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Night Moves: 1941
... Bogart, George Raft, Ida Lupino and Ann Sheridan. The railroads got smarter It's true, the boxcars equipped for hauling autos were ... Things were so bad that by the end of the 1950s, the railroads had largely lost the new car trade. However, by the mid 1960's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/04/2018 - 5:19pm -

April 1941. "Auto convoy trucks at service station near Chicago." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Plymouths and DodgesWe see here an assortment of 1941 Plymouths and Dodges. The two cars on the back end of the truck on the left are Plymouths, and the two sedans in the back, on the backs of trucks (one is a light-colored sedan, covered with a tarp) are Dodges. While trucks got larger, so did rail cars for auto transport. First, open cars that could carry as many as 15 cars, and later, the enclosed cars we see today, that deter vandalism and theft of parts during transport. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorack Fin-ish ahead of their timeCars that can been seen well enough despite all the canvas look to be 1941 Dodge Custom Town Sedans. If you look closely at the rear of the first light-colored car from the left, you'll see a harbinger of Chrysler Corp. things to come: fins! '41 PlymouthsLooks like a load of '41 Plymouths. Whoever bought them would be probably holding onto them for a few years due to war production starting in '42. My wife's great uncle had a '42 Plymouth with no chrome trim. He still had it in his barn when he died about 5 years ago. Still had the last inspection tag on it from 1969. They Drive by Night ...1940 movie with Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, Ida Lupino and Ann Sheridan. The railroads got smarterIt's true, the boxcars equipped for hauling autos were limited capacity, and it was easy to damage the merchandise. Things were so bad that by the end of the 1950s, the railroads had largely lost the new car trade. However, by the mid 1960's the railroads were getting that work back. Today, a single, long multi level auto carrier with vandal resistant covering can carry 12 to 20 new cars. The highway auto carrier you see is delivering new cars to the dealers or wholesale/distributors from a railroad facility. (That is, unless you live close to an assembly plant.) A solid train of auto racks can carry 800 or more new vehicles; that's a lot of trucks off the road. Look Out, Railroads!Looks fly-by-night, but it was the future. The railroads held most of this traffic at the time, but it was in specially-equipped boxcars that tended to hold just four autos. The truckers had the same capacity, but a faster transit time and the ability to deliver to the customer no matter where they were located. Eventually the trucks got bigger. New AutomobilesThese were probably some of the last civilian autos produced in 1941. Car plants were converting to wartime production of everything but cars: jeeps, trucks, tanks, and even heavy bombers. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chicago, Gas Stations, Russell Lee)
Railroad Pageant: 1939
... shell to PRR K-4 #3768, the engine on the left. Railroads on Parade Washington Post, September 24, 1939. Celeste ... Many Interesting Exhibits. Don't miss “Railroads on Parade,” the colorful pageant of the iron horses of the past ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/17/2013 - 4:39pm -

May 27, 1939. "New York World's Fair, railroad pageant. Final curtain, locomotives." Large-format negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. It does my heart goodMy reaction to this image of locomotives was "Wow!" They look absolutely beautiful. I may just have to put this print on my wish list. What did one locomotive say to the other?Want to get together and blow off some steam? End of that eraThe streamliner steam engine on the left represented 1939's top technology, while the old timer on the right recalled the 100-year railroad past at that time. But within 15 years, both engine types would be replaced by first-generation diesels, which still rule the rails today. Rare ShotThis is the largest photograph I've ever seen of a Lackawanna 4-6-4. I'm guessing she was red trimmed in gold? Would love to see more shots taken that day, particularly if they feature the star of the fair, Pennsylvania Railroad's S-1 duplex type, a one-million pound passenger engine that ran at full speed before the crowd with its drivers positioned on rollers. It had a very similar streamlined shell to PRR K-4 #3768, the engine on the left. Railroads on Parade Washington Post, September 24, 1939. Celeste Weyl. Transportation Area of World's Fair Offers Visitor Many Interesting Exhibits. Don't miss “Railroads on Parade,” the colorful pageant of the iron horses of the past and the streamlined engines of today. In 16 scenes and actual settings and costumes of the early days, actors, horses, covered wagons, stage coaches, oxen, mules and locomotives, you see the importance of transportation in the opening of this continent. Starting over 110 years ago, at the New York water-front, in the covered wagon era, the parade of actors, chorus and ballet tells the story of America's conquest of the wilderness. Below is a fantastic 16mm Kodachrome film of “Railroads on Parade,” by Gustave Martens, posted to YouTube by his grandson. It lacks the Grand Finale but is clearly the same set. Beautiful color. Looks Can Be DeceivingThe locomotive on the right is actually newer and more modern that the one on the left. The Raymond Loewy styled Pennsylvania 4-6-2 was built in 1920 and streamlined later. The Lackawanna 4-6-4 was built just the previous year in 1938. One visible advancement in the photo, are the cast driving wheels on the Hudson, versus the old spoked drivers on the Pennsy K-4. A great seriesThis is just part of a great series of photos on the LoC's American Memory Gottscho-Schleisner series. As for the 1939 World's Fair, sadly, idealism and optimism turned into cruel reality with the beginning of World War II. The Polish and Czechoslovak exhibits didn't reopen for 1940, and some Europeans were unable to return home after the fair closed. World's largest locomotiveThe Lackawanna Hudson here is 1151 and was renumbered "1939" specifically for this fair. In 1940 it was remodeled (with feathers painted on the streamlining) and renumbered "1940". Also designed by Raymond Loewy was the 6-4-4-6 configuration S-1 mentioned by Lost World as running on rollers at the fair. Its speed was a constant 60 mph, all day, and it was the prototype for what the Pennsylvania Railroad intended to replace its fleet of K4 locomotives, which were introduced in 1914. Constructed in the PRR’s Altoona shops (very probably my father, a 38-year PRR employee, worked on it) and completed shortly before the fair, it was the largest locomotive ever built at 304 tons and just over 140 feet long. [OK, second largest. Thank you, Bob100. But it was the longest.] It was too big for most of the Pennsy trackage and less than half of its weight was on its drive wheels, two factors which gave it a very short career. The majestic S-1 was retired in 1945 and scrapped in 1949. Here’s Raymond Loewy and the S-1. Incidentally streamlined outer panels on locomotives did little for performance and got in the way of routine maintenance. Driving wheelsAlthough they look different, the driving wheels on both locomotives are cast. Re: World's Largest LocomotiveWhile a very large machine, this one is not quite the largest. That honor would go to the 4-88-4 ALCO Big Boy which ran on the UP. Rated at 6,290 hp, it weighed 548 tons. It was followed closely by the 2-66-6 Allegheny built by the Lima Locomotive Works which generated more horsepower at 7,638 but was 4 tons lighter. The C & O Railroad and the Virginian Railway employed these monsters hauling coal. There are several of both of these locomotives on static display. The third largest, the 4-66-4 ALCO Challenger weighs in at 485 tons and rated at 6,200 hp. It ran on the UP and there is one still active on excursion service. It makes my heart race just watching videos of these machines pounding along the track. I've been around a few steamers, mostly Shays used in logging, and one thing that has always stood out is the feeling that you are near a living being. Listen closely to the sounds associated with steam engines, especially a locomotive. It's like you can hear it breathe. No wonder that so many crewmen grew attached to their machine. Each one had its own peculiar sounds due to pop valve configurations, expansion and contraction, exhaust valves, whistle, &c. Probably the nearest any manmade machine will ever come to being lifelike. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC, Railroads)
Red Comb Feeds: 1943
... of railroading a threat to life and limb. All of the railroads represented by the boxcars here are long gone. Fallen Flags PM ... look as if being painted. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/13/2024 - 9:40pm -

January 1943. Riverdale, Illinois. "Freight operations of the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. Grain elevator and mill at a siding of the Harbor Belt's Blue Island Yard south of Chicago." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Water StopToday's photographer might use AI to remove the arm (water stop?) from the image. Or maybe not. Perhaps the tall stack as well. I say, leave 'em in -- they're part of the story. A dangerous job made worseSleet or freezing rain has been the order of the day here. Everything is covered with a glaze of ice, making the easiest tasks of railroading a threat to life and limb. All of the railroads represented by the boxcars here are long gone. Fallen FlagsPM Pere Marquette CCC&StL Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & St. Louis "Big 4" NYC New York Central SL-SF St Louis-San Francisco "The Frisco" DT&I Detroit, Toledo & Ironton "We Have the Connections" Henry Ford's RR It used to be fun to see how many different carriers cars were in a freight train. Now unmarked private cars (reporting marks end in X) go sliding by incognito. Freezing hazemade buildings in the background look as if being painted. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Westbound Freight: 1943
... Office? Jack Delano seemed to specialize in photo's of railroads (and this one in particular) during WWII. But why? Historic ... from natural gas drilled in Texas. Why Photograph Railroads WWII honed logistics to a science. We had never fought a war of ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 6:08pm -

March 1943. "Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad." Medium-format safety negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Why the War Information Office?Jack Delano seemed to specialize in photo's of railroads (and this one in particular) during WWII. But why? Historic revelationMy dad started in Chillicothe, Il for the Santa Fe in 1939 as a switchman, by 1943 he was in Britain with the American army railway division headed to France after D-Day. Even as cold as it looks in this photo I am sure he would rather have been in Illinois. Lighter Than AirAnother wonderful railroad scene. You can almost feel the chill. It's hard to tell from this angle, but the fourth and fifth cars in front of the cabin, (caboose to you non-Pennsy fans), look very much like helium cars. These fairly rare cars were used by the U.S. Navy to ship helium gas for their "Blimp" fleet. They consisted of multiple horizontal tanks on a specialized flat car. Their use was discontinued shortly after the war so they really date the photo. He's a good photographer!Man, that Jack Delano had an eye for a photo. Helium tank carsHelium tank cars were in use at least into the 70's. It is used in a variety industrial and medical applications. The U.S. had the monopoly on helium which was drawn from natural gas drilled in Texas. Why Photograph RailroadsWWII honed logistics to a science. We had never fought a war of such magnitude, and documenting the inner workings of the nation as it converted to war production was valuable for tactical reasons. Virtually everything needed by a modern industrial nation and military had to move incredible distances in a short time. Railroads were the only long-distance, all-weather, heavy-duty transportation system available and they hauled everything from staples to Sherman tanks. Trucks were used, but with a national 35mph speed limit, plus gas and tire rationing, cross-country haulage as we take it for granted now was limited. As propaganda, these photos showed our enemies we could make guns and butter at the same time. And in the end, our ability to out-produce and move supplies ultimately secured victory. I believe the Office of War Information grew directly out of the Farm Home Administration photo project, where Delano had worked during the Depression. He was simply on assignment (he really wasn't railfan as we know them now, although his work is still very much appreciated and respected by us) when he took these photos. He later wrote a book "The Iron Horse at War" showcasing his cross-country wartime rail travels, in black and white photos. It's not well known, but railroads also had an agenda in publicizing these photos. The War Powers act allows the government to nationalize and operate critical infrastructure (like the railroads) during a national emergency — this occurred after the US entered WWI, and the resulting United States Railroad Administration is still cited as an example of government ineptitude to this day. Railroads wanted to avoid this at all costs and made no secret of the fact they were doing twice the work with half the equipment they had in 1917 at every opportunity. AT&SF Ry It was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, not AT&SF Railroad. The Office of War Information seems to have consistently mangled this particular bit of information. that looks a lot like thethat looks a lot like the shot from "Days of Heaven" Tramp?I find it interesting that there is a man with his valise standing on the right of way. I suspect he was going to hitch a ride. On the Road AgainNot a tramp — that's likely the conductor waiting at trackside. The waycar (caboose) is carrying marker lamps, so technically this is now a train. The switcher has completed its shove and come to a full stop, so it’s safe for the man on the ground to climb aboard. He's bent over slightly and has his right hand around the handle, so I'm guessing he's picking up his bag. While a crew would work between division point terminals roughly 100 or so miles apart, they could be on duty up to 16 continuous hours during this era (very common during the war with the volume of traffic and shortages of manpower). Crews would be away from their home terminal for several days, so they carried everything they needed in a small suitcase or "grip" in railroad slang. I believe waycars were still assigned to conductors at this time (that's why they would be changed), so he and the rear brakeman would live in the car until they got home. The talented Mr. DelanoI was intrigued to learn, via Wikipedia, that Jack Delano was also a classical composer of some note, including an early experimenter with electronic music techniques. Also a film director. And related by marriage to Ben Shahn. He was born in Ukraine (birth name Ovcharov), and grew up in Pennsylvania. (Shorpy's capsule biography of him is not quite accurate: he was 9 when his family emigrated, well before the Depression.) For the last fifty years of his long life (1914-1997) he lived in Puerto Rico, where he made use of local folk material in his ballet and choral compositions. Helper AssignmentSince the picture was labeled as Chillicothe, it would most likely be that we are seeing the helper engine coupling onto a westbound Santa Fe train that is about to climb Edelstein Hill. After the shove up the hill, the helper and crew would back down from Edelstein to the Chillicothe Yard. This line is double tracked. Besides the engine crew, the helper would have carried a flagman (brakeman). That is my take on this picture. An excellent exposure and composition. USRA locomotive designs were classics"the resulting United States Railroad Administration is still cited as an example of government ineptitude to this day" Oh? Perhaps in rabidly pro-corporate and anti-government circles, but aside from the Ayn Randies many people recognized that the USRA delivered some classic locomotive designs, as well as promoting coordinated planning. Railroad management was rarely cooperative unless colluding to screw their customers. And not just a turn of the century thing, either - look at the crooks that looted the Penn-Central years later. Helper serviceThe caption is probably correct. Almost assuredly the locomotive is changing cabooses or making some sort of switching move on the rear of the train. The caboose looks like an old wooden style so a helper locomotive would have to be cut in ahead of it. Also, if it were a helper, the markers would have to be placed on the rear of that locomotive, not the rear of the caboose. Caboose changeSeason's greetings from Germany. It certainly is a change of caboose. The switcher in the picture had just taken off the old caboose - a Sante Fé with number 1860 - and crew, while having pushed the new caboose coupled to its front and dropped off the new crew there in the coldness. Now the switcher again has returned only with the now-empty new caboose - A.T.S.F. 1743. The last of the three crew members picks up his bags and climbs aboard while the switcher puts into reverse and is ready to leave. I am the proud owner of Delanos picture book with the above information. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Blue Island Yard: 1943
... on until after WWII. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/15/2024 - 1:33am -

January 1943. Riverdale, Illinois. "Blue Island Yard of the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad with view of the icing platform." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Indiana Harbor Belt abidesThe Blue Island Yard seems to be pretty active still: Icing Platform?Have not before heard of such a thing. Yes, IcingBefore mechanical refrigeration was developed, railroad refrigerator cars were kept cold by ice in bins at the ends of the cars. (Remember the icebox in the home?) The bins were filled through hatches in the roof of the cars, usually at the ends. Icing platforms were a little taller than the refrigerator cars, arranged to ease getting ice into the bins. The boards you see were probably used to make temporary bridges to the cars, including to reach to the far side hatches. Freeze FrameThe Wikipedia article on refrigerator car had a photo of the icing platform in use, possibly from the same Jack Delano series. I was surprised that mechanical refrigeration for rail cars didn't catch on until after WWII. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Levee Work: 1903
... R.R.s Can anyone identify the A&V and S.I.C.V. railroads? Reporting Mark I've only been able to find the A&V which ... Thanks for showing us a long-gone New Orleans. The railroads are the Alabama & Vicksburg, which ran between Meridian and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:35pm -

New Orleans, Louisiana, circa 1903. "Mule teams on the levee." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Keep OffIt seems the only way to get this photo was to disobey the signs. JAXThe brewery has the only public washrooms in the French Quarter, a dangerous situation in a city that sells beer on the streets! Jax BreweryThe Brewery is now shops. BreathtakingThe photographer had a true artist's eye. R.R.sCan anyone identify the A&V and S.I.C.V. railroads? Reporting MarkI've only been able to find the A&V which was the Alabama & Vicksburg. The SICL (not SICV) is a mystery. All that's leftbesides the Jax Brewery is one of the four industrial buildings about midway down the levee (and the corner of Clay and Bienville) and I think that's the spire of St. Patrick's Church in the background. Thanks for showing us a long-gone New Orleans. The railroadsare the Alabama & Vicksburg, which ran between Meridian and Vicksburg. It later became part of the Illinois Central's greater Meridian to Shreveport line. The road has quite the history; it was first proposed in the 1830s. As for the SICL (figuring this out took me a good half-hour), it's the Southern Iron Car Line, which according to The Railway Age of December 9, 1904, was a freight car provider. (The Gallery, DPC, Horses, New Orleans, Railroads)
Owego: 1901
... Most of the building shown are still there. Owego Railroads The tracks very visible in this view were of the Delaware, ... in this picture. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads, Small Towns) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/28/2022 - 10:39pm -

Tioga County, New York, circa 1901. "General view -- Owego, N.Y., and Susquehanna River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. Where's the People?Here's the bridge, here's the steeple. If you're looking for the people, they might all be at Kenyon's for the savin's. Owego forwardThis isn't quite the view, but anything closer to the original is blocked by trees. The bridge is different, but it still seems to be using the original piers. The tracks have been replaced by a state road, NY-96. Right down the road!Owego is a quant little town with a lot of hidden gems. The bridge was rebuilt about 20 years back and is architectually beautiful. Thanks for sharing this photo! Ticket to ride?Did we miss the train or is it pulling into the station? Hmmmm... Thank goodness!We've avoided another Menomonie, Wisconsin. To remove confusion, in 1813 the (I assume state) legislature had the towns of Owego and Tioga switch names so Owego village would be in the same-named town. We have no knot to untangle here. Mom still lives hereShe grew up in the area and still lives in Owego. I visit a few times a year. Lovely town with lots of original buildings and architecture. Most of the building shown are still there. Owego RailroadsThe tracks very visible in this view were of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Also running through the town was the Erie Railroad, and those tracks are still present and in operation. The Erie's tracks ran some distance north and through the town itself, so not visible in this picture. In 1958, the Lackawanna and Erie came to an agreement where the Lackawanna would operate over the Erie's tracks from Binghamton to Buffalo, thus abandoning the trackage seen in this picture. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads, Small Towns)
Feed Me: 1943
... behind the locomotive. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/12/2024 - 2:49pm -

January 1943. "Nelson, Illinois. Chicago and North Western Railroad freight en route from Clinton, Iowa, to Chicago. Stopping for coal and water to give passenger trains the right of way." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Great shotThe wooden towers and skywalk look so Dickensian. Such an awesome pic. Still chuggin' (in model form)A limited production run of O scale models of CNW Baldwin 4-8-4 3016 was released back in 2012 for around $1400 a copy http://www.pwrs.ca/view_product.php?ProductID=200150 The wooden coaling tower at Nelson IL was eventually replaced with one of concrete, which still stands, but the diesels that run under it today don't stop (though some may toot in tribute). Never ceases to amaze me.The powerhouse that America was during those war years. CoalI think the global temperature rose a degree while I looked at this image. Passenger trains have right of way over freights?If only we could go back to that. I can't tell you how many times I've been delayed on Amtrak outside the Northeast Corridor because the train had to yield right of way to a freight train. C&NW at NelsonThis train appears to be eastbound. The junction with the C&NW's "SI" Line is back where the signals are in the distance. Going east, the train would likely take the Nachusa Cutoff to avoid the fairly stiff eastbound grade through Dixon. Nelson tower would be to the right behind the locomotive. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
The Woman in the Window: 1943
... a hard time reaching it. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Railroads, WW2) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/16/2024 - 11:25pm -

May 1943. "Beaumont, Texas. Wartime occupational replacement by women in men's traditional jobs. Lady in signal tower who operates block signals for railroad crossing." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size. Just add window boxesTwo fallen flags -- MEC Maine Central: The Pine Tree Route T&NO Texas & New Orleans: a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad Whether it's a tower to control trains or highway gates, it is well-built, airy, and in need of some flower boxes to complement this sturdy structure I wonderif the lady managed to get his attention. He seems to be engrossed on his phone? NOT An Easy JobThis is not an easy job. In my young days before I came to the USA, I was a conductor Guard on British Railways (as it was known then). Part of the training was to observe the signalman in the signal box (as they were called back then), and to see how that job functioned. The strength needed to pull those levers was tantamount to doing the job correctly. Kudos to that lady for doing that job. You kids drive me nuts!She's clearly yelling at the brakeman to stay off his dang smartphone while he's working WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.Postwar world -- Replacing both with automatic machinery. Just a Year Too SoonThe film noir "Woman in the Window" premiered in 1944 with an innocent Clark Kent-like Edward G. Robinson becoming involved with a beguiling woman and a murder. Texas Flyer wantedIs there a a ladder hidden behind the signal box, or is that what we're seeing on the leg in the foreground? (If so, it looks rather difficult to climb). But regardless, this appears to be a position where getting to work is the hardest part. [There's also a ladder on top of the signal box. - Dave] Indeed, but I believe she'd have a hard time reaching it. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Railroads, WW2)
Icing on the Freight: 1943
... View full size. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/17/2024 - 2:26pm -

January 1943. "Icing platform of the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. Blue Island Yard south of Chicago." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Rolling Coal: 1942
... coal. (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Pittsburgh, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/03/2024 - 7:00pm -

November 1942. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Champion No. 1 cleaning plant. Loaded coal cars ready for market." Photo by John Collier, Office of War Information. View full size. *cough*This is why nobody cared if they smoked cigarettes back then. CLEAN coal???This has nothing to do with modern claims of cleaner (less polluting) coal. I did some research and this is about cleaning the dirt and detritus from the dirty coal. It looks cleaner but still burns dirty! Anthracite coal sizesI was intrigued by the different sizes of coal in the various cars, so I looked it up and discovered the following (from smallest to largest, by name of size): barley (size of coarse sand), rice (pencil eraser), buckwheat (dime), pea (quarter), chestnut (golf ball), stove (baseball), and egg (softball). But I’m still a bit confused because those chunks in the cars on the left are certainly bigger than softballs. This is not anthracite (hard) coal. This is bituminous (soft) coal, a higher sulfur coal -- smokier and more ash. There were different grades of soft coal, and this is most likely from the West Kittanning B seam. A very high heat to ash coal. The steel mills just ate this stuff up. Soft coal was mined in the western part of Pennsylvania along with West Virginia and Kentucky down the Appalachians, hard coal specifically to eastern Pennsylvania. Coal sizesI'm old enough to remember steam locomotives. A branch line separated two sections of my grandfather's farm, and I recall picking up huge chunks of coal that fell off overloaded tenders, some of them easily 12 inches or more in diameter. Coal was the common fuel in those days, and we used stove coal in the furnace. The water heater was fired with pea coal. (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Information Retrieval: 1942
... also useful to keep the numbers in perspective: American railroads handled 53 billion passenger miles in 1942 (many of them on ... polish. (Technology, The Gallery, D.C., Gordon Parks, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/28/2024 - 10:55am -

November 1942. "Washington, D.C. Clerk and ticket seller searching for reservations at the Union Station." Acetate negative by Gordon Parks, Office of War Information. View full size. Washington, Baltimore and Un-app-olisMany of us, I think, look on scenes like this, and are amazed at how - or simply that - the world functioned in the the pre-digital age. It is impressive, but it's also useful to keep the numbers in perspective: American railroads handled 53 billion passenger miles in 1942 (many of them on unreserved, short distance trips), American airlines today handle more than 600 billion passenger miles (almost all of them on reserved tickets) ... so those would be some big cabinets. Analog vs. digitalImagine what happens if that system "crashes" -- and that the data needs to be reconstructed. I wonder whether there are reports on customer satisfaction and reliability of those old analog physical reservation systems. Whether they lost more reservations than today's digital booking systems. How does this work?I've always assumed reservations in the "old days" were tracked via calendar; but that doesn't seem to be the case here. I'm counting each drawer holds eight rows of 28 hooks, so no obvious system I can think of (I got close with seven days in a week and 26 letters in the alphabet). There are lots of papers on almost every hook, but no hook labels to indicate dates, last names, or trains. So, how did our hard-working lady look up reservations? She had to have had a system to immediately go to the correct hook. SpillageI don’t get how a lot of those tickets don’t dump out of their slots, upside down, when the drawer is closed, even with the hooks. I’m trying to imagine the big drawer closing, moving through 90 degrees, leaving much of the ticket load dangling or sliding out of their slots and off their hooks. And although I see only one fingernail, I do like her nail polish. (Technology, The Gallery, D.C., Gordon Parks, Railroads)
Hybrid EV: 1942
... came into vogue. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/10/2024 - 2:58pm -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. One of the Chicago and North Western Railroad streamliner diesel electric locomotives. These trains are operated jointly with the Union Pacific Railroad to the West Coast." Acetate negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Not hybrid or EV.Locomotives are diesel-electric, not hybrid. The electric part is the method of power transmission between the engine and wheels because they have a 250-950rpm operating range. A gearbox would be too large and complex to be practical, especially when synchronizing multiple units. They don't charge or operate on batteries (except some at low yard speeds for shuttling). [You're thinking about this much too narrowly. Hybrid: "Of mixed character; a thing made by combining two different elements." - Dave] Ice BeardJust like old man winter. Chug and playShorpy is certainly correct - but then almost all (North American) "diesels" are such: a diesel engine drives a generator that powers the traction motors. But the U.P. was strictly an amateur about combining powering methods The SBB lok is still around - ! - but converted back to free-range capabilities. EMD E6It looks like the EMD E-series, guessing E6, built from 1938 to 1942. I take it backThe E-series didn't have the radiator. Lionel offered two streamliners, the M10000 and this thing. I can't find pictures of this thing that also give the model number. Achoo-choo!It looks like its nose is running! I love that streamlined look, though. I'll bet it's sporting that striking Union Pacific armour yellow and gray paint scheme, too! Re: Achoo-choo!You are absolutely correct! Not an E-unit. It's an M-10000!I think that the "runny nose" comes from water in the air hoses. (Just a guess!!) Steam HeatPassenger cars of the past used steam for heating and, in some cases, for air conditioning too. Steam locomotives had plenty, but diesel electric locomotives needed diesel oil fired auxiliary boilers. The steam is transmitted from locomotive to cars via metal pipes and couplings. In freezing weather, it seemed one could always see whisps of steam here and there - perhaps the valve beneath the pilot (steel plate above the rails) was slightly cracked open to prevent freezing. Once can see minor damage to the pilot - perhaps the locomotive encountered a vehicle somewhere at a crossing. Only a handful of these machines were built before larger and more powerful locomotives became available. I recall reading that one of these locomotives struck a skunk which splattered over the area where we see the frozen steam. The large, automobile-like grilles, supposedly brought the odor into the cab making things stinky for the crew.  About that runny nose.Water is never permitted in a trains air hose. A frozen brake line is a train wreck looking for a place to happen. Passenger engines such as this one have (had) a steam generator on board to supply a steam pipe to the entire train for heating, air conditioning, cooking, etc. The ice on the pilot would be condensate from this steam line. Corrections (for those who care)This locomotive is a Pullman-Standard M-10005 or M-10006, produced in 1936 -- a descendant of the "original" M-10000 from 1934, which was already retired a year when this photo was taken. These were predecessors of the famous EMC/EMD "E" series locomotives produced by EMD starting in 1937. Additionally, the icicle "beard" was caused by leaking steam from the steam train line -- steam was used to heat (and cool in summer for coaches that had steam-ejector air conditioning installed) the passenger coaches, and was produced by steam boilers on the locomotive. Steam was used on all conventional passenger equipment until the late 1970s when electrical head-end-power (HEP) came into vogue. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Public Square: 1900
... replaced the horsecars on its line in 1893. Western Railroads TerryN, thanks for pointing out the CM&StP sign in the window. ... Rock Island. The interesting thing is that none of these railroads served Cleveland, at least not directly. They all went from Chicago ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/07/2023 - 11:19am -

Circa 1900. "City Square. Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Cleveland." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. The May Co. BuildingWow, looks like the predecessor of the modern curtain-wall design. Large lights of 1/4" plate glass no doubt. Would love to see some architectural drawings of that facade. Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul Soon to become The Milwaukee Road, with Hiawatha service to almost anywhere. Brook Stevens who designed their rail cars would have (maybe did) marveled at the May Co. building of the future. I'm marveling at in this picture. Probably 50 years before its time. No rebellious women?One would think there would have been at least one daring young woman who would have had the gumption to wear a black blouse with a light colored skirt, just to be a little outrageous and stand out, but nooooo. Times sure have changed in the area of seeking attention through outrageous fashion and personal appearance. Or maybe today's girls just feel more comfortable expressing themselves, which certainly does make street scenes more interesting. Where's the Cable Car?http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccohio.html#cccr According to the above link, the cable car slots under the trolley car were used for another year until 1901, even thought the St. Clair trolley car in the foreground had directly replaced the horsecars on its line in 1893. Western RailroadsTerryN, thanks for pointing out the CM&StP sign in the window. The same building also has signs for the Burlington Route and Rock Island. The interesting thing is that none of these railroads served Cleveland, at least not directly. They all went from Chicago westward. So their offices in Cleveland must have been for exchange of freight between eastern and western railroads, I suppose. Euclid BeachA year later, the Humphrey family would take over Euclid Beach Park east of the city, and turn it into a legend. You can still buy their popcorn at many stores in NE Ohio. The Edison patented lightbulb goes onAfter seeing so many flagless giant flagpoles on major buildings here on Shorpy, it finally dawned on me that they were not intended for a US flag, but for advertising/corporate ID, as can be seen here. Inside the Monument?It appears that there is a door leading into the monument itself. Does anyone know what this leads to and is the interior still accessible? Secret enterance to the Great Lakes Brewing Company tasting room perhaps? [What's inside the Civil War monument is addressed in the comments here. - Dave] May Co. reduxHere's a later view of the May Co. building, greatly expanded. One has to wonder if this postcard is again the work of Detroit Publishing. The gardensI like the surrounding gardens that have been made into the shapes of Unit or Division emblems and heroism awards. (The Gallery, Cleveland, DPC, Streetcars)
Mantrip: 1942
... helped me: (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/31/2024 - 5:20pm -

November 1942. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Westland coal mine. 'Mantrip' going into a drift mine." Acetate negative by John Collier for the Office of War Information. View full size. Not Space MountainThis ride is "Descent Into Darkness" Not A Fun RideThat doesn't look like much of an amusement park ride! Doing Their PartMiners are a rare breed of men. The U.S. coal industry was instrumental in the war effort both at home and on the front line. The West Virginia University football program pays tribute to the West Virginia coal mining industry with the “Mountaineer Mantrip” before each home game at Milan Puskar Stadium. https://wvusports.com/sports/2017/8/2/mountaineer-mantrip.aspx Patrick I get your driftI pictured the cars going into the mine and then careening down a hill, roller coaster style. That would be a slope mine. Because this is a drift mine, they are entering the side of the hill and rolling on a horizontal path - much less exciting. This diagram helped me: (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Railroads)
Clinton: 1943
... on the left and still exists today. Two depots, three railroads The Chicago & Northwestern passenger depot is the large ... Town Many photos and info about the depots and railroads that served Clinton. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/26/2016 - 5:17pm -

March 1943. "Freight operations on the Chicago & North Western between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The train going through Clinton to the yard two miles beyond." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Station building on the leftSeems to still be there.... Two depotsI believe that would be the C,B&Q's depot on the right. It's long gone and before my time but they had, and still do by trackage rights, access to Clinton from the Quad Cities. The Northwestern's depot is on the left and still exists today. Two depots, three railroadsThe Chicago & Northwestern passenger depot is the large structure in the background on the left. The smaller depot to the right is actually the CB&Q (Burlington Route) station, which I believe was also used by the CMStP&P (Milwaukee Road). Both the CB&Q depot and the interlocking tower in the far background are now gone, but the C&NW depot was still standing when I visited Clinton about two years ago. Depot detailsClinton Iowa, Railroad Town Many photos and info about the depots and railroads that served Clinton. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Clean Energy: 1942
... to break it up. (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/30/2024 - 4:22pm -

November 1942. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Champion No. 1 coal cleaning plant. Loading cars with clean coal." Photo by John Collier, Office of War Information. View full size. Nothingsays clean like corrugated tin. Large CoalThat front car has mighty large chunks of coal. Someone get that Shorpy fella to break it up. (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Railroads)
The Hump Master: 1942
... week.. (Technology, The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2024 - 11:27am -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Hump master in a Chicago and North Western Railroad yard operating a signal switch system which extends the length of the hump track. He is thus able to control movements of locomotives pushing the train over the hump from his post at the hump office." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. If I had that job ...I would definitely get cards printed. What does a Hump Master Do?Jokes aside, our hump conductor controls the speed of cars that are rolling down the hump using the device in his right hand. The control is connected to a retarder - a device that squeezes the sides of a car's wheels to slow it down. His clipboard shows whether each car is a load or an empty. His experience takes into consideration the weight of each car, the weather (cold temperatures make journal bearings stiffer and winds can propel cars faster and farther) and the distance the car has to travel in its destination track. Perhaps he is in one of the towers shown in this earlier photograph. https://www.shorpy.com/node/27310 Alas, today computers and radar perform the same function. What he *actually* doesThe hump master does not control the retarders -- they are controlled from a tower where the speed of the cars can be observed; or, in more sophisticated systems, by radar equipment to measure the speed of the cars and automatically make adjustments. This person controls the speed of the switching engine pushing the cars over the "hump." It would be hard for a retarder to "back" cars! Dang kidsThe chalked words "Conductor Only" suggests that someone in the past was playing around with the controls who shouldn't have. The Way We Weren'tI had aspirations to become a hump master, but, alas ... I betWednesday was his favorite day of the week.. (Technology, The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Coal Goes to War: 1942
... (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Pittsburgh, Railroads, WW2) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/27/2024 - 11:35am -

November 1942. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Champion No. 1 coal cleaning plant of Pittsburgh Coal Company." Photo by John Collier, Office of War Information. View full size. The graffitiAn absence of them on the wagons is deafening. EponymyThe subject is coal-related and the photographer's name is coal-related (The Gallery, John Collier, Mining, Pittsburgh, Railroads, WW2)
Heart of Cleveland: 1950
... Terminal. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/06/2024 - 5:22pm -

Summer 1950. "Heart of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and Union Terminal Group (Terminal Tower and Hotel Cleveland)." Gelatin silver print by Carl McDow. View full size. The Flat Iron Cafe survivesThere have been many changes since this 1950 photo, but the Flat Iron Cafe (bottom left corner) is still there. Its profile says it's an unpretentious brick-walled tavern with live music. I suspect its younger patrons have no idea what a flat iron is. Click to embiggen Afternoon normalAfternoon rush hour getting underway as West Siders flood the Detroit/Superior Highlevel bridge. On the Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad, a streamlined Chesapeake & Ohio sleeper is getting set over to build the Nickel Plate's Cleveland-St. Louis train #9. The NKP will take the sleeper as far as Fostoria where it will join the C&O's "Sportsman" heading toward the Greenbrier resort. The sleeper will return to Cleveland via Columbus, Ohio, on the New York Central. In the flats, we see the yellow brick towered B&O station that lost its trains when the B&O moved the "Cleveland Night Express" and "Washingtonian" into the CUT. There is room on the near side of the CUT viaduct for additional tracks, and by 1960 the Cleveland Transit System will use that space for the cross-town Rapid Transit system. Just a Little Before I was BornThis would have been a vista of what my dad saw when in worked in Cleveland during 1948 and 1949. He met my mother in 1948 in Parkersburg, WV where they both lived. Dad got a job in Cleveland working at a key plant. He would hitchhike home from Cleveland every Friday evening after work to see my mother and hitchhike back to Cleveland on Sunday. There was no I-77 back then. Only U.S. Route 21. I’ve heard many stories about how long it took Dad to make it home to Parkersburg. Mother became a lifelong Cleveland baseball fan in 1948 when the Indians won the series. Chief Wahoo stood watch at her casket, and I still possess the Cleveland Indian pinback button Dad gave to my mother in 1948. Patrick Catenary SupportsThe overhead lattice structures over the trackage on the bridge were there to support catenary wire that carried 3000 volt DC current to power the electric locomotives used in Cleveland Union Terminal to comply with smoke abatement concerns. These locomotives or 'motors' were used until 1954 when they were modified to run off the 600 volt third rail in the New York City trackage into Grand Central Terminal. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, Railroads)
Toledo: 1909
... Publishing Company. View full size. Long gone railroads These railroads are so long-gone, that the companies that took these over are also ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/22/2011 - 7:24am -

Toledo, Ohio, circa 1909. "Maumee River waterfront." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Long gone railroadsThese railroads are so long-gone, that the companies that took these over are also long-gone. Hocking Valley Ry became part of Chesapeake and Ohio, which is in turn part of today's CSX Transportation. Toledo and Ohio Central and Kanawha and Michigan were both absorbed by New York Central System. NYC as part of Conrail, was split up between Norfolk Southern and CSX Trans. Hocking Valley, Kanawha and Michigan and Toledo & Ohio Centraland ... lots of Hocking Valley Railway, Kanawha and Michigan Railroad and Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad train cars to be seen. Toledo? You ask how I know of Toledo, Ohio, Well, I spent a week there, one day They've got entertainment to dazzle your eyes Go visit the bakery and watch the buns rise. Code BreakerI wonder if all transmissions aboard the Jay C. Morse are done in code. Spotted over above right, a roof hoarding advertising the Snow Flake Laundry, what a great name, hopefully not too indicitive of the weather patterns in Toledo. Jay C. MorseThe ore freighter is named for the industrialist co-founder of one of the era's most powerful steel and mining companies (Pickands, Mather & Co.). In 1899, at age sixty, Jay Morse married Seville Hanna, the widow of his business partner James Pickands and sister of the sitting president's "Karl Rove," Mark Hanna. Morse died August 22, 1906, and on July 21, 1907 his widow helped to launch the steamship bearing his name. Is it live, or is it Memorex?Please excuse the audio reference to obviously visual dilemma. This looks like the most awesome HO train setting I've ever seen! SS. Jay C. Morse Photographed here in her first year on the lakes, the Jay C. Morse, AmShip Cleveland hull #438, was in service for over seven decades. After a final few years as a lowly storage barge, she was scrapped in the 1980s. Her wheelhouse, removed prior to commitment to the scrapyard, was saved and made into a maritime museum in her last port, Goderich, Ontario. Comparison of the the 1908 photograph with the preserved wheelhouse/museum indicate either substantial rebuilding of the bridge or complete replacement during some mid-life refit. Boatnerd.com has a 1980 photo of her during her final years as a grain storage barge. The Scanner, Toronto Marine Historical Society, 1978. The bulk carrier Jay C. Morse which was acquired early in the spring of 1965 from the Interlake Steamship Company and renamed Shelter Bay (II). After operating Shelter Bay for the 1965 season, Q & O [Quebec And Ontario Transportation Co.] decided that the ship was in need of reboilering. It was not thought that the cost of new boilers for such an elderly vessel could be justified and so Q & O searched for some good used boilers which might be obtained at a more reasonable price. The company did not have far to look and decided to purchase from Marine Salvage Ltd. the boilers which were then ensconced in Bayton. In due course, workmen went aboard Bayton and commenced pulling apart the old girl's after cabin. Her stack removed and a hole chopped down through her upper decks, the Babcock and Wilcox water tube boilers were lifted from the vessel and were carted 'round to the West Street Wharf in Port Colborne where Shelter Bay was lying. During the summer of 1966, the boilers were installed in Shelter Bay and she has operated with them ever since. Q & O, however, might better have searched elsewhere for boilers rather than taking third-hand equipment for the conversion. In recent years, Shelter Bay has been plagued with boiler problems and a particularly nasty spate of difficulties during 1977 threatened to send the boat to the scrapyard. She was reactivated in 1978 for one further year of operation but continued struggles to keep the well-worn boilers in serviceable condition are almost certain to bring the ship to the end of her career at the close of the current navigation season. The Scanner, Toronto Marine Historical Society, 1979. The latter steamer [Shelter Bay (II)] went to Goderich last autumn with storage grain and was sold to the Goderich Elevator and Transit Company Ltd. for use as a storage barge. She was briefly renamed Shelter B. (perhaps unofficially) but has since been rechristened D.B. Weldon (II). The Lightship, Port Huron Museum, 1999. [Shelter Bay of Q & O] would become the D.B. Weldon (2) and, in 1981, her forward cabins and wheelhouse would be removed to become the Maritime Museum now in display at the harbor [Goderich, Ontario]. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads, Toledo)
Hump Office: 1942
... conditions. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads, The Office) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2024 - 11:19am -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Train clerk working on his lists in the hump office at a Chicago and North Western railyard." Acetate negative by Jack Delano. View full size. Nutritious Snack!I've never seen raisins in a vending machine, but there she is: Sun Maid. MmmI'll grab a Hershey's for 5 cents. Wages & PricesPer the poster on the wall, minimum wage was 40 cents per hour. According to this statistical abstract, at the end of 1942 milk was about 15 cents a quart (about 22 minutes of work), eggs were about 59 cents a dozen (about 90 minutes' work) and bacon about 41 cents a pound (about an hour's work). Why Change?Most consumer packaged goods are always getting updated packaging. But 80-year old labels on Hershey and Sun-Maid products look right at home in 2024. Grab that Hershey before it's emptyBy November 1942, sugar was already being rationed on the home front, and chocolate bars were being rationed in Great Britain. Hershey was already in the process of converting its output of chocolate bars to the exclusive distribution to those in uniform. They were not literally "rationed" like gas, but the producing companies created less-tasty varieties that would appear in soldiers' D-ration kits, after being reformulated to survive tropical or desert conditions. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads, The Office)
The Hump Master: 1942
... The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/20/2024 - 11:24am -

Chicago, December 1942. "Hump master in a Chicago & North Western railroad yard operating a signal switch system which extends the length of the hump track. He is thus able to control movements of locomotives pushing the train over the hump from his post at the hump office." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. After the snickeringRead the Straight Dope. He's a what?He would have been great on "What's My Line?" Retarder Controller? I suspect the control the hump master is using is actually the retarder controller-slowing down the car(s) as it rolls down the hump. The clipboard he holds would have the weight/contents of each car (or group of cars, called a 'cut'). His job was to regulate the speed of each, so they rolled just far enough, but not TOO far. His job was probably 55% art, 40% science, and 5% luck back then, given the varied rolling resistance of freight cars from different RR's. Hump on my signalIn the fourth image down in this posting you'll see this picture and another which explains the operation. The lever he has his hand on does nothing more than control the signal aspects displayed to the engineer of the hump locomotive. There's a second operator, shown in the other photo, who controls both the turnouts and the retarders; they both have a copy of the same list, whose content you can see in the second picture, which gives information on each car, in order, as to weight and destination. Bar codesBar codes are now used in humping operations. Computers read the codes as cars begin their roll down the hump (or on the way up), retrieve car information from a database, calculate the necessary momentum the car needs to properly attach to the growing train, and the retarders are applied automatically. It's amazing to watch from a distance, with cars moving here and there to their respective destinations, retarders creating screeching noises as they press against the wheel flanges. RF Railcar IDIn our area, at least, RF (radio frequency) tags replaced bar codes some time ago for railcar identification by the Union Pacific Railroad. Humping by TelephoneIn the sixties when I worked for Mother Bell in New Haven, I would get called out at least weekly during the late night/early morning hours to fix some trouble in the telephone system in use at "The Hump". The NYNH&H RR (later Penn Central) had some of the oldest telephone equipment in existence, and it was how they coordinated all the hump movements between towers. It was always very cool to stand in one of the towers and watch all the freight cars coming over the hump and descending through "the ladder" to be mixed on one of innumerable tracks in the huge yard. I had to find outThe Fast Freight Rides the Hump from Popular Mechanics, March 1940. (Technology, The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Boilermakers: 1942
... say. Who knew? (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/17/2024 - 3:57pm -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Boiler makers inside the firebox of a locomotive on which they have been working in the roundhouse at a yard of the Chicago and North Western Railroad." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. BOILER UP!Thank you, Dave. Zebra Man Purdue University Class of '88 Re: BOILER UP!My dad was also Purdue, Class of '32 (delayed due to WWI). A few years later worked for Baldwin as a delivery agent, deadheading in the cab as new locos were rolled out to customers. Pretty amazing Century, over all! Dangerous JobMy father worked in the railyards back in the Thirties. He used to say that a lot of the guys working in the boilers were gone by the 1950s. Asbestos got them, he'd say. Who knew? (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Winter Light: 1942
... than Jack Delano. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/18/2024 - 3:39pm -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. In the roundhouse at a Chicago and North Western railyard." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Edward Steichen could not have done this better.A very painterly image from the talented Mr. Delano. Beautiful shot!Great composition and contrasts. No one did light, shadow, and silhouette better than Jack Delano. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Icy Loco: 1942
... the photograph. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/15/2024 - 4:48pm -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Switching and classification freight yards. Engineer and fireman thawing out air compressors on a cold morning at a Chicago and North Western railyard." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Low Air PressureThese two steam-powered compressors (steam cylinders on top, air cylinders on the bottom) supply compressed air to operate the air brakes; the air is stored in the riveted cylinder at the left edge of the photograph. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Elko County: 1940
... Security Administration. View full size. Three railroads In this shot looking northwest from the US 93 overpass, the tracks ... the 1990s. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Landscapes, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/30/2018 - 9:58am -

March 1940. "Southern Pacific track approaching Wells, Elko County, Nevada." Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Three railroadsIn this shot looking northwest from the US 93 overpass, the tracks below belong to Southern Pacific. In the far background at left, the Western Pacific tracks go under US 40. And the through truss bridge in the distance is the Union Pacific's branch down from Twin Falls, Idaho, now long gone. Union Pacific now operates the former SP and WP lines, having absorbed them in the 1990s. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Landscapes, Railroads)
Feeding Station: 1942
... train should look. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/11/2024 - 11:06am -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Chicago & North Western Railroad switching and classification freight yards. Locomotives at the coaling station." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Snorting beasts“A Modern Dragon,” by Rowena Bennett: A train is a dragon that roars through the dark He wriggles his tail as he sends up a spark. He pierces the night with his one yellow eye, And all the earth trembles when he rushes by. Engine mislabeledThe Chicago and North Western Class E-4 was a class of nine streamlined 4-6-4 "Hudson" steam locomotives built in 1937 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_and_North_Western_E-4_Class A C&NW E-4 waiting to be refueled at a Chicago-area coaling station in December 1942 WowThat's how a powerful train should look. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Checkin Tender: 1942
... View full size. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/18/2024 - 10:36am -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Engineer taking a last look at the tender before going out on the road from a Chicago and North Western railyard." Medium format acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Over the River: 1902
... account of Kate on the net as well. Boone-area railroads Boone and Scenic Valley (with their Chinese-built steam loco) ... a stereoview of this somewhere... (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads, W.H. Jackson) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/03/2012 - 3:04pm -

"Chicago & North Western viaduct over Des Moines River near Boone, Iowa" ca. 1902. Photo by William Henry Jackson. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Kate Shelley High BridgeThat's the Kate Shelley High Bridge, which had just opened when this photo was taken. Since the 1880s, Iowa schoolchildren have learned how its namesake, 15-year-old Kate, went to heroic lengths to warn an approaching train that a (different) bridge had washed out. A new span is being constructed next to it, with completion due in June 2009. For the story of the bridge, Kate, and its replacement, click here. To see it today (with its replacement nearly completed) click here. 3, 2, 1, spit!That's a line they haven't ripped out, thankfully. Here's a photo of a steam loco they use on their scenic railway. I love trains......and this is an amazing picture of one. Wow. William Henry JacksonIt's terrific to see another image by William Henry Jackson, the great photographer of the American West. Jackson, who lived to 99, had an extraordinary career--he even worked on 'Gone With the Wind'!--this 70 years after he was taking his most famous landscape photos. He was also one of the longest surviving Civil War veterans. High BridgeI think the photo would be a little later than 1900 as photos of the bridge under construction, which were displayed in the old CNW headquarters at Boone, are dated 1903 by the photographer. High Bridge VideoKateFound this anonymous account of Kate on the net as well. Boone-area railroadsBoone and Scenic Valley (with their Chinese-built steam loco) operate on trackage previously owned by the one-time electric line Fort Dodge, Des Moines, and Southern. Chicago and Northwestern routes (including the Kate Shelley High Bridge) are now part of Union Pacific. Please pleaseplease please let there be a stereoview of this somewhere... (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads, W.H. Jackson)
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