Murphy Siding wrote:I take it the footboards are the platform in front, way down by the rail? Why were they outlawed? I've never seen them before. How common were they?
I take it the footboards are the platform in front, way down by the rail? Why were they outlawed? I've never seen them before. How common were they?
Footboards on diesel switchers were the equivalent of the footboards on steam switchers. You used to see the brakeman standing on the footboard as the engine moved towards a cut of cars. (I have even seen photos of F units with the pilot modified to create a footboard!) They were outlawed due to safety concerns. Footboards are a good spotting feature for the age or era of a photograph. This is also an important detailing issue for model railroaders.
Dave Nelson
That is a great shot. The lighting is really good and the shot is well framed.
I had a similar experience a year earlier with the Chessie steam train at Wellsboro, In. The railfans swarmed in (including me), took their photos as the train moved from the B&O mainline around the loop track and then headed south to Lacrosse on the C&O branch.
As soon as the train left, so did the crowd. I lingered around and the operator, Alvin Bishop, asked why I wasnt chasing the steam train. I expressed my interest in towers and train orders and an instant friendship developed. I spent many a day at Wellsboro in the late 70's and had great conversations with Alvin.
EL, keep the photos coming...they are always interesting shots.
ed
Norris, footboards were universal on every diesel locomotive that was a switcher, road-switcher, or just about anything that wasn't a cab unit. It was about 1970 that I first recalled such locomotives with "pilots" on the point, raher than footboards--the GTW SD40s were the first that I remember. Later, C&O and B&O specified "rock pilots" for their road units. I presume that units equipped with snowplows didn't have room for footboards; I don't remember those very well, despite working for a railroad that had plows.
I used to have a correspondent in Boothwyn, but I can't remember who he was or what it was about.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Erie Lackawanna wrote: dknelson wrote: That is a wonderful photo. Did you notice the Geep still has footboards?Dave Nelson I had not noticed that... a quick web search shows that all footboards had to be removed by September 30, 1978... seven days after this picture. I wonder if that happened or not.
dknelson wrote: That is a wonderful photo. Did you notice the Geep still has footboards?Dave Nelson
That is a wonderful photo. Did you notice the Geep still has footboards?
I had not noticed that... a quick web search shows that all footboards had to be removed by September 30, 1978... seven days after this picture. I wonder if that happened or not.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Great shot! I think it was kind of fun to see other railfans in a shot for a change. I think too often we (and I'm as guilty as the next guy) worry about excluding other railfans and such when composing a picture, that we forget that shooting other railfans can be an interesting addition to a given shot. This photo demonstrates that beautifully.
Thanks for sharing!
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
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....Great B&W period photo. And for me, wish B&O was still with us.
Quentin
This is another scan of one my father's photographs... in this case, a local freight heads south at Boothwyn while everyone waits for the northbound Chessie System Steam Special.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=221816&nseq=0
Check out those movie cameras!
Thanks for looking.
Regards,
Charles
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