Trains


     Today, I'd like to talk about the theme of SNÖTÅG (SNOWTRAIN), which is trains! Have you ever been on a train? Maybe you've ridden on a subway, or perhaps an Amtrak. Maybe it was a few minutes, or maybe days. Was your purpose business or leisure?

     In the downtown L.A. area, there is a train hub known as Union Station. This is one of my favorite stations. Completed in 1939, its architecture is both Mission Revival and Art Deco - now referred to as Mission Moderne. It connects several regional lines that stretch far and wide. The grand lobby has been featured in countless films and TV shows. 

(note: it's a short hop to Angel's Flight, another unique landmark. Angel's Flight is the shortest train ride in the world! It takes you up a small incline in the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Downtown)


     Next up is a frigid adventure ride worth the taking. It's called the SJ Sleeper Train, brought to you by Sweden.

     If you're flying into Olso airport, there is a lower level platform with direct rail service to the heart of the city.


     

     Oslo Station is a very nice place, with tons of food options. There is a large statue of a tiger in the expansive courtyard.

 



     It's a short walk to many stores, shops, and hotels. 

     Once you're at the centrally located Oslo Station, you can hop a ride on an SJ Train and take it all the way up to the Arctic Circle! I could go on for days about how much fun a trip like this is. But I'll spare you the extensive reading for now, and instead show you a few snapshots from the ride:

 







  

   Finally, there is a tiny scenic rail line in Pennsylvania that winds through the woods on a short excursion. The train station sits in the midst of a small town, right off the main street. On this little main street is a brewery, bookshop, pizza place, game store, diner, candy store, hobby shop, cafe, pet shop, and much more - all of them independently owned small businesses! 

     Here are some shots I took of the train station. They were taken with a Nikon FG fitted with a 50mm Helios 81N lens,  using Svema 32 (long expired 35mm Soviet film). If you are into film photography, train stations are great places to find inspiration. If you're not into film photography, give it a shot! It's a fun hobby.




     

     It always amazes me that railroads were built so far and wide. The manpower necessary to assemble this kind of transportation, especially a hundred or more years ago, is astounding. The feats of such workers reminds me of ants, how they are individually so small compared to their giant undertaking, but with constant hard work and ingenuity, together they create some truly awesome structures for everyone to enjoy.


     What is your favorite train ride? What train ride would you like to take? 

     As we head into the weekend, and round the bend into the Christmas season, my hope is that all of your train rides bring you joy. Don't forget to stop once in awhile just to be in the moment, wherever you are.




 

Popular posts from this blog

Music

Image
I believe that music has incredibly powerful properties that can evoke stirrings within us in ways other stimuli cannot. It may effortlessly summon intense feelings of melancholy, nostalgia, curiosity, excitement, and bliss (to name a few). I like to say that music is the breath of the soul. I love roaming the used vinyl section of a record store seeking a new sound I’m not yet privy to. On occasion, I’ll buy an unknown album sight unseen (or sound unheard to be more precise), based simply off the cover, track listing, and a hunch, hoping to be pleasantly surprised at my risky five dollar wager. Sometimes I like listening to music in a language I don’t understand. It focuses my attention to the pure emotions that the artist is attempting to convey. And because I don’t comprehend the words, the tune always lends itself an air of mystery that it may otherwise not have transferred. When I do understand the words, I enjoy songs that tell an almost cinematic story. The kind of experience ...
Read more

Postcards

Image
Hello. Here is a postcard from me to you:   Have you ever sent a postcard to someone? Have you ever received one? Where was it from? Where did it go? There are still many postcards out there to be found, sent, and received. Stay positive and keep exploring. Below are some postcards that I have purchased, sent, or received. Have a great day!  
Read more

Starry Night

Image
Hello!   I've been reading a lot of sci-fi short stories lately, & I've been inspired to write one of my own. It's called Starry Night , & it involves a girl named Bil who lives on a planet called Evarreni. Hope you like it.     STARRY NIGHT By T. Howser           Darkness surrounded Bil. Save for a lone cricket repeating himself and a bird yelping thrice before falling back to sleep, there was an infinite silence. But not the type of infinity that, say, extends into the past or future for billions of years while you sit and wait. This had nothing to do with time. Rather, it was the eternity of, say, a small circle on the wall. A circle whose path of circumference never ends: nearly insignificant, yet infinite indeed. Trace that ever-curving trail with your finger for ten seconds, or a million months, and it doesn’t change the realization either way that there is no escaping this trek. Finally, the rumble of a distant g...
Read more