I almost didn’t post this shot because it’s so crass, so LA commercial, so urban detritus… but heck… it’s what real railroading looks like where I live, which isn’t in the Sierra Madre or the Rockies.
The LOW10 at Dolanco Junction in Torrance yesterday.
You’re right, it isn’t pretty but it IS urban railroading, which I find a lot more fascinating than Tehachapi or Horseshoe Curve.
IT is an interesting picture, even to one unfamiliar with the specific history of an area. The tagging on the second genset is apparent, even from the slight angle of the photo. It seems a shame to have that activity’s results obviously on display. [|(]
I’ll just leave it at that. Definitel on the ugly side of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. [2c]
Thanks for sharing, Charles! [bow]
Hmmm - no graffiti; area looks nice and clean; locos even look fairly clean; and then that stupid looking billboard.
It’s a funny thing about billboards and other outdoor advertising.
I am in total agreement that they look terrible. But I find that when I go back and look at my older pictures, from say 30 years ago, I wish I had captured more of them at that time. Ugly as they are, they do place an image at a time and even more, an era.
Regarding the taggingi, that unit has been like that for some time.
That’s the reality of urban railroading, “warts and all” as the old saying by Boswell or Johnson goes. Thanks for sharing and reminding us of that. I like the effect of the billboard framing the train, too.
Now that I see that Trains will be accepting photos from us plain old members, perhaps a worthwhile topic in the same vein would be along the lines of "Worst or Ugliest Environment that a Train Runs In
I’m actually jealous! That crew is doing its work right out in the open, where anyone can stop on the street and watch (or, indeed, photograph) the operation…or the locomotive…or the freight cars…
Here in Chicagoland, I don’t know of any such spots…well, maybe one, and the road isn’t user-friendly (not even to a bicyclist). And they often blow it by storing a cut of cars on the track nearest the road. And ugly? Compared to your shot, Charles, my location should yield some greener-looking environs. But it doesn’t…'nuff said!
I didn’t think it looked so bad (except for the graffiti on the locomotive). I can think of a dozen locations in Milwaukee or Chicago that would make the pictured location look almost bucolic. But that billboard–YUK!..I wonder how much money the railroad is collecting for the use of it’s air space.