There are many visual clues as to where some of the photos were taken. And historical clues if you know the history of the particular railroad. Figuring out where a photo was taken can be challenging research, if you know how to do it and have the available resources.
It’s marvelous and pictures of things I never expected to see and things I didn’t know ever existed. There are locations that I’m well familiar with but what has struck me with some of them is how much more track was there then. There are pictures of places that I’ve known as only weed grown empty spots and foundations but here they are, looking clean and neat and in service.
Backwards, upside down, not going to complain and surprised by those who are, this was an unexpected treasure, another addition to things I would have never seen had there not been an Internet.
Yes, it is enjoyable trying to figure them out by whatever means.
ED:
Again Thanks To ED (MP173) for posting this information. ![bow]
Have had some limited opportunities to go back and ‘surf’ thru this site. Also to look at some other aspects of these UMSL[University of Missouri-St. Louis] Mercantile Library Collections.
This is a link to one of their pages @ http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/plan-your-visit/driving-directions.html
Contains some information and directions. There is a link on the site to apiece about Mr. Robert McKnight and some of the help he gave to the Library and might be a resource for those into railroad signals and signaling? @http://blogs.umsl.edu/news/tag/john-w-barriger-iii-national-railroad-library/
There is a recent FLICKR posting of Mr. Barriger’s visit to the ARR of Puerto Rico by Nick Frye for a study of that line in that 1940s or 1950s (?) @
Beyond railroad, the photos are a fascinating view of the past.
The images are not what were shot for a railroad passenger department of exotic destinations. Everwhere the rails went Mr. Barringer’s camera went. What others would ignore as every day was put to record.
Not having sorted through but a glimpse Midwestern lines, the images of rural communities and countryside tell many stories. Nearly every small town of more than a few thousand had some kind of smoke stack industry along the tracks. Much shown is no more.
Some photographs show cross roads of but a few blocks of stores. People are seen going about their business. Bleak empty streets in the dead of winter make you wonder. Did the crops fail in the summer prior. Some of those towns are no more.
Corn does not appear as tightly planted to the acre. Tractors in transit on flat cars and in fields were considered huge for their time. Such machines are now sought to maintain acreages and are displayed at antique machinery gatherings.
The collection is a treasure for anybody researching the past whose interest is not necessarily railroading.
One of the more interesting details in the photographs are the number of railroad employees visible. Many of the photos feature either small town depots or junctions. Check out how many employees are on the ground.
Two things come to mind:
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Obviously railroading is much more productive than in the past. The mechanization of the ROW has eliminated a large number of employees.
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When winter hits hard, as it has this year, productivity doesnt fit snow nearly as well as boots on the ground. Or perhaps that is just my perception.
Ed
The massive gains in productivity cut against the mythology of Staggers.
I don’t care how unregulated the market is, if MOW work was done and staffed as it was in 1970, there isn’t a class I that wouldn’t be bankrupt in short order.
Great point OWTX…one of the interesting things about Staggers was railroads were given freedom for pricing and the rate dropped for years.
Recently rates seem to be moving up…drawing the ire of the shipping community.
Ed
Thanks again for visiting Ed. Next time you stop by I hope you can stay a bit longer and enjoy the collection some more.
Take Care
-Nick Fry
Curator
John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library