I love the smell of coal smoke. When I was a boy in the 1950s, my grandparents heated their house with coal, and that smell brings back many memories.
If there is no coal-fired locomotive handy, the next best thing is the working steam powered tractors at the annual Somerset Steam and Gas Pasture Party which I attended last weekend.
Steam power for agricultural use was introduced in 1849. A few years later, self propelled steam engines were available, but it was not until after the Civil War that steam power began to be widely used for farming.
Steam power increased the amount of land that could be farmed and began a revolution in farm labor that had been dependent on human and animal power for centuries. The massive tractors were able to plow and run threshing machines and corn cutters.
Because of their size and weight, often upwards of 30,000 pounds, the steam tractor was not suited for planting and cultivating. Horses were still needed for those tasks. In addition, the tractor was expensive to buy and maintain, and needed a knowledgeable operator. Farmers often pooled resources to buy a tractor which would service several farms.
After 1900, the use of steam power in agriculture declined, and by 1920, steam tractors were obsolete, replaced by the internal combustion engine.
The day in Somerset brought alive the technology of a bygone era, briefly visible through the mists of coal smoke and steam.
Edd Fuller
Dunkum Store – Green Springs, Virginia – July, 2016
At the crossing . . .
Grade crossings are among the most mundane aspects of the railroad landscape, but they are not without interest for photographers.
So on a drizzly afternoon a couple of weeks ago, I decided to undertake a small project to photograph the grade crossings along the old Chesapeake and Ohio Piedmont Subdivision, which is not too far from my home. Chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836, the Piedmont Sub is the oldest section of C&O track. It extends from Richmond, Virginia to Charlottesville and the line is still in use today, operated by the regional shortline Buckingham Branch Railroad.
The old store at the crossing at Green Springs, Virginia has an interesting story to tell. Shortly after midnight, on April 15, 1914, Buck Dunkum was awakened by cries of "fire!" and looked out of his bedroom window to see his store engulfed in flame. Later that same morning, Victor Hall was shot in the head and lay fatally wounded in his general store, just across the tracks from the smoldering ruins of Dunkum's store. His wife, Elizabeth Hall, was charged with his murder and a sensational trial followed.
Today, little remains of Green Springs. Rail passenger service ended in 1945 and the C&O demolished the Green Springs Depot and tore up the siding. Most of the other buildings, including the Hall house and store are gone. In 1914, Dunkum rebuilt his store on the original foundation and today it stands vacant next to the tracks at this lonely grade crossing.
Edd Fuller
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It starts with the sound of a horn in the distance and the gleam of an approaching headlight. Suddenly, you are in the presence of huge thundering, fast moving machinery. In just a few seconds, the locomotive has passed by and you watch until the EOT marker has disappeared around the next curve. Photographing trains is fun and exciting; waiting for trains—not so much.
In December, 2015, I was on the platform of the former B&O station at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, staring across the Potomac river and hoping for a train to emerge from the tunnel on the other side. With nothing much to do while I waited, I took photos of the station, the railroad bridge, the tunnel portal, and an old passenger shelter across the tracks from the station. The train never did show up, and I finally gave up. Evening was coming on and it was getting cold.
I came home with no train pictures. That happens quite often, but I enjoy exploring the railroad landscape, and if a train comes along, it's a bonus. There are great photographic opportunities along the tracks even if the train never arrives. This is the simple idea behind The Trackside Photographer.
So, the next time you are trackside waiting for that train, take a close look at the railroad landscape. You might be surprised at what you find. Take a picture and send it to us for The Trackside Gallery. We would love to hear from you.
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The Center for Railroad Photography & Art recently announced the 2016 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards program. This year, there are two categories: one for “Exceptional images from mobile device cameras” and one for “Most evocative images by living photographers.” The contest is open to all, there are no entry fees and no limit on when the photographs were taken. If you are interested, more details may be found on their website.
Edd Fuller, Editor
Your thoughts and comments are welcome.
The present is the future past. The world we live in today will soon be the past. This seems blindingly obvious, but as photographers, we often fail to recognize the significance of this concept. We fail to grasp the value of recording the day-to-day aspects of our current culture.
What got me thinking along these lines is the photograph above of Norfolk & Western locomotive 611 as it passed through Marshall, Virginia on June 5, 2016. In an attempt to make the picture “timeless,” I positioned myself to eliminate the cars, buildings, people and other reminders of the 21st century. The old mill in the background reflected the era of the locomotive. But if this photograph were to survive for 100 years, wouldn't the viewer like to see the cars, buildings and people of 2016 that surrounded this excursion train?
It is easy to look at photographs of the past and wish we had access to the world that existed in front of the lens of the great photographers working in the steam age. But these men and women were recording a present which was as familiar and perhaps mundane to them as our surroundings are to us today. Those historic photos which so intrigue us today, may have seemed ho-hum when they were taken. After all, the railroad was, even more so than today, commonplace. Everyone saw the steam locomotives and stations and tracks every day. Why bother taking a picture?
The old photos that I most enjoy connect me to the past because they include the ordinary buildings, the view down the track, the old automobiles, and the people.
And one day, people will look at photos taken today and marvel at the old buildings, the view down the tracks, the clothes and funny haircuts. “Look at that old car—my great-grandfather had one like that.”
Who knows what direction photography will take in the next decades. Perhaps a still photograph as we know it will itself be a relic from a lost age. But you can be sure no matter what the years may brings, the people living in the future will be intrigued by the way things looked in 2016. Don't let them down.
Edd Fuller, Editor
Your thoughts and comments are welcome
