Last week we viewed a group of workers inspecting cars in the C&NW yard near Chicago. These fellows are known as car knockers, a term used for the early custom of tapping the wheels to detect flaws. In this instance they were checking journal boxes and brakes. The image below is a portrait of one of those workers we saw in the prior post.

I’ve mentioned before how Jack Delano often featured the human element of a profession, and I’ve featured several of his photographs such as this. My hat is off to this working gentleman.

Chicago and North Western Railway, Proviso yard, December 1942.