In studying Mr. Gelman’s series of photos featuring the last days of steam on the Illinois Central in southern Illinois, this photograph was one of the first that caught my attention. Many would say it’s a lousy shot, it doesn’t even capture the entire locomotive. But the more I look at this image, the better I like it. Here is this massive piece of machinery traveling right through the center of a typical small city in the U.S.A., surrounded by buildings filled with shops and offices. And stopping the traffic on the main drag in doing so. The locomotive was likely backing, as the engineer is leaning out and looking toward the rear. The photograph was taken in 1952 or later (based on the ’52 Chevy and ’52 Ford). The posting below contains the original caption listed for the image.

In zooming in on the image, I notice that there is a street sign at the left, and it reads “13th Street”. So that led me to research the photograph location. Using Google Maps, I have exactly located where this image was taken. The view above is looking west while standing on Walnut Street (Hwy. 149) and the cross street is indeed 13th Street, with the track actually on (or in) the street. The alleyway referred to above is a half block further west, midway between 13th and 14th Streets. The parking lot referred to is presently a Regions Bank with parking on its right side adjacent to the alleyway. The actual location (seen at left in this photo) now has a park-like setting that also has that Regions Bank drive-thru teller machine. Whew!

And I got a surprising (and confirming) find while studying the map. There is a splendid looking depot on 13th Street just a block to the north (to the right in the photo above). Below is that depot.

Mr. Gelman took a series of photos featuring the last days of steam on the Illinois Central in southern Illinois. This image is one of many contained in the Special Collections Research Center of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale.