Boarding the Locomotive

It’s another frosty day in January of 1943, and Jack Delano was there to see the engineer and fireman boarding their locomotive for another day’s labor. We’re on the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad which runs between Chicago, Illinois and Hammond, Indiana.

In these temperatures it doesn’t take long for dripping water to turn into ice cycles as seen on the piping at left. Also note the canvas curtains surrounding the backside of the cab in an effort to preserve a bit of heat inside for the crew.

As I studied this image, the faces seemed familiar. Turns out we’ve seen these fellows and their charge in an earlier post as they were waiting for their orders to start work.

Boarding the Locomotive