Steam & Excursion > WP #253 Eastbound, Keddie, Ca. 9-3-1939 5x7 photo anomolies?

In response to one of Logger Hogger's recent posts, of WP Steam, I was eager to add this photo, which is a scan of a 5x7 I got from Bob Larson, but then, got hung up on the lower right portion of the photo, which looks like an out of place part of a town, if you look close, which upon double checking the original, IS there, plus the scan shows an odd vertical splice down the front of the engine, something the resulting scan made obvious, but cant be seen on original photo with the naked eye, plus something blurred out out on face of engine, to the left of the splice, which does appear on original also. Then I noticed the whole train, stretching back, including the man standing on top of tender, looked kind of out of place, like the lighting of boxcars, vs background trees and hills doesn't quite match?. Was this something that happened sometimes back in the day, when processing the film? Many a Photographer back then, did indeed have artistic license to edit their own images, and those that were really into it, had their own "Darkroom", necessary to develop and produce/edit their own pictures..A world apart from today's point and shoot digital photography! I'm Thinking the photo is obviously in the place noted by Jim, but somehow the "town" part in lower right is an accident??...Oh and By The Way, I'm not really up Late all Night Drinking and Posting, Rather I work Swing/Late Shift, and this time slot (4:27am Pacific) is actually my late evening/before beddie by time!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/17 04:28 by Boomer92.

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Boomer92 Wrote:

> but then, got hung up on the lower right portion
> of the photo, which looks like an out of place
> part of a town, if you look close, which upon
> double checking the original, IS there,

I don't think those are buildings but rather stacks of ties or some other form of lumber. A photo on page 200 of Dunscomb & Stindt's Western Pacific Steam Locomotives, Passenger Trains and Cars shows WP 254 with a similar stack in the foreground.

> plus the
> scan shows an odd vertical splice down the front
> of the engine, something the resulting scan made
> obvious, but cant be seen on original photo with
> the naked eye

Could also be a defect in the scanner. Try scanning the print on a different portion of the bed or oriented differently and see if that vertical line still shows up in the same place.

> Then I noticed the
> whole train, stretching back, including the man
> standing on top of tender, looked kind of out of
> place, like the lighting of boxcars, vs background
> trees and hills doesn't quite match?

Other than that vertical line, the lighting of the scene looks natural to me, and those 2-8-8-2's were just BIG locomotives relative to the 40-foot boxcars and reefers of the day, as other photos in the book illustrate. It does look like you might have an anti-noise/film grain filter turned on that is blurring out fine textures and details in the trees and locomotive front in addition to the grain.

Yep, agree with the scanner or scanner software thinking a low res feature is noise and either duplicating it or removing it. Part of the noise filtering plays into symmetry, although there are other 'structures' that the scanner software is looking for. Try finding ways to turn some of that off, although part of the issue is the very low resolution in the shadows of the print itself.

Looks to me that the far end of the train is simply out of focus, which easily happens when someone is trying to use the depth of field trick using the markings on the focusing barrel of the lens. The scanner software will also wreak havoc with that as well.

Curious how it works out.

Agreed. Does look like modern industrial buildings but when that corner of the photo is enlarged, appears those are stacks of ties with each layer turned 90 degrees.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Boomer92 Wrote:
>
> > but then, got hung up on the lower right
> portion
> > of the photo, which looks like an out of place
> > part of a town, if you look close, which upon
> > double checking the original, IS there,
>
> I don't think those are buildings but rather
> stacks of ties or some other form of lumber. A
> photo on page 200 of Dunscomb & Stindt's Western
> Pacific Steam Locomotives, Passenger Trains and
> Cars shows WP 254 with a similar stack in the
> foreground.
>

Thanks guys, now after looking again, and with your comments, I'm thinking those are wooden crates, with tie plates or something neatly stored in them?

And my printer/scanner is a low cost HP all in one from about 2009, software is very basic, and outdated, but still functions. HP update won't update anymore! Most likely why that line is running down front of engine. Thanks for the comments.

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

The town is Keddie. The engine is eastbound approaching the turntable area. The engine is to the left of the machine shop and round house. In the back of the picture you can see where the yard curves to the right. To the left is the Kelly spur. In the lower right of the picture you can see the hillside is the beginning of the cut in the hillside to accommodate the roundhouse and facilities. The blure in the photo runs through the fireman side air compressor.

Photo by the great WP hogger Jim Boynton. Bob Larson also a great WP hogger and handy with a camera 2-3 decades later. God bless them both.