Buckin' rivets. After placing a cherry-hot rivet into the steam chest of a locomotive under repair, a railroad shop material handler watches as her two colleagues hammer that rivet into place. During World War II, the iconic "Rosie the Riveter" became the symbol of the strength and power of Americas female workforce. Pressed into occupations that most of them never envisioned in their youth, the women from this country built airplanes, trucks, tanks and yes, railroad equipment for the war effort. The forces of evil may have fought valiantly for their cause, but their countrymen could never match the strength and output of Americas industrial machine. The folks on the home-front fought the war in a less violent, but no less determined manner than the folks on the front lines in Europe and the Pacific.
During the Lerro Productions photo shoot at the Strasburg Railroad, I was rather amazed at how eagerly some of our female "Rosies" approached some of the tasks in which they were asked to participate. That rivet you see here really is cherry-hot and just being near the electric oven which made it that way is a risky undertaking. It was all in a day's work for the gals pictured here, who are all members of a World War II re-enactment group. These folks apparently do this sort of thing all the time.
BTW, the boiler you see in the background is none other than RGS #20, a narrow gauge 10-wheeler that is slowly being restored by the Strasburg folks for the Colorado Railroad Museum.
