Speed Photography Odds and Ends...Fort Worth to San Marcos

Texas is a very big state, larger than many countries. So, it makes sense that what you can find all kind of weird, wacky and wonderful sights as you travel from one end of the state to the other. When I visit my daughter, who lives in Fort Worth, I get on the train at the San Marcos station, a very, very tiny little stop along the rails. Then, I get to travel through the core of the state of Texas for several hours. Rather than read a book or nap, I get my camera out and play a photographer's game called speed photography. Actually, I invented the game myself, but I am sure other photographers have done the same thing. I look out the window and try to take as many interesting shots as possible as the train speeds on its route.

Today, I am featuring a series of shots that have no rhyme or reason...they are just some of the quirky and/or interesting things I spied and was able to catch with my camera as I travelled back home to Seguin.

Many times, when someone owns a property that has train tracks for one of its boundry lines, the area adjacent to the tracks is at the back end of the property. So, I get to see a lot of things which the owners have shoved to the back of their land for storage purposes. I like this old boat with the bicylce propped up against it.

Here are nine blue porta-potties lined up between a road and the tracks. I snapped a picture, but it wasn't until I got home and enlarged the shot that I realized the name on the blue portable bathrooms was such a hoot....

 Take a look!

 Here's a trailer for THE GANG. I don't know who the gang is, you understand. I just know they have their own trailer.

 I have seen quite a few old, rusted cars which have literally been "put out to pasture". They sit in little hidey-holes in the back forty, only visible to those who sit high up on a train, those who happen to look out the window at just the right moment. Isn't this car a gem? I love it!

 I think the most interesting stop along the northern Amtrak route is the Temple train station. It has a collection of vintage engines and cars which folks can admire as they pass through the station.

 I like this picture because I like the old telephone sign hanging at little of an angle. It sits in the middle of a lumber yard.

Here's a small camper sitting in a farm yard. I wouldn't mind having a camper this size, myself. Not too big, not too small....in fact, just right.

 Sometimes, I come across evidence that someone has a sense of humor. This metal man stands at a drunken angle facing the train (you can see the train's shadow as we pass by) with one arm waving to the passengers. No one else can see him, for he sits at the back of a field. He's just there to make the train passengers smile.

 Here's another boat. One thing you can see in this shot, if you look close, are the wild flowers that are in bloom at this time of the year. We did not have a stupendous wild flower display in Texas this year, even though we had good rains, but we did have some flowers to enjoy.

Here's another old vehicle which has been parked in the back of beyond. I enlarged this for you so you can see that even in it's retirement, it is serving a useful purpose. It is a makeshift storage shed for lots of bits and pieces of rusty stuff.

The Amtrak Texas Eagle travels north from San Antonio to Fort Worth, stopping at San Marcos, Austin, Taylor, Temple, McGreggor, and Cleburne every day. It arrives in Fort Worth around 2 pm. Then, you can catch the southbound Texas Eagle, every day around 2:10 as it travels back to San Antonio. Here, for a little while, we follow Highway 95 around Taylor.

 Here's some more metal art...I am not sure what the purpose of this creation is, though.

 The train passed two dogs....one little fella watched the train, one did not.

We did not take this detour, haha.

 Somewhere in Texas, folks are trying to go green....here's a good-sized solar field.

Some things, like the solar panels, I have noticed on quite a few of my trips. I still take a picture of them, because it is part of the game. Also, it helps pass the time as I travel. Some things, like the two dogs, are just serendipitous happenings that are a once in a life-time occurance. I never know what is coming next as I stare out the train window. It's better than tv or a movie, any day!