The Toll Gate Ice Cream parlor was once a happy place in my life. It was a stop for homemade ice cream and tasty fried foods, all in a quiet, peaceful atmosphere. The building sat at the confluence of New Scotland Road and Route 140 in Slingerlands, and even in my adult years I could stop there and get a tasty meal and refresh my mind as needed.
But the restaurant closed a few years ago, and attempts to turn it into a new facility have petered out. The building, which at one time also hosted a clothing store, a post office, and a local bank, now sits fallow and unused, its original neon sign still swinging in a cool breeze, beckoning customers to dine at a place that no longer exists.
By 2021, the building suffered from weeds and overgrowth and neglect. So much so, in fact, that I was able to capture its distress in infrared, creating an award-winning image called We Serve Wayward Strangers.
I was in the middle of a lens test with my Pentacon Six TL camera, and decided to pay the building a visit.
It’s still there, and the creeping ivy no longer coats the building’s façade. Let’s get a few shots.
I positioned the Pentacon on the tripod, then slapped on the Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar 80mm f/2.8 kit lens, and fired off a shot.
God, I hate seeing the building this way. I just want a homemade ice cream right now. This sucks big time.
Okay, Miller. Reel in your emotions. Let’s take another shot, this time with the Flektogon lens.
You know where I’m going next on this. Time to unzip the Johnny Wadd lens and slide it in place.
YOW. TOO CLOSE. Back up, Miller. Yikes.
And then I had an idea. Get another shot of the neon sign, but don’t back up. Shoot the right edge.
And now I have two photos that look like this.
Okay … Let’s put both of these images in PhotoShop … adjust the title a bit … adjust the shading a bit … and …
Wow. Seriously, wow.
I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking of putting this little doozy in my “make something out of this image some day” pile.
Because that neon sign continues to call me … even after all these years.
And this time, it isn’t just for a tasty burger and an ice cream cone.
Chuck The Writer 
I used to drive past this place all the time when I was still living and working in Upstate New York. I had absolutely no idea it closed, or looks like this! Wow! What happened???
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The family patriarch Robert Zautner passed away in I think 2012. The family kept the restaurant going for a few more years, but I think the economy did them in. I think one of the family members also suffered a hospitalization and there was no one to cover at the restaurant at that time, which also affected the business.
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