Flower Rails

Story

There was a time, not all that long ago, when the rails were bright and shiny, regularly polished by the steam engines and rolling stock that moved along them as the train made its way to and from Austin, Texas. These days, however, the spur line rests by itself, a reminder of those days gone by.

Its rails no longer glisten nor gleam in the in sun and only silence keeps them company. Flowers, however, keep the rails company.

For as seasons roll by and the years blend together, so do the flowers. One by one, then group by group, the bluebonnets overtake the rail line. The flowers rejoice in the solitude of the abandoned line and have begun to flourish here. The rails, happy for the company, seem agreeable to the arrangement, giving rise to the flower rails.

Texas Hill Country has many of these obscure locations. Most days of the year they appear to be nothing special, but in the right light at the right time they tell a striking story. Flower Rails is no exception, and the flowers spilling over the rails, stretching into the distant trestle, provide a perfect example.

The sun lighting up the trestle, beckoning the bluebonnets onward, makes it all the more compelling. This spur line might be abandoned, but it surely isn’t forgotten.

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