# And some of us were there!



## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

The end of one era, the transition and the new era. :laugh::laugh:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I was around, and I ran the projectors at the drive-in in the late 50's. 

BTW, I lived in Lander for three years in the late 50's, early 60's.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I was around, and I ran the projectors at the drive-in in the late 50's.
> 
> BTW, I lived in Lander for three years in the late 50's, early 60's.


I was impressed by the subject matter of this photo. The steam locomotive going by a 1950's Drive In Theater while those there were watching a movie with a jet airplane in it. The only thing missing would be a rocket.:laugh:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The truth is that jet was around when the steam engine could have been running, the 50's.  I see what looks like a 55 or perhaps a 56 Chevy on the right, and a 1955 Dodge Coronet a couple cars over.  Korean war films started showing up around then as well...


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I was around, and I ran the projectors at the drive-in in the late 50's.
> 
> BTW, I lived in Lander for three years in the late 50's, early 60's.


 And I had you pegged as an Eastern dude...:laugh: Also, when I was 15 not quite 16, I applied for a drive inn assistant manager's job here in Salt Lake. They though that I was audacious but not mature enough. I can't imagine why? :smilie_auslachen:


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## Deane Johnson (Sep 19, 2016)

Can you imagine how much effort it took to set that shot up. The timing had to be incredible. The flash bulb lighting would have been good for only one shot. Quite a contrast with today's "selfie" shots.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

Deane Johnson said:


> Can you imagine how much effort it took to set that shot up. The timing had to be incredible. The flash bulb lighting would have been good for only one shot. Quite a contrast with today's "selfie" shots.


For some reason I can't recall who took that shot but he is well known for his black and white railroad photos. Truly a real expert and artist! :appl: Maybe someone may know.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> For some reason I can't recall who took that shot but he is well known for his black and white railroad photos. Truly a real expert and artist! :appl: Maybe someone may know.



O. Winston Link took that shot, and many others on the N&W railroad at the end of the steam era. As mentioned above, he spent a lot of time arranging for his shots. I recall reading one story in particular about a shot he spent hours setting up near the turntable at one of the railroad's roundhouses. After all that effort, the rotating table caught some of the power wires for the various flashes and pulled them all down before he could get the shot.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

He must have taken that photo early in the movie, none of the car windows are steamed up.

There is still an active drive-in movie in Beaufort, SC near the USMC Air Station.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Those were the GOOD Old Days.
Spent many an hour not seeing the movie at the drive in.

Great post, thanks.

Magic


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

The Oak Drive in in Royal Oak, MI had the Grand Trunk Railroad running right along the back border of it. I recall watching the steam locomotives go by during the movies.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Gramps said:


> He must have taken that photo early in the movie, none of the car windows are steamed up.
> 
> There is still an active drive-in movie in Beaufort, SC near the USMC Air Station.


It's hard to steam up the windows in a convertible with the top down!  Obviously, that couple actually came to watch the movie.


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

How many remember driving off with the speaker still in the car?


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

I'm of the opinion that daylight saving time helped kill the drive-in theater. Most of them ran double features, and I think that one hour starting later caused most people to be up just too late, and they stopped going.

I also find myself missing Independence Day fireworks shows for the same reason, because they don't start till 10:00 PM here. By the time I wait for traffic to clear, or get caught in the traffic jam (just about equal wasted time), I get home way past bedtime...and the next day is usually a work day. It's easier to watch the east coast fireworks shows on TV.


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## teledoc (Oct 22, 2014)

The good old days when the whole car was Steel, and the ever popular Vent/Wing windows, with a separate crank handle. The Poor Mans air conditioning.....LOL. You could probably tell what vehicle it was by the sound of it starting up, or how it sounded driving past you. Every fall, usually in September or October, you waited to see what the new cars were going to look like, for the following year.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That was when every year the styling of many models changed significantly. Nowadays, it's years between a sheet metal change.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Fire21 said:


> I'm of the opinion that daylight saving time helped kill the drive-in theater. Most of them ran double features, and I think that one hour starting later caused most people to be up just too late, and they stopped going.
> 
> I also find myself missing Independence Day fireworks shows for the same reason, because they don't start till 10:00 PM here. By the time I wait for traffic to clear, or get caught in the traffic jam (just about equal wasted time), I get home way past bedtime...and the next day is usually a work day. It's easier to watch the east coast fireworks shows on TV.


Yes, the founding fathers should have had the foresight to sign the Declaration of Independence on March 4th.


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## ebtnut (Mar 9, 2017)

The N&W ran big steam like that Class A up until 1960, the last major class 1 railroad to fully dieselize. IIRC, the photo was take at a drive-in somewhere in Virgina. Link had a working relationship with the N&W that allowed him to set up his photo locations and arrange (as much as possible) to have the trains arrive when he was ready. And yes, it sometimes took all day to set up the many flash lamps and make sure the circuits worked without firing off the whole array. He also did tape recordings along with the photos that became stereo albums. Two titles come to mind - The Fading Giant, and Second Pigeon and the Mockingbird. There is a Link musuem in the former N&W depot in Roanoke, VA.


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## ebtnut (Mar 9, 2017)

Oh, and one more thing about the photo. The flash wiped out whatever was on the movie screen. Link dropped in the F-86 in the darkroom.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Gramps said:


> Yes, the founding fathers should have had the foresight to sign the Declaration of Independence on March 4th.


No, the idiots in congress should have known that to get more daylight in summer, you just get up earlier. These were the same caliber of people who dictated that our light bulbs ought to be different, that our paper money is worth exactly that...paper, and that our enemies are actually peace-loving people.
:smilie_daumenneg:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Left turn at the politics guys, play nice.


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## FRED On Board (Jan 2, 2014)

As a youngster I had occasion to ride as a passenger of steam powered trains on the Erie RR (later to become the Erie Lackawanna Railway) between Buffalo and Schenectady in the early 1950's. 

In general, with respect to the monotony of life's modern day annoyances:



Fire21 said:


> No, the idiots in congress should have known that to get more daylight in summer, you just get up earlier. These were the same caliber of people who dictated that our light bulbs ought to be different, that our paper money is worth exactly that...paper, and that our enemies are actually peace-loving people.
> :smilie_daumenneg:


Indeed, and as the Brits are fond of saying in Parliament, "Hear, hear!" :appl


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

ebtnut said:


> Oh, and one more thing about the photo. The flash wiped out whatever was on the movie screen. Link dropped in the F-86 in the darkroom.


That's not the only thing that was added in the dark room....those train tracks are right up against the drive-in, so that train should be way bigger than it appears! Fakery even back then....who knew....?


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