Cottage Renovations

[OT from cottage renovations]

The best commutes I've ever had have been when I could take the train to work, or could bike there.  Each mode has its advantages, but they have shared the same drawback: the opportunity cost of having to give up the other. 

This is no longer a problem.  Since the Capital Bikeshare system got started it is now possible to start in the Grove, take the MARC train downtown and then complete the journey by bike. 

More people than not seem to dread the commute to work, I actually look forward to it. 

Interestingly enough, for that last leg through urban traffic cycling is hands-down faster than any combination of subway, automobile, bus and walking.  The only way to beat it would be with a personal jetpack. 

[OT from cottage renovations]
[selected images crossposted to texture]

 
here's where it all happened: 

CSX 'A' Line (North End and South End subdivisions)
Petersburg VA to Selma NC (milepost 22 to 161)

the second day started early, hours before sunup.  we cleared out of our Stony Creek lodgings to catch CSX freights barreling through the cool and crisp night.  with voice radio and ATCS packets as our guides we followed the main line's traffic, catching a breathtaking view of Amtrak's Auto Train gliding North across a cold steel viaduct, its silver sides gleaming in starlight.  Jarratt, Emporia, Halifax, Enfield and Whittakers: cloaked in shadow their hardscrabble small town details were lost in the nightscape magic of railroading in the dark. 

as light brought forth the day the setting came into plainer view, providing the context for dropping through abstraction down to the physical layers around us but also softening edges: morning light will do that. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

not of iron

one who waits along the main line for an oncoming train can provide a few moments worth of morning entertainment to these locals, their grazing set aside long enough to assuage their curiosity.  the one on the L might seem to be wearing a jeweled halter but it ain't so: the bright circles of light are pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) berries in the foreground, dipped in autumnal morning dew in the light.  ugh. 

cash crop

what does a damnyankee know about cotton? 
not much: plantations, boll weevils, Eli Whitney, aspirin bottles. 

gossypium hirsutum

this field, through which a dirt track might have led to the Delmar control point, was obviously ready for harvesting. 

sweet spot

years ago the railroad was downsized from double track to single, with passing sidings to permit bidirectional operation.  this location near milepost 71.2 in Dahlia VA is on the outside of a curve, an excellent spot to stop for a little while and give the trains a chance to come to us. 

when the railroad switched its signal system from trackside wires to radio communications two things happened:

• movement information became accessible through the ATCS Monitor
• the poles were cut down, opening up the view along the tracks

another consequence was this material for texture studies. 

pole line down

where the trains meet

having emerged from single track segments onto a few miles of passing track at the right time, these passenger trains met at speed. 

meet

a still photograph really doesn't do justice to the spectacle of this pair of trains, their approach heralded by the sounds of whistles at grade crossings, charging off the straightaways and slipping around the curve with a whoosh and a clatter, hurrying along the line to the next stops on their respective runs. 

a few short hours later it was my turn to ride rather than to chase: the next Northbound passenger train brought me back to Union Station whence I headed back to the Grove, leaving the main line across the Piedmont to host again its nightly fleet of fast trains under the darkest of skies and the clearest of stars. 

[OT from cottage renovations]
[select images crossposted to texture]

the past couple of days it was cold.  cold cold.  then yesterday afternoon the air warmed up and it started to rain but the ground, and everything else, hadn't followed suit up so it froze on contact.  even our gravel walkways were so slippery that it was safer to walk alongside them on the crunchy grass. 

by this morning conditions hadn't improved so it was operationally convenient to forego biking in favour of the train and circulator bus, with additional time alloted for getting down to the train stop at the other end of the walkway. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Grove Avenue at Brown Street

the ice coating on this branch formed interesting patterns of texture that don't really come through in the thumbnail image above; click on through for more detail. 

MARC station

rain falling onto ice on slate under grey skies ...

roof detail


icicles,
seen from the inside against a backdrop of our trees



tie plate

[OT from cottage renovations]

some months ago the railroad "improved" the Rockville intermediate signals by replacing the B&O Colour Position Lights (CPL) with these modern units, seen in clear morning light. 

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

Rockville station

with a bright morning sky for a background, chain link and barbed wire in the foreground for texture and sycamore branches to frame them it should be hard to hold the grudge, but don't go asking me unless you're ready for the answer. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

anybody can take pictures when there's light, but when it runs out sometimes things just get more interesting. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Rockville station

it's almost time for the westbound passenger train when an eastbound freight rolls through the station. 

eastbound


shadow patterns

spray paint vandalism seems to afflict more freight cars than not these days.  at first glance that might seem to be what's going on with these trilevel auto racks but (you might need to click through to the larger image to make it out clearly) the dark markings are actually the shadows of evergreens and lamp posts, cast by lights in the station's parking lot. 

Woodward Park

the Moon had come up above the clouds and behind this sycamore tree. 

moonlit sycamore

this view is from further along Grove Road with camera braced against one of the tennis court's fence posts. 

I couldn't decide which one was the keeper so sorry, you have to look at both of these. 

clouded Moon

[OT from cottage renovations]

... from the day along the Magnolia cutoff.  some are crossposted to texture. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Paw Paw WV

water tower


window detail, B&O station


slow order signs, B&O station

Kessler Bridge

detail

Magnolia WV

sedimentary stone

floating / submerged

[OT from cottage renovations]

the Magnolia cutoff is one of those places the railroad doesn't just pass through so much as transform into something completely different. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

with the descending sun tipping the ridge behind the bend to the S a westbound freight crosses the bridge. 

westbound

up on the ridgeline, over on the Maryland side of the river, clouds and sunlight provide a pleasing backdrop while the trees and the bony spine of the hill give a start foreground delineation.  it doesn't really hold a candle to duccio and djaza's California hills, but then it ain't half shabby either. 

ridgeline / reflection

[image crossposted to texture]
the same clouds and light are also showing up in the river's surface. 

westbound reflection


stark tree

photogrove

warmth from the firepit and light from a lantern: it takes a certain amount of combustion to keep things going.  later on the area was flooded with the brilliance of a full Moon. 

lantern reflection

[OT from cottage renovations]
[crossposted to texture]

while down at the station this morning for some location scouting for another project, opportune light made these texture images possible at the crosswalk. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

MARC station

... as well as a chance to evaluate the spiking technique of the last T&S gang to pass through here. 

it's possible that there's room for improvement. 

[disclosure: this is a composite image, a pastiche of three exposures with different depths of field]

[OT from cottage renovations]

I had posted this to the texture community yesterday. 

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

cropped from this image, taken from the summit of our Historic Bridge over the rail line shortly after this other image. 

[OT from cottage renovations]

snow on the ground is kind to the trains; reflected light comes up softly from underneath and the visual distraction of ground clutter is cleared out, leaving the crisp arc of the rails. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Railroad Street

P880-14
last stop inbound


P875-14
taking them home


P029-14
Amtrak's Capitol Limited

photo platform for this last image was provided by the County Depf of Transportation in the form of a snow-and-ice pile incidental to clearing our station's parking lot.