MAY CONTAIN NUTS
HOME
 
JUMP TO PAGE   100  >  200  >  300  >  400  >  500  >  600
VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?
Home » Photo galleries » Member Gallery

High Wire Act: 1960

Submitted by prrvet on Sat, 03/17/2018 - 12:58pm.
Tags:
As a management trainee on the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 1950s I was assigned to the overhead catenary inspection car. I always carried a small Retina III in my pocket, so when I told the crew I wanted to take their picture they started hamming it up. No, the wire isn't hot. The pantograph yonder serves as a direct ground to the rail and the inspection car was propelled by diesel. The Supervisor is the fellow farthest from the camera. Those brown porcelain insulators made for some fine target practice for the local riflemen. 35mm Kodachrome by William D. Volkmer Daylesford, PA April 8, 1960. View full size.

As a management trainee on the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 1950s I was assigned to the overhead catenary inspection car. I always carried a small Retina III in my pocket, so when I told the crew I wanted to take their picture they started hamming it up. No, the wire isn't hot. The pantograph yonder serves as a direct ground to the rail and the inspection car was propelled by diesel. The Supervisor is the fellow farthest from the camera. Those brown porcelain insulators made for some fine target practice for the local riflemen. 35mm Kodachrome by William D. Volkmer Daylesford, PA April 8, 1960. View full size.

»

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Thank You, Mr. Volkmer.

Submitted by Goats Of Venus on Tue, 03/20/2018 - 11:45pm.

These views of workaday life on the late great Pennsylvania Railroad are priceless. I'll never forget the first time I rode behind — a pair no less — of GG1s hauling the Broadway out of Harrisburg, back in the early Amtrak days. Once you become aware of their grace and power, you were hooked for life.

Do those fellows have their C.T. 290s in their pockets? I see one of the first requirements for the job was to bend up a copper wire to string your sockets on.

I grew up in Cleveland many years too late to witness the P1a motors before they were sent off to Grand Central. I used to walk the Cleveland Union Terminal right-of-way often and on one occasion I found a copper "trolley clip" that had lain in the ballast for over 30 years. It is one of my prized possessions.

Again, thank you for sharing these wonderful photos.

 Zoom  |
Syndicate content  Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.