I'm wondering what the two cylinders on the tender deck are. Maybe some ATSF aficionado cab tell us.
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Sid - the same cylinder devices caught my eyes too. Perhaps a coal pusher?
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Those two cylinders are a coal pusher that forces the coal to the front of the tender so the fireman doesn't have to pull it down manually.
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It would be interesting to know what camera was used here, 35mm?, medium or large format? Is this image from the original print or negative? Judging from the detail in this capture, this was likely an experienced photographer with a good camera in his hands, not a point and shoot. Many available historic photographs are from surviving prints (many negatives have long disappeared) and many have been digitally processed adding enhancement software and may also have been cropped if from med/large format prints. If this is the original print it may have needed dodging on the shady side of the locomotive adding light to that side. Thanks George for sharing this historic capture from 1942!!!
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Interesting. Thanks. I knew USRA engines had a coal pusher on the slope which apparently didn't work out well but had not seen a double pusher. I wonder which railroads used them. I guess this makes this 2-10-2 a "hand bomber".
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Three large locomotives for not that many freight cars is a strong indicator of just how steep the grade is.
As for the photo: in 1942 not many serious photographers used 35mm film. I'd guess not large format, because getting that much depth of field with large format would require rather small aperture, in turn requiring a relatively slow shutter speed with the films of the day. So maybe something like a 6x9 folder? As for dodging / burning, the shadows suggest to me that the sun is relatively overhead, maybe somewhat to the rear of the train.
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The Denver Public Library which maintains the Otto C. Perry memorial collection of railroad photographs describes an individual Perry photograph as follows: 1 photo negative: 9x14 cm: 1 photo print (postcard): silver gelatin black and white: 8x13 cm
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If you looked at a similar train 10 or fifteen years later the cars would look pretty much the same but around 1960 it all changed.
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