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Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.
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Today's Top 5
Tunnel Vision: 1910
Submitted by Dave on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 12:40pm.
Tags:
Detroit circa 1910. "Michigan Central Railroad tunnel." Another view of the electrified tracks going under the Detroit River. View full size.
Dental Work
Submitted by perpster on Fri, 10/26/2012 - 5:36pm.
Brace yourself. Not only do we have the route canal going into the cavity under the river, but this image is crowned with bridge work going on a bit right of center. At least the debris and powder that was gumming up the tracks below the crest in a previous Shorpy post has been cleaned up. About the only thing missing are canines.
Tell-Tale
Submitted by Ice gang on Thu, 10/25/2012 - 10:21am.
The standard tell-tale design had ropes on 3" centers for a width of 8 feet over the track, the bottoms of the ropes 6" lower than the height of the obstruction and placed 100 feet before the obstruction. Today trains do not have walkways on top of the cars or means to get to the roof.
Mystery pipes
Submitted by wolfevoicer on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 6:54pm.
Does anyone know for sure what those vertical "pipes" were, that hang from either side of the bridge from the overhead cable? My guess would be that it is some sort of "low clearance" warning system to protect obstructions on the bridge from high trucks or trains.
[The obstructions don't need protecting. The telltales are there to protect you, if you're a brakeman, from the obstructions. -Dave]
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Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.
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Today's Top 5