The Louie Boys

A tale of lake folklore is the story of the Louie Boys on Green Bay of Bob's Lake in southeast Ontario, Canada. The story has it that the Louie boys, who are brothers, left home many, many years ago with their little sister. It was unclear as to why they left, abandoning their home and their farm. One day, the boys did return, however, without their little sister. She was never seen, nor heard from again. The brothers, always keeping to themselves, worked together at different local farms, but, only for very short stints. Two days. Then, they would disappear into the woods, only to return many months later without a word said to anyone. The farmers and townspeople grew suspicious of the Louie Boys. Their pattern of work and disappearance continued on for some time. No one really knew of their whereabouts. Not then. Not now. The Louie Boys are believed to be old men by now, maybe alive, maybe not, but, they are believed to be haunting the woods on Green Bay.

Abandoned blue rail cars

I was on a photo excursion with my summer intern, looking for interesting places to shoot and I remembered this old, abandoned train yard, which when trains are no longer in operation, are put out to pasture here. I was introduced to the place by one of my editorial portrait subjects, an artist, Sarah Rutherford. It served as the backdrop of the portrait I did of her not too long ago.

The blue cars are covered in graffiti and rust. The windows are all broken, cracked or missing entirely from being smashed in. Inside, there was some trash, and a lot of dirt and dust. Aside from the obvious graffiti, I sensed that it served as a gathering place for drug users, late at night. Walking in and around these broken down trains, I could feel the abandonment, the desolation. They were once very beautiful cars. It's too bad they had reached the end of their line.