a ride on the rails :: midwest photography

a couple weeks ago, i rode the train down to st. louis for a stay. it had been a long time since i have rode on the rails. and although, as i sit in my shop each day, the loud train rolls by and i curse it, when actually on the train, it's quite tolerable. in fact, as i sat in my snugglie little world of a seat, i hardly heard the horn. and the view from my window was comforting. there were scenes i would have otherwise missed in a car on the highway. i love that about a train ride... they move swiftly through the middle of cornfields, wooded lands and the back areas of a city. and don't even get me started on how much i adore the historical train stations... because, to my delight, most have been kept up well and done so in era-specific ways.

plus, i find the whole idea of it romantic. because the shop is right by the station, i get a lot of travelers stopping in. some are headed out west across the country in a sleeping car and others are just down from chicago for work. either way, i love hearing their stories of travel and of family... because, it seems, you can't talk about one without bringing up the other.

train art :: central illinois photography

i can't get away from the train.  it's directly next to the shop (which makes for a very noisy neighbor) and then heads south along the field behind my house.  i can hear it at night when i lie in bed.  in the mornings, i jog along a path that runs parallel to the tracks.

you'd think i would be used to the loud whistle, but i'm not.  i hate it.  i cringe each time.  it doesn't even sound like a whistle... it sounds like this obnoxiously loud, pissed off person honking their horn in traffic.

but (but!), i do seek the trains out.  i love graffiti and they seem to always be an artful canvas.  each car is filled with scribble and hidden meanings, vulgar words, and random declarations of love.  it's a stark contrast against the soft fields that fill the midwest and the bright sky.

do you ever seek beauty in something you hate?  it's hard to do.  once you have found it though...  i promise that life is a bit happier.  shall it be your challenge for the day?

xoxo

union station :: st. louis photography

i find an old train station to be very romantic.  when living in chicago, i spent many hours waiting for trains and watching people... i think that's when i began loving these stations so much.  recently, my family and i traveled to st. louis for a mini vacation and we stayed at the old union station.  now a hotel and shopping center, they have reserved the breathtaking beauty of years ago.

wouldn't it be lovely to travel from station to station across the united states taking pictures of these historic structures.  maybe someday...