already departed (2022) (Patreon)

In Reno, NV, in the heart of what passes for a downtown, there is an Amtrak station that was once a main depot of the Southern Pacific railroad; it is the fourth rail station to stand in this location. The current iteration was built in 1926 and features a stucco-style Mediterranean Revival facade. 

In the lobby of the station is a large fountain paid for and built by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in 1908; the thinking was that with a source of free water and inspiration via the soaring sculpture that accompanied it, men in Reno would avoid the temptation to go into the saloons and bars that dotted the city. 

Of course, now the fountain is turned off, because it doesn't work anymore. Even if it worked, the station is locked when there isn't train service inbound; given that the terminal now only services the once-daily California Zephyr, a primarily luxury-travel-oriented route from Chicago to (roughly) San Francisco, it's barely ever open. The only thing to be found in the parking lot at night are a few scattered cars dodging meter maids and a few unhoused people dodging police harassment and the heat of a high desert summer. 

Why do I edit all of my night photos to look like this, like some sort of Blade Runner screencap? Why are they so cold; why is the only warmth hidden behind locked doors? 

I guess it's that a broken fountain sequestered away from the people that could really use it in a building that barely serves a purpose feels about as cyberpunk as it gets.