9:20 Special

A bunch of tests. I’m always trying to learn something, anything, from the WordPress block system. Let’s see how you like the lead column to be smaller than the technical column.

This is a good day to do it because of the subject matter, graffiti on an old train car. From my limited knowledge this version of tagging comes from the train yards in Los Angeles. From East LA and a little rough neighborhood called Frogtown. It’s just across the cement encased LA River from the train car holding area.

Frogtown makes our Central City look tame by comparison. Someone once asked me if I’m armed when I work in neighborhoods like these. What’s the point? I pull out a gun and there would be ten guns pointed at me.

Anyway.

For a guy who whines about being blocked, I sure am producing a lot of pictures. It’s the same subject matter seen in a different way.

Who knows?

Maybe I’m on to something. Or, not.

Whoopie! A column to write lots and lots about how I made this picture. I doubt that I’ll need all of this space.

First, I was wandering around a little without the spaniel. I’ve come to realize that she’s a homebody. It’s not that she wants to stay home, but she likes her comfortable and familiar routes.

This was in an area that is not familiar to her.

The railroad company, CN I think, is doing some kind of work in some other part of the city. They are tearing out old train tracks. They were stacking broken wooden ties along a spur. I thought, that’s it. When has a railroad ever moved discarded gear.?

I’ve seen train cars and engines parked on some side spur because they were no longer useful. Really, they were abandoned. Come back ten years later and the equipments’ rusty hulks are still there rotting away.

In fact, a few years back I published a picture of an abandoned Amtrak engine. It was still bright and shiny. There didn’t appear to be very much wrong with it aside from being old and out of date.

I came back to that rail storage yard a few years later. The engine was still there. But, one side of it rusted, rotted and fell off. Now it looked like a stage prop.

Surprise, surprise. A few days ago, two crane equipped trucks arrived and started loading the ties onto gondolas. This picture was made of one of them.

Getting there was the hardest part. I made a few pictures. Nobody seemed to care if I was there. I returned to home and studio and started tinkering. This is the result.

Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay mighty. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Look after each other. Enjoy all of your neighborhood’s graffiti. If there isn’t any, let me know. I’ll come by with some cans of spray paint.