Here is a panorama of the historic Auburn train station. Click to embiggen in another tab:
Lot of history in that joint. Jefferson Davis reviewed the Auburn Guard there as he was on his way to his inauguration at Montgomery. That was, apparently, the first presidential review in the Confederacy. This is also the place where students sabotaged Georgia Tech’s football team in 1896:
The Wreck Tech parade, and the pajamas, date back to their first football meeting in 1896 where legend has it that the A.P.I. students snuck to the train station under cover of darkness and greased the tracks. The train couldn’t get stopped at the station and the Tech players had to walk some five miles back to Auburn to get their 45-0 beating.
The last train passenger was called aboard in 1970. Empty for almost a decade now, the last tenant was a real estate agency. The old building needs a lot of TLC.
Here’s a door handle at the train station:
And by the rails, a self portrait at the first sign passengers would have seen getting off the train:
A closer view of a font you’ll never see again:
These shots were part of a brief ride today. I got other pictures today, so the marker series will return next week. That’s progress.
Nothing about the ride felt very good today, though. Nothing about me felt very confident of myself. Just a lousy ride. But I also found an incredible curve I had to slow down through, lest I wind up in the trees. And then I had to ride through a big neighborhood disagreement that involved at least five police officers, two of which I almost hit on my bike because they didn’t look both ways before crossing the street. One of those days.
Here’s a sunset over Agricultural Heritage Park, with the intramural field in the background to the right:
Even “those days” are beautiful.
