Western Railroad Discussion > Don Ball Photo Collection

Don Ball is responsible for my interest in Kansas railroads. I grew up in Lawrence (I am now 43) and wish I could have seen 1/4 of the sites he photographed. I have avidly collected all of his books and photos. Does anyone know what happened to his collection after his untimely death? Between Don Ball, Robert Olmstead, the Gibsons, etc., the NE part of Kansas is very well documented from the late days of steam until the mid-80's.

You know you are getting old when you can remember when the RI served North Lawrence, the Santa Fe actually served Atchison via Topeka, and you used to visit the depots in Eudora and Bonner Springs.

Getting old is not all it's cracked up to be...

It sure beats the alternative...

I discovered Don Ball's books AFTER I had lived in the KC area '74-81, and have them all too. While much of what Don photographed in NE Kansas was a generation ahead of my time living there, I fondly recall the days of trainwatching at Holliday, and when getting bored with all the SF action I would just cross the river to Bonner Springs and and watch the UP/ROCK parade. I remember discovering the "curve" at Lawrence and when the SF had blades on the cantilever protecting the crossing of the river/UP at Bonner..and it was later when I discovered that Don had documented the NE Ks railroad environs it brought it all home for me again. To think that the summer vacations he spent at his Grandparents' in Lawrence (being from the east coast) he was out getting those images in that era...simply amazing.

count me in as a member of your club...

Now what IS your favorite DB book? I'll vote for America's Colorful Railroads...with Decade of the Trains a close second.

Chico
http://heartlandrails.com/home/home.asp

Decade of the Trains - the 1940's has to be the best one. However, some of his color work is his best. I would love to see more pictures of the Leavenworth branch mixed train operating out of Lawrence, the old engine house and water facilities in Lawrence, and some pictures of the old ATSF depot in Lawrence.

Robert Olmstead is another great photographer of this region as well.

I think it was in 1981 when Amtrak derailed on the curve a block from his grandparents house in Lawrence. I remember skipping high school classes that day so I could see the wreck.

Back to the original question: Does anyone know what happened to DB's photos? I hope they're in the hands of someone that will preserve them. I have just about all of his books and I think "America's Colorful Railroads" is the best book ever produced - that is of course just my opinion.

Follow this link

http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/findaids/Ball/MSS20030093.html

After Don Ball, Jr's. death, his collection passed into the hands of his friend, Walter Grosselfinger, Jr.
In the '90s, W.W. Norton Co. put out several Don Ball, Jr. calendars using images supplied from Mr. Grosselfinger.

As for the 887 images at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Don Ball Jr's. collection was almost certainly vastly larger than that.

Yes, I agree with John. Where is the rest of his pics. The Don Ball curve in Lawrance is named for him because he took so many pics. there. I see only one of UP. Something is wrong here. I thought he was from the middle here or from the Western part someplace. upkpfan