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Vesuvius Amoco: 1956
... -tterrace] (Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gas Stations, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/17/2013 - 2:33pm -

Vesuvius, Virginia, 1956. "Sometimes the electricity fails." Gelatin silver print by Ogle Winston Link, pioneer of the photographic genre that might be called rail noir. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. View full size. 4-8-2 MountainThe locomotive is a 4-8-2 K2a Mountain—one of twelve (road numbers 126 - 137) built in 1923 by Baldwin for the Norfolk & Western Railway. Its cylinders were 28 x 30 inches, it had 69-inch drivers, a 200 psi boiler pressure, weighed 359,460 pounds, with 57,950 lbs of tractive effort. In this picture #131 is pulling the #2 passenger train northbound on the Shenandoah Division of the N&W. When these (and ten others built in 1919 by ALCO—road numbers 116 - 125) were rebuilt, they were up-dated with 70-inch drivers, semi-streamlining, boiler pressure bumped up to 220 psi, and an increased tractive effort of 62,832 lbs. No Norfolk & Western 4-8-2 Mountains survive. Someone please,Identify that streamlined steam locomotive #131, which to a railfan is the highlight of the photo. Been there, done thatIn 2012 I went on an odyssey through central Virginia, searching for the locations of Winston Link's photographs, to see whether they could even be found, and if they could, what changes sixty years had made (I found an astonishingly high number, and some hadn't changed as much as you would think). While I found the general store at Vesuvius still standing albeit boarded up, the pumps are gone--the 1923 pump now stands in the Winston Link Museum in Roanoke. America the BourgeoisWhen all the cool kids drove full-sized Buicks! The Buickwas O. Winston Link's own car. It also appears in another of his famous photos, along with perhaps the same couple. There is a fine Link museum housed in the former Roanoke, Norfolk & Western passenger station. In addition to his photos, it also includes his recordings of steam trains and a collection of railroadiana. As a bonus, the station was redesigned after WWII by Raymond Loewy, and there is a gallery of his work as well. Great coffee table book!I was given a great photo book of O Winston Link's nighttime rail photos. Spectacular! His use of flash in these black and white photos was great. [He used floodlights. - Dave] LightingAccording to wikipedia, "Link's vision required him to develop new techniques for flash photography of such large subjects. For instance, the movie theater image Hotshot Eastbound (Iaeger, West Virginia), photographed on August 2, 1956 [negative NW1103], used 42 #2 flashbulbs and one #0 fired simultaneously." While he may have used floodlights he certainly used flash too. InterestingI was 6 years old then and of course remember the kind of pump behind the attendant being typical through the 50's and 60's. I didn't realize the old 30's era pumps, like the one being used, still being around that late. More info on Winston LinkActually Link used flashes exclusively in the project, at least for the night shots. He was an engineering major in college, and after graduation became a commercial photographer. He used that background when making and planning his photos, and you can see many of the diagrams made in the planning of the individual shots both in his books and at the Roanoke museum dedicated to his work on the N&W. The prints made from his negatives are masterful, with tonal variations to make any devotee of Ansel Adams proud. Although the photo reproduction in the books is excellent, nothing beats seeing original Link prints. OWLish flashLink's night pictures were flash photography: there's a well-known photo of him and an assistant surrounded by some of his apparatus, including one reflector which held eighteen flashbulbs. Link also did some daytime photography along a branch line which did not operate at night. I have the fortune to own a print from this group, unfortunately a little damaged, which an office mate happened to find for me many years back in a junk shop. Much less dramatic than his night shots, though. The most famous N&W streamliner, 4-8-4 Class J #611, survives, and there is a campaign being mounted to put her back into excursion service. 1952 SuperDesignated by the three faux portholes on the front fender where a Roadmaster would sport four. The Special also had three, but was built on the smaller body shared by Oldsmobiles. This car would be left in the dust in '53 when its Fireball Straight Eight was replaced by the brand new 322 V-8 in the same chassis. Still in useThere's a resort on the way in to Kings Canyon National Park that has two functional gravity gas pumps. I had my tank topped off from one them last June. No Electricity NeededPerhaps I am stating the obvious, but some people may not know how the gas pump in the photo works. The attendant hand pumps the needed amount of gas with the long lever as shown in the photo. The clear cylinder on the top of the pump shows the quantity of gas pumped. Gravity did the rest when filling up the car, thus no electricity needed. O W L BuickCorrect. It is his car. Fitted with a piece of plywood in lieu of the rear seat to allow more camera equipment to be loaded into the vee-hickle. The clubFollowing Shorpy feels a bit like belonging to a discussion club. Whatever the subject of these wonderful photos, there is an audience of enthusiastic, knowledgable members who explain what we are looking at while filling in the sort of fascinating detail that draws you into even the most unlikely subjects. I can't tell you how many times I have clicked off across the web to further investigate a subject after having my appetite whetted by Shorpy and his many followers. Thanks for both preserving and presenting such evocative photos as well as moderating possibly the most entertaining, educational and civil comments section on the web. Re: Gravity PumpsI know I'm missing something, but why do the (visible) numbers count the direction they do? It would seem more logical to have 0 at the bottom, so you directly see how many gallons have been pumped into the reservoir. [The glass cylinder was completely refilled after each sale to be ready for the next customer. See this. -tterrace] After gravity jars, portholesI remember in the early 60's there were quite a few gas pumps with a small round window on the face. A spinner inside it would indicate flow as your tank was being filled. At least I assumed it was actual gas flowing through it. Could have been just a gadget giving the appearance of that. Now I suspect it was intended as a transitional gimmick to satisfy the old timers who were used to watching the glass jar empty. [That was called a sight glass. This report from 1939 to the National Bureau of Standards reports that those un used at the time did not work as purported. -tterrace] (Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gas Stations, Railroads)
Superior Scales: 1941
... View full size. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Mining, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/11/2020 - 3:12pm -

August 1941. "At the Great Northern Railroad yards, cars of iron ore passing over the scales are weighed at the rate of three and a half a minute. Superior, Wisconsin." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Mining, Railroads)
Enosburg Falls: 1941
... Rail Trail. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Jack Delano, Railroads, Small Towns) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/31/2019 - 9:58pm -

September 1941. "Small town scenes in Vermont. Locomotive passing through Enosburg Falls." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. De-railedThe tracks have all been ripped up on Depot Street: This looks like a 1940's calendarscene, I want to move here, I hope it is still the same. WowThis evokes Mayberry RFD, or Petticoat Junction, or both. Could almost be a Rockwell. Just call 203to order Grade B milk (also referred to as manufacturing grade milk). Notice: does not meet fluid grade standards and can only be used in cheese, butter and nonfat dry milk! Tremendous PhotoAmericana at its best. American flag, kids watching the train, service station, corner store. I love this picture. Ready to popI'm crazy about that adorably diminutive popcorn shop. We have a popper at home that would barely fit inside that building. I wonder if tiny popcorn pop-ups near railway stations were a "thing" in the '40s. In It's A Wonderful Life, when George Bailey meets the train of his brother Harry and Harry's secret bride, Ruth Dakin (She's a peach!) Bailey, the gorgeous Ruth/Virginia Patton is munching on popcorn the whole time she breaks it to George that Harry won't be sticking around in Bedford Falls. Little boy's ghost in Google Street ViewWhat a great photo! The building with the ice cream purveyor and the house next to it are clearly still standing. But look west down the abandoned right-of-way in Google Street View and you see someone walking. Looks a lot like the little boy leaning up against the telephone pole. Eerie! Remember the smells?This image smells like coal soot, pine tar, leaded gas, dry weeds and vanilla. Does anyone else "smell" old photos? Bring back the ice creamThe gas station has moved but the ice cream building is still there, next to what is now a rail trail. Seems like a great opportunity to reopen. Submit your CVWe appear to have a head-on shot of Central Vermont Class M3-a #453, a Consolidation (2-8-0) built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1916. The Central Vermont was a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway until the CN’s privatisation in 1995, when the CV was sold off. Currently the tracks are owned by Genesee & Wyoming, operating as the New England Central Railroad. The eastern part of the CV’s Missisquoi division, which includes Enosburg Falls, saw occasional use by the Lamoille Valley Railroad until about 1989. The strange-looking “eyebrow” pipe in front of the smokebox is part of a Coffin feedwater heater system. A lot of Coffin heaters were installed inside the smokebox, but these external ones were common for retrofits. 453’s exact fate isn’t known, but she’s undocumented as preserved, and was probably scrapped in the mid-1950s along with her sister #454. Extra tubing?I am waiting for a railroad historian to tell us whose locomotive this is (I don't think it's Rutland), but what is that big tube in front of the smokebox? Former Missisquoi RR; now a Rail TrailThese tracks were originally part of the Missisquoi Railroad's line connecting to services at both Sheldon Junction and Richford, Vermont, completed in 1872. As noted by Marchbanks, it became part of the Vermont Central, etc. Passenger service ended in 1938/1939, so we're looking at freight service. The bridge at Sheldon Junction was damaged in an accident in 1984, which was the end of traffic from that direction. The bridge still stands. At the Richford end, portions of a wye remain, but the tracks were removed by 1992 when the entire line was abandoned. It is now a walking trail called the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail. (The Gallery, Gas Stations, Jack Delano, Railroads, Small Towns)
A Hot Mess: 1901
... the building. (The Gallery, DPC, Glazier Stove Works, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2014 - 12:38pm -

Circa 1901. "Glazier Stove Company, brass foundry, Chelsea, Michigan." Our umpteenth look at these slightly untidy premises. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Balancing ActLove the precarious way the water tower sits -- half on, half off. And Quite NearbyMust be the premises of Stover's Glazing. Anyone have a match?If only there were somewhere we could, I don't know, burn all this scrap wood we have lying around. Any ideas? "Keep your workplace clean & tidy!"In his spare time back in the 1960s, my dad made a couple of safety programs for his employer -- slide shows with polished soundtracks on a tape recorder which were later converted to filmstrips with a vinyl record to be distributed throughout the company, Interstate Bakeries. To play off the company name, and the cultural excitement around the buildout of the national interstate highway system, Dad's programs were called "Interstate 15: Fifteen Rules for Safety". With all the loose lumber and wires and a barrel just lying around waiting to trip someone, this picture shows a clear violation of Rule 12: Keep Your Workplace Clean & Tidy! Safety in railroading Study the end of the flatcar and notice that while it has a Janney coupler rather than link and pin, there is no air brake or any grab irons or stirrup step for the brakeman to use to get to the hand brake. No wonder they killed 2 RR train service employees a day back then. Love that narrow gauge track with mini turntable for getting into the building. (The Gallery, DPC, Glazier Stove Works, Railroads)
Bridge Out: 1865
... in '65. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Railroads, Richmond) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/31/2013 - 1:24pm -

April 1865. "Richmond, Va. Ruins of Richmond & Petersburg Railroad bridge." Span over the James River, burned by Confederate troops before the advancing Federal Army. Wet plate negative by Alexander Gardner. View full size. Remains of the supports left of route 60.View Larger Map The Rail Linehere is the Richmond & Petersburg. The brick structure the left is presumably the burned-out paper mill; to the right and behind the photographer was the railroad depot. This is less than a half-mile from the (then and now) State Capitol, but a bit farther because of the need to find a bridge across the James River and Kanawha Canal, that passed between. Well builtWell built, main arterial bridge support, I'm surprised it was never rebuilt for rail use. The Great ConflagrationLooking at this one gets an idea of the mayhem and terror of a city in its death throes. Put this image with the many others taken of the industrial district and put them alongside those of Berlin or Dresden in 1945 and you can barely tell them apart. Although the occupation of Richmond was nowhere near as bad as was expected, the night the Confederate Army abandoned it held as much confusion and fear as any city in history left to hordes of invaders. Besides the columns of troops marching out, the streets were filled with half starved women and children looting government storehouses, unemployed prostitutes (at least temporarily), street urchins, deserters and gangs of released prisoners from the penitentiary stealing from everybody and drinking from the street gutters the whiskey poured out by the provost guards. During all this, munitions dumps were exploding and raining shrapnel all over the place. Several accounts from soldiers leaving the city recall the sight of the burning city and one described it as being "at once, both terrible and sublime". Another compared it to Dante's Inferno. By the grace of God, the yankee "hordes" were not as bad as feared and order was quickly brought to the city. But we have to remember that on that night, the citizens and soldiers (many of whom left loved ones behind) didn't know that. They didn't know that a day later Lincoln would tell the general commanding the occupying troops to "...let them up easy, General, let them up easy." A Couple near the riverDid anyone else notice the couple sitting near the river (approximately 25 feet or so) to the left of the burned out bridge? [Looks like three people. -tterrace.] Re: A Couple Near the RiverIt's very possible that they are paroled Confederate soldiers wondering how to get across so they can go home. Or they could be displaced workers from one of the mills or the Armory. There were a lot of people and soldiers from other parts of the state and other states as well as foreigners cast adrift in Richmond in '65. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Civil War, Railroads, Richmond)
Infinite West: 1941
... Larger Map (The Gallery, Landscapes, M.P. Wolcott, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/12/2015 - 9:48am -

September 1941. "Buena Vista, Colorado (vicinity). The Sawatch mountains." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott. View full size. VistaSuch a view is why we need the word: "vista". Yet, even this vastness has been conquered three ways: the railroad tracks, the telegraph lines, and the barbed-wire fences on both sides on the rail line. What do you suppose was the photographer's vantage point -- a water tower, perhaps? [Her car window. - Dave] Western entropy: The posting by Shorpyite, "swaool", gives us today's view of this vista; showing the deterioration of the conquering elements: an abandoned rail line, vanished telegraph lines, and the infamous barbed wire fences, installed in such straight lines are gone or lost in the weeds. Even the vantage point, a highway bridge, is in an aged condition. But Nature survives. Vantage PointTo me it is quite easy to discern. The photo was taken from the right side forward looking window of a train engine. [Yes, if your locomotive is 40 feet tall and you are waaay above the top of the telephone poles. Below, an actual cab view. - Dave] IMHOThe vantage point can't be her car window unless her car window is higher than those power lines. [What a puzzler. Maybe she chartered a balloon. - Dave] lol. But I see that others have cleared it up by pointing out that she was on a bridge. I should have thought of that lol. BYOONA-vistaThat's how they pronounce it there -- "byoonie" for short. Through the Rockies, not around them This is the route of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad from Pueblo to Dotsero, Colorado. Built to compete with the Union Pacific, it was downgraded after a more direct route was built from Denver to Dotsero though the long Moffat Tunnel and on to Salt Lake City. Being duplicative and containing some significantly steep grades it has been out of service since 1997. Part of the line includes the scenic Royal Gorge, seen elsewhere on Shorpy. The SubI guess Jack Delano was somewhere else that day. SpellingWouldn't that be Wasatch? [Too bad you don't have the Internet. - Dave] Vantage PointShe was most likely on the US 24 highway overpass about a mile south of Buena Vista. The view is to the SSE, and the railroad is the former Denver and Rio Grande Western's original mainline via Tennessee Pass, no longer used by present owner Union Pacific. [The 1937 bridge Ms. Wolcott was on was scheduled for replacement in 2014, but is still in this Street View image from 2012. -tterrace] View Larger Map (The Gallery, Landscapes, M.P. Wolcott, Railroads)
Meanwhile, Back in Petoskey: 1900
... but "cowcather": never! (The Gallery, DPC, Petoskey, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/10/2012 - 12:05am -

Petoskey, Michigan, circa 1901. "Grand Rapids & Indiana R.R. station." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Always a first hereNever have seen a boat on a baggage carrier before. Engine/TenderI'd like to see that engine and tender from the side; it appears that it's a commuter run (from the crowd on the platform) but it must run in reverse a lot because of the cow-catcher on the tender. No turn wye at either end of its run? Railfans - help? Typical Trolley StopOk typical turn of the century trolley stop. two trolleys numerous interesting people, wait a second go back the sort of dapper guy in the foreground with the lapstrake skiff on a hand truck. Excuse me buddy but you can't take your fishing boat on the trolley even if you pay 2 fares. I am really trying to figure this one out and just what is he doing with the boat at a trolley stop, we will probably never know. [He's taking it (or sending it) somewhere else. This is, as noted in the caption, a railroad station, not a a trolley stop. - Dave] Sorry Dave I was only looking at the Trolley that was probably bringing people to the train. But on another note, why is there a man sitting in the boat? is he part of the shipment? Take a ride on the GR&IClick to embiggen. It's a double enderIn this era about the only locomotives with big headlights on both ends were either switchers or double-enders. The catcher on the rear does indeed indicate this hog has regular assignment on a job where half of the trips are backward. The earlier picture of Petoskey shows a train ready to leave here, probably with this very engine, running in reverse. If you search an old GR&I timetable from this time, you'll find out where this train was going. It probably ran to some branch terminal that had no turn facilities, or it may have ended its run at some main line station that had no turn facility. One of the most famous short line steam roads today, Pennsylvania's Strasburg Rail Road has been doing that from the start; there never have been turn facilities at Strasburg. Next StopYou are right, the engine is designed to run tender first at the head of the train. The likely destination is Harbor Springs, which was served by a branch line diverging just north of Petoskey. Another depot photo shows a main line train on the track adjacent to the station, and a branch line train with a similar engine, tender first, on the next track. In some eras, through Pullmans were carried from Cincinnati and Chicago, dropping wealthy tourists close to their lake front hotels. Tank EngineThe loco is a tank engine -- it has no separate tender. Both the coal bunker and water tank are carried on a rearward extension of the loco frame, in this case on a four-wheeled truck. It is a type of engine commonly but not always correctly referred to in the US as a "Forney." They were designed to be run safely at track speed in either direction without turning, making them well suited to suburban trains. Railroad expansion plansCompare this one to the Petoskey depot view posted a few days earlier. Station platform is longer and has a new roof structure in 1908. New station platform surface. More tracks about the depot -- the expansion process is evident in this picture with rock wall stone on the flat cars. Extra track is to be added and the water spout seems to be missing in '08 shot -- as is the station semaphore signal. Engine number 4 is backing toward you in this view -- and may be the engine in the foreground in the 1908 view -- a number 4 seems to be on the forward headlight number board of the 4-4-0 in the '08 view though it is not clear. The engine cabs are a bit different -- back cab windows are at a higher level in the 'o8 photo. Rolling tail light shade is missing in this shot but evident in the '08 view. Suburban Station at PetoskeyThis is the GR&I (later PRR) suburban station at Petoskey, which operated during the summer months for tourists headed out for the day at Walloon lake or Alanson. The steam engine pictured could operate in either direction (without turning on a wye track) to facilitate quick turnarounds. This suburban station was located about two blocks to the south from the main passenger station which still exists in 2011, without passenger train service. "cowcatcher"?? Puleeze!!The proper term used by railroad personnel is "pilot". The "station semaphore" is properly called "order boards" and the "water spout" was commonly called a "standpipe". Possibly, in other parts of the world, these other terms may have been different, but "cowcather": never! (The Gallery, DPC, Petoskey, Railroads)
Rolling on the River: 1908
... ) (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2016 - 4:38pm -

The Mississippi River circa 1908. "Steamboat landing and Union Station at St. Paul, Minnesota." Sidewheelers and sternwheelers on view include the Minnesota, Hiawatha, Idler, Wanderer II and F. Weyerhaeuser. View full size. The shackCan anyone tell what the shack on pilings in the middle of the river is for? It's heated so used year round. Also a sharpening wheel outside the door. Must be cutting a lot of something - fish? The MinnesotaYou can still take an excursion boat from downtown St. Paul upriver to Fort Snelling, the Soldiers Home, and Minnehaha Falls. The F. WeyerhaeuserI grew up in the Northwest, where Weyerhaeuser timber land is quite is common. I knew it was a large company but never knew their holdings spread as far or have been around as long as they have been. It wood (sorry for the pun) seem this ship is named after founder grandfather F. Weyerhaeuser, who died six years after this picture. One of the things that keeps me coming back to Shorpy is finding how long so many companies have been around. I love the history lessons and getting lost on the information highway. The photo that has everything (almost)Let's see, there's a river, a city, railyards and sheds, steamboats, steam locomotives, rolling stock, two autos (and a hint of a third), horsedrawn wagons, signs, a fine depot, smokestacks, shacks, warehouses and offices, a distant ridge covered in buildings, homes, trees, people working and people idling - all this at first glance. Mighty busy and it isn't even a panorama! I'll be lost in this one for awhile! The IdlerCaught once again in that 'time-suck' called Shorpy. I found this photo pretty interesting, in particular the Idler which seems to not be powered. I did a quick search on the web and found a restaurant in South Haven, Michigan on a riverboat called the Idler. Could they be the same? Then I found this article. And finally this article (the boat behind the Idler, the Wanderer, is also referenced in the article). So the Idler is still afloat and in use 108 years after this photo and 118 after it was built. More About F. WeyerhaeuserFrederick Weyerhaeusers 11,000 sq ft home was on the top of the bluff, overlooking this point just out of the picture to the left. His next door neighbor was railroad magnate James J. Hill. Both houses still stand. The ShackThis looks like it might be part of the old railroad lift-bridge c. 1885 at Robert Street, which might be the vantage point of this photo. A View from a Bridgein this case the old Robert Street Bridge. This view from under the bridgeshows the depot and the riverboat docks. The curved track in the foreground is coming from the swing-bridge. The old Robert Street bridge from which high vantage point the "Rolling on the River" photo was taken. Union Depot and the riverboat docks are off to the left, out of this photo. Visible at the downriver end of the cutwater pier is The Shack referred to by tcrosse. There are actually TWO bridges in this photo - a wagon/pedestrian bridge above, and a pivoting or "swing" railroad bridge that crosses diagonally below. Both were built about 1885. The railroad lift-bridge, to which tcrosse refers, replaced this swing bridge in 1913. The upper bridge was replaced in 1924 by a beautiful and substantial structure which is still with us today, and is on the National Register of Historic Places: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Street_Bridge ) (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Snowy Joliet: 1943
... the capacity of the scale. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/24/2014 - 10:50am -

March 1943. "Joliet, Illinois. Leaving the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railyard." Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Can't quite make it outKeep the door closed when ??????????? cars. [Illegible in the original. -tterrace] Sign, sign, everywhere a signMy take: KEEP THIS DOOR CLOSED WHEN NOT WEIGHING CARS Mixed Signals?That looks like a train order signal. Not motorized, each blade appears to be manually operated by means of a pipe that extends down each side of the mast to just above the ground and then... nowhere. No trackside racks for delivering orders/messages on the fly, no telegraph office visible... are there any Santa Fe experts out there who know what this signal might have been for? WestboundMr. Delano was looking back from the caboose of a westbound train; the view is actually NNE. Des Plaines River/Sanitary and Ship Canal to the left, EJ&E bridge and Joliet Coke Plant in the background. The Scale HouseAn important ancillary building once found in nearly every yard, but now less common, was the scale house. Most cars containing bulk commodities such as grain, coal, and such were weighed - both to determine the weight for transportation charges by the railroad, and often for the charges the shipper would bill their customer for the merchandise. Every car had (has) the empty weight of the car stenciled on the side of the car, and the switching crew and a clerk would weigh each car, and subtract the Lt Wt (Light Weight, as stenciled) to determine the weight of the contents, and attach the scale ticket to the Bill of Lading. Note that there are four rails past the scale house. The Live Rails were for weighing the cars, the Dead Rails (or Bypass Rails) were so that engines could pass the scale without using the Live Rails, since their weight often exceeded the capacity of the scale. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Mountain Retreat: 1905
... 1905 was within a transition period of several years where railroads handled a mixture of passenger and freight cars that were slowly and ... crossing sraight ahead. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/12/2016 - 4:22pm -

Washington County, Maryland, circa 1905. "Buena Vista Springs station at Pen-Mar." A Blue Ridge mountain resort, developed by the Western Maryland Railway, that took its name from the two neighboring states. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Handbrake on Passenger Car. Handbrakes are still used as 'parking brakes' and occasionally to add drag to remove slack on freight cars when switching. Backup brakingThe passenger car has both a hand operated brake wheel and an air brake hose. Either it's an older car that was refitted with air brakes after going into service, or railroad management was not quite ready to place full faith in Mr. Westinghouse's new-fangled system. Backups are StandardHand brakes are still installed on railroad cars. It is not because of not placing full faith in the air brakes. When disconnected from an air source, the air will eventually (hours to days) leak away, rendering the air brakes useless. Each car has an air reservoir (actually, two reservoirs), which is filled from the train air line (the smaller hose in the picture). As long as the pressure in the train line is maintained, the brakes will not apply. When the train line pressure is reduced, a (fairly complex) valve will allow air from the reservoir to enter the brake cylinder, applying the brakes. Up to a point, the amount of air admitted to the brake cylinder is in proportion to the pressure reduction. If the pressure reduction is large (to zero, for example) or quick (due to a broken hose, for example), all of the air from both reservoirs is admitted to the brake cylinder, resulting in an emergency brake application. But, the air can leak away, so if a car is to be left standing, its hand brake needs to be applied. Hand brakeAll railroad cars, even the newest, have hand brakes. These are required to apply or release the brakes on a car or string of cars, not connected to the engine or other source of air. Lots of RR DetailsOn the left side of the train is an early signal with a black "target" with a lighter-colored center, probably white. The arm pivots up or down to indicate "proceed" or "stop". The up position is usually the "proceed" aspect - derived from the previous "ball signals" In front of that is a "harp" style switch stand for moving a track switch. (Note that there are two tracks up ahead of the train, which is standing on a single track.) The target on the harp switch lever is round with a cross on it. Beyond the signal is an edge view of a road crossing warning sign. In those days, the crossbuck style was not yet universal. At the rear of the train, there are two hose couplings, one for the air brake and one for steam heat. (The ventilators passing through the roofs of the coaches are for the lavatories.) The peak of a smaller building is visible to the right of the train. This might be a signal cabin. The depot itself has absolutely delicious architectural detail in a "shingle style". Note the eyebrow window in the roof, the octagonal tower, and the corbelled chimney. The bay window muntins are certainly very ornate; a pattern of small squares surrounds the larger panes. The depth of field of these large-plate cameras never ceases to amaze, does it? And the House on the Left....is still there. CouplersThe is another interesting detail clearly visible in this remarkable photo. The year 1905 was within a transition period of several years where railroads handled a mixture of passenger and freight cars that were slowly and gradually becoming equipped with the much safer Janney or modern knuckle type couplers. These replaced the old fashioned and very dangerous link & pin type coupling method that was responsible for so many railroad trainmens loss of hands and/or fingers. Clearly visible in this photo is a small horizontal slot in the closed knuckle at the end of this passenger car. When necessary, any railroad car that still retained the old link & pin equipment could be coupled to this passenger car by the old system of the trainman guiding the link into that slot, and dropping the pin down through the hollow knuckle and through the link. It took quite a few years before all of the old link & pin equipment was gone and the new Janney coupler knuckles no longer had to be provided with the slot and the vertical hole and old fashioned pin. Mail catcher at restThe white device to the left of the train is what is known as a mail crane. The postal worker would climb the steps and mount a bag vertically so the hook arm on a Railway Post Office car (or portion of car) could capture the bag as a train passed without stopping. In front of the mail crane is a "harp" style switch stand. These were associated with the "stub" style turnout that preceded the tapered movable points we know today. The stub switch had the main track rails move to align with whichever route as chosen. Station is long gone, but. --the flat roof building in the rear is still there and is now the American Legion hall. It is somewhat expanded but retains the roof line and the shed extension in the rear. The station would have been to the left of the crossing sraight ahead. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
It's a Small Train: 1951
... cool place and neat history. (LOOK, Los Angeles, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2015 - 8:00am -

September 1951. "Walt Disney oiling parts of the locomotive of his scale model steam railroad, the Carolwood Pacific Railway, in the backyard of his house in Los Angeles." Medium-format nitrate negative by Earl Theisen for the Look magazine assignment "Walt Disney's Giant Little Railroad." View full size. MemoriesAh, this takes me back to my youth, when I ran the 1 in 8 scale steam locos my father used to build in the spare room. Lots of information here about Walt Disney's famous model railroad. Not uncommonIt's not uncommon as you might think. There are clubs that promote this hobby. Being from Long Island, there was an active club that had run days open to the public. They have multiple gauge tracks, one nearly a mile long. The clubs facility is in a county park so they cannot charge the public but do accept donations. http://longislandlivesteamers.org/ Search 'live steam clubs' and you should find several more. Rails missingWhen they tore out the railroad a whole lot of the handmade steel rails went missing. The one thing they didn't get rid of was the tunnel that went under the flowerbeds. They just buried the entrance and exits. Supposedly the tunnel still exists under the current driveway. I bet it's filled with the missing railroad rails. Article here. The EngineerWith some young friends on the Lily Belle, which he helped build by machining many of the small parts. It's now in the Disney Family Museum in the Presidio, San Francisco. Here's a neat short film about Walt's trains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Rf7Ygy6TA CarolwoodWhen the railroad was removed in the early 1950s, the majority of the extruded aluminum, not steel, rails was given to the Los Angeles Live Steamers, a club that Walt was a member and still exists today at Griffith Park. It is the current home of Walt's Barn, the central feature, workshop and hangout for the Carolwood Pacific Railroad. http://www.carolwood.org/barn.html Also, the tunnel still exists, although not under the current driveway. It's more on the side of the house. The owners kept it in honor of the history of the property, but also because it could make a great storage place or wine cellar. I had the opportunity to walk through it before they sold the property. You can see the attached photo and more in this gallery of the new house. FYI, this house has NOTHING to do with the original. http://carolwood.theagencyre.com/property-highlights/ In the attached photo, this is the North entrance of the tunnel. The wall, arch and wooden doors are all original and the only things on the property, apart from the front gates on the driveway that are from the original home. The steps are obviously not original. Anyway, cool place and neat history. (LOOK, Los Angeles, Railroads)
Lackawanna: 1900
... project can be found here . (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2012 - 4:13pm -

New Jersey circa 1900. "On the Lackawanna near Far Hills." With the bridge and little white house seen in the previous post. Detroit Publishing. View full size. Oddly AngledThe trapezoidal footprint of the bridge probably reflects the engineers' desire for triangular, rather than square, bracing at the ends. Triangles being structurally much stronger than squares. We can also see a height gauge on either side of the tunnel, with hangers that would make a noise to indicate overheight locomotives. Wouldn't have much time to react, though. Double TracksShould a train derail here, the extra rails (guard rails) will keep the wheels trapped between the running rails and the guard rails and probably saving the bridge from being hit by the train or, worse yet, the train taking out the bridge. There Goes My Vertigo!I'm surprised no one has mentioned it previously, but do the angles of this bridge appear odd to anyone else? It's nearly enough to set off my vertigo. I'm sure the bridge was specifically engineered for this particular appication, but it almost gives the sense of just being slapped together. Absolutely fascinating.I love finding the locations of the photos posted on Shorpy's using Google Earth. I could spend hours searching. I love this site. Mystery SolvedToo cool that you found this photo! 180°You're looking at this RR bridge from the other direction now. The road goes over the stone bridge at the other end, and the stucco house is over on the right, next to the road. And a stream or small river was only hinted at by the RR bridge as viewed in the previous Far Hills view. To have a look abt. 2006 in Google Earth, here are the coordinates. 40.696909,-74.651628 Main Street changes to Peapack Road as it crosses over the RR tracks. The tracks then cross what's left of the river (Lackawanna?) which can barely be seen in Google maps as it meanders around in the wooded (green) areas. In Maps there is also a train headed up to the bridge from a mile south of the intersection. (Same coordinates, ya know) But Dave already knew all this, right Dave? [90°, not 180. The previous view was from the right, along the country lane that passes above the trestle seen here. The trestle is visible to the left in the previous photo. - Dave] Given the camera angle from "Far Hills 1900" and the angle formed by the road and the RR tracks, the view in Lackawanna 1900 is, really Dave, 180° out. Pull out your protractor, please! [To recap: This view is perpendicular, more or less, to the previous view. Below, the end of the trestle (circled) closest to the bridge, and the path of the tracks through the two stone arches whose headers bracket the road. - Dave] Twin TracksI should know this, since my grandfather was a railroad engineer on the IT, but why are there two sets of rails? Why we come.I not only come here regularly for the cool old photos but the hilarious commentary and analysis are also worth the price of admission. Now this shot makes me wistfulI grew up on top of a hill about a mile or so to the right of the little white house in the first shot. We could look across the valley (which contained Main Street and the railroad tracks and the "stream", as we called it) at the Kate Macy Ladd Home (later Natirar, now some kind of resort). The railroad trestle was exactly the same then, and we walked across it many times, always running as fast as we could through the tunnel. lest one of those old Erie-Lackawanna chuggers hit us. Peapack-Gladstone was the end stop on the spur, which had been built out that far to provide a NY connection for the residents of places like the Ladd house and Blairsden. Years later, one of our large retrievers disappeared. We found him right at the spot in the photo, where he'd been hit by a train. Like I said -- it makes me wistful. She was a very loving, if rather dumb, dog. TelltalesThose are telltales hanging over the track to warn anyone riding top of car of upcoming low overhead. The bridge crosses the creek at an angle and therefore the abutments and trusses are staggered. No CalatravaBut it gets the job done, I suppose. HogbackThe bridge angles seem strange because this is an example of a skewed truss. As another poster pointed out, a skew is a result of a bridge making a crossing at an angle other than 90°. This bridge was known as the Hogback Bridge over the Raritan River and was replaced by NJ Transit in 2004 over the span of a single weekend. Its replacement is a non-skewed through truss. More info on the bridge and the replacement project can be found here. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
Hot Springs Depot: 1900
... Company. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/11/2018 - 2:14pm -

Circa 1900. "L.R. & H.S.W. R.R. Depot, Hot Springs, Arkansas." A locomotive of the Little Rock & Hot Springs Western Railroad. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
Auto-Railer: 1935
... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/28/2014 - 7:29am -

        ANNAPOLIS, Md., June 26, 1935 (AP) -- Negotiations have been started by the Evans Products Co. of Detroit for the purchase of the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Railway, which was recently sold at auction here. The company manufactures buses and trucks that operate either on rails or on the highway, and it is understood the concern plans to operate 100 passenger and freight units between Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis. ... The "auto railer" consists of front and rear steel pilot railroad wheels attached to a conventional type of bus or truck. The pilot wheels are raised for operation over highways but can be let down when the vehicle reaches the tracks. The vehicle runs on its own tires over the rails with the pilot wheels guiding it along the track. 1935. Washington, D.C., or vicinity. "Streamline Bus and Car, Evans Motor." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Are any extant?If so, what a novel and attractive project for a guest house/lake/mountain house conversion. Let me beYou can stand there all day and have your picture taken, for all I care, but this headlight is really something interesting. SafetyPresumably you can retract the wheels and drive off the tracks when a real train comes along too. Washington and Old DominionThe Washington and Old Dominion obtained one of the Evan units from the defunct Arlington and Fairfax and converted it to a maintenance vehicle. Kickin' the TiresSir, I advise you NOT to kick THAT tire. Evans Auto-railer in actionI recalled seeing an old clip of this machine in action, and here it is. I believe that the scenes were taken along the Grand Trunk Western Jackson Subdivision which ran from Pontiac to Jackson, MI. The branch was abandoned in 1975. 1935 fashionBroad lapels, rolled up trousers, hats and no belly fat! [Those are real cuffs. -tterrace] Not a Bump in a CarloadFairmont Railway Motors (now Harsco Rail) is often given credit for coming up with the road-rail technology that created "hi-railers" (they spell it "HY-RAIL") in the 1940s, but the various versions of the Evans product had already been in production for years. The car-like one below was known as the M2. Their largest Auto-Railer (below) was only one of over a dozen diverse products they made for the war effort during WWII. Modern TravelerEveryone has done such a good job on the history of auto-railer that I am left to guess at the signage behind the gentlemen. TRIAL “Modern Traveler” ROAD RAIL COACH BODY? Love the Art Deco font. [SUPERIOR "Modern Traveler." Also: CHEVROLET CHASSIS, TIMKEN AXLES / GOODRICH & UNITED STATES TIRES. The "Modern Traveler" was a streamlined bus body made by Superior Motor Coach Co. of Lima, Ohio. - Dave] C-Span connectionEvans Products was founded by John Steptoe Evans, whose grandson John D. Evans was a co-founder of C-Span. Evans Products started out building wood products; first, a wooden block that allowed easy loading of autos on railcars, then cedar separators for the plates in a car battery. John S. Evans set a record in 1928 by flying around the world in 28 days. Gramps' good jobI knew my grandfather worked for a company called Evans so I emailed my dad this link. here was his reply: "Yes, this is the same Evans Products. More than that, your grandpa spent a couple of his years at that time driving one of these for the Company when we lived in Detroit. He would be gone for weeks at a time. First, he worked in a small city, Paris, Illinois, and later was transferred to Washington, DC. It always sounded like a good idea to me. It was equipped with both railway wheels and rubber tires, with a mechanism to lower the rubber tires or raise the railway wheels, so they could use the seldom-used rail lines like street-car tracks. Of course the rail lines fought them and tried to scare the public about potential collisions. In the end, the politicians voted against it ... but your grandpa was part of it." Alas, he's not in the photo, but what a pleasure to see a glimpse of his world. Thanks, Shorpy! Gramps' JobThat Washington, D.C. job may have been on the Arlington & Fairfax trolley line, which replaced its electric cars with Evans Autorailers. I think they wanted to drive them across the Potomic River without using the D.C. streetcar tracks. One of those later wound up on the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend RR in 1955, with a platform on the roof for working on the overhead wires in East Chicago, Ind. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Railroads)
Payday 1906 (Alternate Take)
... Company. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/21/2012 - 10:50am -

New Orleans circa 1906. "Payday on the levee." An alternate version of this post. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
Mountain House: 1905
... glass negative. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/25/2017 - 12:51pm -

Circa 1905. "Mount Tom Mountain House, Massachusetts." Completed in 1901, Mountain House (reached via the Mount Tom Railroad, seen here, here and here) replaced the 1897 summit house after it had burned in 1900; in 1929, Mountain House met the same fiery fate. 8x10 glass negative. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
Mass. Transit: 1912
... closes. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Boston, DPC, Railroads, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/15/2012 - 2:39pm -

Boston circa 1912. "East Cambridge Bridge." A visual compendium of ways to get from here to there. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Not much has changedThe trolley track viaduct is still there. The building on the left with the tower still exists. It overlooks the Charles River dam. It still has a drawbridge over the connection lock between the river and Boston Harbor. Farther up on the left past the tower is now the location of the Boston Museum of Science. Beauty lost to timeView Larger Map Sensational!Remarkably, much of what is depicted in this photograph, which looks from Boston back across the Charles River to Cambridge, remains in place. Most prominently, the poured concrete viaduct for the trolley (today, referred to as the Green Line) running along the right side of the photo, is still there. I have often looked at the "1910" date engraved on the arched pediment above the column at the far right, and wondered what this part of town must have looked like when this structure was new. There is currently a drawbridge in the location where the police officer is standing in the middle of the road, in order to let sail boats get through from the Charles River (to the left) out to the Boston Harbor (to the right). The drawbridge is currently being rebuilt, and this section of road is actually closed for traffic for the next several weeks. The buildings on the left are still there as well. The tower is used (I believe) to control the drawbridge, and the lower building serves as a State Police station. A few weeks ago, a car was passing underneath the archway at the far right of the photograph, and a large chunk of concrete fell from above and shattered the driver's rear windshield. The whole structure still has a wonderful look to it, but it does need some attention. Bridge over the River CharlesI was surprised to see that the arches of this bridge were originally much narrower than they are today. (Although you can see the 1910 date has been retained.) Trolleys still run on that bridge, although it's now the only section left of a much longer elevated track that was mostly put underground during the Big Dig. There is also a drawbridge on the roadway now for boats to pass through, although it very rarely goes up these days -- mostly only on the Fourth of July when yachts come in from the harbor to watch the fireworks. The building on the left is now a State Police outpost (perhaps it was then, too.) The Museum of Science now occupies the open space behind it. Five out of sevenpossible methods of transportation shown here. Steam powered rail, electric trolley, horse-drawn vehicles, motorized vehicles, and walking! Surprisingly, I couldn't spot anyone on a bicycle, nor could I see any boats in the water. [Let us not forget the aeroplane. - Dave] "New" HistoryHow cool it must have been to witness a construction project of this scope knowing that there probably isn't another of its type anywhere nearby. It reminds me of seeing I-75 south of Detroit being built at the end of my street in the mid 1960's where there was never a freeway before. 101 years and still on the moveThe location is in Boston, at the old Charles River Dam, which is visible as an earth rampart at the left, behind the tower with the weathervane. The trolley viaduct is in current use as part of the MBTA Green Line service. At the viaduct's end, you can see the still-existing ramp down across the roadway to Lechmere station. In the roadway below, currently known as Monsignor O'Brien Highway and Route 28, it looks like they haven't yet installed the Craigie Drawbridge (though they've installed the traffic control gates for the streetcar, the sidewalks look like they're still solid instead of part of a drawbridge). Also interesting is the high drawbridge built into the trolley viaduct, to accommodate sailboats entering the Charles River. The Metropolitan District Commission building on the left (which now houses state police) has the control tower with the weathervane on top. The viaduct drawbridge is no longer operational (but the ironwork is still there), and the one in the roadway is being rebuilt right now, in a project running November 2010 through April 2011. The two buildings at the left edge of the photo, just in front of Wellington-Wildwood Coal, are an MDC stable and boathouse. The stable is now used for work trucks by the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, which is the renamed MDC, and the boathouse at far left is empty and deteriorating. The view of these buildings would now be blocked by the Museum of Science and its garage. Behind the coal company building and a little to the right is the square tower (with peaked roof) of the Clerk of Courts building in Cambridge, with the main courthouse next door not visible. Everything to the right of the viaduct is gone and changed, though there's still a major railroad crossing there for traffic to North Station. The polesThe trolley viaduct opened in June 1912. The draw in the Cragie bridge is there, it is just hard to see. Those poles in the middle of the road are to lift the trolley wire when the bridge opens, and to realign it when span closes. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Boston, DPC, Railroads, Streetcars)
The Cane Train: 1904
... View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Havana, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/24/2017 - 10:41am -

Cuba circa 1904. "The old sugar mill at Finca near Havana." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. (The Gallery, DPC, Havana, Railroads)
The Wrong Side: 1938
... (The Gallery, John Vachon, Kids, Omaha, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2017 - 9:26am -

November 1938. "Houses along the railroad tracks. Omaha, Nebraska." Photo by John Vachon for the Resettlement Administration. View full size. Omaha? Are you sure?Couple of my Omaha friends and I have been trying to site this shot, but are striking out. First, we have not found Gross Manufacturing in any of the City Directories for the 30's - either before or after 1938. Next, we see a UP and a C&NW box car in the upper left, but the locomotives in the upper right look like CB&Q engines. We are not objecting to the scene as depicting Omaha poverty in the '30's, but are trying to place the buildings and location. No doubt Vachon was photographing in the area of the UP and CB&Q yards in and near the Missouri River (witness the coal-fired power plant earlier) but this shot is tough to place! Some of that turkey's descendants roam my neighborhood even today!!! Lucky TurkeyI'm amazed the gobbler managed to get that big in this neighborhood. He's definitely living on borrowed time. Omaha, Sure?@rcadog: The 1940 Omaha White Pages lists Gross Mfg & Box Co at 610 Leavenworth (ATlantic-9414, if you had a nickel). On today's Google Maps, 610 Leavenworth is between 6th and 7th Streets, about a quarter mile west of the river, and just north of the present-day Amtrak station, which abuts a former rail yard. It is also just west of railroad tracks that run north-south along the west bank of the river. Perhaps the elevated structure in the Shorpy image that ends to the right of the Gross building was a track (or road) leading to/from a bridge over the river. A period map of Omaha might provide the answer. John Vachon, storytellerWow! This scene just about has it all -- forlorn woman, old cars, derelict buildings, turkey, scrap pile, outhouse. Got to be a country song in here somewhere. Bad pressOmaha has not been getting a lot of good PR on Shorpy these last few days. Very slovenly. Cold ComfortI sure hope that small square structure in the left foreground with the lattice work isn't the "necessary". It's going to be awfully cold in Omaha during the winter while using that thing. Gross Manufacturing Co.Merged with Disgusting Products in 1952. Paint and tarpaperWhen looking at Depression era (or even some later) pictures of buildings, I am always struck by the fact that tarpaper is substituting for shingles, and the walls clearly haven't been touched by paint for a long, long time. Even abandoned homes in places like Detroit don't seem to show that level of neglect today. Agreed that those turkeys are living on borrowed time, or their owners are quite vigilant! For those wondering, Yes - this is Omaha in the picture. I found out for sure now that this picture is 100% taken in Omaha. In the attachment of this comment is a picture of this same area but from a different angle. The Harriman Dispatching Center can be seen on the top left of the picture. When you zoom in, you can see the distinct brick patterns that are above the windows. A zoomed-in shot of the brick pattern can be seen in the second attachment, and can be compared with the pattern of the top left building in the first attachment. This means that this picture from 1938 is located where the Conagra Brands buildings are today. It’s Omaha! I was looking myself, but thanks to another Shorpy user, we can confirm it’s Omaha! https://www.reddit.com/r/Omaha/comments/e566he/omaha_ne_during_the_depre... (The Gallery, John Vachon, Kids, Omaha, Railroads)
Southern Pacific blacksmith shop. In Oakland?
... View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by bowdidge - 09/20/2011 - 8:22pm -

As far as I know, this is a photo of the crew at the Blacksmith Shops for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Oakland, California. My grandfather (front and center with the rakishly tilted hat) worked for the railroad for some small portion of his life. His draft card for World War I listed him at the railroad in the blacksmith shop. By the '30's, he'd started a laundry business elsewhere in Oakland. He'd emigrated from the Azore Islands to California in around 1915, following other brothers and sisters who'd already left the impoverished islands for the opportunity of the United States. I can't imagine he was too many years off the boat when this photo was taken, a new immigrant settling into life in California. I've always liked this, both as a cool posed shot of an industrial shop and by the tools of the trade each worker carries (especially the welder to the far left). Unlike all the school photos that got saved, it's like every guy in the photo has some emotion on his face, and some story behind it. Why's the big guy at the right side in the front row look like a superhero, so sure and happy? What's the Richard Gere look-alike (the welder) thinking? What's the guy second from the left in the front row staring at off in the distance? View full size. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, Railroads)
River City: 1904
... full size. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/16/2018 - 6:16pm -

Manhattan circa 1904. "Brooklyn Bridge and East River, New York." With the Williamsburg Bridge in the distance. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC, Railroads)
Heavy Lifting: 1910
... (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2014 - 9:05am -

Circa 1910. "Brown electric hoist unloading freighter Constitution at Cleveland." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. That hopper carbelongs to the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad, seems they may be unloading (loading) coal. The Constitutionwas a 379-foot long barge, launched 22 April 1897 at West Superior, Wisconsin, by the American Steel Barge Company, a firm better known for the design and construction of the unique Great Lakes "whaleback." The steamer Victorious generally towed the Constitution, both owned by Cleveland's Pickands, Mather & Co. Brought back to Superior to be lengthened over seventy feet in 1905, Pickands, Mather sold the vessel to Cleveland's Pringle Barge Line in 1922, which had it converted to a self-unloading barge five years later using a unique system developed by noted Chicago marine contractor Jacob Sensibar. The Constitution ended its career primarily hauling coal from Toledo to Detroit, towed by the big Diesel tug S. M. Dean, and was dismantled at Port Colborne, Ontario, in 1968. Brown and out.The cables visible next to the tracks are probably there to move a "larry", sometimes called a "pig", a small rail car that connected to the hoppers, so that they might be moved on the wharf without the need of a locomotive. NYPANO dacksThis looks like the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio dock on Whiskey Island. This facility, but not the pictured unloaders, lasted until Conrail was formed and then were surplus due to the huge PRR (Cleveland & Pittsburgh) operation with its four massive Hullett unloaders just across the old river bed. Those Pittsburgh & Lake Erie hoppers likely brought coking coal to Cleveland, and will get a load of ore for a return to the Ohio Valley- probably near Youngstown. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Cleveland, DPC, Railroads)
Winnipesaukee Cannonball: 1906
... 4-4-2s from the early 20th century. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/04/2015 - 10:32am -

Circa 1906. "Railway station at Weirs -- Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire." 5x7 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Still there!The station is still in use, selling tickets for cruises on the lake and for the scenic railroad trips that use these same tracks. Now with ample parking: A statue in the street?Is that a statue of a soldier leaning on his rifle directly in front of the speeding buggy, or a gas lamp hanging from the pole in the foreground? [Looks like a water fountain with provision for horses. A common kind of street furniture of the period, though not always as fancy. -tterrace] Civil War monumentSpent many happy days at the Weirs as a child. The 19th ct Mt. Washington still plies the lake. The Civil War monument and horse trough was located in front of the NH veterans home in the 1880s and was unfortunately struck by lightning and destroyed in the 30s. WaterThe name Winnipeg (the city where I was born) comes from both Cree and Ojibwe words for dirty or murky or muddy (wini) and water (nipi). Winnipesaukee is from the Abenaki language and is translated as the Smile of the Great Spirit but also Beautiful Water in a High Place or Good Smooth Water at Outlet. I favor the water option. And I suppose one person's murky is another person's beautiful. Shorpy's Guide to NH tourist traps continues!First Market Square, now The Weirs. Is Monadnock next? To clarify a previous post by nhman, the "19th ct" Mt Washington burned in 1939. The current Mt Washington II started life in 1888 on Lake Champlain. They chopped it up, put it on rail cars, and welded it back together at Lakeport to replace the burned out Mt Washington. Still pretty neat. And now that I'm fact checking it... The train station burned down at the same time. So I'm not so sure Hillary's street view is the same building. Still there but notThis is not the same building as the original picture. When the Mount burned at the dock the Depot building of that time was lost where the fire consumed the dock leading from the depot. This building that replaced that building was removed some time in the last 20 years. ID'ing the locomotiveI'm guessing that this is a Boston & Maine class C-17 4-6-0, based on the side view seen partway down this page. Lovely engine. My favorite locos by far are the high-wheeled passenger 4-6-0s and 4-4-2s from the early 20th century. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
Diaper Depot: 1942
... this image. (The Gallery, Kids, Marjory Collins, NYC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/28/2017 - 10:59am -

August 1942. "New York, New York. Waiting for trains at Pennsylvania Station." Photo by Marjory Collins for the Office of War Information. View full size. Old Penn StationAs someone who has to regularly commute through the "new" Penn Station, photos like these of the old, now-destroyed station make me sad. I love the juxtaposition in this photo; the bored commuter, the new mom, the nattily-dressed porter and the escalator riders behind them. Where the floor has worn away in the station, the glass-embedded tiles shown here still show through. [The "glass-embedded tiles" are skylights of the kind seen on sidewalks above building basements, usually with the glass turned purple from long exposure to sunlight. -tterrace] Mini-railWhat is the little semi-circular railing on the right for? What we do for loveYoung parents of today may not realize how hard it was on the backs of parents when they had to change their baby's diaper away from home. The changing tables in many of today's public bathrooms are a great help and relief to parents with back or joint problems and probably are more sanitary for the baby too (as well as random onlookers). I don't think anyone had disposable diapers then either, you had to carry it around with you. This is not one of the things we would like to go back to. Stairway to HeavenTo ColoZ: The U-shaped cutout in the railing may have been for a ticket-checker to stand in without getting bowled over by the crowds. ColoZ and Marysd: several of the current staircases down to the platform level have the original banisters and iron work partially visible in this image. (The Gallery, Kids, Marjory Collins, NYC, Railroads)
Way Station: 1943
... Canal Street. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/13/2015 - 10:16am -

January 1943. "Chicago, Illinois. Waiting for trains in the concourse of the Union Station." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Which one is it? Pt 2You are close davidk but off the mark a little: The guy leaning against the radiator is a jazz musician, he plays the sax. You are right about the guy with the open paper buts he's an FBI agent keeping tabs on the older gentleman leaning against the pole with the poster. He's Paddy O'Brian of the Irish Mafia and he runs a speak easy on Dearborn Ave. The girl in the center looking at the camera is Roxy (aka Sally from Kansas) the next big star to hit town. PS My first ever post..I love Shorpy If I was there then...I'd wonder, "How would people like to buy suitcases with wheels on them?" The Architect of this Station... must have played with Erector sets when he was a kid. Which one is it?The Nazi spy is definitely the man on the left in the fedora and overcoat, leaning on the radiator, affecting the nonchalant pose. The person on his tail is the similarly dressed man, central, in the background, with the open newspaper. Defintely a time gone byI can almost smell the cigar smoke. Much Ado About Nothing but funActually davidk, the newspaper reader and the man leaning on the radiator are both FBI. They are watching the group in the middle, who are waiting for their contact with the stolen diamonds to smuggle out of the country. On the right is Mugs Malone, former "almost" heavyweight champ and now muscle for the mob. Center is Donna Reed in her cute little boots and brains of the outfit. Behind her is Humphrey Bogart, an insurance investigator pretending to be a tough gang member. If you look quickly between the paper reader and the man with the satchel (containing the diamonds), a disguised Charley Chan is following the real Nazi spy. Parmelee Transfer Worked Like MagicYou may have only had an hour for a train connection in Chicago between different station, but Parmelee Transfer would get you and your luggage to your connection on time. Long goneI used Chicago Union Station for many years, 1965 - 1997, commuting to and from my work. I vaguely remember the old, spacious concourse. Most of my memories are of the 'new' concourse, as Milamber2431 says, under a skyscraper. The term I have heard for the new concourse was "Chicago Union Basement" - which unfortunately fits. The ceiling is very low, and the space is broken up. No comparisonto either of the NYC stations. This looks like something thrown together over a feverish weekend, just to keep the passengers free from rain. The two NYC stations look like something grand, this shabby and morose. Going back 50+ years, I remember taking the train to Milwaukee, and likely walked somewhere near. The floor was paved with 'get-er-done-quick' asphalt. The Two FedsJumped right out at me in the unenlarged photo, they are too conspicuously casual. Tall man is packing a shoulder holster, evidenced by the bulge in his overcoat. His target has not yet arrived. Marcy, in her pretty white boots, is the decoy. Alfred Hitchcock, to the right of the poster, is awaiting his cameo. Neon SignThe neon sign pointing to the "Street Cars" is a mate to one we have that says "To Trains" with a similar arrow. Ours also came out of Union Station and hangs in our hallway pointing the way to the nearby Metra station. Tracks are still there, concourse is goneThis photo shows the south side of the concourse. The doors on the left lead to the south-bound train platforms (note signs for track numbers 8 and 12). If you walked through those doors in January 1943 you would be here. The east side of the concourse was seen here. The west side of the concourse was seen here. Union Station actually has more traffic today than in the 40s, though it's mostly commuters. Trains board at the same spot pictured above, but the expansive concourse is gone. It's all underneath a 1970s skyscraper. Composition, Noir. . . cries out for half-silly scenarios, and, bless 'em, the Shorpites have provided them. Even so, it's a strikingly beautiful compo. No ComparisonTo: tomincantonga. The concourse was the equivalent to the train shed of other stations. Penn Station's concourse had a similar beams, girders and rivets appearance. If you want to see grandeur comparable to the New York stations, find photos of Union Station Headhouse's Great Hall--which fortunately still exists. The Concourse, which is not shown to best advantage in this shot, was actually pretty grand itself. It was in a separate building from the Headhouse. The Headhouse contained the vast Great Hall, ticket offices, restaurants, barber shops, bars, lounges, jail, etc. The Concourse and Headhouse were connected via a passageway under Canal Street. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Götterdämmerung: 1942
... of January 2016. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/27/2015 - 12:51pm -

December 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Repair and overhauling in the Chicago & North Western Railroad locomotive shops." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Franklin BoosterLooking in the lower left corner of the photo, the item on the cart is a Franklin Booster. These were mounted usually on the rear truck of larger steam engines and provided extra tractive effort at lower speeds. The SP 4449 has one. Flooring: bricks or wood blocks?The flooring may be wood blocks set on end, rather than bricks or stone blocks. I've seen this in another roundhouse, the reasons for using wood were (a) absorb oil, rather than providing a very slippery surface for oil spills, (b) less chance of damaging a part if it were dropped. GötterdämmerungI see what you did there... :) Twilight of the GodsWhen exactly does the fat lady sing? Wood blocksDuring the late 1920's and early 1930's my father was the engineer who was in charge of the Brooklyn Bridge. He told me that the bridge was paved with wooden blocks set on end very much like the railroad shop in the picture. . When the blocks became worn they were picked up and turned over. Relatively light weight, non-slippery and durable. Wrong TitleAlas, Götterdämmerung is an ending. A better title might be: "Nacht und Nebel" or Night and Fog. [Twilight of the Gods = the fast-approaching final days of the huge steam locomotives which up to this point had ruled the rails unchallenged. -tterrace] Various AppliancesA poster below already pointed out the booster engine on the closest track. Good call; I had no idea what it was. The cylinders on the floor to the right of the booster are interesting. I want to say that they're compressed air reservoirs, but they appear to be way too long, so I have no idea. Lead and trailing trucks are being worked on tracks 2 and 3. There's a 2-wheel pony (leading) truck on track two that is flipped over. To the right of that is a 4-wheel trailing truck off a 2-8-4. The trailing truck on track 3 that the guy is welding inside is off an H Class 4-8-4, pictured many times on Shorpy. Neither locomotive is in the picture. Perhaps if we turned the other way? The picture looking the other direction is on here someplace. Great Delano exhibit in Chicago going on nowJust visited the Jack Delano "Railroaders" exhibit at the Chicago History Museum. The exhibit focuses on the people who insured that America's WWII railroad supply lines ran efficiently and at full capacity. Great photos (black and white AND COLOR!) of dozens of railroaders, from top management down to the gofers. Terrific insights into the dispatching and maintenance of the trains and great stories of the folks and families who depended on railroading as a livelihood. Lots of train photos, too. If you are a fan of Jack Delano's art or a fan of mid-20th century railroading, don't miss this exhibit. It runs through the end of January 2016. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Instant Message: 1942
... home. (Technology, The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/26/2013 - 11:47am -

November 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. These pneumatic tubes in the Illinois Central Railroad yardmaster's office connect him with the general office." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. No new thing under the sunWe used a pneumatic tube system on the Milwaukee Road until the late 70s, just as the caption says: connecting several yard offices with the central office. I have to wonder if Milwaukee officials were ‘inspired’ by the IC device. The system we used was really not up to the task, and I suspect it came from some department store that had quit using it for handling sales cash. The three tubes, about a mile each in length, were all exposed to Milwaukee’s freezing, moist, winter air. Need I say more? One night a new kid on the block weighed about 100 cars, and he asked the yardmaster what he was supposed to do with the scale tickets. The yardie, never having read “How to Win friends and Influence People,” barked at the kid to put the XXXXXXX things in the XXXXXXX tube to Muskego. So the guy did. Without a canister. For about two weeks, every now and then a scale ticket or two would come fluttering into the main office from the West End. Yes, they reweighed the whole cut of scalers. Vital piece of equipmentThe ubiquitous coffee can is an essential piece of the apparatus. AirpunkThe lesser-known cousin of steampunk. Scrap metalNever mind giving extra tires to Uncle Sam -- the quantity of iron in that tube machine looks like it would be nearly enough to build a Sherman tank from. I wonder when it got scrapped. Dress for successI am always amazed at how men and women during the war years always seemed to be well dressed at work, often despite their occupations. This man has dress shoes and well pressed, creased pants. My uncle, who worked for many years as a lithographer in NYC, would go to work in a suit and tie, change into work clothes in the printing company's locker room, do a day's work, then change back into his suit and tie for the trip home. (Technology, The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Elko Depot: 1940
... He was a good guy. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Railroads, Small Towns) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/20/2018 - 11:01am -

March 1940. "Railroad station. Elko, Nevada." Medium format negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. AirplanesThe markings on the roof point to the airport (lefthand circle and line). Unpaved airstrips can be pretty difficult to spot. Railroad & station goneBut the Nevada Bank Building remains. The Commercial Hotel is now the Commercial Casino. "An Outpost of Hell, or Texas"In a railroad history book, possibly a work of Lucius Beebe, I read that an early rail traveler described Elko as "An outpost of Hell, or Texas." I'm sure that Elko did not really deserve that, nor did Texas. It had something to do with a non-air-conditioned train making a lengthy stop to change cars under the Nevada sun. There's no breeze coming in through the windows when the cars are stationary! Then again, if it was indeed a Lucius Beebe book, well, let's just say it was said of him that he never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Southern PacificOn the pole next to the station: Milepost 556 from San Francisco. Think the roof sign says 1 mile to the airport west of town. Childhood MemoriesIf you followed those train tracks to the right for a mile or so, you'd be able to look over our back fence. When the big 2-8-8-2s came by the whole house would shake. My father made a set of steps so I could look over the fence at the trains. I remember the hot dogs at the cafe at the Commercial Hotel, split, fried, and served on a hamburger bun. The drug store whose sign is partially obscured had a penny slot machine just inside the door, more fascinating for a little kid than any video game. Other than that my main memories of Elko are of dust, heat, freezing cold in winter, and drunks passed out on the sidewalk. And the smell of the stockyards. Passing throughAt one point, in the early 1950s, my Uncle Dick was a radio DJ in Elko. One of a number of unusual jobs he had trying to put his life back together after the war. He was a good guy. (The Gallery, Arthur Rothstein, Railroads, Small Towns)
Kansas Cornucopia: 1941
... View full size. (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/14/2019 - 11:57am -

October 1941. "Stockyards and flour mill. Wichita, Kansas." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. (The Gallery, M.P. Wolcott, Railroads)
Fast Fraight: 1906
... chemical industry. (Panoramas, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/25/2017 - 10:54am -

Ecorse, Michigan, circa 1906. "Great Lakes Engineering Works." Our title comes from the idiosyncratically graffitoed flatcar. Panorama made from two 8x10 inch glass negatives. Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Quite possibly a building slipIt looks like the stern of a ship being built on a slipway. Great Lakes Engineering was a large shipbuilding yard from 1902 until they closed in 1960. The Edmund Fitzgerald was built here in 1958. Dry DockBigGuy1960 is correct. The barrels on the dock are full of rivets. You can see them laying next to the barrels, no plates are visible. In 1923, Michigan Steel Mill started production (see Ecorse Michigan by Kathy Covert Warnes.) No gym membership requiredIt's no wonder that our ancestors who did these jobs never had to "work out". I don't know what was in all those barrels or how heavy they were, but this type of hard labor had to be like an eight hour workout and then some. I've thought the same thing seeing Shorpy pictures of coal-miners, men loading cotton and or bananas onto ships, foundry workers, etc. Yes, there are still lots of grueling, physically back-breaking jobs around today but most of us are spoiled rotten with cushy desk jobs and use our brains and schmoozing abilities more than we do our muscles and brawn. Floating Drydock?I believe the structure in the right foreground is a corner of a floating drydock - note the bollards at deck level and at the top of the structure. I believe the structure perpendicular to the stair landing is a cradle for a ship to rest on. Wonder if it's under construction or used by the shipyard? Iron menMy grandfather was a riveter there. I'm wondering if the towers in the distance are salt wells for the chemical industry. (Panoramas, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
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