Eureka diesels (#1027)

This picture serves two purposes. It’s most basic is to link it with a set of pictures of locomotives that I’ve been photographing since 2004. The locomotives are leftovers from one of the iterations of the Northwestern Pacific railroad that once ran from Eureka down to the Bay Area. A storm washed out a key portion of the link in the 1990's, at about the same time the lumber/fishing industry was dying, thus the link was never rebuilt and these locomotives were stranded here.

Following is the oldest of my photos of these locomotives. In it and in a later photo, all four of the diesels were attached: Eureka, CA diesels 1125
Here’s the story of the Northwestern Pacific, including comments on efforts to revive portions of it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_Pacific_Railroad

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More important for this trip, though, is what this location tells us about the displaced -- the homeless, the near homeless, the drug and mental situtations, that you see on the street. As I was driving into this area on the Eureka waterfront, I passed a large vacant lot with a smaller fenced-in area that appeared to have about 20 tents or tent-like setups, including shopping carts, bikes, and other stuff, within the compound. Considering the people who were in the area (it was around 8PM), it appeared to be people without stable residences, maybe a camp for homeless set up by the city.

Similarly, just after I had parked to take this picture, an older (maybe my age, 60’s) man in an older Subaru station wagon pulled up and parked about 2 car lengths behind my car. He smiled and waved, not as a sign of knowing or wanting to say something, but in the sort of sign people give to send a signal “I’m okay, you’re safe.” I continued to take pictures in the area and then, walking back to my car, I realized that he was changing clothes and getting ready to bed down for the night in his car. (Story continues with nearby #1033).