Nostalgia & History > FoggFile: UP DD35's in snow

Obviously not deterred by the weather, here's another Howard Fogg Cheyenne shot, this one with DD35's.

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Mr. Fogg & his artistry commands such a reverent spot in my respect, as he should for every railfan in the country. I am thoroughly enjoying your posting of his photography. It refreshes my respect for the man & his work!

Lance

Another one of Howard's great photos. I am so glad I got to meet him and get invited to his house to visit with he and Margo.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Great shot - Howard Fogg's abilities as a photographer and artist are second to none.

The following is not a criticism, just an observation: Many older train photos (say early-seventies and older) were taken from a perspective either right next to or directly on the ROW - in this shot, Mr. Fogg is clearly standing very close to the second track from the right, very close to the gauge, and obviously smack in the middle of the four-track mainline. I'm sure in this case he had permission from UP to be on the property, but be that as it may, it is certainly not a safe place to stand!! I've noticed this with many shots posted on the Nostalgia board, and also on many of J. David Ingles' shots in his excellent photo journals in Classic Trains. I pretty much assume that most if not all photographers were careful and aware of their surroundings as they set up their shots, but I have to wonder what the hoggers were thinking as they passed by these "nutcases" presumably risking life and limb for a photo.

Also kind of amusing to note that whenever someone posts a modern-day photo on TO that has even the whiff of a possible trespassing violation, they are almost immediately taken to task, especially by the more self-righteous elements out there!

Most were careful. Not a lot of reports of railfan photogs being slaughtered wholesale.

I know that with modern Red Zone awareness in my head, things I did for a shot back then seem a little foolhardy now. (Too close, no escape route.) But safety was equally in mind as it is now.

But I also painted without a respirator, cut metal without wearing "overs", and grew up in a house with a cigarette smoker.

The more we learn about what can kill us, the more cautious we become. Nothing wrong with that.

Some of us would stand a little too close to grade, and look disparagingly at someone who climbed a boxcar or signal to get a better shot. "Trespassers", we thought to ourselves -- us 'safe' shooters!

There was then, and is now, a sort of guerilla run-and-gun sport to the art of taking train pics. Then, we feared white hard hats, RR cops in white sedans, and the occasional hoghead with his hand on the radio head unit who clearly didn't like us.

I might be wrong, but back then (60s) I think a lot of crew were just happy that some younger folks were taking an interest in their beleaguered and seemimgly fading industry.

I stepped closer than I ever would now. But I was always thinking "be safe" and "don't get in the way of people doing their jobs."

It's the definition of what constitutes safety that keeps evolving. But that doesn't mean that practices we didn't use then were ignored because we were foolhardy. A safe worker without PPE because it didn't exist yet was still a safe worker. Same with rail shooters who'd watch signals, keep looking for traffic, step in and get the shot, then step back quickly. Which is something you can't tell from a still shot.

Of course, no denial that some of the shots we could get by being inside the Red could turn out very much cooler than by keeping a safer distance! :-)

BZ



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/12 14:46 by Notch16.

Well said, and more importantly, sensibly said.

-John

Times have changed, and not for the better.

I would hate for someone to look at the photo's from the mid to late '70s I took as a 13-16 year old in the Georgia Railroad yard in Camak. I was all over the place with no problems at all from the railroad workers. As a matter of fact, 15-20 years later I was asked by one of the employees for copies of some of the photos.

Also, during that same time I would frequently ride the super mixed train from Thomson to Camak and back. The Budd coach would be on the rear of a 150+ car freight train. West bound out of Thomson the track had a slight grade so the dispatcher would have the train only slow for us. The brakeman or conductor would grab our arms as we ran alongside to get aboard. More times than not the train would stall 100 yards after we were aboard. All this for the fare of $0.35.

Definitely another day and time, before nanny states and lawyers ruled the world, or at least the US.

Jay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/12 14:11 by garr.

What is going on at each rail joint? Is the snow able to stick where there is a joint or something?

Great shot!

Bryce