Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Wrong side of the tracks


I took a walk by the tracks near my office the other day. It's a depressing stretch of the world, bordered by crumbling, grafitti-covered buildings and populated by no one except for the occasional street person wearing a rubbed out old ski jacket on his way to the nearby bar. Not exactly the kind of place for me to be walking around alone with an expensive camera, but while I was there, the lure of this place was overwhelming.

I think I'll be returning to this place at some point. So many more stories to tell.

Your turn: What are you seeing and feeling in this image?

12 comments:

Booster MPS said...

Great perspective. Where do the tracks lead us........that is my question but the answer is not important.

srp said...

Are the tracks abandoned? Where do they lead? Did comfortable and fancy passenger trains roll down these rails taking families home at Christmas? Can you still hear the mournful whistle along the way in the early morning hours? It is a somber look, but lovely.

Anonymous said...

Think of all the history there!! The people that travelled...to me that's not lonely...it's full of energy and memories. !

Carli N. Wendell said...

This, which I think may be a little silly.
http://www.oli.org/news/press_release_detail.php?press_release_ID=141

Mother of Invention said...

That there is no right or wrong side of the tracks...at least there shouldn't be..but there usually is...and Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy!

Snaggle Tooth said...

It made me post the track pic I took last week...

I go lotsa places- now it's so rare to see a train around here! To think it's what drove the Industrial Revolution n all the wheels we do now... to be so neglected n abandoned...

Anonymous said...

Similar pics here

SzélsőFa said...

Uncertainty, out-of-balance, sadness. Abandoned hopes.

Prego said...

the first thing i usually see in your images are 'desktop backgrounds'

in this case, you've actually sparked the creative juices with this one. i've toyed with the idea of writing a novel about modern day malcontents trying to find themselves by travelling the railways 'hobo style'. the neglected, abandoned rails of WNY are kind of my inspiration, so you can imagine their trip would be fraught with mishap and disappointment.

now that i've finished my degree, i might have some time to devote. might.

p

here via michele again

utenzi said...

I love pictures like this, Carmi. I feel the grittiness of the ground as I look at the picture. The sharp shards of rock and cinders of coal from years gone by.

Michele sent me to marvel at those lines converging in the distance rendered in aged tones of gray.

Debbie said...

This image reminds me of my grandmother - she lives across from the tracks in a small town in California - I do not know how she sleeps. Thanks for the memory.

Anonymous said...

Like booster, I see tracks and I think about where they're headed. The photo makes me think that we're all on a journey even if we don't know where. Something spectacular awaits. Then again, I'm a glass half-full sort of gal.