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No, really, I'm not. It's just that school's gotten in the way of railroading, and I'm writing an essay on feminine oppression in Casablanca and Vertigo. So when I get back to St. Paul
I'll do some more exploring and find some stuff to look at and photograph for you. Also, if you remember, I'm branching out from railroads this summer, so there'll be something else coming your way in the edgier exploring. Heheh. EXTREME URBAN EXPLORING! TESTOSTERONE! RARRRR!!!
Sorry about that.
So, remember how a while back I came across a railroad that went parallel to the Greenway? I went back there today to see what there was that I hadn't seen in that area.
Well, the first thing I noticed was that it was all covered in those thorny plants which had foiled me before, at least for a short distance. Then it hit a road and... stopped. Yes, it stopped. That was disappointing. I kept going, mostly on the vain hope that what I had seen was NOT the end of the line, and low and behold, it wasn't. I came under a bridge (I'm pretty sure it was Granville running down to the Island, but I could be mistaken) and found a new beginning to the railroad.
It started smack in the middle of a road, and went perpendicular to it. At the end I was on, there was a sort of a chain link barrier with weird stuff in it, I guess to try to keep the trolley that ran on the tracks from going off the end. I think. I know it was a trolley because there was a wire running overhead. Anyway, there was this little shelter with a sign on it saying "Granville Station" so I sat down there to take the first picture.
You can see the bridge and a little of the chain link thingy I was talking about earlier.
So the rails went through this narrow, wet sort of cutting thing between the housing on the south side and the road on the north. There was a fence on the north side, and a high wall on the south. Fun times. So I walked along that for a little while and... then the track split. And so for a while there, there were two parallel sets of tracks running through this valley kind of thing. Then they merged together again. Yeah. That was kinda weird. You can see the parallel tracks and a bridge that I'll talk about in a bit here:
Speaking of the bridge, here's a picture of it from a little closer up. By which I mean a lot closer up.
So when I got under that thing, there was a whole bunch of graffiti, which is what the next couple of pictures are of. They're both quite nice pieces, and the pictures just don't capture the feeling you get from them.
And this one is just begging for a big awwww... because it has hearts. And hearts are adorable.
This is a shot of what lay ahead (a loooong way ahead) from a little ways beyond the bridge.
Yeah, that took a while to walk along. This is a picture from the same place, looking back.
"img src = "http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee312/algernons_flowers/Photo79.jpg">
You can get some idea of the vast amount of paint that's been put on these walls from that last shot. It's truly phenomenal. Not as crazy as some stuff I've seen, but still pretty awesome. A lot of it was quite well done, too. I get really sick of people spraying shit on walls and going, "Yeah, dude, it's art, you can't touch this." Yeah, technically true, but bad art. You could spray a bunch of equal squares on a wall and it would be modern art. I'm not going to rant about this.
So I kept walking, and came out into the open a little after the limit of that last picture, and the track split into three parts: two rejoined into one a little further down the line, the other one went off into a shed, and beyond the shed there was a trolley. Here's a picture of that.
Yeah, pretty weird, huh?
Anyway, just beyond where you can't see in that photo, the track went on more or less a straight shot between chain link fence and foresty-sorts of areas, and that's where I stopped, mostly because I was pretty sure that it ended up joining up with the rail yards right by Waterfront Station, and that was one place I didn't really want to be. So I stopped here, and turned around, and headed home.
But now, looking at a map on Google Earth, I was completely wrong. It doesn't actually seem to extend beyond what you can see on the photo. It either follows under a bridge or I'm just not seeing where it goes. Either way, it's not what I thought. I'll go back sometime before finals and wrap up all the loose ends I've got in this business.
But either way, I went home then. And I took a different route, and so came upon a really cool little park where I took this picture:
And this, in turn, led to a long walk along the waterfront which eventually led me back to the place where I lost the other part of the Greenway due to it being overgrown. But on the other side of a molded concrete faux-brick wall. I would have climbed it... but for the fact that I didn't want to crawl through thorny plants for an indeterminate distance.
So, that's all folks!
Well, for a winter excursion, that went well. Myself and another Railroader walked down a good stretch of track today, starting with the Playground Road up by Fairview. There's a playground there, and a railroad that wanders down across the city and curves around the better part of the residential areas, follows Ayd Mill road down to 35-E and skips from there to follow the highway along until the railroad passes under the high bridge. The first bridge, across Snelling avenue at Marshal, has a ton of gorgeous graffiti on it. It's a quite nice walk, I'll have to go there sometime in the summer, when the snow isn't deep enough to tire me out quickly.
Anyway, we didn't make it very far, we just got to Selby, where we cut off the railway and switched to the roads instead. Sidewalks are better shoveled than rail lines. Simple fact of life, that. No photos, either. I'll get some up for Vancity. I'll get more in the summer.
Looks like Summer will change a lot.
So, as I said, there will be more adventures happening later. If they can be called adventures, anyway. When I get back to Saint Paul for the summer, I'll start doing the Urban Exploring sort of thing. More sewers and fewer railroads, in other words. The upshot of this is that I won't be working alone. Too dangerous, drain running alone. Something happens, no one's there to help you. So yeah. Just thought a preview of what's coming up would be a good thing.
In other news, I've got a few things I need to do before I go back to Vancouver. There may be a post later today.
So... I kinda doubt anyone really noticed that I haven't been posting much. Here's the reason: I don't really like going outside and walking when it's cold. I'm back in Saint Paul, and there's a couple feet of snow down, so it can be hard to walk along railroads without getting majorly cold feet. I feel witty now.
Anyways, updates and wanderings will resume upon my return to Vancouver.
Merry Christmas!
C'mon, you know it sounds better than Happy Holidays.
Time: 1837, 1123 to go.
I'm in the SUB right now, by the north exits. There's a red chair I'm sitting in, with a little brown stain by its feet. I edited the rules a little: I'm allowed to sit, so long as I use the time to write rather than rest. There's a large section of the northeast section of campus I've never laid eyes on, so that's my first target. After that... well, we'll see when I'm done up there.
End Entry One.
Time: 1901, 1059 to go.
I'm on the roof of a parking garage.
The picture is of Gage towers, but it really doesn't capture it. You need to think of the biggest christmas tree of your life, triplicate, and you, almost above everything, and not a single person in sight. You can hear, but it's desolate up here. Everything's muted, distant, quiet. It's so peaceful here at 7 at night. I highly recommend it to anyone in the area with time on their hands.
End Entry Two.
Time: 1952, 908 to go.
I'm in the rose garden right now. In my usual spot, when I can get it, which is at the northeast corner, between two of the pillars. It's beautifully lit right now, with semi-romantic yellowish overheads about six feet off the ground. They point downward, so there's little to no vertical light variation, and looks ever so romantic right now. Even though it's cold. On the romantic note, I was sitting here, and the thought came to me, how many people have lost their virginity in this garden? I mean, come on? Late at night, early in the morning, there's no one here. Well, except for two people. There's this other guy who just came down the stairs. But practically no one.
You know, I think this is kind of a fun idea: call it the sunrise patrol. Basically, you have to wonder: how many people see sunrises regularly? And the answer is, not many. Just a few, in fact. So the idea is to get people to stay out all night and see a sunrise. Call is sunrise hunting. I like it, you like me? That's what I thought.
God, I can't believe I'm only a quarter done with the night.
I walked the Labyrinth again, for the record. THere was one outside the chapel, but I didn't know that. I just went down into this hollow in the ground, and there it was. Waiting for me, almost. I was going to take a picture, but I didn't.
End Entry Three.
Time: 2036, Unknown time remaining.
I've got a headache that's coming up; I may be unable to keep this up until morning. But I WILL see the sun rise on tuesday. It will happen. I will make it happen.
In the here and now, I'm outside the Anthropology Museum. Until I came, it was dead silent and... not really eerie. But sacred. It had a feeling of sanctity. I can't put it any better than that, but with no one else around, I can almost feel something here. There's a few totem poles, and just as I crossed the line from light into darkness, the lights of North Van blazed, and I saw them far off and standing on the northern shore, on the very eaves of the mountains.
But then... I shall explore the remainder of this side of University. The other side can wait. I am a patient man, despite my seeming lack of stamina. A pity. I can stop here with a clean conscience, forgive myself for giving up.
I think that this sort of thing would be better undertaken with a group, perhaps three or four in number. We would be a sort of buffer, keeping ourselves in check and upbeat and willing to continue. But only the very best of friends could do this. I mean, come on, they'll be around each other for 12 hours straight in uncertain circumstances. This night might be both first and last for the so-called Sunrise Patrol. Maybe then I'll get back to railroads.
End Entry Four.
Time: 2116, No time remaining.
I'm back home. You know what? Here's the result of the walk tonight:
1) Waking is for the journey not for the end.
2) I walked tonight so that I would have a reason to stay at home, to be inside, and to really enjoy it.
3) Everything is defined in terms of an opposite.
4) Life is a means to itself. That is, the point of life is life.
That's what I got out of it. Disagree all you want, but I feel philosophical, and nothing you can do will change me. Nothing!
Vancouver Branch, over and out.
