Steam & Excursion > Sometimes The Automobiles In The Scene Can Really Date The Photo!

While most of us try and keep automobiles andother distractions out of our railroad photos, sometimes they can really add something to a scene.  Such was the case in some of the best steam railroad photos of O. Winston Link and others.

An example of this simple truth is evident in this fine photo by Ted Wurm in downtown Carson City, Nevada in 1049 during the final months of the Fabled Virginia & Truckee Railroad.  Ted has caught V&T 4-6-0 #26 and her short train ready to depart for Reno one afternoon down at the V&T Depot on Virginia Avenue.  In the backgrund to the left is the great stone roundhouse of the V&T along with the oil and water tank still used by the steam locomotives on the line. 

In the foreground, a 1949 Ford has pulled up to a stop to allow the short train to pass.  The contrast in styling for the 2 forms of transportation is striking.


Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/16 03:15 by LoggerHogger.

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That's a classic shot.  A far better world.

Great shot, folks had a two door 50 ford the whole picture, dirt on the car and such makes it.

How long did it take to reach Reno?

My first car! And it was in NO way a "far better world!"

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

I have to chuckle at some contemporary efforts to recreate such scenes.

The locomotive(s), railroad cars, and vintage autos are always glossy and spotless, compared to the old days.

I know of one shot in which all of the above was done, and more, including temporary relettering the loco and tender and leaving the headlight turned off (it was bright daylight) to make it look like the late '30s or '40s, complete with the obligatory pristeen Model A waiting at the crossing.

And in the field were 6 or 8 of those huge round hay bales typical of today, while the gate to the field was a near-new, shiny, galvanized steel panel gate.

49 Ford "ratliner".

49,50 & 51 had 8BA heads! Maybe the 52's and 53's?

I thought the V&T terminated in Truckee?
Reno?

50 and later had pushbutton door handles. 51 and later had two spinners in the grille.

An "old"car and an "old" steam engine work well together, just as a new car and a new diesel look "right".

I think the same thoughts apply in any time frame.

No one wants to see your damn hover car floating next to a restored EMD SD90MAC in the year 2050, lol.

Great shot, Martin! Looks authentic - because it IS authentic! And, being the V&T, how can you go wrong? Even if there were a Cutlass Supreme in the shot, lol.

/Mitch

Posted from Android

ValvePilot Wrote:
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> I thought the V&T terminated in Truckee?
> Reno?

Reno...  The V&T connected "Virginia" City with the "Truckee" River.
The line ran from Reno down to Carson City then on south to Minden.  The line to Virginia City became a branch that was torn up in the late 30's (?).
 

Same view today.

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