A Baltimore and Ohio passenger train is seen departing Union Station in Chicago. It will travel via the Alton Road to St. Louis.

It’s a cold wintry night in January of 1943, and evidence of snowfall coming through the roof ventilation openings is seen on the tracks and platforms. Note the illuminated and raised platform between the tracks, the rest of the structure being rather dark and foreboding.

Photo by Jack Delano

For me, the caboose has always been one of the most interesting places to explore in railroading. Until generally the last decade or so of their usage on freight trains, a caboose was typically assigned to a specific conductor.  As such, they were often “accessorized” and decorated at the whim of the conductor, sometimes with help from his brakeman. Photographer Jack Delano captured this caboose image in January, 1943.

The scene is inside an Indiana Harbor Belt caboose, featuring the conductor’s work desk.  It’s a splendid study of the workspace that’s used by the boss of the train.  There are the usual railroad supplied appurtenances such as the oil lamp, the rack that holds rule books, timetables and other paperwork, and the wall mounted gauge which displays the train line air pressure.  Then there are the personal touches such as the pin-up photos, a thermometer, a couple cartoons, and even some photographs of (perhaps) the conductor’s pet dog.  Note the pencil holder tacked to the book rack, and the blackout applied to part of the lamp shade.  I wish we could tilt up the desk surface to reveal what is stored in its compartment. It’s one of those photos that begs to be studied, and doing so reveals a wealth of interesting detail.

George Bertino is at the controls in the cab of his diesel freight locomotive ready to pull out of the AT&SF yard in Winslow, Arizona. Judging by the year of the photo, and the wear and tear in the cab, this is likely an EMD model FT locomotive.

Mr. Bertino is apparently a veteran of steam locomotives as evidenced by his dress in traditional overalls. Note the sleeve protectors, not usually necessary in this new environment.

This scene was captured by Jack Delano in March of 1943.

We’re heading back east now, with California far behind in the distance . . . indeed, we’re well into Kansas. Our Santa Fe train is passing by the AT&SF’s Emporia Junction tower located a bit east of the yard in Emporia, Kansas. The track crossing our main belongs to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway (the Katy). This photograph is taken just inside of a wye, of which the northern extension is the start of the line up to Topeka. If one looks closely, the east leg of the wye can be barely discerned just past the signal bridge. The date is March of 1943.

Photo by Jack Delano

The railroad infrastructure is a very maintenance intensive operation in itself. In the days before the mechanization that we see now, this work was done by manual labor. Track and bridge maintenance was a daily chore on railroads, and the track was divided into sections, each under the responsibility of a section gang, that is, a group of workers charged with maintaining their assigned area of track.

Jack Delano was traveling out west in March of 1943, where he documented some of the sights along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. In this image we see an Indian section gang aligning the track in the Santa Fe’s yard in Needles, California. More than a dozen workers are struggling to coax the track into it’s proper alignment. Imagine doing this kind of back-breaking work each day!

During his visit to New Mexico in March of 1943, Jack Delano captured this view of AT&SF locomotive #5000 heading up a westbound “extra” freight train. She sits in the siding at Ricardo, New Mexico with her train, waiting patiently for an opposing eastbound train. Note the crew members on the opposite side of the mainline. They will inspect the eastbound train as it passes. The engineer will do the same from the fireman’s perch up in the cab of the 5000.

The 5000 was a 2-10-4 Texas type locomotive built by Baldwin in 1930. Nicknamed the “Madame Queen”, she was the prototype for, and remains unique to it’s class. She still exists, and is on display in Amarillo, Texas.

In December of 1943 Chicago and Northwestern 2-8-4 steam locomotive #2808 was found in the shops undergoing repairs. The Berkshire was of the class J-4, and was built by Brooks in August of 1927. She was scrapped in 1950.

Railroads employed a huge force of shop workers to keep the iron horses in running order. When a locomotive entered the shop, it became a beehive of activity to repair and adjust the locomotive so it could be placed back in service as quickly as possible.

Photo by Jack Delano

In March of 1943, during his visit to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, Jack Delano photographed conductor George E. Burton and engineer J.W. Edwards comparing time before pulling out of Corwith Yard in Chicago for their run to Chillicothe, Illinois. Accurate time is vital for train operations, and the conductor will synchronize his watch with an “official” clock prior to a run. The crew members will verify that their watches are matching his watch as well.

It’s a cold winter’s afternoon in December of 1942. Though it’s only 3:32 p.m., it looks pretty dark and dreary outside. We’re in the Yardmaster’s office located in the Chicago and North Western’s North Proviso receiving yard in Chicago, Illinois. It’s obvious we’re well into the war effort with all the photos and posters on the wall. There are a couple telephones: a typical “split style” desk phone (modified to hang the desk phone back on the wall), and one of those even newer desk phones at the Yardmaster’s right hand. The old stove is keeping those coffee cans on it’s top warm and dry.

Photos like this are fascinating to study, as there is usually a wealth of detail to discern, some of which enables the viewer to better understand the time at which the image was captured.

Photo by Jack Delano

Jack Delano visited the AT&SF interlocking tower at Isleta, New Mexico in March of 1943. Shown here is the tower operator lining the route for an approaching train. Each of those levers controls the route through a track switch and it’s attendant signal in the maze of trackwork below. The board above him shows the track diagram of everything under his control.

At left one can see just a bit of a wall mounted telephone, and below that the wye shaped pole used to pass orders to a train crew. At right the ladder for servicing the train order signal can be seen through the window.