Art Of The Rails ...

“Train I ride, sixteen coaches long

Train I ride, sixteen coaches long

Well that long black train got my baby and gone

Train train, comin’  'round, 'round the bend

Train train, comin’ 'round, 'round the bend

Well it took my baby, but it never will again

No, not again

Train train, comin’ down, down the line

Train train, comin’ down, down the line

Well it’s bringin’ my baby, 'cause she’s mine all, all mine

She’s mine, all, all mine

Train train, comin’ 'round, 'round the bend

Train train, comin’ 'round, 'round the bend

Well it took my baby, but it never will again

Never will again

Ooh, woah”

                          ~ “Mystery Train”

                       ~ written & recorded by
         American blues musician Junior Parker
                                     ~ 1953

          ~ recorded by the great Elvis Presley

                                  ~ 1955

       ~ Produced by Sam Phillips at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee it features Elvis Presley on vocals & rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore on lead guitar & Bill Black on bass. Mystery Train is now considered to be an “enduring classic.” It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a nationally known country music star.

I captured my artistic depiction of this wonderful tribute to the Ironton Railroad on an early October evening along the Ironton Rail Trail.

It was an Eagle Scout project of Samuel L. Raub II, Troop 57, in 2012.

The Ironton Rail Trail loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township in Pennsylvania.

The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland Cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20^th century. Much of the railroad had already been abandoned when it became part of Conrail in 1976, and the last of its trackage was removed in 1984.

In 1996, Whitehall Township purchased 9.2 miles of the right-of-way from Conrail, transforming it into the Ironton Rail Trail.

Summer Morning At Rex's Bridge ...

“It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.”

                  ~ John Cheever

                   ~ 1912-1982

A stunning summer morning frames the historic beauty of Rex’s Covered Bridge, North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania in late August.

Though diminutive in size, it’s well-traveled in this picturesque rural area where it crosses the Jordan Creek.

The wooden 150-foot-long Burr Truss bridge was constructed in 1858. It has narrow horizontal siding and a gable roof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Summer Supper ...

“A forest bird never wants a cage.”

                 ~ Henrik Ibsen

                        ~ 1828-1906

A male American goldfinch - also known as a wild canary - and a female house finch share a birdfeeder as they enjoy a summer supper on a beautiful August evening at Lehigh Gap Nature Center.

In the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail). 

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.