Railroad Station, Edwards, Mississippi

From an elevated position, perhaps standing on a bridge or trestle, Walker Evans photographed railroad tracks receding around a bend in a small town. Several men huddle around a curb at the end of the station platform, while a solitary man carrying a package makes his way along the tracks beside a lingering snowbank. The blank gray sky, the heavy clothing on the figures, and the leafless trees in the background suggest the chill of winter. The image conveys sadness and a sense of desolation, despite the presence of people. Pushcarts sit abandoned between the tracks, and no trains stand at the station, and no passengers wait on the platform. The cars parked across from the station allude to the growing popularity of traveling by automobile rather than railroad.