From a Moving Train (on a rainy day): Part V
Well, I’ve indulged myself long enough, I think, with my experiments from my rainy day on the train. I could go on and on, but it’s about time to move on.
Almost. 🙂
Of course, I took lots of shots of graffiti. It was great fun trying to catch the full shot of the images and words I was seeing while the train was moving. With the iPhone there is very limited control, and you just have to concentrate like mad and hope for the best with your timing. I was completely hooked once I started. While the images themselves aren’t all that great, I had a blast trying to collect them. And I did manage to snag quite a few, once I got a feel for the timing.
I’ve chosen to post these two images together for their combined message:
“Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.”
Banksy, Wall and Piece
From a Moving Train (on a rainy day): Part Four
Lullaby near the Railroad Tracks
Through the stillness, while you slumber,
They trundle down the track,
Lugging cattle, coal, and lumber,
Crying, “alack, alack.”
It’s cheap to pay the engineer:
The moon’s a shiny dime.
Shut your eyes and you will hear
The Doppler shift of time.
The hour is small. Resume your rest.
Tomorrow will be kinder.
Here comes a freight train nosing west,
Pulling the dawn behind her.
Source: http://www.ramblingrose.com/lilt/poem.php?pid=lullaby
From a Moving Train (on a rainy day): Part Three
On the Departure Platform
by
Thomas Hardy
We kissed at the barrier ; and passing through
She left me, and moment by moment got
Smaller and smaller, until to my view
She was but a spot;
A wee white spot of muslin fluff
That down the diminishing platform bore
Through hustling crowds of gentle and rough
To the carriage door.
Under the lamplight’s fitful glowers,
Behind dark groups from far and near,
Whose interests were apart from ours,
She would disappear,
Then show again, till I ceased to see
That flexible form, that nebulous white;
And she who was more than my life to me
Had vanished quite.
We have penned new plans since that fair fond day,
And in season she will appear again–
Perhaps in the same soft white array–
But never as then!
–‘And why, young man, must eternally fly
A joy you’ll repeat, if you love her well?’
–O friend, nought happens twice thus ; why,
I cannot tell!
Stepping points
I’m not sure what to call these exactly. They’re a sort of grate, I guess (I clearly need to beef up on my railway terminology). I found several of them at various points around the abandoned railcar I visited (yes, I’m still my big rusty adventure: it’s almost over, I promise!). They serve as stepping points between the sections on the outside of the car. I was interested in their shapes, which ended up causing a focal point problem for the photographs because there is no place to “land” really when looking at the images, but I shot them nonetheless…
New Treasures
These images are the first in a series I’ll be posting this week of what for me was a grand adventure to a semi-abandoned (if not totally abandoned) railway. I felt like a kid again (well, I almost always feel like a kid when I’m out exploring) as I was running all over the tracks, practically shouting with glee upon discovery of all its rusty treasures. I took tons of photographs. I’ll try not to post them ALL here, but I’ll post some of my favorites. Today: bolts and screws!