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Steel Echoes

The Spirit of Place

Nothing touches my heart like hearing a locomotives horn echoing off in the distance. The softly muted tone that trails as it’s smoothed by the cushion of air between me and the train that may be miles away. That sound is exhilarating as it quiets my soul and sparks memories for my love of trains. As a photographer this is what I live to capture; that feeling, the sounds, and even smells. I want you to inhale my photos and be transported within the crisp straight edges of the photograph. Through some of my photos from West Virginia, you will be able to experience the spirit of place, the spirit of an Appalachia hollow filled with battered 100 year old coal camp homes that nestle along the steel ribbon. To experience photos that have no boundaries is absolutely limitless. You can close your eyes and hear the pounding of a train miles away through the steep mountain sides. That low vibrating hum that grows from a faint whisper into a clash of battling steel squealing up the mountain grade as the locomotives grind past and the smell of diesel fumes fill the air.

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Editor’s Notebook

Across the tracks . . .

Morristown, Tennessee

Last month I made a road trip south. In planning for photography along the way, I followed the railroads, because the railroad often runs through the most interesting parts of town; the older industrial districts where the buildings are from earlier time and show the signs of age and neglect.

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Moved Into Memory

Canadian Pacific was the last operator of mainline steam in the state of Maine, and also the last operator of rail passenger services until VIA Rail took over. The yard at Brownville Junction served as a mid-point between Quebec and New Brunswick, also acting as the exchange point with the Bangor and Aroostook. The town of Brownville Junction swelled around the two railroads, being a hive of activity for the movement of pulpwood, finished paper, potatoes, grain and fuel.

To accommodate the needed motive power, there were coaling and watering facilities, not to mention a large roundhouse with a metal shop and an electricians shop. Anything that required service or repair between Megantic and McAdam, whether it involved a broken tamper or butchering an unfortunate moose at trackside, fell to the men at Brownville Junction. Blackflies in the summer, sub-zero temperatures in the winter, and always in the most remote region for the season.

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Talking Pictures – Episode 2

In this episode of Talking Pictures, our guest is artist Charlie Hunter. Join us for a lively and informal conversation about his wonderfully evocative paintings of railroad subjects.

Talking Pictures is a video podcast that features artists and photographers in a discussion of their own images, or pictures that they find inspirational or meaningful. The focus is on the images, not on the technical aspects of photography.

Edd Fuller, Editor

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Spirit of the Old West

There is nothing as American as the mythological old west.  A staple of the silver screen since the dawn of cinema, the wide-open spaces and big sky are as much a part of Americana as baseball and apple pie.

Even in this day and age of wireless communications, superhighways and urban sprawl, the spirit of the Old West of the American mythos can still be found.  The descendants of the railroads that pushed an advancing nation into the west are still as much a part of the scene as they were when pioneering photographers such as William Henry Jackson first trained their lenses on a smoking 4-4-0.

The Southwest Chief on Raton Pass – Wooten, Colorado

Standing at the summit of Raton Pass on the Colorado / New Mexico border, the southern Rockies can look almost as untouched by western civilization as they did a century and a half ago.  Almost, in this view, but for the former Santa Fe mainline at Wooten, Colorado.

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Talking Pictures

In this first episode of Talking Pictures, our guests are photographer Oren Helbok, along with Ross Gochenaur, who is a working steam locomotive engineer and fireman. They share their experiences and discuss Oren’s photographs of Ross going about his work at the Strasburg Railroad.

Join us as we discuss photography, steam railroading, the daily work of a hostler, and the importance of connecting with the people and places we photograph.

Talking Pictures is a video podcast that will feature artists and photographers in a discussion of their own images, or pictures that they find inspirational or meaningful. The focus is on the images, not on the technical aspects of photography.

Edd Fuller, Editor