Nostalgia & History > A few moments at the monuments

Modern railroading at the Class 1 level is slick and healthy looking. Ribbons of welded rail on concrete, or solid wood ties carry the longest trains with the fewest power elements, for the longest runs, in the history of railroads. Double stack trains with both domestic and international trailers are quickly eating away at the traditional boxcar. Sidings into all but the largest customers are now weed covered rust spots, yielding to truck bays filled with the everywhere JB Hunt intermodal trailers. Yes, railroading looks good, but it has lost its heart. Yards close, people disappear, the towers, order boards, semaphores, color position lights, depot, roundhouses, jointed rail, and switchers have succumbed to progress. I've seen seismic changes in my profession [photography], from 4x5 size film to cell phones, so I know of both the pain and prosperity of industry revolutions. Things change, and change in most cases is fine with me, but it doesn't hurt for an industry to acknowledge its past. NS and UP do it to great applause; BNSF just keeps rolling its way into prosperity, KCS is holding its own thanks to our neighbor to the south, and CSX is...well CSX. For today, lets drift back to a time when railroads had neither the money, technology, or willpower to turn their properties into just those slick souless ribbons of rail.

top...B&O's Queen City Station in Cumberland Md.

middle...Reading Railroad shops in Reading Pa.

bottom...Lehigh Valley shops at Sayre Pa.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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Continuing the nostalgia rant...

top...roundhouse at Pitcairn Pa.

middle...Colonie shops NY.

bottom...Grafton West Virginia
 

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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Just a few more...

top...CNJ Communipaw/Jersey City

middle...Viaduct Jct. Cumberland Md.

bottom...Lynchburg Va.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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What the hell. Here's the rest...

top...west of Cumberland

middle...Grafton WVa.

bottom...Corbin Ky.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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Wow .... looks like 'Roll Call' .... great historic series!

Impressive coverage of facilities that once were the heart of vibrant eastern railroads.  I remember Lehigh Valley's Sayre, PA-all torn down-?

Great series, Bill. Thanks for the look back.
It looks like Chrysler Corp. offered discount pricing to employees at Pitcairn!
-Ted

A lot to soak up here. Thanks again.

Fantastic photos!  Thanks for posting.

Thanks Bill for the photos, especially the B&O's Cumberland "Queen City Hotel" and station.  Here is a photo back when the B&O Trains stopped there in Cumberland, Maryland, the station can be seen through the trees.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

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ClubCar Wrote:
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> Thanks Bill for the photos, especially the B&O's
> Cumberland "Queen City Hotel" and station.  Here
> is a photo back when the B&O Trains stopped there
> in Cumberland, Maryland, the station can be seen
> through the trees.
> John in White Marsh, Maryland

Unless I'm mistaken, that's a fan trip, not a regularly scheduled train.  October 1971 perhaps? If so, my family and I were aboard. And that sure looks like C&O/B&O VP Bill Howes on the platform.

Art House

I couldn't agree more.  I was born a year before WWII and have seen the railroads and railroading I loved totally dismantled and turned into a sterile and boring industry.
Railroads have no "presence" in towns.  Used to be a depot and agent or a human somewhere in every town.  Engine terminals, towers and the list goes on.
I know the contemporary railfan is probably chafed at this, but they don't really know how good it was.

Thaks Bill, great stuff.
TC

The composition of your shots is fantastic and shows a wide range of skill and art.  I am impressed with the way you captured the vast network of details found in railroading.  Your contrast of subjects is down right poetic.  A "safety first," slogan on an aging industrial structure, an array of parked cars set in front of an empty round house and the loneliness of the operators tower lit like a sentry's outpost in a land far, far away. Great stuff that goes beyond railroading. Thank you for sharing your bounty of monumental work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/19 11:47 by Hou74-76.

Site of Queen City Station is now an unsightly  U.S. Postal facility and Amshack. I had thought the freeway took it out but the freeway overpass is clearly visible in the last photo. 

Oh I don't know, Pitcairn and Communipaw both look pretty "soul-less" to me. And the steam guys would say the same thing about these shots, as great and nostalgic as they are to us! 

JG

Really excellent historical shots of the way railroads used to be.
I'm another that really misses those days.
Gary

That F Unit in Photo 6 sure looks forlorn.
ALLEN

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> Site of Queen City Station is now an unsightly 
> U.S. Postal facility and Amshack. I had thought
> the freeway took it out but the freeway overpass
> is clearly visible in the last photo. 

Crosstown Bridge (now I-68) COMPLETED 1966
Queen City Station RAZED 1972

Last fall, utility work next to the aforementioned "Amshack", uncovered something that had not been seen since 1971.
The enclosed stairways, and undertrack passageways were excavated, and were in not bad shape after being buried 47 years.
When work was done, all this area was reburied. Fortunately at least 1 local historian was able to document these ruins.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/19 14:38 by warren1977.

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You have a great eye for interesting scenes.
Bob