Great photographs help us see things in new ways, and reveal things that might otherwise remain hidden, or escape our notice. This is, of course true of all art.
Edward Hopper was an American painter who lived from 1882 until 1967. and his work has had a profound influence on the visual arts over the years. Photographers often cite him as an inspiration for their own work.
Read more
I joined the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Research & Test Department in Washington, D.C. just after Christmas, 1977, as an Environmental Specialist. I was thrilled to be there. I grew up in southern New England watching trains on the New Haven and the Boston & Albany, hanging around stations, towers, shops; anywhere there were railroaders working. Back in the late ‘50’s and early 60’s, railroads were wearing out everything: the employees, the track, the equipment, and as fascinating as it was to me, I couldn’t see myself working there. Having chosen to work on environmental problems, I studied water and air pollution in school and worked for a consulting firm for several years. But, after realizing that railroads would need people who could help to deal with their pollution problems, I was fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time.
Read moreWinter was on its way and it was chilly and grey, but the cars were warm and the coffee hot.
Indianapolis, Indiana, was once a crossroads with numerous railroads calling. The Monon, Big Four, Pennsylvania, Illinois Central and Baltimore & Ohio all called there. Much of the traffic funneled through Indianapolis Union Station, a downtown structure that served all five roads and still stands today.
On the east side of the station, this large brick tower was built to control the many tracks through the station and the interlocking plants at either end. The tower remains today and while it is no longer manned, it continues to house signal equipment.
Read more
Drive on Levee Street in Vicksburg south of the waterfront and the casino, and you soon reach the Kansas City Southern railroad yard. This is a historic railroad yard and has been in continuous use since before the Civil War. There is still a turntable, and there was once a brick roundhouse, but it was demolished sometime in the 1970s, I was told. One remnant of the 1800s remains; a forlorn and sad but once handsome brick building. According to the Vicksburg Post (20 January 2008), it was once a warehouse and work shop for steam engine supplies, but it now sits neglected and deteriorating.
Read more
The last time I saw the East Broad Top under steam was October 29th, 2011, during a freak pre-winter blizzard fondly referred to as Snowtober. Two months later, the tourist excursion season ended, and the East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company suspended operations indefinitely. The railroad has been dormant since, their doors locked.
Fast forward to last Friday, February 14th, 2020. On this day the EBT announced that the Kovalchick family had agreed to sell the railroad in its entirety to the non-profit EBT Foundation, Inc., a newly formed group of prominent railroad industry figures, philanthropists, and longtime EBT enthusiasts. I was there representing the Friends of the EBT in the role of event photographer, recording the day’s events with both candid and posed images.
Read moreWhen Edd Fuller asked me to write about the Center for Railroad Photography & Art conferences (at one of which he and I first met), it took me a couple of days to figure out where to start. After attending five of the events, I still can barely wrap my mind around the superabundance of talent and experience that gathers at every one. I still have not quite come down from the thrill of meeting David Plowden, my all-time railroad-photographer hero, the first time I went to Lake Forest, in 2016.
Read more