Caboose Girls - along the Old Main

Caboose Girls - along the Old Main

These two girls enjoying the sunshine of a summer afternoon would be too
young to remember when the caboose was always the last car of a freight train.

The technology of EOT (End of Train) Devices brought about the retirement of this iconic feature
of American railroading, and cabooses started disappearing in the last quarter of the 20th century.

So, it’s always a treat for the railroad enthusiast to see one set out on a siding, no matter how scabby
the elements and lack of TLC have made its paint -- especially if it happens to be the subject of curiosity.

This one, built in 1944, sits along a sweeping curve of the historic Old Main Line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (now CSX), just above the Patapsco River at Sykesville, Maryland, close by the town’s former B&O passenger station. The station is now a restaurant, its outdoor deck affording an up close and personal experience with heavy CSX freights rumbling past.

The photograph is part of my “Along the Old Main” series presenting scenes along this
scenic route through the craggy Patapsco Valley from Relay to Point of Rocks, Maryland. (*)

It was shot on Kodak BW400CN film through a Nikkor 35-135mm lens on a Nikon FM3A.

Photograph + Design ©2015 Steve Ember

The same curve...