Steam & Excursion > A Pair Of Trains Leaving Town Anyone Would Jump On!

Some of the best and most atmospheric photos of trains in the days of steam are taken from the rear as they depart the towns they made famous. Here are 2 examples of what I am talking about.

The first view was taken in July 1940 as Nevada County Narrow Gauge 2-8-0 #8 departs the station stop of Chicago Park bound for Grass Valley, California. We see that a pair of young railfans have joined the conductor on the roof of the caboose on this hot summer day.


Our second scene was filmed just 7 years later in May 1947. Here we are trackside in downtown Carson City, Nevada when the Virginia & Truckee daily mixed freight barrels past us on her way to Reno. A sole boxcar is cut in ahead of the RPO and the Combine for the train this day.

Who among us would not want to jump on board either of these trains if we were given the chance to do so?

Martin



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/14 10:07 by LoggerHogger.

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Those must have been exciting times.

Martin, these two photos have an almost mystical quality about them depicting a time where
activities were slower and more personal. Thanks for posting more historical reflections.

A much more simpler time!

LoggerHogger Wrote:
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>
> The first view was taken in July 1944 as Nevada
> County Narrow Gauge 2-8-0 #8 departs the station
> stop of Chicago Park bound for Grass Valley,
> California.

By 1944 the Nevada County Narrow Gauge was gone, having run its last revenue train on July 10, 1942.

Martin - Simply a great look back in time. I sometimes think that I should have lived in an earlier time. At least we have these photos to show us how it used to be!!

Ron

Glad you liked these Ron. You are right, these photos are our connection to a wonderful time that we both missed.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Martin

Martin. Your photos are magnificent. Thanks for sharing them with us.

rww

Martin, I wonder if folk fifty years in the future will look back on what we get to do with the same envy.....Arlen

asheldrake Wrote:
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> Martin, I wonder if folk fifty years in the future
> will look back on what we get to do with the same
> envy.....Arlen


I'm sure there will be plenty of folk who will envy us smelling diesel exhaust and creosote after a train passes.

Its interesting to think that they were not representations of their own time so much as hold overs from a past era. Looks to the contrary, the second picture was taken in the atomic age at the dawn of the cold war. It is not of the world of mainline diesels, hump yards and efficiency described in the books of S. Kip Farrington so much as a vignette worthy of Lucius Beebe. Our nostalgia is twice removed. Not that it makes it any less enjoyable.