The next month, when the Death Valley Art Show closed at noon on Sunday, I asked my husband if he could get us south to Kelso before sundown. He did, and to my delight there was a train stopped in front! I jumped out and started to take pictures. Slowly the light turned to orange, the hills to purple. The train left. I kept on pushing the button until the sun left too.
When I looked at what I'd taken, I realized I didn't want the train; it made the depot look in service. Without it, the eye follows that long sweep of track to the vanishing point... no train coming, not anymore, not ever, with the beautiful, proud old empty building all lit up in the evening glow. To me it spells the end of Manifest Destiny.