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Edition #114, November 15, 2009

Railroads Without Trains

Photographer: Keith Clouse

Railroads Without Trains

I liked an article in an old issue of TRAINS magazine, June 1978, “Must all Railroad Photos Always Include Trains?” Author Ken Kramer wrote “Evidence in support of the proposition that the railroad is an art form even when the last train has left”. Several black and white prints illustrated that thought. My favorite was the color photo was on the cover, an old EL/Erie semaphore signal, backlit in early morning light.

My friend Kevin Tomasic and I were out on a photo shoot early one Sunday morning, waiting for Buffalo and Pittsburgh’s BP-3 run to to Petrolia, PA. We parked at WS tower, just east of Butler, sipped our coffee while solving all the problems of the world.

Kevin glanced in the rear view mirror. Quietly he remarked “turn around and look at the sunrise”. I remembered the TRAINS article and found my image of “Railroads without Trains”.

Keith Clouse

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