I know it’s a different take than most people have, but for me locomotives and freight cars are just one part among many as to what makes up the overall rail scene. I don’t need to encounter a train in order to have a good day of, for lack of a better term, “rail fanning”. I love taking in the architecture, the smell of creosote, and perhaps the sound of a train a mile away. A rail image doesn’t have to have a train in it to catch my interest.
A case in point is the back of the structure at the intersection of Maywood Avenue and the Horn Lead. The graceful decay, the palms, art deco architecture, it all adds up to the embodiment of all that is the Los Angeles Junction. When I built the structure I made a point of fully detailing the back so that one day I’d be able to photograph it.