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Garage à Trois: 1940
... least a panoramic simulation: (The Gallery, Railroads, Russell Lee) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/27/2020 - 9:58am -

September 1940. "Locomotives in roundhouse. Durango, Colorado." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Now ain't this the berries!(as my late grandfather used to say) We have a wild assortment of D&RGW head-end power waiting here: #459 was a class K-27 “Mudhen” Mikado (2-8-2), built by Baldwin in 1903 as job #21936. She served on multiple divisions of the road, and was eventually sold to Ferrocarril Nacional Mexicano, which renumbered her and converted her to standard gauge. She was finally scrapped in 1963. #375 was also Baldwin-built and also from 1903. A C-25 Consolidation (2-8-0), she began life as Crystal River Railroad #103; the Rio Grande bought her from CRR in 1916 and numbered her 432, changing to #375 in 1924. As a purchase rather than a factory order, 375 was the only representative of class C-25 on the road. She met the scrapper’s torch at Alamosa, CO in 1949. #268 still survives, though I’m not sure that was a good thing. She was built in 1882, again by Baldwin (construction number 6002), as a Consolidation. She had a tiny firebox—her grate was only 14 square feet—and only developed 16,000 pounds at the drawbar, from which her class number of C-16 came. She was such a light weight that she could only work branch lines (Crested Butte, Baldwin, Lake City) and the main line to Montrose, which almost no one else used. She was also used to pull the wrecking train that dismantled the Crested Butte branch in 1955. After that, #268 went on static display in Gunnison with a gaudily inappropriate paint job. Eventually, she was refitted in colours more appropriate to her age and station, and now is on exhibit near the Gunnison Pioneer Museum. 268 is still with us Built in 1882, it is currently at the Gunnison Pioneer Museum. No. 268 was used in the filming of the movie "Denver & Rio Grande" in 1952. Missed OpportunityBack in 2002, I spent several hours with Allen Harper, owner of the railroad, interviewing him about the Missionary Ridge Fire. He was very interested to learn that I was a steam locomotive geek as well as a wildland firefighter. So he gave me an open invitation to be an honorary fireman on one of the trips to Silverton. If I remember correctly, he said, "If the engineer likes you, you'll shovel 4 tons of coal on the trip. If he doesn't like you, you'll shovel 7 tons." Fortunately or unfortunately, I never had a chance to take him up on his offer. Keep talkingWithout you "old geezers", all the knowledge of old locomotives, cars, appliances, vintage magazines etc. would vanish. You are the treasure of this site. The More Things Change.....Same place (maybe), same scene, different century: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/04/colorado-photos/610141/#img19 Now in Trois-DOr at least a panoramic simulation: (The Gallery, Railroads, Russell Lee)
Utility Boy: 1913
... is easier to judge by. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/28/2012 - 1:16pm -

November 1913. Orange, Texas. "General Utility Boy at Lutcher & Moore Lumber. 'I'm 14 years old; been here one year. Get $1 a day.' He runs errands and helps around. I saw him pushing some of these empty cars. Exposed to the weather and some danger. In the sawmill and planing mill I saw several boys who might be under 15." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size. A dollar a day$1 a day sounds terrible to modern ears, but it had considerable buying power at the turn of the last century. My CPI calculator only goes back to 1913, and even then $1 had the buying power of $24 today, so in 1903 it was probably a few dollars more. Not bad for a kid in those times. More on Pulling Slabs I was 19 and working my way through college in Southern Illinois and worked at a lumber yard for over 2 years. The worst job I had was to unload a full boxcar of various length and width boards. I "rode the forks"(of the fork truck)up to the top of the load, which was only 3' from the top of the inside of the car and was, in Summer, around a furnace in temp. Each board had to be passed out to the waiting forks, and then sorted by length and width on the ground. It took two of us 10-14 days to do a car. But, I was 19 and not 14. I made $1.40/hr, and at least back then one could still work their way through college. And, I had mostly much better jobs at the yard, like waiting on customers and then driving delivery. Regardless, I tip my hat to that tough little 14 y/o. I hope he found other opportunities in this industry along the way. Pulling slabsMy late father used to tell the story about his days as a teenager working in a sawmill in the hot Florida woods before he got drafted into WW2. "Pulling slabs" was the hardest most miserable job he ever had before or since. At the time he was on his high school football team and was 6 feet and 210 pounds and a pretty tough guy (he thought). But that job broke him and he quit after a week. He said he was actually glad to see the letter from Uncle Sam. A Dollar a Day is How Much?To put this into some sort of perspective this 14 year old was paid $1 a day. Presumably he's working a full day, because that's what kids did in those days. And that that day wasn't your namby pamby eight hour day in a forty hour work week. it was more than likely a twelve hour day or more. So what rivlax's $24 today (actually according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics says it's $23.27) is pretty close to $2 an hour. Or to convert it back to the wages of the time (because the kid wasn't getting modern wages he was getting wages of the period) the kid is getting paid $.083 and hour. Yes just a fraction over 8 CENTS an hour. Not good for anyone at any time. Groovy Wheels?The wheelsets have outside flanges. Isn't this kind of unusual or are the wheels double flanged (grooved)? The Shadow KnowsRe: Groovy wheels Those look like standard wheels to me. The shadows are falling in such a way as to seem like flanges over the track. (Notice where the boy's shadow is.) That plus the usual lensatic effects of these large format cameras. The wheel on the rightmost cart is easier to judge by. (The Gallery, Kids, Lewis Hine, Railroads)
Compleat Angler: 1901
... locomotive type. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/12/2015 - 8:48am -

Circa 1901. "Bridge over the Susquehanna at Pittston, Pennsylvania." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. The view today courtesy of GoogleView Larger Map Why is the bridge on one side of the supports?I am wondering why the bridge is on only one side of the supports. Would another track have been put beside it eventually? Or was this how they were constructed-- I notice that the side holding up the track seem reinforced with stone coming down at an angle. Fishing For?Bullhead catfish or sunfish I'm guessing, since he's still-fishing. Bullheads on bottom, sunnies if he's using a float. The smallmouth bass so sought after on the Susquehanna these days had probably not been imported yet--they're not native. Carp were only beginning to become unwanted guests in America's rivers. CamelbackThe locomotive on the bridge is a type called a Camelback. The engineer and brakeman sat in a cab that straddled the boiler in the middle of the locomotive. The fireman had his own shelter at the rear to transfer coal from the tender to the boiler firebox. The reason for this design was that they burned local Anthracite coal which is very high in fixed carbon. It burns hot but slowly, like charcoal. To get enough heat to power the locomotive the firebox had to be almost as wide as the locomotive, making it impossible for the engineer to see ahead from a rear mounted cab. The solution was to put the cab ahead of the firebox. I've fished exactly where he is, probably 80 years later.Technically this fellow is sitting in West Pittston, not Pittston itself, which is what you're looking at across the river. West Pittston and Pittston are two separate towns, with different school districts. So we Wyoming Area Warriors considered the Pittston Patriots our sworn enemies. Of course back then, the worst you did to your enemy was maybe TP the trees in their front yard. That always showed 'em! Regarding the fishing, he's probably fishing for his dinner. Many years later, we caught a lot, but never ate them, since the river these days is pretty, but not necessarily something you want to eat out of. And one final thing for jaylgordon-the bridge abutments are slanted like that on the upriver side, to allow debris flowing downstream to more easily roll off and not get stuck on them. Bridge SupportsThe Pennsylvania Railroad and her subsidiaries would typically build bridges in this manner, with a piling wide enough to accommodate two tracks; but only place one track over the bridge. The reasoning, at least for the railroad, was that if traffic or demand ever became such that a second track needed added; it was simply easier to plunk a new bridge down on the extra width. This also meant that the existing line would not need to be closed during the construction. The locomotive in question looks to be one of the PRR's 4-4-0 camelback types, though it's possibly a 4-6-0. (Can not tell from the angle.) Here is an image of the possible locomotive type. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Eats, Liquors: 1943
... pick out the riveted joint. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/01/2014 - 10:57am -

March 1943. "Ash Fork, Arizona. Pulling into the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railyard." With much helpful signage. Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. +71Here's the Liquors building, albeit from a different angle. The well-camouflaged windowless brick building beyond the EATS sign still exists, as well. There is an encouraging amount of tree growth in the last seven decades, making it hard to see which humble bungalows survive. View Larger Map Long climb to WilliamsLooking east toward Bill Williams Mountain, and a little beyond that, the Navajo Army Depot, about a 2,000 foot climb from Ash Fork. The Depot was the prime holding area for munitions heading to the Pacific Theater until it was moved to Nevada later in the War. Ash Fork is known as a flagstone producing and shipping center and its population of 400 is still holding on. The little town that could. Why?This photo reminded me of a question from my youth (1950s) that nobody ever answered. Why do/did boxcars have those horizontal ridges on the ends? Were they to allow shelving? Were they an artifact of manufacturing? Or were they "just there"? Inquiring minds, etc..... Those hills in the distanceare two miles away to the East, the tracks make a swing to the North and then a very circuitous route Eastward. Escalante Hotel nearbyOff-camera (behind Delano, to the right) is one of the more notable Harvey House hotel/restaurant/depot complexes. Named the Escalante Hotel, it was constructed in 1907, and demolished in 1951. Only the boiler smokestack remains. Also to the right is the path of Route 66 through downtown Ash Fork. Grainy - 35mm ?This photo is unlike any other Jack Delano photograph I have seen. Could this have been a "grab shot" with a 35mm camera? [It's from a 2-1/4 square roll film negative, but presented here in greater magnification than many other Delano images shot in that format: 2700 pixels wide vs. 1900 for Women Wipers, for example. -tterrace] [Or you can think of it as less reduced. The full-resolution image is 4252 pixels wide. - Dave] Gulp & BlowIt looks like the 'Eats' shed and the 'Liquors' sign are strictly for the Railroad men - doesn't seem to be any access road around. Another great Jack Delano railroad photoNote the collection of sand next to the standpipe on the adjoining rails. Obviously, steam engines with a train in tow would pull up and stop here for water. In order to get going again, the engineer would have to apply sand to the rails to overcome the inertia of getting his train back in motion. Nothing has changed, diesel locomotives have to carry sand for the same traction purposes too. It's still 'the steel wheel on the steel rail'. Regarding "Why?"These boxcar ends are all steel stampings designed to hold the roof, walls and floor together. The horizontal corrugations were intended to give the end strength to resist the force of the lading pushing against the end. Without them a shifting load might just deform the end enough to break the rivet joints and tear the end out of the car. These patterns all have names to the students of railroad freightcars. These ends on Illinois Central 28465(?) are pretty standard dreadnaught ends (as opposed to improved dreadnaught ends), probably built by Standard Railway Supply. They were a two part end, with the upper and lower halves joined by a rivet strip between them. If you look at the gap just below the tack board on the right (used to tack messages regarding car destination or handling en route), you can pick out the riveted joint. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Whirlpool Rapids: 1900
... ripped out during the Depression. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/22/2016 - 11:02am -

Circa 1900. "Whirlpool Rapids from Niagara Railway bridge, Niagara Falls, N.Y." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Great Gorge Route1895-1935; more a victim of the automobile & Great Depression than a rock slide. What is the purpose of the little house on the lower left? It looks like some kind of enclosed elevator system. Then the wooden walkway goes to another little house just around the bend. Judging by the different color in the walkway a boulder (now sitting by the river's edge) has come crashing down. (Later) Thanks to a Shorpy inspired afternoon, I find the walkway along the left bank is still there today. It looks like it may have been modified a couple of times. It's called the White Water Walkway. A tourist photo op in Niagra Park. I wonder if the building almost out of sight is a resturant or inn? It looks like all the tracks are gone from the right bank. Sight seeing from the city?The train car appears to be a street car from local town on a sight seeing excursion? Is the covered shed for the switchman? I noticed a couple of cross over tracks there also. Whatizit?OK, I know it isn't a third rail, but what is on the outside rail (closest to the river), on the curve of the track the trolley is on? I see another set of this on the next curve behind the trolley too. FYI, I am not referring to the guard rail inside the gauge. edit: Finding more rail oddities now. The repetition of unknown boxes back by the crossover and station, again on the river side, on the wooden catenary support poles is strange. Why so many? edit #2: John and all, thanks for the info on the name and location of the photos. With that I found: [url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Niagara_Gorge_Railroad.jpg[/url] This photo clearly shows that 'third rail' as another type of guard rail for the event of a riverside derailment, it would hopefully keep the trucks from veering any further into the gorge. No insulators seen supporting it and confirmation of trolley pole fed power. Around the GorgeThis link: https://www.shorpy.com/node/8978?size=_original#caption and others of downtown Buffalo include ads for the trolley car. "Around the Gorge Summer Excursions 75 cents" They did mean both sides of the Niagara River, the opposite side of the "Around" was on top of the other cliff, see the row of poles at upper left. Yes, it was an International streetcar line. Postcard closeupsTwo of the three postcards shown here: http://30squaresofontario.blogspot.ca/2012/01/niagara-falls-trolley-card... might give a little more insight into track and trolleys. Thanks for posting this picture. I haven't seen an overview of this trolley line before. Some AnswersBilly B: That house on the left is the bottom entrance to the elevator for the Whitewater Walkway (been there several times) on the Canadian side and also a gift shop for tourists. It's still there and was even seen in the movie "Superman 2". Billy B & MrK: Those tracks were part of an excursion line that ran along the bottom of the gorge on the American side. The line ceased operation about 1918 after a couple of rock falls wrecked the tracks. It ran from Lewiston NY south to about where the Whirlpool bridge is now. There was a turnaround and the passengers would ride back to Lewiston. The tracks were ripped out during the Depression. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
A Pretty Grille: 1941
... million dollars. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Railroads, San Francisco) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/29/2014 - 2:28pm -

San Francisco, 1941. "Pontiacs being unloaded from freight cars." Slathered with chrome. 8x10 Eastman Kodak Safety Film negative. View full size. Last of the New Cars for ConsumersI'm supposing that these are being unloaded not long before the attack on Pearl Harbor. These represent the last model year of new cars available to consumers until World War 2 was finished. Sales of new automobiles were severely limited for the duration. [You're a year off. These are 1941 Pontiacs; 1942 was the last model year for new cars before the war. - Dave] Note that the Pontiacs are being unloaded from special end-door RR boxcars. The boxcars shown have now-obsolete features such as full-height ladders and roof walks. Examining the boxcar doors close up will reveal minor damage. Autos are still shipped extensively by rail, but the current auto carriers have three decks! Put them back in the freight carThen wait 75 years and open it again. What a time capsule that would be! Illuminating?I refer to the hood ornament which looks like clear plastic and just might have lit up at night. Barn FindReminds me of an urban legend current when I was young in Minnesota circa 1980. A boxcar (or two, or three) filled with 1949 Hudsons or '42 Chevys or (fill in dream car here) was found, lost by the railroad for decades, on a siding in Michigan or Ohio or Canada. Ah, well. Great photo. Chief Pontiac's faceDid not light up until 1949. Bryant StreetBuilding in background is the Hamm's Brewery at 1550 Bryant Street. See this photo across railroad loading docks. My guess is that the photo was taken at the former site of the Southern Pacific 16th Street freight depot, located around Treat Street between Florida and Harrison. The Shorpy photo and the one below both appear to be from around Treat Street. looking towards Florida. A 1960s track diagram for the Southern Pacific doesn't indicate a match for the freight sheds and ramp for unloading (see Zone 8 page 1). The track diagram does indicate track 828 was the "old 16th Street Freight Depot," suggesting the tracks had been rearranged before 1960. Interesting story here.The type of railroad car is an "end door" type. They were designed for carrying automobiles, or larger loads. The end doors were only on one end though, meaning that to unload, you had to move the cars around after each was emptied. Bout twenty years ago, in a small town in Georgia, they stumbled across three of these cars abandoned in an old yard. Took some working to figure out, but the cars had apparently been lost in transit to a local dealership in Savannah. Sidelined due to something wrong with the trucks (bogies the cars ride on.) The cars were just forgotten. Well, when the crews found them, they asked what to do and were told to just scrap them. Opening the doors, they found that each car held three brand new Ford Galaxies, with all of six miles on the odomoter. The owner of the company doing the demolition took two for himself, and divided the remaining cars among his crew. One of the cars sold at Barret's auto auction some years back, with the winning bid being over one million dollars. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Railroads, San Francisco)
Seeandbee: 1912
... final dimensions. The 1888 is the year of manufacture as railroads like to keep track of how long things last and for the past hundred ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/12/2012 - 6:07am -

November 9, 1912. Wyandotte, Michigan. "Steamer Seeandbee on the ways just before the launch." 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Strange fateShe became in 1942 the USS Wolverine (IX-64), a converted training carrier. The only one of two sidewheeler carriers ever. It Wasn't Finished YetThey must have finished it off while it was in the water. Here's what it looked like finished. Seeandbee's Future AccomplishmentsEarly on in WWII, the Seeandbee (along with the Greater Buffalo) were purchased by the Navy and converted into the world's only freshwater, coal-fired, paddlewheel aircraft carriers (The USS Wolverine and the Uss Sable, respectively), for training pilots. Both were scrapped at the end of the war. The Namewas selected by contest, and Seeandbee stood for "C&B" -- Cleveland & Buffalo, the railroad that owned her. Sidewheeler to carrierIn WW II the Seandbee was converted to the USS Wolverine, a training carrier (or "unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary", acto the navy). One GHW Bush qualified for carrier duty on her sister training ship, the USS Sable. TensionIt must be a really tense time, standing there, just waiting for someone to give the signal and see this marvelous ship slide into the water. And float [hopefully]. I like the lady in the lower right corner with the babe in arms, I'd step back a bit further if I were her, just in case. All together now, on the count of three:So when it is time to launch it do all of those guys under the ship knock out their respective support poles and then duck quickly between the rails that it uses to slide sideways into the water? What happens if one or more of the poles are not cooperative about knocking loose or someone misses the three count? Sounds to me like an occupation that life insurance companies would certainly shy away from. I must be missing something, there must be a better way. Please enlighten us Shorpy. No Ducking RequiredIf I'm not mistaken, the poles aren't pulled out from under the hull at launch. The ship and the support poles are all resting upon those topmost inclined planks, and it's the planks which are being held in place from the other side. Their anchorage is removed, and the whole system, ship, poles and planks, slides off. Splash Zone?A new launch looks like a popular spectacle, but I wonder if the front rows, close to the near side of the ways, is a Shamu-style splash zone! "Please leave all Kodaks and radio equipment in your automobiles, as the management cannot be responsible for damages!" Honeymoon and TailhookMy late friend graduated from the US Naval Acadmedy in 1941 and married, spending his honeymoon on a SeeandBee voyage. He then became a Naval Air Pilot and practiced carrier landings and take-offs from the same ship renamed the USS Wolverine. Certainly he and his wife were one couple of maybe a few who could have ever claimed to have spent their honeymoon on an aircraft carrier. Proto-taggingAll you commenters from last week: the railroad car in the foreground appears to have some sort of pre-spray paint graffiti on it, including what looks like a stylized letter "T". Old wheelI like the flatcars wheel - forged with the year 1888. Also, when they launch ships like this, how do they / DO they recover the wood rigging that slides into the water? Does it sink? Float? Flat car wheelThat wheel has been cast, not forged. The number is probably a serial number. More freight car wheels !Freight car wheels are forged not cast as they are made of steel and turned to the final dimensions. The 1888 is the year of manufacture as railroads like to keep track of how long things last and for the past hundred years or so it has been required by the Feds.( retired railroad machinist) Fire SafetyThe Seeandbee represented a step forward in providing fire detection and suppression built into the vessel. Perhaps that, along with large size, made her a suitable candidate for conversion to an aircraft carrier. While steam-driven side-wheel paddlers were approaching their final days when the Seeandbee was launched, it was still considered by some to be superior propulsion system for maneuverability and passage through ice. Safety Engineering, Vol. 26, November, 1913. A New Era in Steamship Equipment At last a steamship company has constructed a vessel in which the fire peril has been considered as important as length, breadth and comfort. There has recently been launched the largest and most costly passenger ship on inland waters—the "Seeandbee"—built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company, and owned by the Cleveland and Buffalo Transportation Company. This vessel plies between Cleveland and Detroit. The "Seeandbee" is 500 feet in length and has sleeping accommodations for 1.500 passengers. In the design and equipment of this vessel, nothing in the way of comfort has been omitted. A new element of safety has been introduced. Contrary to the almost universal rule of steamship construction, the owners of the "Seeandbee" have afforded protection against fire for the passengers. The Aero Fire Alarm Company, New York, has equipped the ship throughout with the Aero Automatic Fire Alarm System. Sprinklers have been installed. How many passenger-carrying steamships carry such protection against fire? Examples have been frequent recently of the terrible destruction which fire accomplishes when it appears on a vessel unequipped to speedily detect and extinguish fire outbreaks. Thousands of lives are jeopardized each day on board firetrap ships, the owners of which refuse to consider seriously the grave danger to life from the fire peril which exists in their vessels. The Cleveland & Buffalo Transportation Company has set an example in providing for the safety of passengers, which can well be followed by other steamship owners. The "Seeandbee" represents a great step forward in steamship construction. The Aero Automatic Fire Alarm System consists of a fine copper tube which is extended in loops throughout the entire ship. Both ends of these loops are returned to a cabinet, which, on one end, contains a sensitive diaphragm, which moves sufficiently to touch an electrical contact point on the occasion of fire breaking out in the ship. Fire causes a rapid rise of temperature, and thus the air in the tube expands and so operates the diaphragm. The other end of the circuit terminates in a testing valve, which is opened at the time of testing into an air pump, by which pressure is created in the tube similar to fire pressure, causing the diaphragm on the other end to make the electric contact and carries out in exact manner the operation of the system in the event of an actual fire. … More on RR wheelsThose wheels are cast. The date of manufacture is included in serial numbers today per AAR regulations. I don`t know if that was true in 1888. All wheels made in North America today are cast except for the following manufacturer. http://www.standardsteel.com/history.html Forged wheels are required for passenger service and some freight cars. Most cast wheels today have the serial numbers on the back plate raised above the surface. Forged wheels have numbers stamped into the back hub or rim face. Retired wheel machinist. Last word on RR wheels?All the previous posts are partially correct in their own way. The wheel in question is almost undoubtedly a cast wheel. The raised lettering is a clue. The 1888 is also undoubtedly the date of manufacture. Railroad car wheels are currently manufactured both by forging and by casting. I believe that cast wheels comprise a larger segment of the new wheel market, due to lower cost. These are cast STEEL wheels, not cast iron, manufactured in highly automated facilities. However, a wheel cast in 1888 is most likely a cast IRON wheel. The real visual ID on these are the cast-in cooling ribs on the reverse side. More than anyone likely wanted to know about a minor detail in the foreground! John G (former RR Car Dept. Manager) Where's WaldoI think I have found him and his twin brother wearing identical knit caps in the front, near the water, to the right of center. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
Illinois Central: 1942
... and switches. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/21/2014 - 12:40pm -

November 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. Engine taking on coal at an Illinois Central Railroad yard." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. PartsThis is apparently a switching locomotive, as indicated by the sandbox (sometimes called a dome) atop the boiler in front of the cab, with it's sand delivery pipe running down the side of the firebox to deliver dry sand to the top of the rail behind the rear driving wheels for additional traction when starting to move a heavy cut of cars. Illinois Central locomotives, such as this one, had very commodious cabs. Small windows in the front wall of the cab, directly behind the sandbox, are to allow the engineer, and fireman, to see the color of the smoke as it is expelled out the stack - information important to maintaining the proper, efficient operation of the locomotive. The three parallel pipes running out of the picture to the right, from below the engineers position in the cab, are air brake control lines. The "broken grate" firebox (the bottom of which is indicated by the double row of rivets just below the air brake lines) is above the driving wheels, indicating that this engine was designed about two decades before this portrait. The gadget on the side of the boiler, directly below the sandbox is the injector. A simple, inexpensive, reliable, and miraculous device under the control of the engineer, that has been applied to every steam locomotive since the Civil War. With no moving parts, it takes steam from the boiler (the pipe connection at the top), sucks water from the tender (the connection below, that runs diagonally below the cab), and forces that water forward (the pipe to the right) into the boiler! This locomotive also has been equipped with a canvas awning above the engineers window (now, rolled up). This enables the engineer to stick his head out and look back, during inclement weather, to see signals during switching movements. Recently rebuilt 3600 class 2-10-0 locomotiveThe IC constructed 15 2-10-0 locomotives which were numbered from 3610 to 3624 over a period from 1939 to 1941. These were big engines that were pieced together from salvaged 2-8-2 and 2-10-2 locomotives. The lack of a trailing truck under the cab makes this an engine unsuited for much switching work as the trailing truck helps guide the drivers thru curves and switches. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Needles: 1943
... not an interchange move. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/23/2013 - 5:33pm -

March 1943. "Needles, California. A general view of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Can you say HOT?I spent a long month in Needles one summer day. Seared in my memory. Pun intended. How High?Marmarinou wonders about vertical clearances on the Santa Fe Railroad. Especially on the main lines, they were so generous that some tall steam engines had retractable smoke stacks that only had to be lowered to clear the engine house doorway! That line was an early route of double stacked intermodal containers. Herr HitlerYou think that you can defeat this country? Just try. Shovellin' SandIt looks like the two laborers in the gondola car in the foreground are emptying sand that will be used in the locomotives. This is put into a sand hopper and dribbled onto the track to provide traction when rails are wet or a combination of weight and grade are causing the drivers to slip. I'll wager that this photo was taken from the top of the sand tower, which is used to load this material into the locomotives. Unless a lot has changed in railway technology in just the last few years, diesel-electric engines still use sand for this purpose. Speaking of shovelsSpeaking of shovels, that excavator (I would have called it a "steam shovel" as a kid) on the flat car really adds uniqueness to this photo. It seems to be higher than anything else in the yard. I wonder how high was the limit for rolling stock on this line? As usual Delano hits another grand slam. There’s a lot in this picture to study: the pole lines and signal bridge in the distance, numerous switches, what appears to be a track full of cabooses over yonder, the two guys laboring in the sand…among other things. One has to wonder which way the Lima power shovel (diesel by all appearances) is going. The sheet metal shows some signs of wear suggesting she’s not new. The routing card would tell us if we had super duper resolution. Before IBM and RFID technology each railcar had a hand written card stapled to it (visible on the shovel and four cars it’s coupled to) indicating either it’s online (not the internet kind…) destination or off going junction, with successive interchange points and carriers listed. As well, a waybill followed the car wherever it went, usually in the possession of the brains…I mean conductor. We used to call a yard plugged like this “straight across,” the only way in being by parachute. Of course WW 2 was in progress and I’m sure that alone accounted for much of the traffic. Lima shovel, UTLX tank carMany interesting bits of equipment in this photo - the Lima shovel is perhaps a model 404? Lima Locomotive Works were one of the big three US loco builders, but it was their Shovel & Crane Division that kept the company going during the 1930s. The tank car next to the shovel is also interesting. A Union Tank Car narrow frame car, these dated back to 1907/08. They were the predecessor of UTLX's well-known Type V or 'Van Dyke' frameless cars. There's also a smallish 3-dome tank car further along the cut, which I'd love to see more of. Apart from using sand to improve adhesion, oil-burning steam locos also used sand to clean out accumulated soot from the tubes and flues. Typically there would be a small container of sand carried on the front of the tender, so the fireman could scoop sand from it and throw it into the firebox through the peephole. More About Locomotive SandDash Riprock's comments about sand being used in locomotives, including the present day diesels, leaves out one of the more important reasons those men are shoveling the sand. The sand they are shoveling is wet and before it is deposited into the locomotive, it must be totally dry. When I worked on the railroad, we had a large gas fired stove with a hopper on the top. Men hand shoveled sand 24 hours per day from a bin into the top of the stove. As the sand dried it dropped by gravity into a bin below the floor. Then the dried sand was blown by compressed air into hoppers high above the locomotives, where it fell by gravity into the locomotive. The intense sand blasting that the stove received every day meant that the life expectancy of a stove was only a few months before it had to be replaced. That was about an eight hour job, as I recall. Today, pre-dried sand arrives in hopper trucks and hopper rail cars and is blown directly into the locomotive using compressed air. The Santa Fe Passenger carsSanta Fe introduced the El Capitan train Chicago to Los Angeles long before double stack intermodals. The El Capitan was the precusor of Amtrak's western route cars. Earth moving equipmentSomewhere in my emails there was a picture of a coastal gun being delivered on the West Coast during WWII. It showed the gun and earth moving equipment like the one in the above picture. Note that the shovel has loose cables and there is a bulldozer and scraper on the other track. Also look at the lumber in the gondolas. This must have been some sort of construction going on a short distance away, not an interchange move. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Electro-Motive: 1943
... this transition took place? (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/11/2015 - 11:21am -

March 1943. "Sibley, Missouri. Passing one of the diesel passenger locomotives of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe." Medium format nitrate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Missouri RiverBottom land required the elevated tracks seen in the background. Clever title, but --The title may be Electro-Motive, but the picture actually shows AT&SF 50 and 50A, their lone pair of ALCO DL-109 units. Bad day coming to Black RockI see a hat, a coat, and a tie - is that Spencer Tracy sitting in the cab? East SibleyI'd say the photo was taken about right here. In the distance, to the left of the passenger train, you can see the trestles on the approach to the bridge over the Missouri River, where the track curves south. The pond and road on the south side of the tracks are still there. Today (and probably back then too), the line is double-track on either side of the bridge, but single-track on the bridge. The freight that Jack is on probably had to wait for the passenger train to come across the bridge. Even today, I sometimes hear the BNSF Marceline Subdivision dispatcher (on the scanner) asking a train to wait at "East Sibley" for another train. Currently, the only passenger train on this route is Amtrak's Southwest Chief - its next stop west is Kansas City, MO and its next stop east is La Plata, MO. Also, the guy on the near side of the passenger locomotive seems to be really well dressed - hat, shirt, tie, jacket. Would the conductor normally ride up there, or is something else going on? Rare Breed.When the 50 set was delivered, the Super Chief was usually powered by an A-B set of E-units, so an A-B set of Alcos fit the operating practice. They got off to a bad start - Santa Fe Locomotive Development says the Santa Fe rep attending the roll-out at Schenectady observed the carbodies shaking vigorously to the beat of the four idling 539's and refused to accept them. The structure was stiffened to reduce the shake and Santa Fe eventually took them, but even then, the locomotives' gyrations could reportedly be felt back in the train at station stops. The account of their first westbound run on the Super in McCall's Santa Fe Early Diesel Daze suggests that they all but melted the traction motors down to the ballast going over Raton Pass. After returning east, their career on extra-fare long distance trains was over, and naturally no repeat orders were forthcoming. Santa Fe wouldn't look to Alco for passenger power again until the PA's and PB's were introduced after the war. Santa Fe generally found uses for the 50L&A on lower grade assignments east of the Rockies like the Chicagoan or the Tulsan. Unlike the PA's, 50L&A could and did MU with EMD power, and several photos exist of them in mixed consists with E-units, turret cab 1L, or booster 1A. Brake wheelsBrake wheels on freight cars were for many years in the horizontal position like this one, on the car ahead of the caboose, from which Delano took this photo. For years, brakemen rode the tops of freight cars during yard switching procedures. This practice was outlawed for sound safety reasons. I seem to recall after WWII that brake wheels started to appear on the ends on cars instead. Does anyone know the date that this transition took place? (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Hotel Nicollet: 1905
... I miss her! (The Gallery, DPC, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/23/2017 - 10:29am -

Minneapolis, Minnesota, circa 1905. "Hotel Nicollet, Nicollet & Washington Avenues." 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Widow's walksWhat were they looking for in the distance? Errant Norwegian bachelor farmers? Clean Slate.Everything you see here(and for blocks in all directions) is gone. Urban renewal in the 50s and 60s blessed the city with many parking lots. A bit of history here. Ancient Architecture?What are those lantern style structures on the roof? Natural lighting and ventilation for the staircases? The Place to Be"Even so, the Nicollet House was the place to stay in Minneapolis as the city began a post-Civil War economic boom. Guests included three U.S. presidents – Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt — along with other local and national notables." https://www.minnpost.com/business/2015/01/nicollet-house-was-minneapolis... It's easy to see howThe noble sport of jaywalking came about. No traffic conrol in force or needed. Still, judging by the way the couple behind the horse-drawn wagon are gingerly picking their next step, used organic products littering the roadway were a constant worry for those trying to keep a shine on their boots. I'm old enough to remember horses on the streets as a kid. Don't miss them. The folks staring down the street are probably looking for the next streetcar. Amazing how these old photos often show wide streets. Rather remarkable planning foresight for future traffic or was land just inexpensive one wonders. Grandma was thereMy grandmother, Marit Tobiasdatter Steivang (AKA: "May Thompson" in the US), immigrated to the US from Norway in 1903 at age 15 and, after a short stay in Stanley Wisconsin with her oldest sister (who was "too bossy" and expected my grandmother to do all of the household grunt work), moved on to live briefly with her brother Andrew's family in North Dakota. In ND she attended school with much younger grade school kids in order to learn English and, to earn her keep, did housework for the Mayor. She never learned to pronounce "vegetable" without a leading "W." Shortly thereafter she and a 3rd cousin, whose family had immigrated in an earlier generation, upped and moved to the big city where they worked together in a boarding house in downtown Minneapolis. This is a eyeball-scape she would undoubtedly have seen and I get pleasure in studying what she saw and in searching for her in the photograph. No 4½ foot woman in this photo though, so she was probably off peeling potatoes for the boarders. She was a perfecto grandmother and would be 130 years old next month, had she made it past 93 and kept on pluggin'. Oh, how I miss her! (The Gallery, DPC, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Railroads)
River Traffic: 1898
... . - Dave] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/23/2019 - 12:09pm -

The Mississippi River circa 1898. "Winona, Minnesota. The levee below the bridge." At left, the sternwheeler Lafayette Lamb. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photgraphic Company. View full size. Answered my own questionThe Winona Bridge had a swing span “The bridge was built from the Wisconsin shore across the back channel to Island 72, now known as Latsch Island, across the main channel to the Winona shore. In the middle of the channel, a huge stone pylon was built up from the riverbed, and a steel and wood beam span was built on top of it. This section of bridge was designed to pivot on that center support, swinging parallel to the shore to allow steamboats, barges and log rafts to pass unimpeded. A tender's shack stood at the pivot point to shelter the rail roadman, who set the machinery in motion to swing the bridge closed when a train approached. At 363 feet, its swinging span -- the "draw" -- was the longest in the world.” https://www.winonadailynews.com/special-section/pieces-of-the-past/thurs... Bridge Over Troubled WaterTwo bridges can be seen in this photo. One had been around for more than 25 years. The other, much bigger, was pretty new at the time. From a 1960s report for the Interior Department, addressing both:         Although a railroad bridge connected Winona to the Wisconsin shore as early as 1871, the city had no direct highway access for another two decades. Teamsters made do with a ferry that carried them over the Main Channel to Latsch Island; there they disembarked onto a long wooden trestle that spanned the North Channel and the river's remaining expanse. In 1892, the ferry finally gave way to Bridge #5930, Steel, cantilever, through-truss design, the span was a municipally financed project designed to make Winona the main trade center for its Wisconsin neighbors. To retire the construction debt, the city administered the new "High Wagon Bridge" as a toll crossing. By the 1930s, auto traffic was making the now "old" high bridge obsolete, with its zigzag connection to an older North Channel wagon bridge a serious impediment. A new span was designed and survives today about a quarter mile up river from the bridges seen in the photo above. Ironically, an updated form of the original North Channel wagon bridge survives for non-motorized traffic. Full stop?Why do you suppose they put a period after "Lamb"? [Period signage. - Dave] Period signage. Nice.I think Dave would be absolutely miserable if confined to a language where all words have only one meaning. Clouds? Sky?Just realized that the sky has clouds. Was this shot with panchromatic film? [This wasn't shot with any kind of film. It's a glass plate negative. - Dave] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Harbor Belt: 1943
... like an IHB tower to me. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/23/2014 - 6:52pm -

January 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The train passes many interlocking towers on the way and the conductor watches them for any special messages." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Wooden DodoVirtually every track crossing of any importance had an interlocking tower guarding it; some were single story shantys, and some were massive brick or block structures. But most were very much like this one. As busy as this tower looks capable of, it likely was manned 24/7. The rods visible left of the track physically align switches, derails and even semaphore signals. More modern interlockings had electric motors to move these things, although I worked around such a plant as this well into the 1980's. Towers such as this are Dodo birds, or very nearly so. The function of protecting a level crossing,interlocking or a junction is today controlled from many miles away, and the towers have been falling all over the country for decades; if any are still in use for intended purpose, they are few in number. InterestingI don't know why, but I love the wintry-scene railway photographs. I am curious what the lines running along the track are, on the left. Are they signal lines? They seem too far away from the tracks to be an electric engine power source, and the supports would interfere with power engine power shoes. >>>>>>> Thanks to Olde Buck! They are control rods for signals and turnouts, which makes much more sense. I've read that those controls took some muscle to use, and no wonder! An Armstrong OperationWhen I was about 14 a tower man in Cumberland, MD let me try my hand at an interlocking lever. It wouldn't budge. The name is apt. That tower also had a timer which had to be set before any levers could be thrown, then each lever was locked in its new position until the timer expired after the next train passed. It was to make the operator think out his moves carefully, and prevent last minute changes. I H B R RSeems the name went from Indiana Harbor Belt Rail Road to Indiana Harbor Belt R R, to Indiana Harbor Belt, then to Harbor Belt finally on its later diesel engines it was just Harbor. Location on "The Harbor."Looking to the northwest at McCook, the Santa Fe crossing. I recognize the jog in the mainline on the other side of the diamond. Manual interlockings The Harbor (IHB) had about a dozen or so interlocking towers back in the day, each one a busy place. I’m going to hazard a guess and suggest, for several reasons, the featured picture is the old IHB Ivanhoe tower, controlling movements of IHB and EJE traffic across the diamond about a mile east of Gibson at 160th Street. To the best of my knowledge: 1) Dolton Tower, controlling movements across the UP (north/south) and IHB (east/west) is still manned by an interlocking operator, 2) the GTW tower at Blue Island is still a manual interlocking, as is 3) Gibson Yard west end tower. At one point most, if not all, of these towers were "strongarm" plants. Remote controlled switches and signals have replaced the Stone Age technology, but the operator headaches can still be intense. He/she has to balance the interests and wishes of a yardmaster, a dispatcher, and a trainmaster, among others, each of which has their own priorities. Anyone who has ever worked a Chicago tower will know well what I speak of. Attached is a picture of a strongarm operator lining a switch, one perhaps several hundred feet from the tower. McCook: Home of EMDJust on the other side of that aggregate pile in the background is General Motor's Electro-Motive Division, at 55th St. and old U.S. 66. All new EMD diesel locomotives delivered from this plant were handled by the IHB first. Manual interlockings photokreriver, what tower is shown in the photo you posted? It doesn't look like an IHB tower to me. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Central Furnace Works: 1908
... (The Gallery, Cleveland, DPC, Factories, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/12/2012 - 5:52pm -

Cleveland circa 1908. "Central Furnace Works." Foundry of the American Steel & Wire Co. on the Cuyahoga River. 8x10 glass negative. View full size. Just another piece of vanished history.The USS Central Furnaces plant was demolished in early 1984; by April only the 2 stripped and gutted furnaces themselves were still standing. Just about everything else, including the last 2 surviving 10-ton capacity Hulett unloaders, was gone or in pieces. This plant was the first major iron/steel producing plant to be demolished as a whole within the industrial flats of Cleveland, a sign of things to come. The large furnace at the north end of the plant, "A" furnace, was built in 1953-54 by the McKee company, it being the second last blast furnace to be built in Cleveland. The smaller furnace to the south was built in 1911. The plant was shut down in September 1978 in part due to EPA issues and declining business, among other reasons. I read that this plant originally started at this site in 1881, but the earliest photographic evidence of the plant's existence that I have come across dates back to at least 1901. In addition to unloading ore for its own use, this small plant unloaded ore and limestone for other local blast furnaces that were located on the east side of Cleveland just north of the intersection of what is now Broadway and Harvard Avenues, along the old Cleveland & Pittsburgh line of the Pennsy road. The location of these obscure blast furnaces was known as Emma Furnace plant, according to an old city street map from 1905 that I saw at the Cleveland Public Library. The Central Furnace plant unloaded the ore/stone and then railed the materials to Emma via the Newburgh & South Shore railroad. I read that rail service to the Emma furnaces was discontinued in the early 1930s, which indicated that the Emma plant was shut down at least in part by the Depression. I have never located any photos of the Emma furnaces but the literature and street map indicate that this plant existed. The 2 10-ton Huletts were built in 1908 at a brand new ore dock and storage yard that was located south of the Central Furnace plant, the Hulett dock being located between the Erie railroad right of way and Jefferson Avenue. These unloaders were equipped with weighing hoppers for loading ore into trains and a complete description of these Huletts can be found in The Iron Age, October 1908. A former neighbor who worked with the demolition crew that tore down the plant told me that the Huletts were detonated(!) with charges but that the 2 blast furnaces were pulled down by cables attached to D-9 or similar type of bulldozers, after the furnaces' foundations had been torn or jackhammered away. Most other Hulett demolitions usually began by cutting large pieces off the machines or by knocking the trolleys off the main girders of the bases. Story Here American Steel & Wire co.A link to a diagram of the facility: American Steel & Wire Company, Central Furnaces & Docks, General Plan of Works Showing Trestle How the area looks today, not much left! Birdseye view from Bing maps: http://binged.it/QDdtaV (The Gallery, Cleveland, DPC, Factories, Railroads)
Riverdale: 1923
... Center. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Railroads, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/01/2018 - 12:10pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1923. "View of Naval Observatory and Washington from Massachusetts Avenue hill." Harris & Ewing glass negative. View full size. Riverdale?Dave, I didn't remember the Naval Observatory, but something that high wouldn't have been near the railroad. The Naval Obs. is southwest of Riverdale, on the opposite side of center city. It's just a bit north of Georgetown; that's not considered Riverdale, is it? Harris & Ewing certainly should have known where they were. This view is looking towards Arlington/Rosslyn, Va. across the river. What I said about Riverdale is quite true. As for the Georgetown neighborhood, I've run a few trains down there as well, on the long-gone Georgetown-Silver Spring branch. ["Riverdale" is a pop-culture reference. - Dave] Been thereI've driven through the outskirts a few times; I've pulled a LOT of freight trains through there; I've even piloted a few MARC commuter jobs through Riverdale, but I never saw it look as appealing as it does in this old photo. (That heavy humidity looking like smoke, is still there in season.) JuxtapositionsI think it must be the juxtaposition of familiar still extant landmarks with bits of forest and anytown USA houses that makes this look like the best Model Train layout ever to me. My reaction is completely different than it has been to many other circa 1923 pictures on Shorpy! This is, for me, a view of my childhood somehow perfectly blended with the world of my grandparents, rather than a straight picture of the distant past. Amazing PhotoShows just how small Washington was back then. And why Cleveland Heights was considered a good place to go to escape the "City." Love to see a photo from the same spot today. I'd guess the Alban Towers wasn't even a dream yet. Confused by VirginiaThe Virginia side is pretty hilly around the cemetery, and rises over towards Crystal City. Everything on the Virginia side looks flat. Does anyone see Arlington House? [The hilly parts along the river are north of Rosslyn, out of frame to the right. Where today's Memorial Bridge crosses into Arlington, it's flat. Below, a Google Earth screen grab. Arlington House is the red dot. - Dave] Confusing PerspectiveThis is a really confusing perspective. It would appear that these are the Wisconsin Avenue streetcar tracks and that the shot was taken from somewhere near the intersection of Wisconsin and Massachusetts Avenues. You can see the Lincoln Memorial in this picture, which was completed in 1922, but not the Memorial Bridge, which didn't begin construction until 1926. What I'm having a hard time understanding is where is Arlington National Cemetery in this picture? [The Potomac as seen in this view is C-shaped and loops from top right to the left, then back to middle right. Virginia is on the right, between the arms of the C. Click the handy locator map below. - Dave] Capital TractionIf you look down toward Georgetown, you can make out the twin stacks of the Capital Traction power plant (built 1910-11). The incinerator that sat across the street and had a tall stack had not yet been constructed when this photo was taken, as it went up around 1932. The other stacks are, I believe, industries located along the C&O Canal, one of which, a shop that ran along Grace Street, is still extant -- even the smokestack! Staying PowerIt looks like several of these structures are still around in 2018. In 1913, the building at 3600 Calvert Street NW was 11 years old and served as the schoolhouse for an orphanage and reformatory called the Industrial Home School. In the 1950s, the residents of the school were moved to Laurel, Maryland. The main building was torn down. The schoolhouse became the Guy Mason Recreation Center. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Railroads, Streetcars)
Detroit on the Ways: 1904
... engines perhaps?? (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/02/2013 - 10:20am -

November 1904. Ecorse, Michigan. "Great Lake Engineering Works. Steamer Detroit, Michigan Central Transfer, before the launch." The giant railcar ferry seen here. 8x10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. The Actual Launch Process???OK, I know that the hull is going to slide down the boards sideways into the water. There are even images here on Shorpy showing that happening. I think I can see some large blocks near the propeller on the right side that appear to be holding it in position and there are probably some in the middle and on the other end also. At actual launch time how is the hull released... Is there some master release to move the blocks out of the way all at once? Not likely with the weight of the hull resting on the blocks. Do the guys underneath with the sledge hammers knock the blocks out and then duck down as the hull slides over them? That sounds like a job that would certainly invalidate their life insurance. The timing on that would be difficult since they would all need to be released at the same time. Is the hull held in place by a cable(s) on the other side and then released after the holding blocks are knocked out of position and hopefully the crew is out of the way? Can someone shed some light on this process! The Detroitwas unique among Detroit River ferries in that it had one fore & aft compound engine for each of its screws (four, two at each end). Each had cylinders of 24 and 48 inches, with a stroke of 33 inches, each rated at 900-ihp. The propellers, given the vessel's length and beam (308 feet, 61 feet) and its duty in ice are not unusual in the least. She was launched 12 November 1904 and entered service 13 January 1905 for the Michigan Central Railroad Company, operating between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. After the MCRRCo opened its tunnel beneath the river in 1910, the Detroit was sold two years later to the Wabash Railroad Company, which operated it on essentially the same route. The vessel was reduced to a car float in 1969, and propelled by the tugs R. G. Cassidy or F. A. Johnson until her owner then, the Norfolk & Western, gave up the Detroit River service in 1991. The vessel was dismantled at Sandwich, Ontario, in 2009. As for the funnels: The Detroit began with four, ran with three for the Wabash, and, while still self-propelled, ended with two. Where are the stacksthat are billowing black oily smoke in the 1905 photo? That's what I call screw propulsionThe props seem enormous for the hull size (when compared to big ships of the 30s and 40s) and very coarsely pitched. Due to slow turning reciprocating engines perhaps?? (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Municipal Light: 1940
... 5th day of the month. (The Gallery, Frontier Life, Railroads, Russell Lee, Small Towns) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/01/2018 - 6:07pm -

September 1940. "Derelict lighting plant in Silverton, Colorado." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. LighthouseA few miles from our home is the village of Boalsburg, Pa. The community has preserved its "Lighthouse," which contained a waterwheel that supplied Direct Current to all the structures in the village. When the Lighthouse operator awoke and activated the wheel, all the lights came on. And when he decided it was time for bed, he shut down the wheel and the town went dark. Some progress has been achieved in this field in the past century-plus. A Town Without Municipal TaxesA Town Without Municipal Taxes The American City, Volume 7, July-December 1912 Silverton, Colorado, a thriving town of nearly 3,000 people, at an altitude of over 9,000 feet, has the distinction of being one of the very few municipalities in the United States where no city tax is levied. The running expenses are paid from the income of the water and light systems, both owned and operated by the municipality, and from various licenses. The town owns its teams, sprinklers and wagons, and has recently completed and entirely paid for a handsome city hall costing $55,000. In this building there is sufficient room for all the city offices, court room, assembly room and fire apparatus. The successful operation of municipally owned public utilities in Silverton extends over a period of nine years. For electric current the rate to very small consumers is 7½ cents net per k.w. hour, and to large consumers a little over 5 cents net. The water rates vary for different classes of users. A one-family residence of four rooms pays $8 per annum, with $1 extra for each additional room; or the consumer may install a meter at his own expense, the rental varying from 45 cents to 10 cents per thousand gallons, with a minimum charge of $20 per year. All water bills are subject to a 15 per cent discount if paid by the 5th day of the month. (The Gallery, Frontier Life, Railroads, Russell Lee, Small Towns)
Brooklyn Bridge: 1900
... the roads were dreadful due to travel being diverted to railroads. Large bridges were built to carry railroads, street car lines, and a smattering of foot and horse traffic. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 5:36pm -

New York circa 1900. "Brooklyn Bridge, East River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Age of Steam and HorsesEach time a see a circa 1900 urban scene on Shorpy, I ponder how technology was so slow in developing the automobile in comparison to the other machines and structures in existence at the time. I am alway struck by the incongruity of large urban buildings surrounded by horse drawn wagons. This picture really drives the point home. Let us not forget that the unseen traffic crossing this magnificent bridge at its opening was mostly horse-drawn or pedestrian. The big boats in the water were steam powered. The age of the ubiquitous gasoline engine was yet to come. Best deal I ever made!Only paid $500, and I've got the title to prove it. Re: Best deal I ever made!Cool, I'll give you a call once my Nigerian money comes through. Public and Private TransitThe development of the "ubiquitous gasoline engine", and the parallel development of petroleum, was the key required to unlock the door to personal vehicles. We could have conceivably gone with electric propulsion, but electricity didn't become widespread until the late 1800's and it was generally in an inconvenient form for recharging slow, heavy, and quick-to-run-down battery powered cars. The light, speedy, indefatigable, and ultimately cheap gas motor won the day. Throughout the 19th century, occasional experimenters demonstrated steam-powered carriages or "road locomotives" but the skills and attention required to manage a steam engine were unrealistic for a solo driver, and the roads were dreadful due to travel being diverted to railroads. Large bridges were built to carry railroads, street car lines, and a smattering of foot and horse traffic. [Steam-powered automobiles (Dobie, Stanley etc.) attained a certain measure of popularity. In the final years of the 19th century, the Stanley brothers' steam-powered vehicle was America's top-selling motor car. The company they founded lasted a quarter of a century. - Dave] (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, NYC)
America: 1900
... capacity once passengers defected to the much faster railroads. But they pushed their share of barges after that. There was a ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/20/2012 - 9:53am -

"America, Mississippi riverboat, circa 1900-1910." Note the group of convicts in prison stripes. Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size. Sam'l Johnson would have loved it:Going to prison, with a chance of drowning, indeed! ConvictsAre the convicts on the way to prison or did the riverboats use them as free or cheap labor? SternwheelerI can never see a photograph of a paddle boat without thinking of Mark Twain. It's such a shame that these lovely ladies went the way of the dinosaur. Mark Twain's river steamers.Contributor "heks" rightly mentioned Mark Twain. He worked as a river boat pilot for a while. You could do worse than read his book "Life on the Mississippi." Then read his follow-up book, "Roughing It," about his trip west to Virginia City -- the tale of Tom Quartz, the mining cat, is particularly precious and, not to forget, hilarious -- and on to San Francisco, thence to Hawaii. These are by far his best books -- and probably the least known! A superb photograph. The ConvictsObviously they are being sent "up the river" Mark TwainI've been thinking about Mark Twain during these, too. Finished "Life on the Mississippi" late last year, finished "Roughing It" this year. Interestingly enough, Mr. Clemens would leave us to believe the river boat was long dead by the 1870s-1880s, but the dates of these pictures show not so. Probably nowhere near the traffic levels at its height, but it takes a long time for a transport model to completely die. Sternwheel LongevityThey actually lasted longer than most people think, though in a freight hauling capacity once passengers defected to the much faster railroads. But they pushed their share of barges after that. There was a working sternwheeler around Charleston WV on the Kanawha River (Ohio River tributary) into the 1980s. It was a small one used to shuffle coal barges around a loading terminal, and was most likely diesel powered. Used to see it all the time when I was out fishing. Long-lasting river navigation.Contributor "Jim" is correct that it takes a long time for any form of transport to completely disappear. Here in New Brunswick, Canada we had stern-wheelers, side-wheelers and screw ships on the St. John River and the various arms of the river. The last run of the last serving ship, the Motor Ship D. J. Purdy, downbound from Fredericton, where I live, to Saint John, was September 30, 1946. The record runs of several of the boats on the St. John River were faster than the Canadian National Railways trains that pretty well followed the river! Granted, the railway was very much a secondary line, not a main line, but still . . . . I have a set of the 1977 navigation charts for the river, very interesting. S. S. KlondikeCanadian riverboats have shown up a couple of times in the comments, so I'll add my two bits. The S.S. Klondike operated on the Yukon River until 1955. She presently sits on the bank of the Yukon River in Whitehorse, where I drive past her every day. The Klondike has been meticulously restored by Parks Canada. If you are ever in this neck of the woods the tour is worth every penny. More info here (there is some fantastic 8mm film shot in 1941 on that site). [I've been to Whitehorse! The Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia are spectacularly gorgeous. - Dave] Fire CanoesThere were steamboats (sometimes called "fire canoes" by the Native people) on the Saskatchewan River system from the 1860s into the 1910s. The last sternwheeler to work the lower South Saskatchewan was the City of Medicine Hat which had an unfortunate encounter with the Traffic Bridge in Saskatoon in 1908 and sank. Sternwheelers worked the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories until around 1940. While it's true that train travel was faster and more efficient for passengers, it is also a fact that the most economical means for transporting bulk cargoes - in terms of cost of energy per ton of goods per mile is moving them by water...when you can. Sternwheelers then, tugs and barges today make a tremendous amount of sense. Convicts on the SteamboatI did a little internet research, being curious about the convicts in the picture. This appeared in "Plantation Days at Angola: Major James and the Origins of Modern Corrections in Louisiana." Until he died in 1894 (the lease survived him, not expiring until 1901), Major James ran what Dr. Carleton has called "the most cynical, profit-oriented and brutal prison regime in Louisiana history." Convicts worked on private property--both Major James's and that of other plantation owners who sub-contracted their labor --for the profit of the lessee, Major James. They worked the land, farming and cutting timber, they performed as household servants, they travelled not only "up the river" but down the river as well, on Major James's steamboat, repairing and building levees in the never-ending struggle to contain the Mississippi and protect the rich farmland. History of Riverboat "America" 1910I would like to find more info concerning the Riverboat "America" during 1910. My grandfather worked on it as a carpenter but died in 1918. Since then all his children also are deceased but info in my father's writings stated the above info. There was another "America" but it collided with another steamship, flipped, and burnt at Warsaw, KY in 1890's. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC)
New Orleans: 1935
... on right would be for the Southern RR and for the GM&O Railroads. Street would be Toulouse, maybe. Those houses were still there at ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/07/2011 - 6:09pm -

"New Orleans Negro street," December 1935. View full size. Photograph by Walker Evans. X's at bottom are crop marks. Looks like the St. LouisLooks like the St. Louis Cathedral in the distance. New Orleans 1935Fence on right would be for the Southern RR and for the GM&O Railroads. Street would be Toulouse, maybe. Those houses were still there at the time of the storm in 2005. Tchoupitoulas?Eddie, you may be right. I was thinking it looked like Tchoup, near the Garden District, where all the old docks and warehouses are. St. Ann StreetIf you look at a map of the French Quarter and draw a line behind St. Louis Cathedral, you get St. Ann Street. St. Peter StreetIf that is St. Louis Cathedral, then this, being the "northwestern" (upper in N.O. parlance) side, would be St. Peter Street. St. Peter Street extended far beyond North Rampart until the Treme neighborhood was raped in the construction of Armstrong Park in the early 70s, cutting the street for several blocks. The fenced off area to the right is the Carondelet (or Old Basin) Canal, which was no longer navigable by 1935 and filled in in 1938. BywaterThis couldn't be St. Ann, which has houses on both sides. That wall -- maybe North Peters Street. The only thing I can think of that still looks like that, with a wall where the tracks would be on the other side, would be in Bywater. Homes of that scale are right near the tracks. 4400 block of TchoupitoulasThat two-story building is Fump & Manny's Bar, an Uptown New Orleans institution. The wall on the right separates the river, dockhouses and railroad tracks from this historic shipping supply road. It looks exactly the same today with more trees. TremeThis is the back-of-town Treme section. No wonder this is so hard to recognize for those of us who weren't around in 1935, as the area was soon after radically altered, with the old Carondelet Canal filled in and a good section of the area-- I suspect including where the photo was taken-- demolished to construct the Lafitte and Iberville housing projects (the Lafitte in turn was demolished last year). I can't place the exact street, but St. Ann is certainly no more than a few blocks away. This would have to be somewhere in the 6 blocks between St. Philip Street and Conti Street. The cupola of the Cabildo is seen straight down the street, and the tower of the Jax Brewery is in the far distance just to the right of the rightmost telephone pole. The final clues to a better location are probably the steeples of the 2 churches at left (is the closer one St. Peter Claver or Our Lady of Guadelupe-- or did there used to be another steeple near by in 1935 no longer existant?) and the wall at the right (wall around St. Louis Cemetery 1, St. Louis 2, or did there used to be a similar wall beside the old Canal?). Lafitte Street This is present day Lafitte Street. It is at a slight angle to the street grid, running parallel to the former RR tracks and even more former canal. Those landmarks in the distance are: - Two of the spires of St. Louis Cathedral, the center and the upper; - The cupola of the Cabildo - The cupola of Jax I can see why people would think Tchoupitoulas. There are blocks much like this, including the hip roofs. But those French Quarter landmarks, and the gabled roof beyond the end of the street, are the view from Lafitte. I think its Tchoup, too. For what its worth, I think it's Tchoup too. Near the grocery store. (was Delchamps when I lived there). The building stock is still extant there in places, I believe. (The Gallery, New Orleans, Walker Evans)
Junior Marines: 1919
... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/29/2012 - 2:13pm -

Washington, D.C., 1919. "Junior Marines." Engaged in a spirited game of truck-toss. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Hey Buddy!Wanna go stand behind that flimsy overloaded truck on a steep ramp with me? Early PiggybackSince the lettering on the overhead structure reads Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, I suspect that the trucks are being loaded on railroad flat cars the same way the circus does, but without the help of elephants. Railcar LoadingThis looks like they are practicing loading vehicles onto railcars. One of the other LOC photos, Call Number LC-H261-30881, of "Junior Marines" from 1919 shows the flatbed railcars, but it does not show these trucks. It does show a similar trailer on the railcar and has similar bricked surfaces on both sides of the train tracks. A low resolution picture of this photo is below. As a truck driver in the Army we used similar ramps to drive our 2 1/2-ton and 5 ton trucks onto a row of flatbed railcars and then tie them down for transportation. The railway takes the trucks to a shipyard for loading onto a cargo ship. Finally, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad trestle seems to confirm that this is a railheading operation. Teaching Manliness Washington Post, September 21, 1919. Washington Junior Marines and Naval Scouts in Training Camp. by Aunt Anna The newest organization for the training of young Americans opened its first training camp Saturday, September 6, at what was formerly the camp of the National Service School, on the Little Falls and Conduit road about halfway between Georgetown and Glen Echo. The camp is known as Camp Barnett in honor of Gen. Barnett, the head of the United States marine corps. The organization is sponsored by Mrs. Barnett, and the object is very much the same as the Boy Scouts, namely to teach the boys manliness and patriotism. Sergt. Al Krieger, of the Thirteenth company, Tenth regiment camp of Quantico, Va., was detailed to instruct the boys and command the camp. They were taught infantry drill, calisthenics, signaling, both radio and visual (wig-wag and semaphore), grenade throwing, trench warfare, personal and camp hygiene and the traditions of the marine corps. About 50 boys attended the first camp which lasted a week. Not all the boys were equipped with uniforms but their interest was none the less. … On top of the chockAgreeing with bewswain and looking closely at the picture and the angle of the rear axle, the rear right wheel looks to me as thought it's actually on TOP of the chock that one assumes is there to stop it rolling backwards! Personally, I would not be standing between those ramps, where you couldn't even jump sideways to get out of the way if it started to roll. Ouch. Overhead B&O StructureThe structure is a gantry from which a winch and pulley could be attached to hoist cargo at this "team track." More modern versions would include a crane on the gantry. Tail End ActionThe three guys behind the truck (and dark haired guy partially visible to the left of the left ramp) appear to be in motion, having just finished hand-pushing the truck up the ramp (in concert with the driver accelerating the engine, no doubt). Note the blurred legs and the body positions. My guess is they helped the truck get the wheels up and over the chock. So, the truck had plenty of forward/upward momentum when the shot was taken, and they were in little to no danger of the truck rolling back on them. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Railroads)
Cu Cu Train: 1942
... a decade. (The Gallery, Andreas Feininger, Mining, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/23/2013 - 4:39pm -

November 1942. "Bingham Canyon, Utah. Ore trains on a trestle bridge above an open-pit mine of the Utah Copper Company." Photo by Andreas Feininger for the Office of War Information. View full size. Further on Old FanExcerpted from: The Salt Lake Tribune › 1949 › January › 2 January 1949 › Page 70 Standing beside "Old Fan" is Engineer J. W. Brewer, now retired. She used to be the heaviest locomotive on drivers west of the Mississippi. She weighed a neat 461,000 pounds. To prove her claim to femininity she sported apron, petticoat, hood and stays. DON'T tell any railroading old-timer that an engine doesn't have a personality of her own! And don't dare dispute the sex of a mighty, chortling engine! That rooting, tooting machine you see coming down the tracks is not a nameless neuter but a "she" who can be quite temperamental at times. Railroading men will tell you an engine's sex was determined by the very fact that she is a "mother of cars." Not only does an engine have a worthy feminine occupation, she wears a woman's apparel. An apron, petticoat, hood and stays adorn her steel frame. An engineer develops an attachment to his engine that is similar to a sea-worn sailor's love for his ship. The longer he knows her, the more human-like she becomes. At that time Number 102 had the distinction of being the heaviest engine west of the Mississippi, weighing 461,000 pounds on her drivers. The official title of the engine pictured above may be Number 102, but retired engineer J. W. Brewer christened her "Old Fan" many years ago. Just ask anyone who has hung around the Kennecott yards about "Old Fan" and you'll soon be listening to the story of her fabulous career. But J. W. Brewer, who worked in the Kennecott yards as an engineer for 34 years, knows her best. Utah Copper Co., now a part of Kennecott Copper Corp., bought Number 102 from a Philadelphia locomotive works about 1911. Original cost was $37,500, but, transporting this engine across the continent to Salt Lake City made the cost really mount up. Freight charges were $2000, and a special messenger, cost $400— quite a sum in those days. Engineer J. W. Brewer, standing in front of engine Number 102, started running this famed locomotive around M, LR. BREWER, operated Number 102 whenever he had a regular engine, and that was most of the time. He nicknamed her "Old Fan," and had it printed on her side. "Old Fan" and her sister engines, who hauled ore from mine-to mill for many years, have recently been replaced by'new electric engines. She is now, in railroad lingo, "on the deadline" at Magna waiting to be purchased. But whether in service or not, her engineer, J. W. Brewer—who retired from railroading in 1945— feels that there is no engine quite as understanding and fine as "Old Fan." Let me get this straightThey dig a great big hole to build a trestle over? With regards to J. W. BrewerOre out of this mine was of a relatively low grade, and hence had to be processed at a facility some 20 miles from the pit. The Utah Copper Company built its own railroad, the Bingham and Garfield, to handle the mined product to the smelter in Magna, Utah. The pictured steam locomotive, B & G 102 was built by ALCO under order number S838. She was driven by one J. W. Brewer for 34 years beginning in 1912, so it’s probably Brewer himself at the throttle in the featured picture. Brewer referred to the locomotive as “Old Fan,” and reportedly visited with it after he and the engine retired from regular service. My guess: Brewer and his crew have brought empties from Magna to the mine for reloading, and the electric mule will shove them down to the pit. The electric mule with the loads on the right will pull by Brewer once the empties are clear, and Brewer will couple into them and head for the smelter. I'm so gladI paid attention in grade 9 chemistry class National Historic Hole-in-the-groundThe mine is on the NRHP as a National Historic Landmark, and is still in operation, though a recent landslide has slowed things down a bit. The ore now runs up to a concentrator on a series of conveyor belts and thence through a series of facilities leading to the smelter at the south end of the Great Salt Lake; you can trace a long section of the old rail line from where the conveyor system comes out of the ground, past Copperton, and up north, but it eventually peters out and is obviously abandoned. Possible change to the mine.In the Deseret news paper (Nov. 7, 2013) it was noted that plans are in order to add a new grade into the mine, extending its productivity by at least a decade. (The Gallery, Andreas Feininger, Mining, Railroads)
Jamaica Avenue El: 1944
... front of it. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/06/2013 - 5:40pm -

Nov. 5, 1944. "Jamaica Avenue, Queens, New York. Carl A. Vollmer, City Planning Commission, clients." The intersection with 165th Street. Large-format acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Everything is still thereWell, not the el, but all the visible buildings (with some cosmetic changes) seem to still be there: View Larger Map An unfortunate historyAs the 1970's began Jamaica Avenue was the center of a thriving shopping and commercial district. Although the merchants had done well for themselves catering to a largely working-class clientele, they had ambitions of attracting more upscale shoppers. For that to happen, they believed that the unsightly old elevated line had to go, and brought considerable pressure upon the Transit Authority to have it demolished. Officials with the city and the Transit Authority warned the merchants that the Archer Avenue subway, the Jamaica Avenue El's replacement, would not be ready for many years. They pointed out that most of the people who patronized the Jamaica Avenue stores used the El, and without convenient transit might go elsewhere. The merchants were adamant, and the Transit Authority finally gave into their demands and demolished the El in 1977. The merchants were right, as this definitely improved Jamaica Avenue's appearance and made it look much more upscale. Unfortunately, in the 11 years that Jamaica Avenue was left without transit access, most of the shoppers indeed had gone elsewhere, and many of the area's merchants had gone out of business - including, in a bit of cosmic justice, most of those that had lobbied the strongest for the El's premature destruction. Loew’s Valencia movie palaceScouting New York just did a wonderful post about it: http://www.scoutingny.com/?p=6288 Jamaica The Station Not the NationThere is a lot of history in that area. Jamaica was one of the original Dutch settlements in New York (nee Amsterdam), settled in the 1600's. Not far from where this picture was taken is where the British flanked General Washington's troops by surprise early in the Revolutionary War. There is an east-west ridge about a half mile or so north of, and parallel to Jamaica Avenue. British scouts, allegedly aided by a Tory sympathizer, found a pass to the east of Washington's main body of troops that was undefended (because the small number of Continentals assigned to guard it were sleeping/drunk/AWOL/bribed, depending on which anecdote you believe). The British quietly flooded through the pass and caught Washington off-guard. Washington beat a miraculous retreat (first of many miraculous retreats he pulled off during the war) from what is now Queens County (part of present-day NYC), across Maspeth Creek (first in the serious of miraculous water crossings Washington pulled off: East River, Hudson (then called "North") River, and of course the famous Delaware River crossing) into what is now Brooklyn (also part of present-day NYC). IIRC, between the retreats from Queens to Brooklyn, and then Brooklyn to Turtle Bay, Manhattan (present-day site of the United Nations), the largest set piece battle of the war was fought right there in Brooklyn (called the Battle of Long Island IIRC). Whodathunkit? Just a few blocks west of the photo is Jamaica Station, the main hub of the Long Island Rail Road. Due south a few miles is JFK Airport, of which Shorpy has featured several recent photos when it was still called Idlewild. 89-71 165 Street, Jamaica, NY, 11432I believe the photo is of Jamaica Avenue near 165th Street. The first business that I was ever personally involved in was a storefront at the above address. It was Uneeda Home Appliances, the firm that my brother and his brother-in-law were involved in. We opened the the Jamaica store in, I'm guessing now, 1962. There was a Macy's store at the corner of 165th Street and Highland Avenue and that was the anchor retail operation in the neighborhood. The ethnic make up of the area was changing and we accommodated it as best we could. The area, at one point became unsafe, our business suffered and we had to close. I am in Palm Desert, California for the winter. I believe somewhere in my NYC home I have a picture of the storefront, taken by an itinerant photographer and I'll try to find and post in when I get home sometime in April. 165th & JamaicaThat's a very familiar location - 165th St & Jamaica Ave, looking northeast. The Loew's theater is the Valencia, the fanciest of about 5 movie houses in downtown Jamaica. It had only a narrow frontage on Jamaica Ave, and a long corridor back to the theater. You can see the upper part of the theater above the "Loans" sign. Inside, it had stars and clouds projected on the ceiling, looking like you were outdoors, and all around there were Spanish-looking building facades. I believe it belongs to a school now. Just out of the picture to the right, on the southeast corner was a building that had a lunch room on the ground floor, the BMT turnstiles on the 2nd floor, the crew room on the 3rd and the interlocking tower on to top. This was the west end of the 168th St station, which was the end of the line. The structure was built to have 3 through tracks, and would have hand outside platforms if the line were extended further, but since this was the terminal, they built a wooden center platform on the steel for the middle track. In 1944, streetcars of the Jamaica Ave and Metropolitan Ave lines still ran here, ending a couple of blocks further east at 168th St. (in 1903, the el train ran on the street tracks, for 8 months). Both the el and the streetcars are gone now. The Q-44 bus from the Bronx makes a left turn here, coming from behind the camera and going up 165 St, to stop at the end of the block, in front of the Long Island Bus Terminal where all the routes of the North Shore's (and now the TA Queens Bus Division) Jamaica district stopped. the Q44, as a Flushing-based route did not go in to the terminal, but terminated in front of it. (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC, Railroads)
Full Steam Ahead: 1913
... guys. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Harris + Ewing, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/18/2014 - 4:59pm -

"Panama Canal excavation, 1913." The world's most celebrated shortcut marks its centennial this month. Copy negative; Harris & Ewing glass plate. View full size. Blast Hole DrillsHere is a beautiful restoration of a similar blast hole drill, although this one is run by a gas engine, instead of piped in steam or air... http://youtu.be/h-A6qXwfe-Y?list=UUFi8qTmbq8tIIyCap45cEGA Moving the shovelBeside winding up with a very useful canal, this operation showed the way to large open pit mining that followed in places like Utah and Minnesota. The same equipment was used there. The shovels are steam operated and move on railroad track. There are outriggers near the front to stabilize the shovel while digging. On this type of shovel only the boom swings to load the railroad cars. The same railroad that took the rock away also delivered coal and water to the shovels and drills. In normal digging the shovel was supported on short panels of track, about 10 feet long. As the shovel dug its way forward a track gang would leap frog the panels from the rear of the shovel to the front. I can't tell for sure who made these particular shovels but the shovels used for the canal were made by the Bucyrus and Marion companies. Both made similar machines. It appears in the picture that they are laying track to back the first shovel out of the cut to get it out of the way of the other shovel and prepare for the next blast. The machines on the bench above the trains are drills, drilling holes in the rock for the next blast. Before the blast can take place, both shovels have to be moved out and the tracks have to be removed. Then the holes can be filled with that new fangled dynamite and the rock can be blasted, the rail re-laid, and the shovels moved back in to start digging. The railroad track was also probably panels to speed up assembly and disassembly, sort of like Lionel track. A crane would come along and lift out 39 ft long panels, ties and all, and put them on a flat car behind it. The process would be repeated in reverse to lay new track. The railroad cars are flat cars with a bulkhead on one side. At the dump where they are unloaded a lever is swung into the first car from the side. As the train moves the lever pries the rock out of the cars to the open side. In later operations, side dump cars were used where the car bed itself was tilted to the side with air cylinders to dump the load. It was very labor intensive, dangerous, hard work to do these things, especially in the tropical heat. Hats off to these guys. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Harris + Ewing, Railroads)
Terminal Station: 1910
... that would have made. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/06/2019 - 11:18pm -

New Orleans circa 1910. "Terminal Station, Canal Street." Demolished in 1956. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Invisible ManThis guy with the umbrella is an integral part of this image in my opinion, but I doubt it was planned. Maybe ? However, the ladies do not even have him in their radar. Why? My guess is, as it would be today, that women are not much into men that hide from the sun under an umbrella. It seems very odd to me that he is standing there on a nice sunny day acting like it's a bad thing. They did not know at this time that the sun can damage your skin and even kill you, so he seems kinda wimpy to me, and I'm figuring invisible to the ladies. I could easily be wrong, and this will sound like some macho b.s., but even in 2019 knowing what we all know the sun is capable of good or bad, Men do not hide from the elements when presented with unwanted heat. At least not ones that I know. As far as this building -- It is stunning to me. That arch is "on point". Really nice masonry work there. I wonder why it was torn down so soon? I would bet that one of your many amazing commenters will know the answer. I don't have time tonight to fall down that rabbit hole of research. Next thing you know, I will be watching videos on how to carve stone. CoveredI’m afraid I am one of those men who do hide from the elements when presented with unwanted heat. Never mind the heat, which runs against my Northern-boy default state of winter, but the sun has been terribly unkind to me. My dermatologist (who has cut five basal cell carcinomas out of my flesh this past decade) had me pegged when she asked if, at the start of every July, I got shoved outdoors by my mother to get burned in order to get "a good base" for the rest of the summer. So now I put sunscreen on my bald head every day, wear a hat if I'm out for extended periods, and stick to the shadows on sunny days. If being a heliophobe makes me "invisible to the ladies," so be it. Why it Was DemolishedThe station was razed in 1956 after passenger service was relocated to the new Union Terminal. After station and tracks were removed the ground was landscaped and the area was designated as the "Garden of the Americas. SadlyIt was terminal. Next Stop? Sin And Vice!Talk about a convenient location. For the first decade of its time serving NoLa this station was directly adjacent to the infamous Storyville district of legalized prostitution and gaming. You could walk out the door, turn right and be in one of the dozens of high class brothels in about 30 seconds. Gents: Don't forget your cash and your umbrella. Built to Stand ForeverMassive, solid structure for the Ages - at least until 1956. Up until 1954 most of the major rail lines had their own individual terminals. That was when Union Passenger Terminal was built and they all collected there. The old terminals were torn down after that. Not a clueI have no idea as to what that contraption next to the pole might be used for. Is it the "better mousetrap" we've been waiting for? Installation of fresh Water PipesThe view of fresh line, water pipes, certainly coincide with the time frame. According to New Orleans - A History of Three Great Public Utilities Paper read by Hon. Martin Behrman Mayor of New Orleans, La. before Convention of League of American Municipalities, Milwaukee, Wis., September 29, 1914 "The construction of the new system was commenced in 1905 and the completed system went into operation in February, 1909. Only three and a half years were consumed in the construction of a plant covering over five hundred (500) miles of streets with water ... By 1917 it is expected that all of the premises of the city will have been connected both with the water works and with the sewers, and vaults and cesspools will have been eliminated from the entire well built-up area of the city." With it being on Canal Street, and the picture being "circa 1910", it makes the case the photo could be from the end of 1908, to beginning of 1909, as Canal Street and the French Quarter would seem to have been in the initial, completed system. Terminally ChicThe man with the umbrella is fantastic. What a great entrance to a cool boutique hotel that would have made. (The Gallery, DPC, New Orleans, Railroads)
Capitol Refining: 1925
... shot better, I think. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/11/2011 - 6:42pm -

A glimpse at the industrial side of Washington circa 1925, labeled "Capitol Refining Co. plant." This tank farm, where the Pentagon stands today, was described at the time as being in "Relee, Alexandria County, just south of the highway bridge." National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size. OMG!I hate it when Giant Amoebas attack! Cattle, Cotton & Oil, Oh My!I find it curious how this site evolved from a stockyard and abattoir (slaughterhouse) into a cottonseed oil refinery and then finally the petroleum refinery pictured. The cotton-seed oil may have been used for food or industrial applications such as lubricants and paint. I wonder if equipment for refining cottonseeds could be reused to refine petroleum? [Were any of these petroleum tanks? - Dave] Update: After seeing the later White Dome post, I am pondering if perhaps the "refining" refers only to vegetable and animal oils and not to petroleum products at all. I guess its my fossil-fuel-centric lifestyle that led me to the conclusion that this was a petroleum refinery - that and pre-conditioning due to the long series of photos of service stations on Shorpy. Washington Post, Jun 5, 1908 Packing Plant For City Washington's industries are to be increased here of a plant with an annual output valued at from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000. The company, to be known as the Columbia Cotton Oil and Provisions Corporation, proposes to absorb the Washington and Virginia Stock Yard and Abattoir Company and to enlarge the plant and add equipment, not only for slaughtering of cattle, but for the refining of crude cottonseed oil. ... The proposed plant, it is said, will be the only one of its kind east of Chicago and south of New York, and the only complete compound plant on the coast between New York and Savannah. ... The annual capacity, according to figures submitted to the manufactures committee of the Chamber of Commerce, will be 100,000 barrels of crude cotton-seed oil, 125,000 hogs, 10,000 cattle, and 25,000 sheep and calves which will be converted into lard, lard compound, lard substitute, cooking oils, lard stearine, oleo stearine, hams, bacon, sausage, canned meats, fertilizer, hides, and a variety of fresh cuts to be put on the market. Washington Post, Jun 2, 1913 Refiners Buy Oil Plant The Capitol Refining Company, which was recently granted a charter by the Virginia corporation commission, has purchased the plant of the Columbia Cotton Oil and Provisions Corporation, at Relee, near Arlington Junction, Alexandria county. The Capitol Refining Company is a subsidiary of the Jacob Dold Packing Company, an independent concern, whose main establishment is in Buffalo, N.Y., and its announced that about September 1, after extensive repairs to the plant, operations will be resumed. Relee, Va.Is it possible that Relee stands for Robert E. Lee? His estate was nearby. [You are correct. The use of Relee, Virginia, as a place name seems to have begun in 1909, with the establishment there of a post office, rail stop and telegraph office, all connected with the Columbia slaughterhouse and rendering plant in what used to be Alexandria County, at the current location of the Pentagon. By 1935, use of the name seems to have pretty much stopped. - Dave] Washington Post, November 11, 1909 Finishing Big Plant $450,000 Abattoir and Refinery Soon to Operate. To Employ 200 Persons. Industry at Arlington Junction Will Help Virginians. Within ten days the Columbia Cotton Oil and Provision Company will begin operation of its $450,000 plant, which has been building near Arlington Junction across the river for the last nine months, and will mark one of the greatest strides forward in the industrial development of Washington. In the abattoir 4,000 hogs a week will be killed, and a strong demand will at once be created in Virginia and surrounding States for porkers. ... The cotton oil refinery and abattoir will be run in conjunction in the production of lard compound, which will be one of the most important outputs of the establishment. ... The plant essays the importance of a town which has been recognized already by the establishment of a railroad stop and a postoffice by the United States government. The name is Relee, in honor of R.E. Lee. It is Relee postoffice, Relee station, and Relee telegraph office, all of which are in operation. Day of JudgmentCould the "accidental" location of the "cloud" be any better placed in terms of composition? Actually makes the shot better, I think. (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo, Railroads)
Main Street U.S.A.: 1925
... when electric experimentation took the wind out of cable railroads. Washington's experimentation into cable railroading was short lived ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/28/2012 - 6:37pm -

March 1925. Washington, D.C. "Pennsylvania Avenue." Lots of Shorpy landmarks here. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Childs' RestaurantI spent the longest time trying to make out the letters on the lighted sign on the white building to the left. I should have known I could more easily find an alternate view in Shorpy's archive. The building is Childs' Restaurant, now with three stories! Also in the archive is nice photo of the Occidental Hotel. Who are they?I think I see Lincoln in the series of portraits just under the cornice of the building on the left. But who are the others? $6 hotel suitesWhat do they think -- we're made of money? NeatPhoto is taken at just about the same spot as that KKK march photo of some time back. And there's the Willard in all its glory. Amazing how bright he Occidental sign is, like it was highlighted. WhewSo much to look - I love these street scenes. Love the landmarks. Thankyou very muchJust spent two whole days going back through the whole archive ... quite wonderful ... thanks. [You're welcome, and the bathroom's at the end of the hall. - Dave] My FavoritesMy two favorite Shorpy subjects are here. Both the U.S. Capitol and a United Cigar Store. The OccidentalA restaurant "famous for food" -- what will they think of next? Legibility: what a concept"Henry, what does that sign in the middle of the street say? I can't make it out." "Me neither, Martha. It'll be on your side when we go past, see if you can read it." That one in the background is still thereLooks like I've found my new desktop background. Whenever I place a Shorpy picture for my desktop background, I also find a modern day version of the same pic to show anyone who asks about my black and white background. So, here's the Street View. Enjoy! View Larger Map No wires for the trolley.No wires for the trolley. Were these not electric? [They were electric. The wires were under the street. - Dave] LocationI don't think that's the Willard on the left. The building to the farthest left is the Washington Hotel, at 15th and Penn. It's still there and looks the same. The White House and the Willard would be in back of the photographer. The Post Office tower is still there, but the buildings on the far right have been replaced by the District Building, the DC town hall. [The Willard is indeed in this photo, at 14th and Pennsylvania, rising next to the much smaller Occidental Hotel. - Dave] More LandmarksOther Shorpy hallmarks included here: ghosts on the sidewalk, vintage cars & streetcars in action, funky roadsigns, promotional posters for upcoming events, and a glimpse into a long-gone way of life. Who they yam"I think I see Lincoln in the series of portraits just under the cornice of the building on the left. But who are the others?" The man on our right (Abe's left) is definitely George Washington. The fellow on the left is a puzzler - presumably another president, but he looks like Socrates. Or maybe Popeye. Department storeYou can just see a sign for Raleigh's on the top of the building just left of center, above the Jacksonville sign. Raleigh was a Washington, DC department store that finally went out of business in 1992. I remember my mom having a Raleigh's charge card back in the 1970s. [The RALEIGH sign is for the Raleigh Hotel. Raleigh Haberdasher was a tenant on the ground floor. - Dave] Wires You Can't See and other trolley triviaHey y'all, I just joined up and in going through the photos found this one of the Washington DC streetcar system. As I am a railroad historian and transit consultant I know a bit about this system. Indeed Washington DC had electric streetcars. The Washington Streetcar System, began in 1862 and operated with mule power affectionately called "hay burners." In 1890 Washington got swept up in the Cable Car Craze. This is very odd because successful electric cars were in operation by 1886 and by 1890 most larger systems were either converted or in the process of converting. Cable Cars on the other hand were outrageously expensive to build, operate and maintain. Though they once blanketed the country their era was only about 10 years, usually between about 1875-1885 when electric experimentation took the wind out of cable railroads. Washington's experimentation into cable railroading was short lived and represented a gigantic investment in what was already an out dated technology. Cable railway cars have no motors or other power source, they are simply free rolling rail cars not unlike the older mule cars. The big breakthrough was the wire rope cable that ran in a slot in the center of the street. The operator, called a gripman, would apply a mechanical gripping device which was under the center of the track in the street. The grip was controlled by a lever running from the car down into the rope-way. The cable never stopped moving, powered by a large steam engine turning giant pulleys with miles of continuous cable rope down in those slots. Grip operators had a choice of a full contact grip for forward momentum, a slip grip for slowing, and a full release when stopped. When Washington electrified its municipal railways, there was great concern that overhead wires might make the views of the national monuments rather tacky. Certainly the cable railway suppliers had every reason to push this view on the public. The whole argument came to naught as it was decided to run the electric cable in the center of the street. A trolley pole on the bottom of the car contacted the wire providing energy for the large motors on the electric trolleys. Today Washington like most other cities is rebuilding its streetcar system, but this time around it will have wires ABOVE the tracks. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, Streetcars)
Portsmouth Wharves: 1907
... (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/12/2019 - 2:29pm -

Circa 1907. "Coal wharves at Portsmouth, New Hampshire." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. ContinuityThe three cities I've lived in over the course of 67 years are all on rivers. Two of them, Hickman, Kentucky, and Memphis, are on the Mississippi River. The third, Little Rock, is on the Arkansas River. So I always feel a kinship with the long-gone denizens of places such as this 1907 city of Portsmouth, NH. Most of the time rivers seem so placid and inviting. On occasion, tides of flood waters roll down their channels, cascading onto the surrounding land because there simply isn't enough room in the normal channel of the river for all the water to flow. In such times the rivers don't seem so peaceful. The Piscataqua River is, I assume, the one we see in this photograph. I learned from the all-knowing Internet that this is a "tidal river" and is 12 miles long from source to sea. I also learned that there has been flooding several times this decade along its shores. So, as peaceful as it appeared on this day in 1907, it would probably sometimes become a ravening mass of floodwaters, even back then. Knowing that, I still find these river photos fascinating, and peaceful. But in looking at this 1907 photograph the thing that caught my eye in the enlarged version sits on the left edge of the frame. A doorway with these words painted above it: "Antique Furniture." And here I thought that was a trend that developed in the 1970s! From years of following this pictorial blog I should have known that nothing is all that new. Even those of us who can clearly recall adult years spent without any personal computer existing at all should know that to those born since the turn of this century, even PCs seem old-fashioned. What Shorpy.com reminds me of could be summed up as: With change comes continuity. Thanks to Dave and all the Shorpy followers who make my days better. Not so scenic any moreI just came to think that the major commercial ports are not so scenic any more. All you get to see, most of the time, are container ships in varying sizes, plus the respective shore installations, with the odd cruise ship thrown in. Impressive no doubt. But so boring. TugboatsThey still keep them in the same place. The cams on the news always show them tied to the dock like in this picture. PostcardThis shot was also used for a ca. 1910 Post card. Same place?In response to jondapicam's comment, here is a contemporary shot by Larry Richardson -- "Tugboats In Portsmouth - Portsmouth NH early in the morning, tugboats sitting patiently, waiting for there next ship to guide through the harbor." https://pixels.com/featured/tugboats-in-portsmouth-larry-richardson.html (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Railroads)
Heavy Lifting: 1908
... not. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Buffalo NY, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2012 - 10:40am -

Buffalo, New York, circa 1908. "Brown electric hoist unloading ore carrier." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Ore carrieris the boat, but how much of all this is the hoist? Not clear how it works. Ore hoistThis crane would move on rails that were parallel to the train tracks.The operator was in the small cabin next to the clamshell bucket . The bucket was lowered into the hold of the ship , scoop up the ore , then transit on the bridge , and dump the ore in piles on the dock. If the ore was to be transferer directly into ore cars , the the operator would dump it directly into the hopper seen on the right upright girders . The hopper was positioned over waiting rail cars, and funneled the ore into them. This seems to be a one way , ship to rail operation All of itWell pretty much all of it is the hoist. It works like this: The clamshell digger (like the ones we used to see at carnivals when we were kids except that this operator always got the prize he wanted) drops down into the hold of the lakeboat and lifted out the ore; then the clamshell and its operator would move across and either drop his load into waiting railcars located on the three tracks under the loader, or more likely drop his load in the piles of ore across the tracks and behind their barrier. I'm guessing a bit here but I'm betting that the counter-weight (below the lower platform) moves when the digger moves so that the weight doesn't topple the thing. The whole thing is on rails and can move up and down the length of the boat, or maybe several boats. According to an old railroad friend...The entirety of the apparatus resembling a bridge on spindly legs is the hoist. The three pointed thing near the left that looks like a church bell with pantaloons is the hoist bucket. It is lowered into the hold of the ship and closed to scoop ore. The bucket is then raised back to its shown position next to the control gondola where the operator resides. Both the gondola and the bucket will them move together toward the right along the boom (the longest horizontal member) to release the contents of the bucket into a waiting railcar. To assist loading the railcars, is a funnel device shown to the right of the short horizontal member just above where the railcars would be staged. The funnel would be positioned over a railcar being loaded. Ore can also be piled on the ground by moving the bucket and gondola unit to the far right and releasing the ore onto the ground to be later piled or onto an inclined conveyor (not in the picture) to make the piles shown. The hoist assembly moves the length of the ship being unloaded on its own railroad type rails. Electric power to run the hoist is provided by power rails beneath the guardrail looking thing near the right legs of the hoist. The power rails and its cover are similar to those you might see in a city subway station. The railroad tracks are built on shallow hills to allow railcars to be positioned without the need for an engine. The three sets of rails to the right are sloping away from the camera as can be seen along the bottoms of the power rail mounting brackets to the right. The one or two sets of rails to the left are on a raised platform providing a slope toward the camera. If the cars do not begin to move down the slopes on their own when brakes are released, there is a device similar to a large crowbar placed between a railcar wheel and the rail to give a gentle nudge. Controlling the speed and stopping the railcars can also be done with a similar crowbar device with a shaped wooden block on it placed in front of a moving railcar wheel. How it workedThe Brownhoist was the first step towards development of the Hulett unloader, the big difference being how you got down into the ship to get the ore. Over on the left the bucket drops down into the hold, closes on a scoop of ore, and lifts it clear of the ship. Then it gets carried either into the center or all the way to the right; in the center it would get dumped into a waiting hopper car, while on the right it would just get dropped on the huge pile of ore. The pile could be picked up and loaded into rail cars in the same manner. By 1908 this was already obsolete: the Hulett had a better means of moving the ore around from the bucket to wherever it was going to be dumped, and more importantly its rigidly mounted bucket was bigger and faster than the this one. Huletts were used until around 1990 when self-unloading ships had displaced the old ore carriers. What they did before the Brownhoist was perfectly good Roman era technology: guys with shovels and wheelbarrows, I kid you not. (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, Buffalo NY, DPC, Railroads)
Hoosac Tunnel: 1907
... come by at any time. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/11/2013 - 11:52am -

Circa 1907. "West portal, Hoosac Tunnel, North Adams, Massachusetts." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Where's the garage door opener?Today the tunnel's west portal looks very different. What's essentially a very large garage door was added around 60 years ago, though I'm not sure why. The door's housing hides the "Hoosac" inscription seen in this picture. The tunnel also has had a single track for many years, not the double track as shown here. One remaining drawback is that the tunnel doesn't have sufficient clearance to handle double-stack containers. There have been various engineering studies to see how that could be remedied, but the cost would be extremely high, and given that there's a more southerly route into Massachusetts with double-stack clearance it's doubtful anything will be done. Open and ShutWhy did they have doors on the entrance? That seems unusual for a railroad tunnel. That DoorI think that the Garage Door Opener (& Closer) is partially sheltered in the nearest structure on the right. It looks like there might be a pair of bi-fold doors and a wood track for them overhead. The doors provide some protection from a "wind tunnel" effect that would allow cold winter air to defeat comparative warmth of being far underground. Nowadays, in conjunction with intake and exhaust fans above the Central Air Shaft, they can regulate which end of the tunnel gets ventilated and try to keep the smoke away from the engineers' eyes. Shortly after the Shorpy photo was taken, a short system of electric locomotives and wires was installed, to pull the steam trains through the mountain. The coal smoke had gotten so bad that someone passed a red Stop Signal without seeing it! Today, there are so few tracks and trains in the tunnel that it is hoped that the doors and fans can deal with the Diesel engine exhaust, and the electrics have been gone for 60 years or so. Tunnel Doors"In 1954 a steel storm door was installed on the West Portal replacing the wooden doors. These doors helped keep strange weather from entering the tunnel, particularly in the winter. In 1957 The tunnel was reduced to a single track 3 feet north of the center for clearance purposes. On November 28th 1958 passenger service stopped. In 1973 the track was centered and replaced by continuous welded rail. Finally in 1997 a 10 foot wide strip of stone was removed from The Tunnel’s ceiling and the track was lowered to allow for even taller railcars. The rail at the East Portal was sunk below ground level." from A Pinprick Of Light by Carl R Byron and Hoosac Tunnel History The west portal circa 1874 Tunnel doorsEBT added doors to their tunnels after a locomotive derailed due to ice on rails in winter from ground water draining through tunnel. Doors were opened and closed by watchmen and later by engine crew. Switch on; then offOverhead catenary wires for electric locomotives were added a few years after this photo. The electric motors would couple onto steam powered trains and pull them through the tunnel so the steamers wouldn't have to work, thus creating a lot of smoke to asphyxiate the engine crews. Even with ventilation shafts, tunnels were hellish in the steam age, and the Hoosac, almost five miles long, was one of the worst. Diesel power eliminated the need for electrics, and the wires were then removed. Hoosac Tunnel: 1907About 16 years ago, I walked about 300 yards into the west portal. A fairly busy road passes only about a quarter mile from the entrance. Three or four times, I dashed out of the tunnel because I thought I heard a train coming, only to realize each time that I was hearing a truck go by. After about 15 minutes, I left, because not only was I pushing my luck regarding a train coming, but also because I was afraid I might startle an animal, such as a raccoon or a bear. I had my camera with me, so I decided to stand by the entrance, hoping that I might catch a shot of a train. I didn't have to wait more than three minutes. A train coming from the west (downtown North Adams) rumbled around the bend slowly and entered the tunnel, as I followed close behind, took a few pictures, and listened to the mysterious sound of the train gradually fading. Five miles later, it would see daylight again. ElectrificationHoosac was electrified in 1910, and while Lost World is correct, Diesels did help, it did not totally do away with the problems crews faced. Wasn't until the late fifties that things were markedly improved. The tunnel was electrified after a number of crews suffocated in the tunnel itself. It wasn't uncommon for crews to exit the tunnel lying on their stomachs in the cabs with cloths over their mouths and noses trying to get fresh air. Even in the early days of diesel locomotives, there was still an ever present danger of this. The Catenary didn't come down right away though, as the electrics were kept as backup until 1958 when the last one was finally scrapped. Even so, much of the catenary was still in place (just disued) until 1973 when the tunnel was made single track. West Portal DoorThis is the West Portal of one of my very favorite places, Hoosac Tunnel. East Portal is way prettier. The doors have something to do with keeping either water or snow out of the tunnel. I know the exact explanation is in the book "Pinprick of Light". The book also mentions failure of the brick lining on the west end due to (I believe) wetter conditions and far weaker rock (one reason why this end actually has a brick lining). Being a responsible railfan, I must add that this is NOT an abandoned tunnel, and while current traffic tends to be later in the day/night, a train can come by at any time. (The Gallery, DPC, Railroads)
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