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O. Winston Link

(Brooklyn, New York, 1914 - 2001, South Salem, New York)

Washing J Class 605, Shaffer's Crossing Yards, Roanoke, Virginia

March 19, 1955 (printed 1997)

Gelatin silver print

19 1/4 x 15 1/2 in. (49.0 x 39.4 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of the estate of O. Winston Link

2001.32

© Attributed to the O. Winston Link Museum & Winston Conway Link

More Information

Link documents a rail worker blasting steam and kerosene as the 872,600 pound engine enters the wash bay at Shaffer’s Crossing service facility. He used only two flashbulbs to illuminate this scene, knowing that the engine exhaust and steam cleaning spray would diffuse the light. All trains were washed as they turned around in Roanoke. In his notes, Link claimed that the dirt was from diesel engine soot that came from locomotives that passed the N&W on parallel tracks.

Keywords
Trains
Gelatin Silver
Black and White
United States