Nostalgia & History > The Mystery Deepens

In a reply to my posting, Five Switch Engines with Men, Omaha, Nebraska 1909, lwilton asks some interesting questions.

“The picture of the 5 switch engines is interesting, but even more interesting would be the story behind it, which is probably lost in time. Why did someone pose those 5 engines and take the picture? Who are the people in the picture? Some are pretty obviously running crew, but others look like they might be the heads of shop forces. Others are wearing suits, and pretty clearly spend their time in offices. Why are they out there in the mud with the running crews?”

I found the picture on the on the Durham Museum’s Photo Archive.

http://durhammuseum.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm

The text with the picture says the picture was taken on October 21, 1909.

The Mystery Deepens.

There is a second later photo in the Durham Museum’s Photo Archive, “Title: Railroad ‘Switching Force’ with Five Locomotives.”, that was taken by the same photographer on November 19, 1909. The photo in November appears to have more management.

Picture 1, “Title: Railroad ‘Switching Force’ with Five Locomotives. Description: Five locomotives lined up on a track with men standing next to them. Located at Union Stockyards railroad in Omaha, Nebraska. Customer Name: Union Stockyards. Creator: Bostwick, Louis (1868-1943) and Frohardt, Homer (1885-1972). Publisher: The Durham Museum. Date: 1909-11-19. Type: Image; Still Image. Format: Image/tif. Identifier: BF25-092; Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, Folio 25, Negative 092. Source: Original Format: 6-1/2" x 8-1/2" black and white glass plate negative.

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Picture 2 is picture 1 enlarged 45%. Right.

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Picture 3 is picture 1 enlarged 45%. Middle.

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Picture 4 is picture 1 enlarged 75%. Left.

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The stockyards in Omaha were actually in South Omaha, which was itself a separate city until 1915. The previous photo of the five engines & crews lined up looked to be taken just south of the L Street bridge, shown in the background of the full picture. The hill behind it is likely the one where I-80, I-480 and US 75 all converge today. The Union Stockyards Company ran the switching railroad of its facilities under its own name until 1927, when the subsidiary South Omaha Terminal Railway was established to run the operation.