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole?

In Chapter Ten, the train David is on is symbolic for the toy train he has used his whole life as a route of escape. Now the toy train has morphed into a real one, and it is literally taking him away from his problems and the town that has suffocated him from the very beginning. This is a genius writing technique, to take the metaphor of the toy train and turn it into reality for David.