Most people photograph tourist attractions, stunning landscapes or local street-life scenes. But New York-based photographer John Sanderson has been snapping America’s empty railroads and the results are surprisingly beautiful. In the early 20th century, over 250,000 miles of track spread across the country, but today many are far less frequented by passengers, after a steep decline in non-commuter rail travel just 50 years later signalled the railroads' demise. Entire towns and cities have been built to work around the the tracks, leaving a fascinating landscape behind that John has captured in these evocative images.

Working with traditional large format film cameras, John Sanderson pictures the broad American social landscape left behind through portrait, landscape, and still life photographs. Pictured here is the interchange north of New York City where the main line from Grand Central Terminal branches off to form the Harlem and New Haven Line, which is now the busiest route in the entire United States. 

It's not just cities that line the tracks, though. Many of the USA's railroads cross vast natural landscapes, offering fabulous views of mountains and national parks. "The Badlands are a unique geological formation in western America. Railroads bisect some of the most beautiful natural and man-made places on earth."

"During 2015 I ventured into Glacier National Park to photograph Maria’s Pass. Built by industrialist James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway around 1900, the tracks climb to nearly 5,240 feet in order to traverse the Rocky Mountains."

"The decaying ‘rust belt’ mid-western states of Ohio and Indiana are often a subject for photographers, but here I wanted to capture an active industrial landscape. This ArcelorMittal mill, dating originally from 1913, churns out high quality steel for the auto industry. Gaining access to these sites is not easy, but always worth it."

"In my work, visuals are just as important as the underlying historical or social significance. Here we see a linearity of track and roadway contrasted with the abstracted natural landscape of northern Wyoming."

"Vestiges of the past line the tracks here in Martinsburg, West Virginia. NA Tower once controlled switching operations here and operated until 2003."

"This section of track is now used to carry scenic excursion trains around the dam, which was built in 1955 by the Army Corp of Engineers to avoid another disastrous flood of the Naugatuck River. What caught my eye are how the tracks are situated along the embankment."

"From shipping to power generation, northern New Jersey serves the industrial needs of the New York City region. These tracks once served as a branch line from the suburbs, delivering materials and workers to supply nearby industry."

"The Shakers, a Christian religious sect most active during the 19th century, constructed this tavern in South Union, Kentucky. It is part of many architecturally distinct structures they left behind in New England and the Midwest. The proximity of their settlement to the railroad shows how enmeshed the railroad was to society."

"While this Steelways Shipyard building may appear condemned, it is actually still in use. Steelways fabricate steel for bridges, swimming pools and ships. Freight trains serve the shipyard near here, as well as surrounding industry, and like many places across the United States this freight traffic remains high here, despite the end of passenger service in the 1950s."

"The American Victory was a tanker ship during WWII and currently sits in storage alongside massive grain elevators, indicating Lake Superior’s agricultural character. I often use the panoramic format in order to show the surrounding environment alongside the striking linearity of track."

"I can’t resist being influenced by the paintings of American modernists such as Edward Hopper or Charles Sheeler. This house sits along the Hudson River and I found the scene to be quintessential American. While the railroad is my focus, I’m just as interested in exploring the goings-on around it, such as the car sitting in the driveway and the work shack below the tree."

"The Overseas Railway was completed in 1905 and operated until the 1935 Labor Day hurricane destroyed several portions of it. Many of the remaining bridges were converted into highways for road traffic. The ambition underpinning the construction of such a route and its eventual demise earned the nickname “Flagler’s Folly” after Henry Flagler, the railway’s founder."

"The urban landscape and architectural elements here are fitting symbolism for the demise of the passenger train in the United States. By the late 1960s much of America had given up on passenger rail, choosing to travel by car or airplane."