Steam, Steel & Stars: America's Last Steam Railroad. Photographs by O. Winston Link. Text by Tim Hensley. Afterword by Thomas H. Garver. Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1987. 144 pp. Large quarto. Inscribed on title page and dated 8-27-87. Clothbound in photo-illustrated dust jacket. 95 duotone offset-lithographic reproductions.
Between 1955 and 1960, industrial photographer O. Winston Link pursued an impassioned personal quest: documenting the Norfolk and Western Line, the last American railroad to use steam powered engines. Here ninety-five of the most powerful images from this project are collected to form a striking portrait of the railroad and the people and culture surrounding it. From conductors, switch men, and train cleaners to the slice of rural America that faced the border of the tracks: drive-in movies, quiet main streets, swimming holes, and farmhouse front porches. Taken mostly at night, Link's photographs capture the gleaming thundering trains with drama and a stark beauty. To accompany them, journalist and locomotive engineer Timothy Hensley provides an engaging text detailing the history of the railroad. A scarce signed copy!!
Near Fine+; slight warp to boards; binding tight, but text block just slightly askew; area of residue on recto of rear free-endpaper (appears to be a printing flaw). |
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