Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

Close-up of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland

This set of photographs was motivated by the interesting shapes and contrasting colors of the number 32 on a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland. This, of course, is the same trolley car that was the subject of the rusty trolley, trolley wheel, and suspension posts. The first photograph in this set captures the number 32 in its most abstract form; each successive photograph becomes less abstract and reveals the identity of and some degree of context for the number.

Paint peels from the rusty chassis of a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Paint peels from the rusty chassis of a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Paint peels from the rusty chassis of a trolley car in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

This trolley car’s rusty chassis and peeling paint reflect its age and exposure to the elements. Besides providing great texture for photographing, the rust and peeling paint reveal what is no longer visible as well: the innumerable stories of its riders. Who were they, and where were they going? To work; to visit a loved one; to school. Maybe some simply got on to enjoy the ride and the sound of its steel wheels on the rails.

A door lock is surrounded by layers of peeling paint.

A padlock keeps shut a door with peeling yellow paint.

A door lock hole offers a window to the other side of dilapidated door.

There’s a yellow and blue door on the front of the Crystal Pool building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland to keep people from getting to the other side of the wall. Like the building itself, the two doors are dilapidated with paint cracking and peeling from top to bottom. What’s left of the paint doesn’t do much to protect the doors from the elements, but their texture gave them a dimension and depth to match the history of the park.

Ivy grows on a crumbling white wall of a building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Ivy grows against a wall with peeling red paint in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

Close-up of ivy against a white wall

Ivy grows on a red wall of a building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

I don’t know the name of this ivy, but it seems to be growing everywhere across the Washington, DC area. This was especially true for the Crystal Pool building in Glen Echo Park, Maryland where the ivy covered much of the right side of the building. It’s probably not accurate to even call the Crystal Pool building a building since there’s nothing but green grass behind its facade, but it’s interesting how the organic manages to thrive as the man-made object slowly deteriorates against time and the elements.