Nobody should have to see sights like this. The images are burned into my mind! I'm sorry folks, but the truth has to leak out how our relatives were slaughtered.
Don, Heart wrenching photo's, but I will have to say that some of the equipment behind the crime scene was very interesting. Like Tom said, today DNR would have a big time problem with that white stuff around the boiler! Brad
Agree with Tom and Brad! I like the DD box to the left in pic #4. What number series was that guy from? The other freight cars in the background are very interesting as well. And, also agree (sadly) with Tom and Brad, about the health effects of all the white dust that occurred when they stripped down the boilers. At my employer, we developed an alternative to asbestos insulation, and I know the results of the "mesotheleoma" (a form of lung cancer) you can get if you inhale a bunch of that stuff (asbestos particles). At least the work was being done outdoors, where hopefully, most of the particles were blown away to settle on the ground. Ken
There are some classic passenger cars in one of those photos! I see one of the 1400's HW lounge and a diner among others. Are they all taken at the Springfield South Yards? Don is there any chance of blowing up the picture with the passenger cars? Also what are the dates of these photos? Thanks, Tom
After a closer look, there are some great details in these pictures: The engines, the crane, the rolling stock and Springfield skyline. Appreciate Don's sharing them with us. Also neat PRR circle-keystone boxcar. Tom
Autopsy my A**, that is a mutilation. I wonder who walked away with the class lamps, headlight, bell, coonskin number plate, et al. When we lived in Springfield, our address was 1260 E University. Just down the street at the coner with National Ave lived an old Frisco Frisco head, who has a coonskin plate off a 1200. Can't remember the street address.
I am going to need some counseling after viewing these photos. Mike, can we get an emoticon for weeping?
OUCH! Don, your post has cut me to the quick! I especially despise the ninth picture in the series - that guy is wielding a sledge hammer and just whacking away! As they say in the Dakotas - UFF DA! The thing that diesels have never had that steamers always had was a living, breathing heart that men threw their lives and souls into to keep them alive. Each in its own way was unique and the gallant men that lived with them brought out that character, fed and nurtured it and relished in the communion of man and machine. Any one that has had the privilege of feeling, smelling, tasting, that experience first hand understands full well what has been lost.
I'm not a steam engine man and it still hurt me. I know that not everything can be saved, but it is disappointing to see a part of history gone forever.
Makes me wonder what percentage of their original purchase price was recieved as payment for scrap metal. It seems like more people would have offered Frisco what the scrap metal buyers were asking in order to keep them on display at the very least. It just goes to show how people take things for granted. I'm sure at that time, steam engines were simply looked at the way we look at VHS players in the DVD era...or rotary telephones in a cell phone era...rabbit ears on TV's, etc. etc....outdated and nothing more. This should be a lesson for all of us to preserve a little history for the next generation.
Let's not get all misty about it. I hate to see steamers scrapped, but it's already done and water under the bridge long ago. It's just the way railroads did business. Not much different than you or I trading in an automobile when its usefullness was done. Let's look at the good side, there's a goldmine of modeling and railfan detail to be gleaned from those photos. To name a few: HW diners and lounge, vintage boxcars, details of the crane and how it operated, a vintage Frisco bunk car in the boxcar red paint scheme (That predates the silver/aluminum m/w scheme), the Springfield depot water tank (With icicles hanging down), and behind it, a fuel tank for the oil burning steamers, and details of the engines themselves like drivers, cabs, tenders and so on. Tom
In the words of Slim Pickens in Blazing Saddles, "I am depressed." Was this at the old South Yard "reclamation" plant? If one can make lemonade out of the situation, the freight cars in the background that are rubbernecking are a nice study. Thanks Don. I think I've lost my Pollyannaish views on dieselization for good. Best Regards,
In that vein, in S6r, is that a cold storage warehouse in the background? Also, can anyone make out the # on what appears to be a MoW bunk car? Best Regards,
I'm one of the very few folks who have had the pleasure of operating a steam locomotive. If you did, you couldn't say that. They are as living as any other creature and they have a spirit all their own. They need to be coddled, well treated, spoken to, and loved. There is a special relationship between the hog and the hogger. No diesel could ever have that.
Thank you SBRR for hitting the nail on the head. Having come from a steam family and having run steam myself, there's nothing like it. These negs are all dated 1-52. I'm wondering if the water tank is the old Missouri Pacific engine terminal there.