“He knew at once he found the proper place. He saw the lordly oaks before the house, the flower beds, the garden and the arbor, and farther off, the glint of rails…” -Thomas Wolfe These images stand as depictions of the railroad spirit that has imbibed the American psyche since its inception. From music to painting, the railroad has been an avenue of hope, loss, beauty and redemption. Flowing into the distance or cutting across a picture, the tracks’ confident line anchors one to its path. Once bustling depots sit forlorn, objects of aesthetic pride were forgotten. Elsewhere, tracks flow through immutable mountain passes. As an archaeological journey along the railroad and a coalescence of Form between the rail line and the environment, these images are couched in a use of light, color, weather and shape which encourage a visual migration through these spaces.
