Once upon a time, long ago Boston & Albany’s main line over Washington Summit represented an engineering achievement and a lifeline of commerce that connected Massachusetts to the West.
Today, it is CSX’s Boston Line; but effectively a branch railway off the old Water Level Route.
Amtrak’s daily Lake Shore Limited traverses the line, as do periodic CSX freights, but its relative importance is but a pale shadow of it former greatness.
I made this stark image at Muddy Pond using my 12mm Zeiss Touit lens; I controlled contrast using a Lee graduated filter, which I adjusted to even the exposure between sky and foreground.
Key to my composition is the jet contrail overhead, which for me represents both historical symbolism and my next step.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Socrates drank the hemlock, his punishment for telling the truth. (Or trying convince the powers of it).
“Today, it is CSX’s Boston Line; but effectively a branch railway off the old Water Level Route.”
Shortly after the CSX takeover when I was just learning about this line, I went into the bunkhouse in N.Framingham yard to ask the yardmaster for permission to photograph. Somewhere in the conversation, I asked whether CSX considered this area a backwater end-of-the-line of minor importance. Upon hearing that question, he practically threw me out.
I’m really looking forward to your B&A book. And enjoy your flight to the old country.