Railroad Scene, Central Pennsylvania

It is the time of year for celebrating the glory of autumn trees, and so I have been driving down every side road I can think of to get a look at the colors as they unfold around us. I take the backroads. I go the long way around to get to work. I daydream, I dawdle, I take pictures.

On this morning, I had plans to visit a special tree that I love in a pretty little cemetery nearby, as well as a tiny wetland along Bald Eagle Creek. The light was very pretty and I couldn't help myself: I just had to stop for a few railroad shots.

Now, it isn't wise to linger on the railroad tracks, and so I didn't. I parked my car well off the tracks and jumped out, checked both directions carefully, took my pictures, and jumped back in. I advise if you must stand on the tracks that you exercise similar caution, as well.

I am a railroad and train lover from way back when. And I have come by my love of the rails honestly, as my father was a railroad brakeman at the Enola yards, near Harrisburg, for many, many years. He came home from work every night smelling of creosote and cold steel. I still do love the sight of a beautiful train track, and I adore the sounds of trains.

Related items, also of note: 1) This is the railroad track that my husband and I sort of took an almost-train-trip to Tyrone on a few years ago. 2) Here's a very different looking monochrome version of this shot from earlier this year. 3) These rails were also featured in the Denzel Washington train film Unstoppable (which I adore and highly recommend).

The soundtrack to this photo absolutely has to be a Johnny Cash train song, and here's one I haven't used yet on blip. It features some awesome guitar licks that sound an awful lot like a train coming. (And why is it that so many of the best railroad songs are about train wrecks?) The song: Johnny Cash, with Wreck of the Old 97, from the excellent album Johnny Cash at San Quentin.

P.S. For my fellow train song lovers . . . here is a list that purports to be the "The Twenty-Three Best Train Songs Ever Written--Maybe."