Commercial, Advertising and Editorial Photography. Greensboro, North Carolina
The North Carolina Transportation Museum is located in Spencer, North Carolina. The museum is on the grounds of the old Southern Railway Spencer Shops. Though it is by far a railroad museum, there are all types of transportation and vehicles on display. I love to visit there and see all the textures and designs in the old equipment and buildings.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
We had a four hour layover in Washington, DC on our Amtrak train ride from Boston last week, so I had a chance to walk around Union Station at leisure. It’s a beautiful old building and the architectural details are outstanding.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
My wife and I traveled to New Hampshire last week. We decided to go by train, partly because of cost and partly because we thought it would be a change, an adventure, a journey. We found that travel by train isn’t so bad. It’s slower than flying but surely less hassle, takes about the same time as driving without the stress of actually operating a car for hours and it gave us a glimpse at how people used to travel. You can get up out of your seat and walk around, and there is a cafe car that serves reasonably priced, fairly good food (The days of fine china and linen are gone, but hey, you can’t have everything.). We went from Greensboro to Boston and back in four legs. All four legs were comfortable, but our first, from Greensboro to New York was our favorite. We road the Amtrak Crescent which runs daily between New Orleans and New York, and is the modern version of the old Southern Crescent, a classic train from the 60’s. For some reason, the cars on the Crescent are more comfortable, even in coach. The seats have foot rests and leg supports unlike the more airplane-like seats in the other trains, and it’s easier to rest or sleep (sleep is important when your train leaves at 4AM). The Crescent also has a crew from New Orleans, and they are so, so nice. While we found all the Amtrak personnel to be amiable, the Crescent crew had a certain hospitality that you would expect from New Orleans. We’ll probably travel by rail again and next time may try a sleeper. And yes, conductors still say “ALL ABOARD”.
A great lady, Patriciana Bowman from New Orleans, LA.
One thing that becomes apparent when you travel by train is that you will see some areas of the country and details, especially in the cities, that you don’t see from other forms of travel.
(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
My son Tristan is at home this week to take care of the animals, so my wife Dedra and I are off tomorrow morning to New Hampshire to visit our younger son Devin in Hanover. We catch the Amtrak train at 4:00 AM from Greensboro to Boston, about a 15 hour trip. Why the train? Why not? We’ve never done it before, so it’s sort of an adventure, a real journey. A chance to see the whole East Coast from a different perspective. My blog posting may be a little sporadic this week, but I plan on trying to keep up. Hopefully I will come back with some interesting images. No, the guy in the photograph isn’t me, and I do hope our train car is in a little better shape.
(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Interior view of an old locomotive repair facility in Spencer, North Carolina. Part of the North Carolina Transportation Museum, it is a massive building where steam train engines where totally rebuilt for the then Southern Railway. Interestingly, the floor was originally paved with wooden blocks to act as a cushion for cast iron parts, in case they were dropped.
(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Don’t know why, but for some reason, I shoot a lot of photographs of old stuff. Maybe it’s because I’m old, or maybe because I’m drawn to the patina of antiques, or maybe it’s because there’s just a lot of old stuff around Greensboro. Anyway, I will continue to look for scenes like this old boxcar for inspiration.
At the risk of being redundant in my work, today’s images are again from the old railroad yard in Spencer. There is something about railroads and old equipment that draws my eye. Show me an old train car and rust and I’ll make you an image, as a background in the fashion shot or as a still-life photograph.
(images copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)
Dan Routh Photography 