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Caption: Wow – my 40th upload here on RPca… time sure flies when you’re havin’ fun!
Arnold Mooney recently commented that it isn’t so much about the photograph itself, but rather the memories that are stirred. This image is poignant for me…
It was late fall, ’75… a particularly chilly day. My Dad had taken the day off work. He was starting to experience the early symptoms of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). He let me skip school so that we could see #136 as it stopped in Leaside. Later that day, I would take this photograph as the train passed literally by our backyard. He would be taken horribly within a year. Everything changed.
Funny how a simple picture of a simple little 4-4-0 can bring back so many emotions. The power of photography, I suppose.
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First, I sympathize. There is little worse than ALS. As far as photos go, this image of #136 is as good as it gets. So much better in B/W than Colour. Kudos to you, Peter. This shot should be on your wall. Another way in which older photos are so personally powerful is the fact that the day once again becomes alive in your mind, you, for a few fleeting moments, jump back to childhood; and then suddenly realize those years now so far behind you that neither the subject nor the terrain no longer exists as it was. THAT is the wakeup.
Sorry to hear about your dad Peter. Moments spent together, memories, and photographs such as this can help keep those special people in our hearts and minds, and make it seem like just yesterday that they were here.