Steam & Excursion > No One Ever Wanted To Miss The Chance To Be In These Photos!

When the word came down from the head office that the railroad was sending the company photographer to the roundhouse to photograph the employees in a group portrait, everyone took a break to be in the photo.  At this Santa Fe roundhouse, this was the result.

Barely visible with all the folks gathered on her and around her is AT&SF #3409.  The big 4-6-2 does not seem to mind being in the photo along with those folks who keep her running.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 03:17 by LoggerHogger.

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Could be Corwith, IL (Chicago freight yard), which had a doorless, stone roundhouse with a short, windowless clerestory and tall, square smokejacks.

Because of all the women in the picture that may have been taken during WW2.  Gerry

A more complete tapestry of who and what it took to run a railroad.

Txhighballer Wrote:
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> A more complete tapestry of who and what it took
> to run a railroad.

I had similar thoughts when looking at the people in the photo.   I like the fact that for the most part, they mixed fairly well together with suits next to oily shirts, etc.   

They must have asked the women to wear white that day as only one is in black.
Sure look like a happy bunch of one giant family of workers.  Must be around Chicago to have that mix.  Except the young call boys and pets are missing.

Martin:

Thanks for posting. That's a really nice photo. It shows just how many people it took to operate a steam powered railroad. It looks like they had more than just the roundhouse and shop employees turn out for this photo. I wonder if it was during WWII.

I also bet you couldn't find a place to stack that many people (if you could find them) on one of todays latest "ADSX20G-40/12CM's" ; )

John

all of us who have attempted group pictures have some understanidng of the logistical problems involved and how outstanding this photo really is...Arlen.

The folks at La Grange must have salivated at such a sight.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

For a diesel loco, all you need is a machinist, and electrician, a pipefitter, a laborer, a boilermaker
( for collision repairs),  & a boss..
The rest are gone..

NOW, calculate the amount of cash that the RR had to send to the IRS, every 90-days.
They had to send 90-days worth of "weekly withholding". --- for each employee,
"agreement" or "non-agreement". .... for ALL the employees over the whole RR!!!

RR's monthly cash ($$ millions)  --- all sent to the IRS...
Could they (RRs) find a better use for that money?

[ I've been reminded thst RRs ALSO had to pay ( employees per cspita) into the Railroad Retirement
Board, on a monthly basis, that's added Corp.expense... cut the numbers, keep more cash!! ] 

Even back in the day, that's an enormous amount of cash..for every roundhouse
on the system...

As you can see, this is the hidden story why railroads dieselized ......the Unions were too slow
to see the massive implications that would take over, in under 10 years...they refused to adapt..
Thus, many became virtually extinct..

The other major advance was "parts interchangeability"......identical parts off an assembly line
can make replacements much simpler, tolerances were tighter, but new parts fit right-in.
Down-time was reduced from hours, or days (for steamers), to minutes for dismals..
Upgrades became vastly more simple.   Just keep track of the right part numbers...
The original "plug-&-play..."

W.

( From Wikipedia:  building complete Liberty ships:  Kaiser's shipyards could build  ( assemble) 
& launch  3 Liberty ships every 2 days...  Technology marches-on...)
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/20 15:54 by wcamp1472.

Which is why we will all be driving electric cars soon...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

What a great photo!  I love the diversity that was captured in it.  You can see a lot of crafts there. 

Steve 

MojaveBill Wrote:
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> Which is why we will all be driving electric cars
> soon...


Not until and unless we can get 400 miles on a 20 minute charge.
 

400 miles...

Which is coming...
But for marketing purposes, it’s
being dribbled into the ‘market’,
a little bit at a time...

You never put your BEST option out there in the beginning years...
keeps them salivating... for more..

They can easily put in enough battery to go 1,000 miles, right now..

But waiting ( metering-out the improved versions) means more income, over time..

Marketing, 101...

W.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/20 11:39 by wcamp1472.