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Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, circa 1905. "Machine shop, Westinghouse Air-Brake Co." Company namesake George Westinghouse invented the railway air brake in 1869 and was a rival of Thomas Edison in the early electrical industry. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Was someone commissioned to visit these industrial sites and plant vines?
Is there a photo from the turn of the century that DOESN'T include somebody doing something crazy unsafe for no apparent reason? I thought this one might be the one, but then spotted the dude on the catwalk roof!
Hey, lunchtime! Anybody mind if I play on the roof for a while?
Wabtec, the current corporate incarnation of Westinghouse Airbrake, is still located on Air Brake Avenue.
Love the picture. Looks like a model railroad layout.
Notice the Armstrong type of turntable, manually operated. Also the workmen in the second story windows, two are looking at the cameraman taking photo. Well kept factory grounds.
Don't just stand there looking at the photographer! Pick up an air brake that needs work and get to fixin'!
That is the finest lawn I have ever seen in any photos of this age. A century later, with all my chemicals, irrigation and fancy, powered equipment, I can't do any better.
The building still exists. It appears to still house Wabtec, a descendant of the Westinghouse Air Brake Co.
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