Forgotten and Lost

You see them everywhere, old abandoned buildings, cars, planes, trains, junkyards, ghost towns, and graveyards. To me these items are fascinating as I imagine what they were like when they were new and in use.

Welcome to the Forgotten and Lost page of my site. I have always been intrigued and fascinated by the past since those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. On this page I want to investigate the past and see what mysteries there may be waiting for us here in the present.

To that end I have been searching for websites that do just that, investigate the past. I found a few interesting websites and I present them here for your consideration. As you investigate these sites and view the photos let your imagination run free, think about what the item was like when it was alive with people, what did they feel, what did they think, what was the time like, and why was the item abandoned.

Live in the moment of the picture; put yourself inside the time frame of the location. If you see a picture of an old train imagine yourself to be the engineer or conductor of the train. Where did it travel? What was it like when it was new? What cargo did it haul? What parts of the country did it see? And why is now just a rusting hunk of metal?

Old missile silos/bases have always been of interest to me. Imagine sitting at the control booth wondering if the other guy was going to launch a nuclear rocket at you, how would you feel and more important, would you do anything about it? Think about that last day, the day this facility is decommissioned. This is the day you are leaving the facility, when you know that you will never see this place again, that it is to be abandoned and discarded like an old paint can. What would your feelings be? What would be left behind and why?

Visit an old military base, why was it discarded after spending millions of dollars on it? Why was the furniture left behind? What else was left behind and why? Think about the men and women who occupied the living quarters, ate in the mess hall and relaxed at the bowling alley, what hopes and dreams did they have and what type of future did they experience? Are they even alive today?

Visit an old amusement park, once filled with kids of all ages, anxious to ride the latest rides and experience the thrill of hair raising excitement, why does it now sit alone, silent, and lost in its loneliness?

Visit an old graveyard. Who were these people? Why did some of them die so young? What dreams did they have only to have them cut short? Listen to their voice in the wind, the ghost of the dead still live but only if you open your mind.

The ghost towns that litter the country, why were they abandoned? What drove the people away? Now silent, the empty buildings are all that remain of a once vibrant community. What stories could these buildings tell if only they could speak? They can, if you listen.

The airplanes, the once great and majestic airliners that now sit in the desert sun, old and discarded, fading from the once exciting life they previously enjoyed. Where did they fly to? Who were their passengers? If you listen closely you can still hear the roar of their mighty engines as they taxi to the end of the runway, ready for takeoff. But now their usefulness is no more, so they wait for their skins to become one with the planet.

The military planes of old. These vanguards of freedom now sit alone, forgotten by a people and nation they once proudly served. Now silently, they suffer a slow miserable death under the desert sun or some other unknown location. Were they wounded in battle, shrapnel tearing through their metal skin, but more importantly did they bring their crew home alive? Who healed their wounds with metal patches and new engines? How many times did they engage the enemy? And why is their fate now in the hands of the elements?

The ships and ocean liners of yesteryear, where are they now? They sit in waters waiting for their hulls to rust away, forgotten about all these years later. Many once served in war time, carrying troops and supplies to defend the nation against an enemy intent on destroying our way of life. But now they sit alone, forgotten by everyone except the ghost of the men they once ferried into harm’s way.

The ocean liners which once made their way from port-to-port, country-to-country now sit where? Their magnificent staterooms which catered to their passengers, giving those people the vacation opportunity of a lifetime, now, now just a memory somewhere lost in time.

The cars, fresh out of Motor City once sitting new on the showroom floor, are now collecting rust at some unknown location. Who was their original owner? Did he have a family? Where did he travel and how often? How many miles are on the odometer? Was he resold and to whom? Why was he abandoned and left alone to suffer the wrath of the elements? And how many drive-in movies did he experience, only never to see the movie?

The motels where he once parked are now themselves alone and vacant. Visitors no longer stop for a night of peaceful sleep and the only visitors now are the weeds that have overgrown the parking lot. The signs which once illuminated the facility with lights or neon, beckoning visitors to stop and rest for the night, are now broken and tattered beyond repair.

The rooms, what about the rooms? What mysterious visitor stayed in the room and why was he there? Did the now dry and dirt-contaminated swimming pool offer summer relief to the guests? Why, why was this place deserted in the first place? Now this motel is home to vermin of both the animal and two-legged type since the original dream of the owner was shattered by forces unknown.

The old farms where once there was the promise of plenty now only desolation. Where once cattle fed and were milked, now only rotting wood. I was raised on a farm and we had an old "home" sitting on our property. This home served as shelter to my ancestors for many years, but like all things that are abandoned it soon fell into rot. It doesn't exist anymore as it had to be torn down for safety reasons. I'm glad I wasn't there to see it because that old home held many memories for me.

It has always amazed me that we as humans build great machines and buildings only to discard them in the course of time. I myself am guilty of the same. My old computers and VCRs sit inside boxes never to be used again. But once they were new, once I purchased them new and used them religiously. But now, now I have discarded them like the old things they are.

I guess I live in the past for I hate to see things change, but change they must. I know that life gets better with time, but at the same time I feel we lose so much, so very much in the process of advancement.

My grandfather told me years ago that buildings, cars, anything man builds, as long as man maintains the object it continues to survive despite the age. Yet when man abandons it, it falls into disarray. I guess like all things the object simply decides to give up when hope leaves. Maybe in some mixed up way everything on the planet is connected in someway, somehow. Who's to say. I think I'll just let the pictures tell the story and remember a time when everything was new.

I am in the process of finding more links, and while they are out there their content is really below my standards. However if you want to investigate on your own I used the search terms "lost and forgotten", "abandoned cars", "abandoned buildings", "aircraft graveyards" and so forth.

If you find a link that is interesting and professional in quality, please pass it along so I can link to it. Meanwhile let your soul drift into the past when people filled the buildings and the planes seemed to have a life of their own.

At the time we created this page all the links were active and correct, however we are not responsible for any broken links that may have occurred since. If you find a link that is broken/inactive, please inform us so that we may make the appropriate corrections. We realize how frustrating it can be to think there is an active link only to find out that it is no longer functional. However, that said, most of these are established sites and unless one goes out of business the odds of them changing their links is highly unlikely.