California - The Golden State
Originally uploaded by colorcritical.

My grandfather Ralph O. Stephens also known to many as "Curly" worked for Southern Pacific Railroad in Los Angeles for 40 years. He retired in the early 80's and died a few years after.

I remember going with him to the Los Angeles rail yard where he would show me off to his friends and show me where he worked as an mechanical engineer. I was too young to really appreciate his work but I was facinated at the size, sounds, and power a locomotive could muster.

There is a mystery to railyards. Every time I visit one I feel it's energy. I mostly think it has to do with thinking of Curly. Others feel something when they visit even though they can't quite put a finger on it. Perhaps it's the modern archaeological remnants of the industrial revolution. Well here is to you Curly, may you rest in peace for all eternity.