Actually, that's back where the railroad is away from the highway, between Shattuck, Oklahoma, and Higgins, Texas. It won't matter to most here, but maybe -- just maybe -- there is someone here who has ever lived in Canadian, Miami, or Pampa, Texas and they might be puzzled by the scenery, since Hoover is down in the Canadian River cedar breaks, just off the caprock. Jack Delano might have been worn slick from riding freight trains for hours and hours, and possibly had become tired of taking notes after each sheet of film was exposed. The helper might have been added at Waynoka, for Curtis Hill.
I love seeing these photos of my Home Road in its glory.
@MartyE posted:
Not a happy looking train crew, by any measure. Thanks for posting, Marty.
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Not a happy looking train crew, by any measure. Thanks for posting, Marty.
Yes, they look like they were all business and were being delayed by the photographer. But there might also be a back story. They all lived in a small town and could have been related by blood, marriage, or divorce. There might have been interpersonal issues relating to religion, politics, money, or whether they preferred Fords or Chevrolets. Maybe they were called for a drag that would pick up and set out cars all the way to Waynoka and get run around by two or three other crews, while the crew behind them got called for a hotshot.
Notice the badges on the Conductor's and Brakeman's caps. Santa Fe operating rules in that era required Conductors and Brakemen to wear their badge while on duty, in freight service as well as passenger. Everyone is carrying a pocket watch, a fountain pen, and a pencil. Two crew members wear neckties, making one wonder whether the caption identified the Brakeman and the Fireman backwards.
Their engine is a 4000 Class 2-8-2, a pretty strong engine of that wheel arrangement, easily capable of keeping the train running across the prairie at Santa Fe's then-maximum speed of 45 MPH for freight trains.
@Number 90 posted:Yes, they look like they were all business and were being delayed by the photographer. But there might also be a back story. They all lived in a small town and could have been related by blood, marriage, or divorce. There might have been interpersonal issues relating to religion, politics, money, or whether they preferred Fords or Chevrolets. Maybe they were called for a drag that would pick up and set out cars all the way to Waynoka and get run around by two or three other crews, while the crew behind them got called for a hotshot.
Notice the badges on the Conductor's and Brakeman's caps. Santa Fe operating rules in that era required Conductors and Brakemen to wear their badge while on duty, in freight service as well as passenger.
Their engine is a 4000 Class 2-8-2, a pretty strong engine of that wheel arrangement, easily capable of keeping the train running across the prairie at Santa Fe's then-maximum speed of 45 MPH for freight trains.
Lotta “what ifs” and “coulda beens” above, Tom. Doesn’t make them look any happier😜😜😜
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Lotta “what ifs” and “coulda beens” above, Tom. Doesn’t make them look any happier😜😜😜
Just how "happy" would you expect to see Railroaders in 1943, after at least two years of war stress?
Happy enough that they’re stateside, and not in combat in the PTO or ETO. That’s war stress!
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Happy enough that they’re stateside, and not in combat in the PTO or ETO. That’s war stress!
You really have no idea about the "stress" that Railroaders, and railroads, were under during the war years. Just because they were not in combat, and getting shot at, doesn't mean that Railroaders were NOT "stressed". I was born in 1942, and once old enough to understand, I can remember my father's VERY long hours at the Pennsylvania RR, and he wasn't even in the Operating Department.
That AT&SF crew photo was taken in the month and year that I was born, and I just imagine that they--like most railroaders and industry workers at the time--were all business, and not much inclined to be subject to "smile for the camera" moments. Everyone in the U.S. was pretty much focused on the war effort at the time, including youngsters who gathered materials that could be used for that ongoing and very serious effort.
I also thought about what they might have been thinking about at the time and it reminded me of my father. He was a fireman on the New Haven (trained on steam and diesel), right after WWII and the railroad life was not for him. He was low on seniority, so he often got called whenever someone was needed. He used to complain that he was too busy to spend all the paychecks that were stuffed into his pockets.
So, we may have some tired railroaders, maybe some less than happy railroaders, etc. God bless them all wherever they may be nowadays.
Thanks for posting, Marty.
Tom
Santa Fe established Navajo rail replacement gangs every spring, and cut them off in the fall. This was a source of good relations between the Navajo Nation and the railroad until the BNSF merger. Railroad wages were appreciated on the reservation. The railroad gave them a week off and a ride back to Winslow or Gallup each month, and then picked them up and transported them to the work location. They were excellent at laying rail.
Most spoke English but would not do so in the presence of non-Navajo railroad employees. We supervisors talked with the Navajo in charge -- we called him the chief, but I am not entirely certain what was his official standing within the Navajo Nation -- and he would communicate with the workers. Over a span of 22 years, a couple of them spoke English to me, but only small talk, such as "It will be good when the afternoon rainstorm season starts." "Yes, I look forward to it."
The Santa Fe Navajo steel gangs were legendary for their excellent work.
A couple more...
April 1943. "Baltimore, Maryland. A local delivery truck (last seen here) on South Howard Street."
and
