>From the Obscar list.
Terry
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: PDS <fasttrack2000@yahoo.com>
To: observationCar@yahoogroups.com
A few years ago, I shot BNSF's Crawford Hill in
Nebraska for the TRAINS documentary, *Powder
River Showdown* (note to Joel and Garland: Deal
with the title). It was a cursed day: Rain and
wind, just enough to keep misting my lenses, and
generally irritating the living crap out of me.
After struggling with a rainshield for the XL1
and hand-holding an umbrella, I threw in the
towel and said to my friends Paul Bergen and Paul
Rathkamp, "Piss on it, let's get out of Dodge and
hit this place on the way *back.*" With the light
at around f2.0 at 1/30 a second for ASA 100 film,
they agreed that, like the title of the Roy
Orbison song, it was time to move on "Down The
Line."
I can't tell you the name of the north-south
highway we took, but it roughly paralleled the
BNSF main. Driving north, we passed through what
looked like an abandoned or nearly abandoned
small town. We commented on the deserted main
street and the vacant storefronts. My impulse was
to stop and check out the town, but in lieu of
our long drive to the coal-fields, we kept
driving.
A few miles later, we spotted a headlight and
stopped to shoot the train. Looking for something
other than a 3/4 wedge shot from next to the
tracks, we drove up a farm road and parked on a
slight rise overlooking the tracks. We set up and
shot the train: A southbound (headed toward
Alliance, that is) grain train behind a
leased/borrowed/kidnapped CN wide-cab GP40-2.
While we were breaking down our tripods and gear,
the farmer who owned the place wandered over to
talk to us. We talked about railroads (he was
particularly miffed that the Dakota, Minnesota 7
Eastern wanted to build a rail line near his
property, although, when pressed, he couldn't
give a *specific* reason why this bugged him).
On impulse, I asked him about the abandoned town
we'd passed earlier. He confirmed it was a ghost
town, and added, "It pretty much dried up and
blew away when the Burlington (BNSF's
predecessor) pulled out."
"What do you mean, pulled out?" we asked.
"Steam engines," he said. "They used to water 'em
there in town, feed the crews and such." But when
the railroad switched to diesel, the service stop
became redundant. It wasn't long after that, he
told us, that the town fell on bad times.
It's been years since I saw the town or heard the
story about its demise, but I have to tell you,
folks, hardly a week goes by I don't think about
that nameless town (if any of you know what town
I'm talking about, let me know). Ghost towns are
haunting enough, but to learn that the town had
been a thriving railroad town in the days of the
"Q"... well, that only added to the mystique.
Do I regret not taking an hour or so to explore
the town? You bet. I've often thought about going
back to Nebraska, not to shoot Crawford Hill or
BNSF, mind you, but to spend the day at that
ghost town.
The one that got away. What's your story?
Paul Schneider
Los Angeles
=====
Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi quoted in "Traveling Mercies"
by Anne Lamott
To Practice This Thought: Look for hope in places
where you don't expect to find it.
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