One of your Head Trucker's favorite railroad films: a well-produced profile of the Nickel Plate Road, one of the smaller Class I railroads, providing a nice overview of freight operations at the end of the steam era, along with charming glimpses of American life sixty years ago - a time of unbounded optimism and limitless resources, or so it seemed.
In 2012 and again last year, the North Carolina Transportation Museum held a colorful gathering of surviving first-generation diesels from all over the country at the historic Spencer Shops in the Tarheel State. Here's an unnarrated but nicely photographed record of the beautiful streamlined paint schemes: most are E-units and F-units built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, which your Head Trucker thinks are tops; but some railfans prefer the Alco PA, seen here in Nickel Plate colors. The prettiest loco may well be the Atlantic Coast Line's slant-nosed E3 in its eye-popping livery of purple, silver, and gold.
Also on view is the famous EMD FT 103 demonstrator from 1939, known as "the diesel that did it"; diesel locomotives had been used on passenger trains as early as 1934, but railroads were not convinced that diesels could be counted on to haul much-heavier freight trains until the FT was sent on tour around the country, successfully demonstrating its power. The demands of the war effort delayed mass production of diesels until 1945, but soon thereafter thousands of them were to be seen speeding along the nation's railroads. The efficiency and economy of diesels quickly resulted in steam's demise on major routes, with the last regular steam-hauled trains on major railroads being replaced with diesel by 1960.
And also on display is the magnificent streamlined steam locomotive Norfolk and Western J-class 611. The 611 has spent the last twenty years in a museum, but was taken out last year for restoration and is due to start its revived excursion career later this year.
That's the title of this old favorite of mine, found again today at Iconic Photos:
Be sure to click and enlarge so you can drink in the details of this masterful, very shrewdly composed photograph. I think it speaks for itself, so I won't explain other than to say it was taken on August 2, 1956, by the great O. Winston Link, who famously documented the final years of steam on the Norfolk and Western.
I have a couple of books of his photos. Click here to view the entire collection online. Below, an N&W magazine ad from 1948 showing the territory it served.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, harmony; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may seek not so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.
and welcome to the Blue Truck, a blog for mature gay men with news and views on gay rights, history, art, humor, and whatever comes to mind. Plus a few hot men. The truck's all washed and gassed up, so hop in buddy, let's go.
CAUTION: For mature gay men only beyond this point. Some posts and links may not be suitable for children or the unco guid. You have been warned.
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My Story
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Churches say that the expression of love in a heterosexual monogamous relationship includes the physical, the touching, embracing, kissing, the genital act - the totality of our love makes each of us grow to become increasingly godlike and compassionate. If this is so for the heterosexual, what earthly reason have we to say that it is not the case with the homosexual?
It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual. You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred. It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society.
If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.
