The first order of business, of course, was to find a mysterious railway line. I was aware of this unused Conrail line near my apartment, adjacent to the Main Line of the old Pennsylvania Railroad that is still in use. The problem was I had no clue how to get there from the road. This is where Google Earth came in.
I surveyed the railway line through the eyes of a flying crow and discovered that there was a faintly discernible path going from the railway station parking lot to the abandoned line. I wasn't sure of its existence, but if I wanted that award-winning photograph, I would have to find out if the path existed. So I went.
When I drove into the parking lot, I found that Google had indeed been true to reality. There actually was a path going off into the bushes. I followed it and after walking through a number of puddles, it broke through into the abandoned railway line.
Now when I embarked on this adventure, I was quite aware that my railway line would be a poor people's version of the one shown in this photograph here. But I wasn't prepared for the extent of its destitution. For one, there were no rails. I'm guessing that when the final train pulled away, they rolled up all the rails and stuffed 'em into its cafeteria car. There were no wooden sleepers either. Even the gravel had been removed, presumably by the gravel mafia, leaving a bare cinder bed. But it was a railway line and so I continued walking westwards.
Actually, it was a nice walk with birds, leaves, tiny red colored berries which were probably poisonous and past-peak fall colors with a Kim Bassingerish old womanly beauty. On my left was the railway line that's still in use. Trains whistled past at regular intervals, including the Amtrak Keystone and the Amtrak Pennsylvanian.
After a mile or so, the railway line ended in a bridge which was closed, citing the live wires of the in-use railroad underneath. Since there was no other way to go, I had to turn back. I did consider climbing over the gate but the picture of Homer Simpson getting electroshocked in that episode came to mind.
But I still hadn't taken my award-winning photograph. So I decided to walk over to the in-use line and try my luck. So here it is.
Not to criticize my own work, but compared to the other picture, this one seems to be falling short in the mystique and ambience department. After analyzing it at length, I finally concluded that it was something to do with the carbon content of the rails. I am open to any other suggestions.
11 comments:
put your name in google. you are in your prof's resume.
you are talking as if I never google my own name
the fursht pic is quite interesting, there seems to be a path "pressed" onto the fallen leaves
and the third one is not so bad either, hmmm i say the sun and the foliage have spoiled it hehe...[JUST the right reasons to use photoshop!image retouching has helped that mesmerizing pic too i bet!]
i put my name in google and there is a kid down south jersey who has the same first name and last name. he played capt von trap in his school play and is supposedly intelligent. dont find shit about me. you had this sidey web page which used to come up before.
what's your name? i want to put it in google.
Well it's common when a railroad corridor is abandoned that the railroad company will pull out the tracks and ties and sometimes the trestles as well as a condition for the corridor to be "railbanked" under federal abandonment rules so that it can be used as a trail or public space. Since the rules are very complex and the land was obtained under right-of-way laws it has to be returned to the original owner or his descendants which is difficult at best given the way property changes hands and people move. Here is a link for more converted rail corridors that is searchable http://www.traillink.com/
these snaps remind me of a song by
Porcupine Tree: Trains
It's that bend, G. You have to have a bend in your rail tracks. That's the difference.
Lovely post. Perseverance personified you are.
we should change your name to curious george.
nice pic....the other one looks more inviting though. :) yours needs some sunshine, to make people to want to walk down those tracks.
curious george- do you want old ass tv and newer ac? if yo do, drive north towards me.
chips : Thank you, yes, and the leaves were pressed into the path as well. And I think I left my camera settings to cloudy when it was actually sunny, hence the extra sunniness.
zambezi : yes it was called my cyber-suite before i deleted it because of all the corn.
tgfi : sure. type in William shatner.
lumi : The problem is the government doesn't seem to be interested in converting this into a trail yet. But I would have liked them to retain the rails. It gives it a nice retro feel. That's a great link by the way, thanks.
karan : Ah I have never heard the song. Or the band. Or seen a porcupine tree.
sujatha : Thanks. Yes, I thought it was the bend too. Its a pity we have such straight terrain here.
anjali : who's to say it isnt? And I guess it's good that my picture doesn't make people want to walk on those tracks cause they belong to probably the busiest train route in this area.
zambezi : you are selling an AC in winter? Why don't you go to a desert and sell the folks some sand instead?
And as for the tv, no, not unless it is bigger than 55 inches and free.
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