At 11 o’clock at night, the state machinery suddenly starts moving
We use the past continuous to talk about the past: for something which happened before and after another action: The children were doing their homework when I got home. Compare: The children did their homework when (= after) I got home. This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story: The other day I was waiting for a bus when …Last week, as I was driving to work, … for something that happened before and after a specific time: It was eight o’clock. I was… Read More »