I’ve been doing a bit of spring cleaning in the office here at home, and in the process I came across a stack of slides I needed to file back into the binders. Well, while doing that, I came across one slide that caught my eye – it was taken back in 2003 in Niantic, CT while I was riding along with an engineer friend on Shore Line East. What was interesting was how the scene changed – not by what was no longer there today, but rather what is there today. So I put that one aside. And along the way, a few more popped out of the stack before they hit the binder. These shots would have been pretty run-of-the-mill back when I took them. But today they show history – because what they depict has changed, either in the scene, or the subject itself.
Some folks may be familiar with the ETTS principle- Everything Turns To Shit. Basically it means that nothing today is as good as it was yesterday. In some ways, it’s quite accurate – some folks wish things were like they used to be. But as we all know, despite the instinct to fight it tooth and nail, change is most times for the good. But of course, that’s not what this post is really about – it’s more about just shooting what you see today, because tomorrow it could either be different, or just gone. Doesn’t matter if change really is good or not – just the fact that, whether we like it or not, change happens. (yes, I’ve talked about this before)
First up is something that is gone forever – the sanding towers at CSX’s Selkirk, NY yard.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:55]These were torn down a year or two ago, with all servicing of power happening at the new fuel plant west of Ben’s Bridge (which also is going to be removed at some point in the future). Kind of a ho-hum picture, but again, something that cannot be shot any more. I’ve got a wider one showing the entire set of towers, but I couldn’t put my hands on it for tonight’s scanning…
Next are a pair of shots I took up at the Amtrak Rensselaer shops in upstate New York back in 2003. What’s different about these is mainly the freshly rebuilt Rohr Turboliners in each picture (and the F40 in the lineup).
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113192] [cpg_imagefixthumb:113191]The RTLs were rebuilt, but only used a few times due to mechanical issues. I’m glad I was able to get some photos of these train sets before they were retired and gone.
And finally, here’s the two pictures that started me on this little trek tonight. Both were shot from the cab of a CDOT Shore Line East commuter train passing by Niantic Bay – one eastbound and one westbound.
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113190] [cpg_imagefixthumb:113189]You’ll note that along the tracks is, well, a beach. Now there’s a foot path along with, for the time being, a boardwalk along the water’s edge. Here’s what it looks like now at a location pretty close to where I took the two shots above:
[cpg_imagefixthumb:113156]As a side note, the existing boardwalk is being removed as a part of the Niantic River Draw replacement project. The new span is being built south of the existing span, so with the new track alignments it’s necessary to remove the existing boardwalk. The plans for the new bridge do take into account a new walkway on the south side of the tracks. But I digress – the neat thing is that here’s a photo with the original beach, and no fences along it, prior to the installation of the boardwalk & path. Again, change happens.
Anyways, it’s reasons like these that I take photos of what seems to be mundane, ho-hum and at times quite boring subjects. At some time in the future, that boring crap will become quite interesting.
-Tom
