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Brakeman Capsey: 1943
... car as the train on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad between Belen and Gallup, New Mexico, waits on a siding." ... 20, I repacked journal boxes on the wash track at the UP yard in LA. It was dirty work. I always ended up soaked in oil. The packing had ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 02/11/2014 - 11:29am -

March 1943. "Acomita, New Mexico. Brakeman R.E. Capsey repacking a journal box of a special car as the train on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad between Belen and Gallup, New Mexico, waits on a siding." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Jordan SpreaderIt's a Jordan Spreader, sort of a rail-mounted road grader. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreader_%28railroad%29 Originally used to maintain trackside drainage ditches, but in more recent times primarily used for snow clearing, as the wing blades can swing out and clear several tracks at once, or push the snow further from a single track to make room for the next storm. The wing blades were multi-jointed, to grade a ditch contour. It has old-fashioned arch bar trucks, made illegal since the many bolts+nuts could loosen up and cause a derailment. Probably survived on this spreader because it never left the home railroad in interchange service. The trucks on the adjacent refrigerator car also had bolts, and would eventually be banned also. Modern trucks interlock together like a nail puzzle, with no fasteners needed. Modern railroad cars and locomotives use roller bearings exclusively, eliminating the need for frequent oil lubrication and messing with the cotton waste that was used as a wick. Jordan Spreader ATSF 199234Found a 1948 picture, although not the best showing 199234 in San Bernardino October 25, 1948 after some modifications. I did thisThe summer I was 20, I repacked journal boxes on the wash track at the UP yard in LA. It was dirty work. I always ended up soaked in oil. The packing had to be carefully installed so it covered the entire journal on the bottom. If it didn't it could cause a hotbox. It was a good experience. These days railroad trucks have roller bearings that don't need repacking. Looks like a Jordan Spreader This is a device with outboard swinging wings to clear ditches or snow along the tracks. Here is a photograph of a model that looks quite similar. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Polar Express: 1942
December 1942. Proviso classification yard of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/30/2012 - 10:03pm -

December 1942. Proviso classification yard of the Chicago & North Western Railroad. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. Footsteps GaloreJust an incredible amount of footsteps in the snow - shows how much manual effort there needed to be to hook/unhook cars and make up trains. Must have been a fun job (not to mention dangerous) in the winter!! (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Locomotive Makeover: 1942
November 1942. "Illinois Central rail yard, Chicago. Locomotives in for repair at the roundhouse." Medium format ... is a 4-8-2, commonly known as a "Mountain" type. The railroad had 136 locos of this type, built by ALCo, Lima and the IC's own ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/26/2013 - 2:11pm -

November 1942. "Illinois Central rail yard, Chicago. Locomotives in for repair at the roundhouse." Medium format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. You can corner her hereThis is not the round house, because there are no curves. It must be the back shop, where more extensive repairs than ordinary maintenance are done. Sometimes it really is in the rear of the round house. "Head for the Roundhouse, Nellie. He can't corner you there", doesn't work in this building. High OverheadMost fans of steam -- among whom I must number myself -- must acknowledge that the ultimate triumph of diesel-electric units was due to their far less burdensome maintenance requirements in terms of both degree of difficulty and frequency. The real divas were the streamlined steam locomotives, from which many square yards of cladding and fairings had to be removed before anything more advanced than routine preventive maintenance could be performed. That being admitted, there was a romance to steam that diesels have thus far failed utterly to match. Minor rebuildAll of the lagging is still on the boiler so they must be checking the boiler tubes and superheater while they rebuild the driver wheels. It's amazing that the inertia of the connecting rods and just breaking can put flat spots on the "tires". Tractor ID1920's Fordson with French and Hecht wheels and aftermarket high tenstin mag. and probably Handy brand seat. Loco ID?Comparing to other photos of locos, I will guess this is a 4-8-4 Northern type. Perhaps some real rail afficionados will chime in? Illinois Central MountainsThe engine is a 4-8-2, commonly known as a "Mountain" type. The railroad had 136 locos of this type, built by ALCo, Lima and the IC's own Paducah shops. I can't be certain but it appears to be one of the ALCo built locos of 1926. The IC never had any 4-8-4s. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Harbor Belt: 1943
... 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The train passes many ... 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 ... 
 
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)
Knock Knock: 1943
... 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana. Locomotive coupled to ... of the whistle will let the crew and everyone else in the yard that she is about to make a reverse movement. (The Gallery, Jack ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/07/2013 - 12:24pm -

January 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana. Locomotive coupled to caboose." Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. ThumperAh the bat... I worked for Penn Central railroad and can testify that even into the 70s, those bats were standard issue for train crews. Monsters Inc.The beast behind the door. The atmosphere is enhanced by the steam or smoke. Land Train"Candygram!" CNW 1300 series locomotivesA reasonable guess is we’re looking into the headlight of CNW 1381, one of over 300 class R-1's (4-6-0) built for the carrier by Baldwin and ALCO. Assuming the guess to be correct, Delano was probably riding with the crew of 1381 in interchange service between Proviso and Blue Island, taking Harbor traffic to, and CNW cars from the IHB. Apparently one running R-1 (CNW 1385) survives (recently restored) at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, North Freedom, Wisconsin. The Crawling EyePretty scary picture. It looks like a sci-fi movie from the '50s, with a one-eyed monster lurking in the door. 3 short blasts of the whistleSeeing how the smoke/steam is entering the caboose this train is/was/has making/made a reverse movement. Three short blasts of the whistle will let the crew and everyone else in the yard that she is about to make a reverse movement. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Frosty the Brakeman: 1943
... Illinois. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The Chicago & North Western Railroad yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/06/2013 - 8:28pm -

January 1943. Chicago, Illinois. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The Chicago & North Western Railroad yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. Shhhh, can you hear it?If you're very still and quiet, you can hear, in the crisp cold air, the crunching of the snow under his feet. Frosty ID'dThe man is Louis Zerkel, rear brakeman. Blue IslandLooks like Delano is looking northish; the creek bridge just beyond the brakeman is at 41.64368N 87.68441W http://goo.gl/maps/LYr51 Love the unique architecture of the signal bridgeI have never seen one quite like that before. You'll note Louis Zerkel, rear brakeman, is carrying a flag as he returns to the caboose, probably having protected the rear of his train. The photographer is standing on its rear platform. I love all the steam quite evident on this brisk winter day. Most of it is emanating from the engine pulling that freight train across the railway bridge in the upper background. Railroading, unlike just about every other mode of transportation, operated 24/7 regardless of the weather. It would take an extremely major set of weather conditions to stop train movements. However, I must salute those operating personnel who worked outside both on the ground and in the cabs of steam locomotives. It must have been brutal. Keep those Jack Delano railroad photos coming. They are an historical and irreplaceable treasure! (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Capitol Refining: 1925
... proposes to absorb the Washington and Virginia Stock Yard and Abattoir Company and to enlarge the plant and add equipment, not only ... has been recognized already by the establishment of a railroad stop and a postoffice by the United States government. The name is ... 
 
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)
Smoke and Wreckage: 1939
... August 1939. "Centralia, Lewis County, Washington state. Railroad yard, looking down from highway bridge. Disaster to the town: The one remaining ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/05/2017 - 7:20pm -

August 1939. "Centralia, Lewis County, Washington state. Railroad yard, looking down from highway bridge. Disaster to the town: The one remaining lumber mill burned down a week before. Note smoke and wreckage." Medium format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Re: UnattachedThose flatcars belong to the lumber company and are for woods service only. The logs were indeed tied down with chains for the trip to the mill. This was essential, as lumber railroads were built cheap and on the fly, with steep grades and poor roadbeds. The chains came off when the cars reached the mill, which alas is no longer capable of sawing them into lumber. The shunt from yard to the mill pond minus chains would have been acceptable. UnattachedAre those logs not somehow secured to the flatcars other than by gravity? Similarly, the photo also appears to have captured a person who might be unbound by societal norms. I think they were called hobos. +73Street view from Sept 2012. The mill pond seems to be in the right place. Re: UnattachedIt is hard to see,but there are curved wedges under the logs to keep them from rolling off the flatcars. (The Gallery, Dorothea Lange, Fires, Floods etc., Railroads)
Rail Hub: 1906
... is now) Interstate 95. The picture is the Elevated yard west of the 69th Street Terminal. At the time of the picture, the ... At left you can see the Philadelphia and Western Railroad's powerhouse, and one of their cars at the platform. To the right, the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/14/2014 - 3:05pm -

Circa 1906. "Elevated railway terminal, 70th and Market streets, Philadelphia." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. 100+ years laterIt looks like the 69th Street Transportation Center. There's a rail loop that climbs past a retaining wall that looks pretty similar. (At least it does to me, anyhow.) Additional InformationFrom my brother, who lives in suburban Philadelphia. He's an expert on the history of rail services in that area. His collection of books on the subject is probably larger than most people's entire library: It's the Market Frankford Elevated subway from 44th and Market to (what is now) Interstate 95. The picture is the Elevated yard west of the 69th Street Terminal. At the time of the picture, the Elevated extended across the Schuylkill before going underground at 22nd Street [I think that it now goes underground before the Schuylkill]. As we Philadelphians all know, "You can't get to heaven on the Frankford EL, cause the Frankford EL goes straight to Frankford." This subway was called the Frankford Elevated. It followed Market Street from 69th street (at the western city boundary) into Center City, then at the Delaware River turned north and ended in Frankford in northern Philadelphia. Another Terrific ViewAn even better shot of the backside of the Terminal shows all the operations. At left you can see the Philadelphia and Western Railroad's powerhouse, and one of their cars at the platform. To the right, the tracks of the Frankford El, curving out from the platform and off frame to the yard. And finally the stub-ended tracks of the trolley lines. We see the neat little control tower, a large Brill car signed for Collingdale on the Sharon Hill line and its bow-tied motorman. More interestingly (to me at least), just on the hairy edge of the frame at far right you can catch a glimpse of a horse and buggy and the fields beyond. Those fields represented the last farm in the increasingly suburban Upper Darby. Marshall Jones, my neighbor, one of the last of the old-time farmers in this area of the country, would recall that farm fondly many years later. "I can remember my uncle's corn fields just across West Chester Pike from the 69th Street terminal building" he would write in his Recollections. But within a few years of this photograph, his father decided the area was becoming too crowded, and the family moved out to Westtown Township in Chester County. The farm here on 69th Street would be developed into a number of buildings, including the Tower Theater. (The Gallery, DPC, Philadelphia, Railroads, Streetcars)
Boxcar Brown: 1942
... worker at the Chicago & North Western's 40th Street yard, examining paint samples used on freight cars and coaches of the railroad." Paint your wagon, or color-coordinate your caboose. Kodachrome ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/22/2016 - 10:46am -

December 1942. "Research laboratory worker at the Chicago & North Western's 40th Street yard, examining paint samples used on freight cars and coaches of the railroad." Paint your wagon, or color-coordinate your caboose. Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. I confessI don't know you, sir, and I don't know if I would like you if I did. But I confess: I envy you your lab coat. I Get ItTwo considerations: 1. Weather sustainability. Some colors fade and disappear in adverse weather. 2. Advertising. It is important to companies to display their brand to the buyers (public) as much as possible. Decisions, decisionsPre-Pantone perplexity. Saving some workIf this photo had been taken in black and white, some reader here would colorize it! I don't get it.Box cars are not cars or trucks. Why not just paint them the same color? (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Night Train: 1943
... California. A view of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe yard at night." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. ... examples of a locomotive type which was named after the railroad. They descend from the 2-10-0 "Decapod" type, to which the Santa Fe ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/07/2013 - 3:46pm -

March 1943. "Barstow, California. A view of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe yard at night." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano. View full size. 2-10-2 "Santa Fe Type"The Santa Fe steam locomotive 1691 in the photo, is one of the earliest examples of a locomotive type which was named after the railroad. They descend from the 2-10-0 "Decapod" type, to which the Santa Fe added a one axle "trailing truck" under the cab in 1903, for better tracking on the steep and curvy Raton Pass grade in Colorado and New Mexico. This begot one of the most popular wheel arrangements in America for heavy freight service. Maybe We'll Steam AgainThere's a group up at the University of Minnesota working with some 501c3 organization refitting a Baldwin to run on Biomass. They think they can get better emissions, efficiency, and power than diesel once they get it right. Even got themselves a website: http://www.csrail.org/. It would be awfully neat if we could see these kinds of things again! That Odd TenderThat slopeback tender behind the first loco was uniquely used on the Santa Fe, and was not original equipment on that particular engine. It came originally attached to one of the 2-10-10-2 mallets used to push trains over Cajon Pass. Built early in the century, they were the world's largest locomotives in their day, yet proved so impractical and labor intensive that they were short lived, like most behemoth locomotives produced in that era. They were scrapped in the 1930's, and MAY have been (I don't have my Santa Fe books handy, so don't quote me on it) converted into two 2-10-0 types. Engines died, but tenders, especially practical designs like the slopeback, lived on until the very end of steam. Whale, not slopeThat type of tender was known on the Santa Fe as a whaleback. Slopeback tenders were typically used with switch engines not road power - though, as always, there were exceptions. The biggest problems Santa Fe had with the 2-10-10-2s were with their jointed boilers. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Snow Belt Special: 1943
... 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The train pulls out of the Chicago & North Western yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/17/2015 - 9:39am -

January 1943. "Freight operations on the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad between Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. The train pulls out of the Chicago & North Western yard." Photo by Jack Delano, Office of War Information. View full size. This would bethe Proviso Yard of the C & NW, located about fourteen miles directly west of the Loop between Bellwood and Stone Park. When I was a kid I'd ride my three-speed Hercules north up Westchester Boulevard and Bellwood Avenue to where the latter dead-ended at the yard. Then I'd wander around within about the largest rail yard in the region watching mammoth freight trains being assembled. Only in retrospect do I realize how dangerous that was. The IHB's main line passed by a few blocks from my home, and I clearly remember steam engines of the Milwaukee Road, which had trackage rights on the IHB, chugging away pulling freight (usually northbound) amid heavy coal smoke with screeching whistles, in the early 1950s and maybe later. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Wakefield Hall: 1926
... and 30s one could rent a nice two-bedroom house with a yard and a garage for $20 to $30 a month, and frequently less. In the ... for sure, but fairly crowded with oilfield crews and railroad workers). He could easily afford it because he was making $75 a month ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 3:58pm -

1926. "W.H. West Co., Wakefield." Wakefield Hall was "an imposing new apartment edifice" put up by W.H. West Co. at 15th and V streets N.W. in Washington. Rents: $60 to $160 a month. National Photo Co. View full size. It rains only on one block of the street?Why is only part of the street wet, and none of the sidewalk? Clearly it isn't from rain, but what would it be from? [Street cleaning. - Dave] Sky-high Rents$60 to $160 a month was hugely expensive in 1926. The tenants must have been very well off to afford it. In most cities and towns in the 1920s and 30s one could rent a nice two-bedroom house with a yard and a garage for $20 to $30 a month, and frequently less. In the mid-1930s, my dad paid $15 a month for a comfortable house in Casper, Wyoming (not Washington, for sure, but fairly crowded with oilfield crews and railroad workers). He could easily afford it because he was making $75 a month as a telephone lineman. Still there......and looking much the same, although the street scene has changed a lot over the past 83 years. View Larger Map Not So Sky-High ActuallyRent at $60 would just top a bit over $700 today, which for an urban location, no matter what city, is actually a bargain. There may have been a number of choices in the gap to $160 also, and many people today would jump at the chance to have that low a rent! Murphy beds and fold-in ironing board as well as dumbwaiter garbage collection and a doorman were in fashion & high regard and the smart set would be flabbergasted with these digs. Still there and still a rentalThough now, instead of sky-high rents, it's a rent controlled building. The church in the background is still there, too, but the steeples are gone. GhostsWe regularly see ghost people, but I think that this is the first time I recall seeing a ghost truck in a Shorpy photo. [That's a person crossing the street from the corner on the right. His hat is in front of the delivery van. - Dave] (The Gallery, D.C., Natl Photo)
Let's Chill: 1943
... plant at the end This photo, taken in the Santa Fe "B Yard" in San Bernardino Yard in 1973, shows the facility at the very end of the ... units which replaced the ice cooled reefers. Now, most railroad mechanical refrigerator cars have been retrofitted with the same style ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/30/2012 - 7:29pm -

March 1943. "San Bernardino, California. Cars being precooled at the ice plant. Air at a temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit is blown through the cars for 20 minutes in one direction, then in the other. Shippers specify the number of hours precooling required for their product." Photo by Jack Delano. View full size. Now you know my nameBrings back a lot of memories, we also iced passenger cars before air conditioning on the C.P.R. and this was in the 1950's on the Canadian prairies. aaahh memories! Asbestos & CanvasBest pipe wrap ever. Ice plant at the endThis photo, taken in the Santa Fe "B Yard" in San Bernardino Yard in 1973, shows the facility at the very end of the "icer" era. San Bernardino was also the main point for servicing the mechanical refrigeration units which replaced the ice cooled reefers. Now, most railroad mechanical refrigerator cars have been retrofitted with the same style of refrigeration units used on trucks, and the most modern cars use cryogenic cooling. Comfort at the remove... When young, 50 years or more ago, I worked unloading freight cars, usually 20 pound bags of charcoal, in 80-90 degree summertime heat, the only respite was the occasional reefer. Whether vegetables or fish, we loved the frigid interiors, and lingered as long as possible on those jobs. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Arnold Park: 1905
... very long but I do remember it having more trees and railroad tracks than any city of its size. There's one in every ... The neighbor who piles up trash in his front yard. In Arnold Park, he lives in the house on the far left. Champagne ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/01/2012 - 1:42pm -

Circa 1905. "Arnold Park -- Rochester, New York." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. This looks like the spotFirst pass through from the end, and the stonework entrance is still there. View Larger Map DrivewaysIt took me a while to realize there are no driveways on this street, only narrow curb cuts that must be for bicycles or wagons or pushcarts or something. My 21st Century mind kept telling me those were driveways until I looked closer. No cars? No driveways yet. [Actually the words "driveway" and "driving" are products of the carriage-and-buggy era. Some of these homes may have had carriage houses with driveways to the street. Also note the curbside mounting blocks and hitching posts. - Dave] Rochester MemoriesI didn't live in Rochester very long but I do remember it having more trees and railroad tracks than any city of its size. There's one in every neighborhoodThe neighbor who piles up trash in his front yard. In Arnold Park, he lives in the house on the far left. Champagne Anyone Beautiful American Elm trees. Not may left in our cities any more due to dutch elm disease. What a shame! Trees are mapleThose aren't Elm. Look at the leaves....those are all Sugar Maple. (The Gallery, Rochester)
Instant Message: 1942
... Illinois. These pneumatic tubes in the Illinois Central Railroad yardmaster's office connect him with the general office." ... the late 70s, just as the caption says: connecting several yard offices with the central office. I have to wonder if Milwaukee officials ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/26/2013 - 11:47am -

November 1942. "Chicago, Illinois. These pneumatic tubes in the Illinois Central Railroad yardmaster's office connect him with the general office." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. No new thing under the sunWe used a pneumatic tube system on the Milwaukee Road until the late 70s, just as the caption says: connecting several yard offices with the central office. I have to wonder if Milwaukee officials were ‘inspired’ by the IC device. The system we used was really not up to the task, and I suspect it came from some department store that had quit using it for handling sales cash. The three tubes, about a mile each in length, were all exposed to Milwaukee’s freezing, moist, winter air. Need I say more? One night a new kid on the block weighed about 100 cars, and he asked the yardmaster what he was supposed to do with the scale tickets. The yardie, never having read “How to Win friends and Influence People,” barked at the kid to put the XXXXXXX things in the XXXXXXX tube to Muskego. So the guy did. Without a canister. For about two weeks, every now and then a scale ticket or two would come fluttering into the main office from the West End. Yes, they reweighed the whole cut of scalers. Vital piece of equipmentThe ubiquitous coffee can is an essential piece of the apparatus. AirpunkThe lesser-known cousin of steampunk. Scrap metalNever mind giving extra tires to Uncle Sam -- the quantity of iron in that tube machine looks like it would be nearly enough to build a Sherman tank from. I wonder when it got scrapped. Dress for successI am always amazed at how men and women during the war years always seemed to be well dressed at work, often despite their occupations. This man has dress shoes and well pressed, creased pants. My uncle, who worked for many years as a lithographer in NYC, would go to work in a suit and tie, change into work clothes in the printing company's locker room, do a day's work, then change back into his suit and tie for the trip home. (Technology, The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Compleat Angler: 1901
... did to your enemy was maybe TP the trees in their front yard. That always showed 'em! Regarding the fishing, he's probably fishing ... get stuck on them. Bridge Supports The Pennsylvania Railroad and her subsidiaries would typically build bridges in this manner, ... 
 
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)
Central Furnace Works: 1908
... the materials to Emma via the Newburgh & South Shore railroad. I read that rail service to the Emma furnaces was discontinued in the ... 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 ... 
 
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)
Through to Morgantown: 1905
... (second boat with that name) built in 1895 at the Howard yard in Jeffersonville, Indiana. A bit of a mystery, according to Way's Packet ... They are probably the beginnings of the Wabash (Railroad) Bridge built between 1902 & 1904, possibly fitting the "Circa ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/15/2017 - 3:33pm -

Circa 1905. "Pittsburgh, Penna. -- the Monongahela wharves." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Photographic Company. View full size. At the wharfboat.In the lower left is the Rose Hite (second boat with that name) built in 1895 at the Howard yard in Jeffersonville, Indiana. A bit of a mystery, according to Way's Packet Directory -- the pilot house was moved forward of the Texas deck after the boat was renamed Gracie Childers in 1908. The boat facing us is the Queen City, built at Cincinnati in 1897. A very posh boat with top finishes and fittings, it catered to Pittsburgh's finer citizens. Her hinged stacks are laid down to run low bridges. The Rose HiteThe Rose Hite may have been a bit of a hard-luck boat. She was recorded as being involved in a collision on the Evansville district of the Ohio River in 1896 (no information on damage to either boat). She collided with the towboat John F. Kuen (or Joe P. Klein; newspaper accounts differ) in 1905 on the Monongahela near Brownsville, PA, and sank with the loss of either four or five crew reported drowned. She was raised and continued to operate on the Monongahela river system until 1907, then was sold in 1908, renamed the Gracey Childers, and moved to the Cumberland River. She burned in September 1909 at Paducah, Kentucky. Floating wharf buildings?Curious if those large structures were "floating" so as to rise and fall with river levels (spring flooding, ice flows, heavy rains)? I can't see them hard piered to the river bottoms as they are pretty close to the water line. A bridge too farThere seems to be bridge abutments on either side of the river. Could it be there was a bridge planned but never constructed? Yes they float.Typically called wharfboats, the offices of steamer lines would be built on barges or older steamboat hulls. They would rise and fall with the river on poles driven into the riverbed. Anchor lines to the levee would provide additional security. Bridge abutmentsThey are probably the beginnings of the Wabash (Railroad) Bridge built between 1902 & 1904, possibly fitting the "Circa 1905" caption. There's a lot of long lens compression in this photo, but everything seems to fit with a vantage point somewhere near the current Smithfield Street Bridge, looking northwest toward the second Point Bridge (1877-1927 trussed eyebar/"suspension"), with the Duquesne Incline visible just beyond the left end. The current Fort Pitt Bridge wouldn't obstruct this view until ~1959. If so, the more robust final versions of the Wabash Bridge piers still survive its 1948 demolition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_Bridge_%28Pittsburgh%29#/media/File... (The Gallery, Boats & Bridges, DPC, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Newport News: 1905
... you can see the one "rise" on Washington Street where the railroad goes under at 40th Street from the Newport News shipbuilding yard. Immaculate Nary a horse apple apparent! One need not wonder about ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/03/2015 - 10:47am -

1905. "Washington Avenue, Newport News, Virginia." A lesson in receding lines of perspective. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Around Washington and 30thOff in the distance you can see the one "rise" on Washington Street where the railroad goes under at 40th Street from the Newport News shipbuilding yard. ImmaculateNary a horse apple apparent! One need not wonder about the efficiency of this city's street sweepers! 27th and WashingtonYou can just make out the street sign on the corner of the building with the arch on the left. I compared this to an old photo from around that time taken in the same direction from 26th street and the roofs of the buildings matched up. All gone now. Ma Bell?Given all the cables coming out of the building at right I think we can assume the Newport News telephone exchange is located there. Usually such trunk lines are run underground until they get out of the business district. Ma Bell's DomicileIf you use the enlarged photo, then enlarge that some more, on the building on the right where the telephone trunk lines have been identified by a previous commenter (Zoreo), if you look just above the level of the tops of the doors, about transom level, and underneath where those four second-floor windows with the awnings folded back, directly under the second one, there appears to be a "Bell Telephone" logo type sign. And even though I can't make it out very clearly, I get the sense that the word straight across the top is "Telephone." Perhaps someone else can make it out a bit more clearly with better resolution. ["Pay Station"? -tterrace] tterrace - Perhaps a station where you could place telephone calls requiring immediate payment as they are made, before the existence of telephone booths? Or, maybe a place ("station") where one could pay their phone bill if they were fortunate enough to have a home phone, phones in one's business establishment, or something similar? (The Gallery, DPC, Stores & Markets)
Spring Planting: 1943
... 1943. Chicago, Illinois. "Chicago & North Western RR railroad workers cultivating a little Victory garden at the Proviso Yard." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/30/2012 - 4:42pm -

April 1943. Chicago, Illinois. "Chicago & North Western RR railroad workers cultivating a little Victory garden at the Proviso Yard." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. What an astounding photograph!Not only does it have an all-encompassing and horribly stark beauty but those guys are also planting with an innocent faith in a worthwhile return. I shudder to imagine what sorts of toxins may have been dumped there first, though, and that consideration very probably never crossed their minds. This is, in my opinion, one of the best photos I've seen on this site. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chicago, Jack Delano, WW2)
Bicycle Crossing: 1943
... "Freight train operations on the Chicago and North Western Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The train rushing through the town ... is eastbound through Elmhurst, probably entering Proviso Yard. The tall bank building and other buildings can be seen on streetview. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/11/2014 - 12:07pm -

January 1943. "Freight train operations on the Chicago and North Western Railroad between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. The train rushing through the town of Cortland Elmhurst, Illinois, on its way to Iowa." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. My Trusty SteedLooks like the kid in the picture is riding an old Schwinn prewar bicycle. Likely an old DX frame style before they came out with the cantilever frame. I think Jack mixed up his captionsI'm fairly certain that we are in Elmhurst looking west towards the station from about Haven Road. If correct, that means the train is heading east, not towards Iowa. Maybe someone could link the Google street view? Nice photo, though. ElmhurstTrain is eastbound through Elmhurst, probably entering Proviso Yard. The tall bank building and other buildings can be seen on streetview. The track layout has not changed much over the years. Looks like ElmhurstIt looks like grubemed is correct. Here's the street view looking west from Haven Road in Elmhurst, IL. About two blocks west you can see the five storey building on the left of the photo. View Larger Map Some CNW quirks visibleThose horizontal signal heads were a peculiarity of the CNW, though they display perfectly conventional color light aspects. Another distinction hidden in the photo is left-hand running. When the main line was originally laid, the stations tended to be located on the south side of the tracks; when they double-tracked, the second track was laid on the north, and eastbound (to Chicago) traffic stay on the south track because commuter traffic would prefer to wait in the station inbound in the morning. Thanks BTW for the location update. I couldn't square the photo with Cortland but I couldn't quite convince myself it was Elmhurst either. (The Gallery, Bicycles, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Caboose Track: 1943
... track at the Chicago & North Western RR Proviso Yard." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the ... of War Information. No Graffiti! In all of the railroad pictures I have seen taken before 1990, I am pleased that graffiti ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2012 - 4:34pm -

Chicago, April 1943. "Caboose on the caboose track at the Chicago & North Western RR Proviso Yard." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. No Graffiti! In all of the railroad pictures I have seen taken before 1990, I am pleased that graffiti does not seem to be present. I remain unimpressed with the "art work" I see on passing trains today. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Snowy Joliet: 1943
... An important ancillary building once found in nearly every yard, but now less common, was the scale house. Most cars containing bulk ... to determine the weight for transportation charges by the railroad, and often for the charges the shipper would bill their customer for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/24/2014 - 10:50am -

March 1943. "Joliet, Illinois. Leaving the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railyard." Photo by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Can't quite make it outKeep the door closed when ??????????? cars. [Illegible in the original. -tterrace] Sign, sign, everywhere a signMy take: KEEP THIS DOOR CLOSED WHEN NOT WEIGHING CARS Mixed Signals?That looks like a train order signal. Not motorized, each blade appears to be manually operated by means of a pipe that extends down each side of the mast to just above the ground and then... nowhere. No trackside racks for delivering orders/messages on the fly, no telegraph office visible... are there any Santa Fe experts out there who know what this signal might have been for? WestboundMr. Delano was looking back from the caboose of a westbound train; the view is actually NNE. Des Plaines River/Sanitary and Ship Canal to the left, EJ&E bridge and Joliet Coke Plant in the background. The Scale HouseAn important ancillary building once found in nearly every yard, but now less common, was the scale house. Most cars containing bulk commodities such as grain, coal, and such were weighed - both to determine the weight for transportation charges by the railroad, and often for the charges the shipper would bill their customer for the merchandise. Every car had (has) the empty weight of the car stenciled on the side of the car, and the switching crew and a clerk would weigh each car, and subtract the Lt Wt (Light Weight, as stenciled) to determine the weight of the contents, and attach the scale ticket to the Bill of Lading. Note that there are four rails past the scale house. The Live Rails were for weighing the cars, the Dead Rails (or Bypass Rails) were so that engines could pass the scale without using the Live Rails, since their weight often exceeded the capacity of the scale. (The Gallery, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Career Track: 1943
February 1943. "Women in essential services. Women railroad workers take over the care and maintenance of freight and passenger ... escorts to provide her the needed access to the railroad yard. The man with the hat could be a Union Pacific employee. The other man ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/04/2017 - 1:02am -

February 1943. "Women in essential services. Women railroad workers take over the care and maintenance of freight and passenger trains in the Southern Pacific Company yards at San Francisco, California." Medium-format negative by Ann Rosener for the Office of War Information. View full size. EscortsI suspect the two men on the right side of the image are Ann Rosener's escorts to provide her the needed access to the railroad yard. The man with the hat could be a Union Pacific employee. The other man appears to be holding her tripod since she is probably not using it for this photo with the low camera viewpoint. She's adding water to a Southern Pacific "Pacific", class P-6, 4-6-2 wheel arrangement, in case you were wondering. MoonlightingIf that fellow is an employee of the Union Pacific, he's working two jobs, since this is on the Southern Pacific. The multicolored tender on the right side of the photo is one of the nearly new GS locomotives that powered the Daylight trains along the coast. I really like these photos of women at work during the war. Great ladies, all of 'em. (The Gallery, Ann Rosener, Railroads, San Francisco, WW2)
Chicago and North Western: 1942
... General view of one of the Chicago and North Western railroad yards at Chicago. December 1942. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome ... To the left it heads south to Bellwood. North of this yard (check out how big it still is today on Google Maps satellite view!) is ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 9:30am -

General view of one of the Chicago and North Western railroad yards at Chicago. December 1942. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Jack Delano. RR ydI think it's Proviso YD and if you look in the background there's another overpass that Jack probally used in the previous picture, the large object on the flat car on the left shows up in the other photo as well C & NW RailyardThat's the U.S. 12/20/45 overpass (Mannheim Road). To the left it heads south to Bellwood. North of this yard (check out how big it still is today on Google Maps satellite view!) is the Stone Park/Northlake area. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
City Terminal: 1941
... a major modification after the war when they removed the railroad yard and the terminal switched to purely truck distribution. (The Gallery, ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/31/2020 - 9:25pm -

June 1941. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Carloads of fruits and vegetables at city terminal." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Gulf TowerSo prominent then at 44 stories, lost in a sea of taller brothers now. Which boxcar goes where?How did they ever figure it out. Either people were a lot smarter or they had more fingers and toes back then. Each boxcar has a number and paperworkRailroads "group" freight cars in trains by destination. Each car had (and has) a multi-digit car number. Each loaded car has paperwork called a waybill. Freight train conductors and the switching foremen get copies. A buddy of mine used to work for NY Central and check car numbers of loads placed at an A&P warehouse. The car numbers were six and seven digits long and he said, "Typos mess everything up." So every evening he would get the switch list and trudge through the warehouse sidings "checking numbers." Once in a while he found a mistake but not too often. Nowadays they use computers, computer-generated car lists and scanners in the big freight yards. Good question! Blue FlagThat metal flag clipped to the rail at the lower center of the photo is a "blue flag", so named because, yeah you guessed it, it's blue. Decades before OSHA was invented and created "lock out - tag out" safety rules for machinery in all American industry, the railroads created a similar rule protecting workers on and around locomotives and cars from unintentional movement while servicing this equipment. A blue flag is placed on the approach track, and/or at the controls of a locomotive attached to such cars, to forbid entering that track, or coupling to or moving cars on that track. The switch stand controlling entrance to that track is further locked with a blue painted padlock. Note the track switch is aligned to prohibit entrance to the flagged track. At night, a blue lantern serves the same purpose as the flag. Only the person, or foreman of a group of workers, may remove such as flag or lock. Lots of ChangesAnyone familiar with the current configuration of Pittsburgh's famous Strip District may find this photo pretty confusing. It took me a while but I think I have it figured out. The row of fairly tall industrial buildings are on the south side of what is now Smallman Street. The White Terminal building and the building just to the left still stand today between 17th and 18th streets, although the White Terminal building has been chopped up a bit. The long two-story building that extends along the north side of Smallman has to be the famous produce terminal (currently being converted into luxury condos). But that building now extends all the way to 21st Street (just out of the picture on the left) and was somehow reduced to a single story. This is what confused me, and I couldn't find anything on the web that talked about a major change. But a Google Earth view clearly shows that there is a splice in the building right around 18th. So there must have been a major modification after the war when they removed the railroad yard and the terminal switched to purely truck distribution. (The Gallery, John Vachon, Pittsburgh, Railroads)
Coal, Water, Sand: 1942
... up with coal, water and sand at an Illinois Central Railroad yard before going out on the road." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/30/2013 - 12:29pm -

November 1942. "Chicago. Locomotives loading up with coal, water and sand at an Illinois Central Railroad yard before going out on the road." Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information. View full size. Yes, sand!The coal fuels the fire that makes steam from the water, and the sand, when dropped on the rail, gives the engine more traction. Most useful when the rail is wet, covered with snow/ice/leaves. Sand actually is essential to get over the railroad. Legend has it an old B&ORR helper engineer dreamed up the idea circa 1840s, and rigged a box up on his locomotive with pipes to the rail. It worked so well the RR's quickly adopted it. He shoulda patented his invention. The newest computerized locos today still have sand boxes with pipes to the rails. SandI was a brakeman on the Penn Central some years ago and we often switched out a couple of pipe yards that were at the bottom of a hill. If it was early morning with dewy tracks, we would sand going down so we could make it back to the top of the hill. (The Gallery, Chicago, Jack Delano, Railroads)
Telluride Tracks: 1940
... in her later years as a switcher in the Durango, Colorado yard, finally meeting the scrapper’s torch in 1954. The last two ... in operation: #463 on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad running between Antonito, CO and Chama, NM, and #464 on the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/22/2019 - 9:34am -

September 1940. "Narrow gauge railway yards, train and water tank at Telluride, Colorado." Medium format negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Aspen & DepotThe photo is taken from near the present location of the Cosmopolitan restaurant, looking west along what is now Depot Avenue. Most of the houses and sheds just to the right of frame are still there and in great condition. Here's a more recent photo (at night) looking west along Depot Avenue toward the original Telluride depot: Victim of the scrapyardBaldwin built #453 and fourteen of her sisters in the 125 class (later reclassed as K-27 and nicknamed “Mudhens”) in 1903 for the Denver & Rio Grande. 453 was used in her later years as a switcher in the Durango, Colorado yard, finally meeting the scrapper’s torch in 1954. The last two K-27s built are preserved and still in operation: #463 on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad running between Antonito, CO and Chama, NM, and #464 on the Huckleberry Railroad near Flint, MI. (The Gallery, Frontier Life, Railroads, Russell Lee)
Freedom Factory: 1941
... is nowadays dominated by a very large Norfolk Southern railroad yard and the four tanks mentioned above are just north of the Monaca - East ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2021 - 11:34pm -

January 1941. "Freedom oil refinery. Freedom, Pennsylvania." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size. Four oil tanksare all that remain. Thanks to Google Maps you can see that Freedom is nowadays dominated by a very large Norfolk Southern railroad yard and the four tanks mentioned above are just north of the Monaca - East Rochester bridge. Looking south from the same bridge onto abandoned roads and overgrown property, where Railroad Street becomes Freedom Road, is where I guess this refinery was located. (The Gallery, Factories, John Vachon)
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