As a historian, I absolutely love this picture because of the social dynamics it captures. First, the crew member behind the engineer (presumably the fireman) appears to be African-American? Most railroads at the time allowed blacks to be firemen, but not engineers, so having black and white locomotive crews were not uncommon, but is still quite an interesting juxtaposition of the Jim Crow South's segregation! And the fact that the conductor (riding the front of the engine) is also African-American is quite remarkable because such an authoritative role was off limits to blacks on most railroads at the time! This may be my favorite picture of Otto's that has been posted on this website so far! Thank you for sharing George!
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| Posted by mmi16 on July 9, 2024 | |
In the era of passenger trains - all trainmen in passenger service were uniformed - simple trainman, flagman and asst. conductor in addition to the Conductor. What is also interesting is that the step the person is riding faces toward the piston instead of toward the front.
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Well maybe the railroad was smart enough to put the best people in the job with out regard to their appearance. I agree love the content and all it represented. Thanks for sharing I definitely adding this to my favorites.
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As a native of Spartanburg, SC, this photo is of extra meaning to me. Much of my love for trains came from watching train after train rumble past the former Spartanburg Union Station (seen in top left corner of the photo) as a child. The station served as a passenger and freight stop for the Southern, C&WC, Clinchfield, and Piedmont and Northern. They say it was one of the depots to be at back in the early 1900s. The depot still stands (but is reduced in size due to a fire in 1999) and houses the Hub City Railroad Museum.
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