Whimsical Woodlands

From Dave Brigham:

I've spent a lot of time in recent years tromping through woods in the suburbs south and west of Boston. Most times, I go in search of ruins of one sort or another: a rifle range, a mill, a barn.

Thanks to the terrific Atlas Obscura, I learned about something completely different in the woods not more than 10 miles from my house.

Martini Junction sounds like the sort of joint you'd find hardcore alcoholics rattling off ribald tales of their younger days, while watching Fox News on the TV above a bar well-worn with spilled booze and broken hearts.

But it's not, fortunately. Rather, it's a whimsical place in the middle of the town forest of Needham, Mass. Built by a retired engineer who lives close by, the junction comprises loads of model train tracks and accompanying woodland scenes, such as fairy houses, water wheels and superheroes nailed to trees.

(The tracks)

(Depot Diner)

(Fairy houses)

(Train station)

I explored it one day and just got such a good feeling from this place. I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures and thrilling at each new discovery. The guy who built it named it Martini Junction, apparently, because he and his wife like to have picnics at the spot with a few adult beverages.

Evidently battery-powered trains run on the tracks, but I didn't get to witness that. I had such a good time that I brought my wife and kids here a few days after my initial visit. I refused to tell them what was going to be at the end of our hike, and after 15 minutes or so they began to think I'd lost my mind.

But once we got there, they were all just as enthralled as I was. If you ever get a chance, you should check it out, too!

Garden State Works

From Peter Arnemann:

Peter is quite the urbex guy, as regular Backside visitors know. He has two sets of a fascinating water works facility that he will only tell me is located somewhere in New Jersey. I'm amazed at how elaborate and beautiful these behemoth buildings are.

Here's an old set. And here's a new set.

Enjoy! -- -- DB

Cream City

From Pete Zarria:

Cookeville Ice Creamery. A nice little place for a cone. Cookeville, Tennessee. Seems it works, too.

Here's a video of the sign.

Roadside Art

From Heidi Waugaman-Page:

Summer was metal and rust for me. Some was even flowers.

Driving to Chester, VT, I would pass some of these structures daily, in both Walpole and Ashland, NH. Then when I explored, I found more on the side roads and behind buildings. I could not find anything that had a signature or plate that stated who the artists were on some of the rustiest pieces.

The giraffe and apple tree are by the same artist at Alyson's Orchard on Route 12 in Walpole, NH but I couldn’t locate the name.

These are in Ashland, NH:

Hacker's conference

From Lostlosangeles:

(Detroit, Michigan)

As I see these holes, these dark spaces, in my photos, I find myself wanting to exaggerate them. I discover that I want to darken the shadows and indicate this mysterious space, as if the decay was emanating from some mysterious space. A portal to another reality.

Retired

From Kristen Smith:

An old truck at sunrise in Paso Robles, CA - I just couldn't pass this one by.

Another Look at Sunrise

From James M. Surprenant:

In September 2011, we printed Mick Melvin's photos and write-up of the Sunrise Resort in Moodus, CT (see "Sunset on the Sunrise").

Here, we present James M. Surprenant's survey of the abandoned facility.

Snowmobile???

From Mick Melvin:

My wife and I visit New Hampshire a few times a year. We always see great backside photo opportunities. I thought of one such photo I took a couple of years back. This hybrid snow truck would have helped me in the recent snow storm in Connecticut. I took this shot in Troy, NH. I would have loved to see it in motion. Be safe out there Backsiders.

Exploring Back Home

From Dave Brigham:

I've lived in the Boston area for most of the last 22 years, and have explored a lot of out-of-the-way spots in the last few. I've had a great time doing so, but recently I've been drawn to the history of the town in Connecticut where I grew up.

Founded in 1670, Simsbury is a suburb of Hartford. My family moved there in 1962, three years before I was born. In those days, the town was still quite rural. I remember tobacco barns less than a half-mile from our house, and many more spread throughout the town.

Simsbury was along the route of the Farmington Canal, a waterway system that ran from New Haven to Northampton, Mass. Begun in 1825 and completed ten years later, the canal never did well, especially once railroads were built.

Still, I remember a section near my house where water sometimes pooled, and when it froze over we played hockey on it.

Trains also once ran through the town. I remember seeing and hearing them when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time with my friends walking along the tracks near my house, to get to the market to buy candy, gum and soda; the country store for penny candy; or to just explore the brooks, ponds and woods alongside the raised track bed.

In August 2011 I went back to Simsbury (my parents no longer live there; they're in nearby Windsor) trying to solve a mystery. When I was a teen, my friends and I explored an abandoned house near the tracks, and I'd long wondered what the circumstances were around that scene.

Through good ol' Facebook, I learned that a man named President Little had lived there, and that he'd been quite a character. While in town for a golf tournament, I decided to see if I could find any remnants of the old house.

Read "In Search of President Little" to find out what I discovered. Then come back.

This year, ahead of the golf tournament -- which is held annually in late August -- I found out about an abandoned road in the Tariffville section of Simsbury, once again through Facebook.

I decided to check it out.

Mountain Road begins in T'ville (as us locals call it), at the bottom of a hill, near the intersection of Route 189 and Elm St. (Route 315). Part way up, you cross into Bloomfield, and shortly after that, the road ends.

There's a sign indicating that the adjacent 28 acres, known as the Frederick C. Bidwell Forest Area, were donated by the Bidwell family for hiking purposes. According to current and former Simsbury residents (via Facebook), there's a path that takes you up to the top of the ridge, from which you can see Hartford. There's a chimney up there that marks where a dance hall once stood.

Unfortunately, I was pressed for time and didn't have time to hike up to find that spot. Next time.

But I did explore the road, which was closed in the late '70s or early '80s because the curves were so close to the edge of the ridge that the road became unstable.

I plan to get back to Simsbury when I can to explore more of the town's historical backside.

Merry Christmas!

From David Burke:

This chimney was located off Route 44 in Canton, CT, and was decorated every year. It was recently removed and replaced by a shopping complex.

Maid Rite

From Pete Zarria:

Maid Rite Sandwich Shop, Quincy, Illinois.