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For those of us of a certain age, this is a photo spread that the late Freeman Hubbard of Railroad Magazine would have appreciated. Three lovely ladies of which two are in steam.
Even more irony, then, that Steve Barry was one of the ones taking the most pictures during this portion of the event.
Hubbard's name, as well as that of the War Production Board, was mentioned during this portion of the Photo Charter quite a bit. It may be hard to believe, but many of these shots were done inside our barn here in Owosso during a punding rain. Funny how 15 minute shoots suddenly can become THREE HOUR shoots, given some work ;- )
To the Steam Railroading Institute and Historic Transport Preservation and all of us who participated in this entire weekend's events, this was about recreating history. That includes the women's VERY important role during World War II in keeping the railroads moving. We did our best to honor them with what we did, and I think with the help of some lovely ladies who were game for a time, we did so. To pull this off, several organizations and several individuals came together. Some of them were:
--- Owosso Elks Club #753. They spent weeks working with HTP member Tim Lab backdating their Lodge (the former GTW Owosso Depot)
--- HTP, who paid for the event, collected the items used in the closeups, and brought the photographers
--- Pete Lerro Productions, who provided lighting and directions for the nigth shots
--- The SRI staff and volunteers, who acquired, painted, and relettered the cars, got the locomotive prepped, and spent the time trying to recreate the event.
--- the ladies you saw here, who come from several different walks of life, and came together to creat some pretty cool images.
--- Fellow members of the steam field from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (#765), Strasburg Railroad and several other organizations, who came to help us pull off the event, proving that all of us in steam and rail preservation CAN work together for common goals.
In my short time at SRI, these events have been some of the hardest but yet most rewarding things that we have done. Its the type of things that, as one of my board members said you "put away and pull out during the rough days of the job to remember why we do what we do, and why its all worth while."
Folks, it was just plain COOL to be apart of.
Several of the photographers have put their shots up on Railpictures as well, if any of you are so inclined. And after John Craft's plane lands back in Atlanta, you might want to check out steamspecials.com too. A taste from what he loaded this morning. That's my wife on the right, the only one smiling.....
And the one your all foaming about is Alaina Kraus, the director from the Tall Pines Council for the Boy Scouts of America. Boys, you all gonna make her blush now....
Proud to say we have worked with the Historic Transport Preservation, and hope to do so again,
TJG
Steam Railroading Institute
