TRAINS........Where do they go?

When you start photographing coal towns, you will encounter trains, or train tracks. Its a fact. Below are a few train places in West Virginia that pretty much is a starter set, we will have more. As a tender reminder. If you find an old train engine and want to see it inside and photograph, thats swell. BUT dont be an idiot and play with any brake or hydraulic lines. Unless you want to be buried in a 12 ounce jelly jar...leave the equipment alone. 

Below is Bluefield. Nowhere near the giant it was, Bluefield starts dead south and lets the trains crawl and twist all over the tracks West Virginia. Note the large coaling tower in the center. Thats when trains needed coal and water to cool and be fueled.

Detail of caboose brake wheel on my favorite part of any train, The Caboose. I have been fascinated by them since I was a child. Their function? Primarily with braking and today they are almost an ornament.

Caboose interior. This shot made my day. Who would NOT want to go inside of a caboose??

Believe it or not, this was at the Wilco yard in Gary WV. Wilco was its own town until about 1971 when it became part of Gary

SO, I had to explore and get closer because, I have been fascinated by the caboose my whole life. On modern trains, they are almost a decoration. Below was also at the Wilco Yard.

At Elkhorn, I ran into luck. Since vandalism is everywhere, I was able to take some inside pics as the door had been smashed open. I very much felt like a child and I had a ball taking these shots. The nest 2 are cupola shots and on this caboose model, it allowed for some fun.

Oddly, when I took this shot, I did not see until later, that it resembled a face....Yes, this is what folks call a cupola, it allows a higher vantage point of sight on a caboose.

Detail shots below. I really felt fun, and joy. Even after the long drive kind of shattered me.

At Quinnimont, this sad guy is done. NOT ready for service anymore.

When the coal has been exhausted, the trains go away as do the tracks and eventually, the entire town. Sometimes, you get to see rail signs and honestly, I enjoy them They are a charming reminder. What I do not like, are the morons and cretins who seek to vandalize them. Below was one of my favorite signs at Anawalt.

Iaeger WV, still has its tracks and signals. I enjoyed the shot below