I discovered this Santa Fe Railroad caboose on a railway siding when visiting New Mexico several years ago. Its panels boasted sections of oxidized wear. Despite the arid New Mexico climate, it slowly was succumbing to rust. I took a photo of this traveler from the not-so-distant past at sunset — fitting for a caboose in the sunset of its years.
Notice the rough steel edges on virtually every surface, as if the caboose forces everyone to pay attention lest you rip open your hands. Notice the working innards of this machine — levers, wheels, vents, switches —exposed to the open air. How unlike our shy, modern machines who hide their innards.
I distorted the colors from the photo, my attempt to paint a more sepia-like image, as if this railroad car had traveled from a past before color.
