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Re: What activity is going on here?

A&Y Dave in MD
 

Claus,

The photo is crystal clear in a time before autofocus and big flood lamps, so it is clearly a "frozen moment" likely posed photo, but maybe only temporarily stopped.  It does look like the dray or truck on the receiving end is moved off.  There are lumps of what look like coal up and down the conveyor, so maybe waiting for the next one to line up?  The car's window and grab suggest a MoW car or side door caboose.  Who knows for sure, but maybe it's coal for caboose stoves or for depot heating?  Maybe the guy in the suit is a station agent?  All speculation, but they did dress more formally in that day.

Note the conveyor is on steel/iron beam skids and as positioned the car step looks like it just clears the conveyor.   So that could be semi-permanent setup for regular coal dump of small amounts or it could be temporary and staged.

Why take the photo, might be the real question. Is this for describing proper loading technique?  Is it to prepare a legal case for a workplace injury claim?  How many photos were taken just for fun when the materials were relatively expensive and the setup was a challenge?

It is an interesting image.  Thanks for sharing.

Dave Bott

Saturday, May 23, 2020, 3:26:36 PM, you wrote:


 Hi List Members,
 
I stumbled upon an interesting view which captures a steam era freight car of some sort, a coal conveyor, and two people...
 
https://www.grpmcollections.org/Detail/objects/172757
 
In my mind, there are way more questions than there are answers...
 
(1) What is the freight car? It appears to have a small window. Work train car? Caboose? Other?
 
(2) Is the freight car in the process of being unloaded?
 
(3) There is nothing at the other end of the coal conveyor to receive whatever is being conveyed – what is the story there?
 
The guy nearest the freight car is holding a shovel, looks like he is going to drop the shovel load onto the conveyor, the other guy in the snappy clothes is not making any meaningful contribution other than supervising (maybe)
 
Perhaps this entire scene is simply posed for the benefit of the camera, rather than being a real work scene?
 
Claus Schlund
 



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David Bott

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David Bott, modeling the A&Y in '34
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