Celebrated American photographer Jack Delano didn’t focus exclusively on railway imagery, but as this series of vintage pictures reveals, Delano’s railroad photographs are undoubtedly captivating. Most (not all) of these photographs were taken in December 1942 and 1943 at the Proviso Yard roundhouse in Chicago and the Chicago & North Western Railroad facilities at Clinton, Iowa. While several images depict the majestic locomotives of the day, most focus on the roundhouse employees themselves, beautifully capturing them both at work and at rest. The result is a stunning snapshot in time to a different era in transportation history.
Jack Delano was born Jacob Ovcharov in 1914 in a small village in the Podolie Governorate of the former Russian Empire. He emigrated with his parents and younger brother to the United States in 1923, where he graphic arts, photographs and music at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. Delano went on to become an official photographer with the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and was also a noted composer. He died in Puerto Rico on August 12, 1997, aged 83.
L. Logan, Boilermaker at Proviso Yard Roundhouse
Roundhouse Wiper Viola Sievers Washes North Western Railway Locomotive
Chicago & North Western Railroad Enjoy Lunch, Clinton, Iowa
James Lynch, Roundhouse Worker at Chicago’s Proviso Yard
Roundhouse Employees at Proviso Yard, 1942
At the Coaling Yard in Chicago, Illinois
Thelma Cuvage Works in the Sand House at Clinton, Iowa
Washing a Santa Fe Railroad EMD FT Locomotive at Argentine Yard, Kansas
Wiper Dorothy Lucke at Roundhouse in Clinton, Iowa
Chicago & North Western Railway Steam Locomotives (Top)
(All images are by Jack Delano via Wikimedia Commons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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