Shadow Tracks

An unusual feature of the South Carolina Botanical Gardens is a caboose garden, which was donated in 1973 by the Clemson University class of 1939. The caboose came from Southern Railway, painted in a bright red color. There is memorabilia inside the car from the class, and the railway.
I shot this photo looking at it through a trellised walkway in the foreground. At this time, there were only a few dangling leaves, since the growing season is largely over.
The light was interesting, and I lined up the shot to angle the shadows in the foreground to accentuate their resemblance to a set of railroad ties. I framed the caboose in the background to complete this optical illusion, as if it is driving down this imaginary set of tracks. I like the way a camera can be used as an accomplice to capture illusions formed from light and shadows.