I am a student at Elon College in North Carolina majoring in art. I have chosen to create a series of drawings and paintings depicting scenes of the College Campus in the past. From 1889 until about the mid-twentieth century, the Southern Railway, whose line ran (and still runs) right in front of the college, provided the main means of transportation for students arriving in the fall and leaving in the spring. The railroad line has become a major landmark of the college, both then and now (there are no passenger trains that stop there anymore--the depot was razed in the 60s--but there are freight trains that pass by and provide the occasional disruption of lectures). I feel that my series would not be complete without showing the role that the railway has played in the Elon College history. In order to accurately depict the arrival of students via the railroad, I need to obtain some good pictures, preferably on the internet, of locomotives and passenger cars from about 1900 to 1920. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You, M. A. Davis

-- Matthew A. Davis (davim6a0@numen.elon.edu), May 04, 1998

Answers

Matthew, Get in touch with Frank E. Ardrey, Jr. His address is 1329 Larry Lane, B'ham AL 35213, (205)956-9016. Frank began photographing Southern Railway locomotives and equipment in 1934 (when much turn-of-the-century equipment was still in service). In addition to his own phenomenal collection, he bought all the negatives of the W. Forrest Beckam collection and several other large collec- tions. Send Frank $6, and tell him to send you his steam list. Frank will make you a good quality 8x10 print of anything he has for a very reasonable price. Frank is one of the nicest people you will ever connect with, and he will take a personal interest in what you are doing and helping you get details right (i.e., getting pictures of engines that were on that division at that time, helping you get details right--for instance, in the time period you are painting, you would want to show the engine with the headlight mounted high and the bell behind the stack--the familiar center of the smokebox door headlight position and bell ahead of the stack, "praying hands" bell yokes, the green and gold paint scheme, etc. did not appear until the late '20's, so these familiar details would be an anachronism if they appeared in a scene set in an earlier time. Sorry I don't know of any photo availability on the internet. Lamar

-- Lamar Wadsworth (LW.Sou.Ry.steam@juno.com), May 07, 1998.

Mathew, Lamar and others--unfortunately, you are about a month too late on that one. Frank Ardrey announced earlier this montha that he has closed his collection. Frank was always a reliable source of Southern Railway and other southeasstern railroad photos. Hopefully the photographs in his collection will become available again in the future but for now I suggest you check with your alumni office. Mr H. Reid was a graduate of Elon College and an avid rail photographer. Unfortunately he died a couple years ago but his family may be able to provide some assistance--especially to the alma mater he loved dearly--Larry

-- Larry Puckett (lpuckett@geocities.com), May 07, 1998.