Though cameras were far less common in the past, there were many photographers that froze glimpses of what was then normal life. I’ve posted about the Depression-era photographers of the Farm Security Administration before – despite the name, the project yielded thousands of photos that had nothing to do with farms, but instead featured normal Americans living life – including two of the most iconic photographs of Grand Central Terminal. A similarly iconic photo of Chicago’s Union Station also came out of the project, captured by photographer Jack Delano. Delano’s railroad-specific work in the Chicago area is currently on display at the Chicago History Museum, which I recently got the chance to check out.

Portrait of photographer Jack Delano and a locomotive

Though I’m not a frequent visitor to Chicago, I had been to many of its museums (including the Museum of Science and Industry where the legendary Empire State Express #999 now lives). This was, however, my first visit to the Chicago History Museum. The museum provides an interesting look at the history of this unique city – from railroading, to the origins of atomic chain-reactions, and yes, even that cow that supposedly started that fire.

Within you’ll find well designed exhibits, and signs that not only encourage photography, but invite you to share your thoughts and snaps on social media. Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography, as the exhibit is called, depicts the life of railroaders in the Chicago area during World War II, as part of the federal government’s Office of War Information (successor to the aforementioned Farm Security Administration). Besides showing the hardworking men (and women) that kept the country running during the war, Delano’s photographs capture the waning years of steam railroading in the United States.

If you happen to be in the Chicago area between now and next year, the exhibit is worth checking out. For more information, visit the museum’s web page.

 
  
  
  
   
  
  

Born Yakov Ovcharov in Voroshylivka (then part of the Russian Empire, now part of Ukraine), Jack Delano emigrated to the United States with his family in 1923. Delano studied graphic arts, photography, and music, and was talented in all three disciplines. After graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, he embarked on a photographic project documenting coal miners in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. With this portfolio, he applied for (and was accepted to) a job in the photography program of the Farm Security Administration. He remained in the program as the FSA was consolidated into the Office of War Information, where he captured railroads in the Chicago, Oklahoma, and California areas.

Below you’ll find a selection of some of my favorite Chicago-area Jack Delano railroad photographs, several of which were in the exhibit. Thousands of Delano’s photographs are available online to view at the Library of Congress, railroad and otherwise.

 
  
   
  
  
   
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
   
  
 

Meet Old Eli. This comical looking contraption was one of the first snowplows built for the New York Central Railroad in 1864. The plow was mounted on a six-wheeled truck, and connected to an engine with an old-fashioned push bar. The plow usually required several steam locomotives to push it, and for the 1888 blizzard the plow was being pushed by a total of five. It is worth mentioning that this plow was hardly an ingenious innovation, instead of pushing snow to the side, it often pushed the snow up and above the engine – a grievous issue when traversing an extremely narrow rock cut.

Scene from the wreck at Coleman’s during the Great Blizzard of 1888.

Heading north from White Plains, Old Eli was to clear the snow from the Harlem all the way to Chatham, but instead met doom at Coleman’s. The narrow rock cut there was plugged with snow, and the aforementioned deficiency of the plow ensured that the lead locomotive was thoroughly buried in the snow. All five locomotives derailed, Old Eli was destroyed beyond repair, and five crew members lost their lives, three of which were boiled alive by the lead steam locomotive.

 
New York City in the Great Blizzard of 1888, a subject that was heavily covered by the news of the day

Thankfully, most of our winters have been far less eventful, except maybe for the random guy running around wearing a horse mask. I’ve wandered around the Harlem Line during the past few snowstorms, capturing the trains and the people that make them run… so let’s take a little tour of the Harlem Line in the snow…

 
  
   
 
  

   
  
   

   
 
   
  

   
   
  
   
  
   
 
  

Early 1900s view of the Lake Erie peninsula where you’ll find Cedar Point, America’s second-oldest amusement park. Today this peninsula is covered with 16 roller coasters.

From the 1910s and beyond… decades of Cedar Point brochures before the railroad. All items from the collection of Jason Hammond.

At left: 1965 Cedar Point park brochure from the collection of Jason Hammond. At right: Early 1960’s Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad brochure

Over the railroad’s fifty year lifespan, it has hardly been static; as the park has changed, the railroad has as well. From tracks being moved to acquiring and rebuilding new locomotives, the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad has watched as other attractions have come and gone. Since the railroad’s inaugural season the park’s eponymous Cedar trees have slowly disappeared, with other attractions appearing in their stead.

Construction photos from the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad from cplerr.com.

Some of the park’s early endeavors to grow its boundaries was Frontier Town, originally accessible only by the railroad. The popular Shoot the Rapids ride (not to be confused with the current ride with the same name), built in 1967 in Frontier Town, led to heavy use of the railroad. It was not until 1971 when some of Cedar Point’s biggest changes came to fruition when the Frontier Trail was built, finally providing a walking link between Frontier Town and the rest of the park. Construction of the Frontier Trail led to several adjustments of the railroad’s tracks, and the addition of a new railroad station.

As one of Cedar Point’s most long lived attractions, I felt that creating a map of the railroad displaying both geography and time would be a really fun endeavor. I got a chance to highlight the park’s roller coasters, which besides being Cedar Point’s claim to fame, share the fundamental track-running concept with railroads. Although at first glance it might be a jumble of colors, the map above depicts Cedar Point’s most noteworthy attractions, both past and present, along with some of the railroad’s changes. It is interesting to note that one of the park’s most coveted ride locations is in the far back, first home to the original Shoot the Rapids ride, which was later replaced by White Water Landing, which itself was subsequently replaced by the roller coaster Maverick.

Changes on the CP&LE: at left is the Funway Station when it went by the name of Union Station. At right: A scene that wouldn’t quite fly today – a cattle rustler is lynched along the railroad’s route. Photos from cplerr.com.

Our focus today, however, is not necessarily the Cedar Point and Lake Erie railroad itself, but the people that make it run. I spent three days this summer photographing the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad, and perhaps one could say relentlessly stalking the train crews with my camera lens. Without a doubt the folks working at the CP&LE are some of the most wonderful and hard-working people you’ll find at Cedar Point, period. Running a steam railroad is not clean, and it sure isn’t easy. While one might romance the idea of working on the trains of yesteryear, most likely forget the grunt-work that happens every day to get that beast of a machine running – from cleaning the locomotive to shoveling coal, or even working around a hot fire on a scorching summer day (or in a torrential downpour).

While the park usually opens at 10 AM for the general public during the summer, work for the rail crew begins at 7 AM or earlier. The locomotives (two are usually operated on busy days like the weekends, and one during the week) need to be readied, which includes starting the fire and letting it burn for at least an hour to achieve the necessary pressure to operate. Keeping this railroad running is superintendant Randy Catri, who has been a fixture on the CP&LE for nearly 40 years. Catri is a kind fellow that took time out of his busy schedule to give me a nice tour of the locomotive shops, and talk about the CP&LE. Although Randy strikes me as modest, the crew that work under him use words like “one of steam railroading’s most unsung heroes” and “the best boss I’ve ever had” – undoubtedly he is an important part of the railroad’s fifty years.

Today’s set of photos show the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad from the perspective of the hardworking crew that make it run daily. Next week we’ll take a look at the railroad as a whole, and delve a little bit more into its 50 year history!

 
  
 
   
   
   
 
   
  
 
  
   
  

Long before the park opens to the public, the crew of the Cedar Point and Lake Erie railroad are hard at work getting the locomotives running for the day. A real rarity among amusement park railroads, the CP&LE RR uses real coal-fired steam locomotives, which takes a whole lot of “elbow-grease” and experience to run. Crewed by some wonderful, and exceptionally hard-working people under the watchful eye of 40-year veteran superintendent Randy Catri, the CP&LE RR has long been a staple attraction of Cedar Point. Though it may not be one of the park’s most talked-about rides – like the behemoth Top Thrill Dragster, or the new Gate Keeper – not many of the park’s attractions can boast a 50 year history and having served over 116 million in those years.

The Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad in action.

I met up with the crew early on the morning of August 18th, and captured “Judy K.” leaving the railyard, coupling with passenger cars outside Funway Station, and performing a first test loop around the park. Thanks to our camera, mounted on the front of the locomotive, you get an up-close and personal tour of the coolest amusement park railroad on the planet (and authentic coal-fired steam is interesting ANYWHERE!). As an added bonus there’s also a short crew view, where we see coal being added to the fire, and another loop around the park viewing the train from the side.

Consider this a quick preview of the CP&LE RR, as we’ll be celebrating the 50th with a whole lot more photos and fun in the upcoming weeks!

Note: This is a repost of an original post from several weeks ago. At the request of Cedar Point, that original video (and the post that featured it) was taken down. We reshot the video, along with some additional angles, so it is actually better than it was before!

Hey, wait a second! Remember my introduction to the Hudson Line? How I mentioned the competition between the railroad and steamships traversing the Hudson River? And how the cold winters filling the river with ice was the primary reason the railroad got built?

Soooooo… about those steam ships… If you look very closely you can see the engineer on the train looking out the window shouting to the ice boats, “So long, suckers!”

In case you missed it, check out the page of the guide that says “Optional Ticket Privileges.” Apparently by 1918 the railroad wasn’t quite competing with the ships – New York Central train riders had the option to take a steamship along the river as opposed to the train. Folks heading eastbound could exchange their tickets with the conductor for a ride on a ship and change at Albany. This applied to people riding on the Hudson River Railroad side, or the West Shore side… and this, of course, was “an advantage offered by no other route.”

Although quite a bit earlier than the above guide, timetables for the steamships were also quite attractive. Below is an example of an 1885 timetable for the Peoples Line, one of the lines you could trade your train ticket for in 1918. It includes a nice little map with the various railroad connections made in Albany.

And for random kicks, here’s a 1862 ad for two different steamships on the Peoples Line.

The RMNE has a fancy-pants website (not some circa-1998 design abomination) and it allows you to purchase tickets online. So if you ask me, you should be on that site right now buying a ticket for a ride this weekend. Tickets are still available for Friday’s rides at 2 and 4, and rides on Saturday and Sunday at 10, 12, 2, and 4. You’ll have a lot of fun. Trust me.