Re: Early RR photographists

What made the guys "Tick" who photographed trains?
It was the steam trains themselves. Whether you were a railroader or a fan, those things got to you. The sharp beat of the exhaust of an engine with valves set good and square by a machinist who probally had the disposition of crochety old maid. The way a good engineer handled his engine to coax that last bit of power out of her. The whistle echoing back as she signaled for a distant
crossing, called in a flag or answered a high ball. Even the smells of the smoke,the cylinder oil, the hot brakes and wheels on the grades.
As one retired conductor said, "She'd sing you any song you wanted to hear." Or as a retired engineer said about the engine we have on display
here. " When I got her on that piece of track down by 'Boise, she quit exhusting and started purring."
I guess what I'm saying is that the trains had a personality and I, like a lot of others, fell in love with them.
As for Otto Perry, I've seen him hiking up the track above Rockwood with a 16mm camera on his back. Don't know how far he went but we were about beat getting as far as we did and he went right on by us.
Jim