There is more to a railroad than trains.

[shamus]

Hi Peirce, that would make a very nice modelling project, any offers anyone.
When you have made it, post a picture of it in here.

 

[Peirce]

Another important piece of railroad infrastructure: the service pit, used mostly for locomotives, it could also be used for any other rolling stock when work had to be done on the under side. This one, long out of use, is in the Danbury Railway Museum's yard. It is accessed from the turntable in the background. The DRM's yard was formerly New Haven property and served both freight and passenger operations.

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Peirce
Southbury, CT

[This message has been edited by Peirce (edited 01-27-2001).]

 

[Peirce]

We spend a lot of time and film photographing trains Without the infrastructure around them, the trains would not go anywhere. I am starting this off with a small piece of equipment--a groundthrow.

This one is still in use in the Danbury Railway Museum railyard. It has patent dates of 1927 and 1928 molded into the body piece and it was manufactured in Hilburn, NY.

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Southbury, CT

 

[Peirce]

My reason for this series is to get all of us to take a closer look around us. Especially us photographers. Most of us concentrate on the trains.

This time I am not going to name the item in the photo, for a while. Let's see how many people recognize it. It has gone from a very common item to one that is quite rare.

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Southbury, CT

[This message has been edited by Peirce (edited 02-06-2001).]

 

[wt&c]

Hmmm. I think the object above is probably used for the engineer and the conductor to pick up orders "on the fly" before radios and phones became "the thing" for railroad communications. Also It could be a mail bag holder, out going mailis picked up by the conductor and elivered to the next town down the line or so. I for get exactly what they're called. some called them "cat-tails" for some reason

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NARA Member #8
The Appalachian & Atlantic Railroad
"QUALITY at WORK with SAFTEY in MIND"

 

[Dave Flinn]

I vote for the mail bag holder, used in the days of RPO's.

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Dave Flinn, Northeast Regional Vice President, NRHS
National Director, Cornell Chapter, NRHS
Life Member NMRA, NER, NFR,
Danbury Railway Museum

 

[George]

I agree with Dave, a mailbag holder. I bet it's the one that sideswiped the spelling chequer!

George.

 

[Peirce]

The vote is three to one in favor of a mail bag holder. The majority is correct. The two arms were spring-loaded. A mailbag, ready to be picked up by the next passing train was suspended between the arms. It would be snagged by an arm on the Railway Post Office (RPO) car, and pulled into the car. The arms on the post would then spring back to a near vertical position, out of the way.

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Southbury, CT

[This message has been edited by Peirce (edited 02-09-2001).]

 

[Peirce]

I usually describe a "speeder" as the modern version of the handcar. Well, here is an original. This one is on display at the Valley Railroad station in Essex, Connecticut. One of the "pump" handles is missing.

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Peirce
Southbury, CT

[This message has been edited by Peirce (edited 03-11-2001).]

 

[George]

Funny no one thought the mailbag holder was a device for passing up orders to the engine crew.

Some of those look nasty enough to decapitate the crewman leaning out in a mishap!

George.

 

[shamus]

Hi Peirce,
Here's ERIC on his way home from work.

 

[Peirce]

Beautiful. I like the way you shot this from a distance. It really gives the lonely feeling I'm sure these guys experienced at times. I hope he clears the bridge in time.

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Southbury, CT

[This message has been edited by Peirce (edited 03-13-2001).]

 

[grandmesa]

Exactly why I've shot photos of stations, interlocking towers, carshops, roundhouses, etc. that are now gone. If I had a camera back in 1973, I coulda shot the cement coaling tower on the Frisco mainline in Afton, OK before Frisco had it taken down (annulled all schedules and blew it over with explosives).
This may sound odd, but I also have bricks once used for the Afton depot platform, as well as some from the wall. I also have a brick or two from the Greenville, TX Katy depot platform.

 

[shamus]

Hi Pierce, If that was me up there, I would be unable to carry on, I get dizzy on a thick carpet.

Nice photo's in photopoint. (James Bond?)

 

[Peirce]

I know the feeling. Especially when I took the shots from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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Peirce
Southbury, CT

[This message has been edited by Peirce (edited 03-16-2001).]