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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Over the Hump: 1943

April 1943. "Chicago & North Western RR, tank cars going over the hump at Proviso yard, Chicago." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.

April 1943. "Chicago & North Western RR, tank cars going over the hump at Proviso yard, Chicago." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size.

 

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When I see a sky

with such clouds, I'd rather be soaring.

Less airspace restrictions in those days, too. Although I don't know what wartime regulations and restrictions would have been for private flying.

Un-tagged

Rail cars in a hump yard today would be plastered with graffiti.

I had one of those

I had that light tower for my Lionel train set when I was a kid. I also had one of those shacks that is by the track. A little guy with a bag of mail pops out when the train goes by.

Two "Humps"

In 1943 any mention of "over the hump" could also have referred to the flights over the Himalayas by the American USAAF engaged in deliveries of materiel from bases in India to the allied armies in China.

Nothing but blue skies do we see

Just as a photographic observation, it's interesting that Delano chose to shoot from that position. In doing so, he included that tall lighting tower instead of closing in on the rail cars and buildings. He must have liked that sky because it is 75% of the photo, and it's brightness would have overpowered the lower portion of cars and buildings causing them to be dark. There would have been some tricky work done with exposure in the camera or darkroom. Nonetheless, a well made photograph.

[Kodachrome processing didn't allow for any darkroom manipulation; however, Photoshop tools were used to bring up shadow detail for this presentation.]

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