At the end of ul. Jeziorki, turn left into the footpath bit of ul. Kórnicka towards the railway tracks. This used to be a level crossing for farm traffic, now abandoned. And a good vantage point for watching the trains go by. This morning, en route for work, I was lucky enough to catch this Russian-made diesel shunter (TEM2-189) running light between W-wa Jeziorki and W-wa Dawidy. It had delivered a fully-laden coal train to the Siekierki power station. The coal line (nearest the camera) is single-track and unelectrified, unlike the main Warsaw-Radom line behind it. The TEM2s are heavy-duty freight haulers, and are nicknamed 'Tamaras' by Polish train spotters. They run lighter on the tracks than the older Russian-built ST44 diesel locos also seen hammering the line on the Okęcie - Siekierki coal run. Trains heading north run slowly, as the approach the busy level crossing at ul. Baletowa is entirely unguarded; there's much hooting of loco whistles to warn drivers of approaching trains.
The photograph of the shunter is a meditation on time and its nature and movement. Stare at the front of the shunter and it gives the impression that it is moving, ever-so slowly. Time Transfixed! Like the Magritte painting of the same name with the train emerging from the fireplace. It's a great photograph with its backdrop of greying abstraction and sepia-like infinity.The left foreground - a blotch of darkness in a study of monochrome watercolour wash. Watch the shunter shunt forward ever, so ever-so slowly.
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