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A Whole Passle of Neat Photos


Subdeacon Joe

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Magnificent. An hour well spent.

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I was truly born too late.

 

Looking at those pictures gives me a profound sense of loss. Not only the inherent loss of innocence evidenced by the folks in those photos, who knew they could better themselves through the dint of their own sweat and ambition, but the loss of skills so apparent in these photos. Today's society has lost the skills needed to build the America seen in these photos. And the pride of place is gone also. These people were proud of their work, no matter how trivial we might consider it today. I think we, as a nation, a society, have lost a good deal of the will needed to build and rebuild this country.

 

The picture of the young man with his rowboat, bring ashore a basket of fresh caught fish. Where was he going? To some fishmonger on a crowded downtown street? To a small family owned store where the shad would be sold straight to the housewives on the sidewalk outside the shop? Did he have dreams of building that family store into a chain of stores, serving the whole city, the state or the nation? He could do that then. By God, it was hard, unending, back-breaking work, but it was honest work and it was within his grasp. Today? I don't know anymore.

 

Look at the picture of the stairways and elevators of Pennsylvania Station in New York City. There is a real utilitarian beauty in those mundane pieces of urban infrastructure. Today, those stairs would be a nightmare of contravening government rules, regulations and red tape, and would be so covered up with the warning signs and stickers of the nanny state as to render them a blight on the mind's eye.

 

I don't know quite where we're going, but I can look at these photos and see where we've been.

 

And I want to go back.

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I don't know, Bama. I agree that we need to get back to most of the values held by most people "back in the day," but I don't know that I'd care much for dealing with just the simple mechanics of living. Having to haul in every drop of water from an outside pump or well? Or a walk to the creek or river? Hauling in the wood needed for cooking and heating? Outdoor sanitation facilities? A bath MAYBE once a week? Lap robes and/or dusters so your clothing isn't filthy if you travel by coach or carriage? Medicine just above the blood-letting level? And the chemical "remedies" available often worse for you than the condition they treat? No thanks.

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I know all those arguments, Joe - even lived some of 'em when I was just a button, and they don't seem so bad. I might just be willing to make the trade.

 

We're spending the day in the big "city" closest to our small town. It's not all that big, maybe a quarter of a million or so in the metro area, but it has to qualify as one of the inner circles of Hell (and I lived here for over forty years!). It takes a month or two off my life span every time we come here!

 

If I did make the trade, I figure the only thing I'd miss would be this here Saloon (ACS), and, of course, all the nut jobs that hang out here with me!

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Thanks!

 

Notice pic 44 "loading copper...". That looks like a lot of copper those fellas are pushing around on those carts. Its gotta be several hundred pounds per cart.

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Thanks!

 

Notice pic 44 "loading copper...". That looks like a lot of copper those fellas are pushing around on those carts. Its gotta be several hundred pounds per cart.

 

My guess is that each ingot weighs in the neighborhood of 50 pounds. Yep...a lot of weight on those iron wheeled trucks.

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Man, some great details.

 

Did you notice the young lady in the bow of the tour boat with the Winchester?

 

Or the can of baking powder on the ship's deck with the Navy cooks - a brand that is still in our kitchen today.

 

Bama: I've lived long enough to notice the fading of the mechanical skills that built our modern society; but I believe it is evolutionary. The next set of skills - high technology based - will carry us into the new future. We could not long maintain the levels of consumption, pollution and over-development shown in these images. Look at the coal smoke from ships, trains and stacks in those pictures! Imagine if we were still dependent on that technology! The workers on our construction projects and the passengers on our ships and trains are safer, better paid, and more reliably served than they were in 1900. As for motivation to work and build - well, we have a whole new class of entrepreneurs today; maybe not as reliant on hard physical labor, but certainly adventurous and risk-tolerant, taking the chances of every start-up. It's a different age, but it has its challenges and rewards.

 

Great pics!!!

 

LL

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Just some notes on the first pic

It was taken from the top of locomotive coaling dock looking west towards the Lackawanna river

some of the tracks on the right and left are still in use,as is what is left of the yard, both by the Steamtown Historical site and the

DL railroad. The ramp has been reconstructed as a walk way to connect that area with a mall that took out many of

the bulidings on the right. The river is crossed by "bridge 60" and is still the location of the tower that houses the operating

headquaters of the DL.

I have recently taken a loa of my job at the RR at that tower, so now I get to shoot more

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I'm calling each bar an ingot, which is likely wrong. Looks like maybe each bar is made up of 4 ingots.

Interesting, I'm not sure how big an ingot is. I don't think a bar is 4 ingots tho because the end pieces are smaller than the middle ones. I counted 32 bars on one cart which would total 620 lbs at 20 lbs per ingot/bar. At 50 lbs the load would be 1600 lbs which I don't think one man could push.

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Appears to be a cable attached to the benches. Probably to keep folks from moving them too far about.

Well, I'll be dipped. Guess your eyes are better than mine, youngster. Thanks.

 

Next question (after going through the pics a few more times): why have the headlights been removed from the mail truck in #92? Maybe to clean the glass and / or replace the wicks?

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