Tracks to the past

Old rail tracks and the signs of old lines, like embankments and bridges, always fill me with a strange mixture of sadness and excitement. Sadness at the thought of something that is lost forever and excitement wondering what it must have been like to travel on those trains and live in those times.

I was on a steam train last summer up at Fort William and can heartily testify that hurtling through amazing countryside with your head out of the window creates a lovely sense of freedom.

When I came across the overgrown lines in the photography I thought there was a nice poignancy as they weaved off into the distance and the past.