Steam & Excursion > A Favorite

There is no question Jack Delano of FSA fame left a significant body of historic railroad images in that collection, but this one taken at Summit on the AT&SF in March 1943 remains a favorite.
Photo credit Library of Congress.
Be of good cheer,
—Mac
​www.lowellamrine.com

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Marvelous image indeed by the well prepared Jack Delano.  Thanks for posting this unusual image taken at Summit, California.

A wonderful Jack Delano image, the work of a real master. So, so many of his images not only recorded the reality of railroading, but were also so evocative of its experience and feeling.

Mastery too by the railroaders on that freight. Of throttle and air by the hogger, managing the slack at the summit of one of the major grades in the country, so that a brakeman could walk the roofs with some degree of confidence. And for the brakie, to know how to do that and keep his balance and footing - it never ceases to amaze me that men could and did in fact do that. Even if that train was stopped, it took some skilled practice by a crewman to walk those car roofs with no handholds, in weather and wind (and Summit can be a breezy place - learned that on several visits over the years). Jack had some skill and guts to be up there too, probably handling a big, bulky sheet-film camera to get the shot. A lot to admire in the image, even apart from the wonderful composition by a masterful lensman.

Thanks so much for sharing a marvelous, evocative image.

MC

This image is from a 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 negative, not a 4x5 Speed Graphic, but impressive nonetheless.
—Mac

ironmtn Wrote:
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> Jack had some skill and guts to
> be up there too, probably handling a big, bulky
> sheet-film camera to get the shot. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/25 17:33 by MacBeau.

This is a shot and and a half.

He did an excellent job!  It's hard to wrap your mind around how busy the railroads were in 1943.
Dad was an engineer and was very busy.

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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 It's hard to wrap your mind around how busy the railroads were in 1943.

I would guess the rail tonnage over Cajon Pass in recent years considereably exceeds that in 1943.  The SP Palmdale cutoff (nowUP) over Cajon didn't even exist then and BNSF (then ATSF) was only two tracks most of the way from San Bernadino instead of the present three.  .
.

Cool to see the war time headlight cover on the Northern....and also the Budd cars behind it.  Would love to see what consists they ran.

ironmtn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A wonderful Jack Delano image, the work of a real
> master. So, so many of his images not only
> recorded the reality of railroading, but were also
> so evocative of its experience and feeling.
>
> Mastery too by the railroaders on that freight. Of
> throttle and air by the hogger, managing the slack
> at the summit of one of the major grades in the
> country, so that a brakeman could walk the roofs
> with some degree of confidence. And for the
> brakie, to know how to do that and keep his
> balance and footing - it never ceases to amaze me
> that men could and did in fact do that. Even if
> that train was stopped, it took some skilled
> practice by a crewman to walk those car roofs with
> no handholds, in weather and wind (and Summit can
> be a breezy place - learned that on several visits
> over the years). Jack had some skill and guts to
> be up there too, probably handling a big, bulky
> sheet-film camera to get the shot. A lot to admire
> in the image, even apart from the wonderful
> composition by a masterful lensman.
>
> Thanks so much for sharing a marvelous, evocative
> image.
>
> MC

Your description of rooftop brakemen job (balancing act) adds so much more to this wonderful photo. After reading your description, I went back to view photo again, and realized the first glance I didn't even notice them before! (It looks like another brakeman further back)
And Jack doing the same!
Plus those snow covered mountains make it real cold looking.
Really special skills there, walking those car tops, especially during snowy weather, also at night?.
Also the skills you mentioned of the engineer balancing the air and throttle with those brakemen in mind, just Wow!
How many brakemen per train?

Posted from Android

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/25 13:04 by RailRat.

Very nice...!!

Makes me really want to transport back there with them.
A masterful photographic image.