I posted the station at Point of Rocks recently, (see below) today another station not still used for its original purpose. Built in 1930 by Souther Railway on the original Danville and Atlantic line it once had 6 or 7 trains a day carrying mined copper from the area. In the late 1800's after WWI Virgilina, VA, was a mining boom town. And kind of wild west lawless too. This station now houses Corvairs. In fact I counted 9 of them plus these two rare Corvair Greenbriars. You can see a red 65 in the freight bay being worked on if you look carefully just over the top of the Greenbrier. Not sure how much longer this will stand, there is no maintenance being done and it has deteriorated quite a lot since I first saw it about 15 years ago.
Yep, More Grass (3 photos) /
We are back at the Petersburg National Battlefield at the famous Crater. The entrance you see was to a mine shaft dug by Pennsylvania coal miners under the Confederate lines. The resulting explosion blew a hole over 170 feet across and more than 30 feet deep. Sadly for the extension of the conflict, the Union botched the opportunity presented by the huge gap in the lines and, other than more causalities, nothing was gained at the end of the day. The other two photos show the Crater as it is today.
Wet /
In Yosemite last spring we hiked to Nevada Falls and the waterfalls were all overflowing. The last 1/2 mile or so to Nevada will get you a bit wet anytime but this year was a drenching. By the time you got to the steps is was just soaking. And it was a bit cool. I took this photo, huddled along an edge of the cliff where I could poke up shoot and then clean the lens (again!). What a great hike and delightful spot.
Power /
This is taken from a small suspension bridge with the heavy snowmelt overflowing the banks of the King River in the King Canyon National Park. Were were past the end of the road about a mile or so to the bridge. What a stunning view and a roar that make conversation difficult.
Waiting /
This is a unique train station at Point of Rocks, MD. It has a long history but is now part of the commuter train system taking people to and from DC. There is a massive parking lot that belies the size of the station.
Peaceful Morning /
I hope your week is as well. This is the farm we stay at often in Lancaster area, Reba Acres. Nice place, nice people.
Average? /
In the interest of the purpose of Two Lane Touring's goal of visiting and photographing each of the 417 units under the watch of the National Park Service, we offer today's unremarkable photo of a much more remarkable place. Not because of the scenic beauty but because of the ancient peoples who built and hallowed these mounds. This is the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. It consists of several acres of mounds built about 2000 years ago in Southwest Ohio. The use is still debated but it was clearly an important place and a monumental task to build. You can read more here: https://www.nps.gov/hocu/index.htm
It is difficult to photograph, especially the time we were here. Maybe with colorful leaves, a nice sunset or snow on the mounds, but midday was tough. You cannot walk on the mounds to get a better perspective either.
For the Lord has told me this: “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place— as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.” Isaiah 18:4 NLT
Just Wax /
I saw these homemade tulips in a little craft shop and have no idea why but they seemed to make things happier. Perhaps because I envisioned young Amish kids making their contribution to the family livelihood. Have a great Saturday.
Virginia's Men (2 photos) /
This is the Virginia Memorial at Gettysburg situated where the center of the Virginia troops began their assault on Cemetery Ridge or Pickett's Charge. The six men on the lower portion of the statue represent two each from each branch of the service, infantry, artillery and cavalry as well as volunteers and professional soldiers of different ages and backgrounds. The upper statue is R. E. Lee mounted on Traveler looking across the field to the statue of General George Meade. The battle ended with the disastrous charge and Lee was crushed. The casting of the statue was by Tiffany in NY and it was dedicated in 1917 by Lee's niece. While it commemorates a terrible war with questionable rationale there is no denying the valor of those who fought here. The base of the statue was dedicated four years earlier on the 50th anniversary of the engagement.
Promise Kept (2 photos) /
If you read the "Eats!" section (and this being Thursday there is a new one today) of Two Lane Touring you may recall a few weeks ago I posted a shot of the Tomato Pie restaurant in Lititz, Pennsylvania. The photo was fair at best. So I said I would get a better shot - so here they are. Also, I ate food there this time ( I still had the Creme Brûlée coffee! ), absolutely excellent. CJH and EBH and I ate there for lunch, it was really good. The cold strawberry soup was very flavorful, just wow. We ate at the 100 year-old ice cream counter. Highly recommend the food here if you are in Lititz - and you should, nice town. Pretzels to make, chocolate to taste, history, and shops, what is not to like. The real promise kept was taking our youngest granddaughter to "see the cows" and Hershey and lots more. What a joy she is to experience this area together.
Also, your price of admission to Two Lane Touring includes all these "extra" photos in the last week, one day we posted 8 a new TLT record.
On Ordinary Homes... /
...we display the flag, Happy Independence Day.
"A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation’s flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth.” - Henry Ward Beecher
Written then Secured (2 Photos) /
While the Declaration of Independence set out the cause of the separation, it was guns, gumption, sacrifice, and much more that secured that promise in Yorktown, VA.
Yorktown Battlefield
Jamestown Island eagle. Sorry, Ben, but way better than a turkey!
Night Tour /
I highly recommend that if you are in DC to tour monuments, museums and parks, that you do a night tour. You can arrange with a tour group or just go on your own. Our last walk was on a warm spring evening and there were loads of people about. We walked around the Tidal Basin and past several monuments, Martin Luther King, Jr, FDR, Jefferson among them. This view of the Washington Monument is from along that walk. Lovely at night. Today would be a great day to do so, according to John Adams who wrote to his wife upon the passing of a resolution of independence:
"The Hopes of Reconciliation, which were fondly entertained by Multitudes of honest and well meaning tho weak and mistaken People, have been gradually and at last totally extinguished. -- Time has been given for the whole People, maturely to consider the great Question of Independence and to ripen their judgments, dissipate their Fears, and allure their Hopes, by discussing it in News Papers and Pamphletts, by debating it, in Assemblies, Conventions, Committees of Safety and Inspection, in Town and County Meetings, as well as in private Conversations, so that the whole People in every Colony of the 13, have now adopted it, as their own Act. -- This will cement the Union, and avoid those Heats and perhaps Convulsions which might have been occasioned, by such a Declaration Six Months ago.
But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America." Jn Adams
Atlantic Ocean Sunset /
This is near Wilmington, NC along the shore. The sunset produced beautiful colors in the clouds as it set in the west.
"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"
Isaiah 26:3 NLT
Headquarters (2 Photos) /
This is Chatham, an antebellum home on the Rappahannock River and is a part of the Fredericksburg National Battlefield. This is the river side of the house and was the "front" until the early 1900's when the main door was moved to the other side. Union forces occupied this and set up canon across the fields to shell Confederate positions on the heights. The second photo shows a view of Fredericksburg today with the two church towers still standing from the Civil War. This is a part of the river where the union also constructed pontoon bridges for the troops to cross. The failure to take any part of the town was at a great cost in men lost.
Ready (2 photos) /
At the Petersburg National Battlefield the Park Service has recreated a small portion of a fort to show more accurately what the string of forts protecting or attacking Petersburg and Richmond would have looked like. Even with their effort the trees add an element missing from the battlefield as they were cut down for a great distance to build forts and other defenses, camp homes and storages, used for cooking and heating, bridges and roads, and to clear fields of fire. Yet this is still instructive. You can see the two outer ditches, the built up earthwork fortification reinforced with extra defenses and the perspective of both the attacker and the defender.
Westover (2 photos) /
The colony was not yet 10 years old when this parish was organized. The first church complete in 1630 and this version, one hundred years later in 1730. The years after both the Revolution and the Civil Wars took a toll on the small church but it still stands as an active congregation. Walking around the cemetery you notice no graves older than the Civil War and that is because the stones were taken and used for floors in the soldier's tents. Five presidents have worshiped within the walls of this church.
The church is closely associated with the Westover Plantation famous as the home of the Byrds who included the founder of Richmond with Williams E Byrd II. The original airport here was first called Byrd Field and the famous movie theatre in Carytown built in the early 1900's is Byrd Theatre (home of Area 10 Church!). The original church was closer to the house and a grave there dates from 1637, that of Captain William Perry, whose stone is the third oldest in the US.
The entrance is almost hidden behind the towering Magnolia trees.
Overboard (eight photos) /
High muddy water on the James River leads to misreading the correct course and ends with everyone in the river. I was at Hollywood Cemetery high on the bluff overlooking the James on Saturday. My friend was photographing a train in an "s" bend. I saw the rafts coming down the river and switched to my long lens and went behind the mausoleum to shoot some of them, then the third one made an error - well here is the sequence of photos.
Oops, maybe this is the wrong angle?
Lean right!
Hold on to the oars.
At least one made it
Nope
Drifting away
Got the raft
No rescue from that boat
Going Down /
Shades of black, white and grey in the lighthouse staircase.
Twilight /
The sound of the horses trotting down the road is very soothing, clearly some of the charm of the area. This buggy passed by while I was preparing for a different shot. I took it only when it was far enough away so it would not be identifiable as a specific buggy.
