Eventually plants will start to anchor the soil and rocks and there will be no need for the distant watchman's shanty or his patrols along this section of track. One large bolder or a sufficient amount of small rocks and mud could derail a train. Water and frost action, in response to gravity, is steadily bringing debris down the barren slope and onto the track. Standing in front are Pat Krane and an unnamed employee. On the back of the print the names were listed: John Wolcott, unidentified, Warren Davis, Joe Wolcott, George Gradup, Danny Kane, unidentified, Will Gradup (in ditch) are on or behind the wall. Carefully looking at both the top photograph and the wall outside our left windows, we tried to find the location of the 1902 picture and we stopped where we thought the men had stood 92 years ago. Last spring, Carl Ohlson and I (dues paid, card carrying O&W enthusiasts) did the same as we headed north for a visit with Sam Reeder and John Taibi at Munnsville. 17 and ride over this road every time they travel the highway. I believe there are some O&W enthusiasts who detour off Rt. It stands between East Branch and Fish's Eddy along right-of-way that is now a road connecting the two locations. Freezing water also expands, pushing outward, then thawing, then pushing again, an endlessly repetitive process. Water and organic matter seep in and a succession of ever larger plants take root, forcing layers or sides farther apart for more water, more roots and more pressure. The daily expansion and contraction caused by sunlight and night time cooling fatigues the crystal structure of solids and fissures develop. "Only the rocks last forever," native Americans are supposed to have said but they had no written history to compare with the present and most geologic changes occur too slowly to be observed in a single lifetime. Walter Kierzkowski arranged for copies of these prints to come to the O&WRHS archives. Jim's grandfather and namesake worked for the railroad at Norwich. Lopiccolo and were taken by his father, Dominic. These photographs were provided by James V. I think that the Munnsville, Maywood and Central Square stations, Roscoe Railroad Days, engines 104, 105, 116, the four-wheel caboose at Arkville and photographs like this provide us with a kind of "resurrection experience. With the railroad engine terminal, the American fascination with mechanical processes and gadgetry found a wonderful venue in which to indulge itself.Ĭould it be that just as one visits a cemetery and touches a tombstone to find some solace over human loss, we take pleasure from finding a still extant water column, roundhouse or concrete coaling tower, as a similar connection to the past? We have to be satisfied with so much less than those who witnessed a live O&W. Even the daily task of loading the great black wooden bin with coal from two, three and four bay hopper cars caught the ear and eye. Noise, dust, the movement of machinery and the purpose-filled activity of several railroad laborers were very much of part of steam's fascination. Roundhouses, coaling docks, water tanks, turntables, and erecting shops also projected heat, flame, smoke and sound like the machines which relied upon them for "life" and maintenance. The tasks of coaling and watering steam locomotives were events in themselves. With or without steam locomotives, those structures were a dominating presence in the neighborhood if not the entire community. It was not only the drama inherent in each active steamer's presence that provided the indelible vividness, but also the massiveness, solidity and durability of the structures which were the necessary adjuncts to steam operation. As fine as they are, they fail to provide us with the multi-sensory experience that so impressed a trackside observer during the century and a quarter long steam era. We can only employ the facility of sight now and that in such a small way with these two dimensional, 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch photographs. I suppose that one living along the railroad was quite aware that the sight, sound, and smell of steam locomotives were gone from the railroad and had been for almost a year and a half. Isn't it striking that the fixtures of steam railroading overwhelm the diesel set in these pictures? It's as if the diesels have yet to reconfigure the O&W to suit their own needs and personality.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |