Travel by Train

He was sitting in the Sunday drizzle on a street side bench in Nashville.

He said to me, “My friend hopped trains and he taught me how to do it… One time I rode a train from Florida to California.” He smiled and talked about how the trip was a once in a lifetime experience.

Looking up towards the sky as if he were remembering the later leg of his journey from Los Angeles to Tennessee he said, “When I got to Nashville, I almost hit a phone poll while jumping off - I will never ride again.”

Today he is homeless, but has a new sleeping bag to stay warm thanks to the donations received to purchase bags.

“Nobody has a perfect past, but everyone has a clear future. It is up to us to take control and become pioneers of tomorrow. Its never too late to jump off your train and head down a different track.” – Kemmy Nola, blogger in the United Kingdom

Trains and Homeless Camps

The train blew past at breakneck speed, bringing to mind the fact that many of our nation's homeless are encamped within mere feet of eminent danger. The wind generated by the passing of the massive cars filled the covering of a nearby tent causing it to billow and jerk. Some of the boxcars were stacked two high, barely clearing the height of the bridge leaving only about 2-feet to escape peril.

About a week ago at this very location a young homeless man, named Austin, was struck and killed by a freight train as it barreled through the underpass he called home. The 27-year old was wearing headphones and apparently didn't  hear the racing, steel giant closing in on him. The train was Florida bound when it struck the him at 7:00 Sunday morning (10/18/15).

Why, I wondered, would so many homeless choose such a dangerous locale to set up camp? Then it occurred to me...we push them to the fringes. For much of the housed population, misinformation, prejudice, and fear of the homeless has caused them to be viewed as dangerous and undesirable by default. In Nashville, Tennessee this overarching view has led city council members and government officials to push many homeless off of city or state land, sighting that their presence was a public nuisance and endangerment to the average citizen. Such a lack of empathy in decision making forces the homeless to seek other less noticeable places, spaces unsuitable for development...like those next to railroad tracks.

Ghostly Incline Rail Card

Sometimes when I take photos, I feel as if I am walking through a surreal world. I get lost. This was one of those times.

The incline car was somewhat off the beaten path in a train graveyard of sorts. However, many of the rail cars in the rail yard, are undergoing rehabilitation. This old incline car on the back of the lot has been forgotten about - or so it seems.