Where once there were two, now there are none: Last light on an autumn evening washes across the abandoned SP&S bridge in Washtucna, Washington and the small patch of crops planted below it. Just about where I stood to capture this portrait -- perhaps even unintentionally staked out by the row of sprinkler heads -- lies the centerline of an abandoned UP branch that once ran through Washtucna Coulee to connect Connell and Hooper Junction. Washtucna is symbolic of many locations in Eastern Washington, a region which once hosted an incredible network of rail lines that served the bountiful Palouse; most of the branches and two mainlines that crossed this arid land have since been abandoned, leaving behind only lonely relics of past engineering feats, dusty trails and the occasional spread recycled by humans for another purpose.
