Hay - We've Got Barns!

While we didn't exactly have "barn years," we did manage to grab the occasional shot of some of those we happened upon as we crisscrossed the region getting lost and looking for covered bridges and trains. Here are some of the better results. Above, [Maris] did actually bring us back to this freshly-painted beauty near Sandy Hook, MD several times in 1999, so she could shoot it in just the right light. Totally worth it.

Near Hyndman, PA in 1999.

Another [Maris] photo - "Mama Barn and Baby Barn" - near Dickerson, MD in 1999. Storm clouds behind tin roofs = perfection.

Somewhere in Virginia - 1999.

Bird's Eye View - Somerset County, PA - 1999.

U.S. Route 15 - near Marshall, VA (I think) - 1999.

Eastern PA - Curse you, wires! - 2001 [Maris]'s shot.

Again, somewhere in northwestern Virginia in 1999.

Okay - I've posted these final two frames before, but they have barns in them! Also, I have re-scanned using the negatives, so they're a little cleaner. This is "Another Planet's Barn - West Virginia" - 1997.

And this joint effort between [Maris] and myself is "Barn and Tree" near Snowshoe, WV - 1997.

Thanks again for looking. More to come!

The Map Stayed Closed

More shots from the "Cruising Years." We wandered farther and farther from home (Germantown, MD) - deeper into West Virginia, and into the Ohio Valley - in search of whatever caught our eye. When we came across the cool sign for Coolville, OH above, it was time to turn around and head back east, so we didn't get to see the town. Bet it was cool, though.

Here today, gone tomorrow. Identical compositions, shot from the same spot in Cambria, WV in 1997. The power plant at Haywood is only a couple of miles away, so the second shot is a good indication of just how thick the fog between the hills can get.

Two frames of former Western Maryland Railway's old shay locomotive #6 at Cass, WV in 1997. These heavy little brutes were used for decades to haul timber down from the mountains, and required a unique design in order to handle the steep grades they had to climb. They had one long set of connecting rods that powered all the wheels under the engine and tender, rather than just a few drivers under the boiler. It's the steam locomotive equivalent of all-wheel drive.

Cass, WV may be synonymous with the tourist railroad now, but it was born as a logging town. The forests have mostly grown back, but a few decades ago the dilapidated mill shown above was busy, the trains carried timber and the surrounding hills were nearly devoid of trees.

"Tobacco Barn - Southern MD - 1998." Hastily shot by [Maris] from the car. You would think shots like this would be easier to get in Southern MD, but no. Apparently, tobacco is very shy.

Closer to home, we couldn't resist the light on St. John's Episcopal Church in Olney, MD - 1999.

Hard to resist the sunset light on the old town hall building in Poolesville, MD in the summer of 1998.

"Sunset Over Ohio Corn - Rt. 7, OH - 1997." He wants you, too, Malachai! He wants you, too...

Roads To Nowhere

Time to drive into the middle of nowhere and find ourselves. In the second half of 1997, I put 30,000 miles on my car - and I wasn't always the one driving on these road trips. [Maris] and I fell in love with much of West Virginia, starting with the Scenic US Route 50 and venturing southward from there. Above, I'm pretty sure the two opposing road signs are trying to tell us "Look! The Center of The Universe! It's right here! Where are you going?"

Scenic US Rt. 50 - somewhere in West Virginia in 1997. Not always sunny, but trust me when I tell you it's the kind of road on which you'd want to shoot sports car advertisements.

"Another Planet's Barn, WV - 1997." A companion photo to one from my last post, this scene was downright surreal to us, as we had just emerged from hours of driving through some deep, dark woods.

"Cave, WV - 1997."

From Point of Rocks, MD: "Leaves in ballast." Look - dewdrops!

"Church and Fallen Leaves, WV - 1997." I'm too lazy to look up the location in [Maris'] notes, but this is one of our favorite shots, and one where we began to seriously collaborate on composition.

"Cass Scenic Railroad's #2." Shot as it pushed a trainload of tourists from Cass, WV to the summit of Bald Knob in 1997.

Another big-time collaborative effort, this one from an October, 1997 trip to Snowshoe, WV. "Barn and Tree Near Snowshoe." We're not into witty titles, as you might have guessed by now.

"Road from Spruce Knob to Nowhere." This shot is from our second visit to Spruce Knob (West Virginia's highest point). On the first trip, we took a wrong turn leaving the mountain and really did end up on a road to nowhere - and with Very Little gas. I still don't know where we were for about 3 hours.