hibits have included an exhibit of noted photographer David Plowden’s work (Plowden was Link’s assistant for a short period in 1958 and 1959). After exiting the Roanoke Gallery,
you find the General Electric Trans- portation Theater. It offers an hourly showing, during museum hours, of What a Picture I Got, a film documen- tary about Link and his work directed by Ted Stone and originally produced by WDBJ, a Roanoke television station, in 2001.
On to the Photos!
Now the fun really begins. At the end of the Roanoke Gallery, you can also skip the theater and go straight into a series of galleries highlighting Link’s N&W photographs. The first of these, the Radford Gallery, contains Link’s photos of the Abingdon Branch, which ran from Abingdon, Va., to West Jeffer- son, N.C. The collection includes classic images such as “Maud Bows to the Vir- ginia Creeper” (NW1230). Since the mixed train serving the branch ran on- ly during the daylight hours during the mid-1950s, these are daylight photos. Link also shot color photos — often in versions taken simultaneously with black & white images — and many of his color images focus on the Abingdon Branch. In the center of the room is a view camera like the camera Link usu- ally used for his N&W photographs. Following the Radford Gallery is the Shenandoah Gallery, which includes Link images of life along the railway
OPPOSITE: A view across the Shenandoah Gallery at the Link Museum. BELOW: The gravity-fed gas pump from the Vesuvius Store was saved and has been turned into part of the exhibit at the Link Museum. STEVE BARRY PHOTO RIGHT: “Sometimes the Electricity Fails,” August 8, 1956 (NW1122). Train No. 2 passes the pumps at Vesuvius, Virginia. The couple posed in Link’s convertible (the New York plates are a giveaway), Bobby Cullen and Lucy Groah, were later married.
and introduces his famed night pho- tographs. In the center of the room is a display of Link’s photographic equip- ment, including his unique lighting re- flectors and lighting power supply. Also here is an exhibit of Link’s darkroom equipment, which was left to his assis- tant and printer, Mary Bachmann, in his will, and was donated to the muse- um by her.
Next, the Pocahontas Gallery focuses on Link’s views of the people and the machines, especially the magnificent steam locomotives — such as the Class J, Class A and Class Y6 — that made the N&W the last bastion of steam rail- roading in America.
“We wanted,” Garver said, “to move from the railroad in the country to the machinery. We wanted visitors to see the people and the railroad first — to have them move from an overall view to the machinery.”
The centerpiece in the Pocahontas Gallery includes a steam locomotive whistle and bell — artifacts that, for the increasing number of visitors who did not experience the steam era first- hand, give a sense of the massive size and construction of these magnificent machines. An example of tographs
often on display
the pho- in
this
gallery is Link’s portrait of “Captain” Aubrey Bradshaw (NW 414). The Scioto Gallery, the final gallery in the museum, includes displays of published works relating to Link, a storage area for prints not currently on display in the museum, and two inter-
active work stations allowing you to search for specific images or for sound bites from Link’s recordings of N&W steam in action.
After the Scioto Gallery, you pass through a small area containing arti- facts such as a wig-wag signal (see Link’s photo of the station at Panther,
W.Va.) and a N&W WATER sign (see “Highball
for the Double Header,”
NW32K). You then go back up the stairs and exit the museum through the gift shop.
The Museum Today Since its January 2004 opening, the
Link Museum has added the Raymond Loewy Gallery, the recreated Vesuvius Country Store, Link’s caboose, and a display of Link’s darkroom equipment, and has converted the former Track- side Lobby into a secure exhibit space. The Museum plans to keep expanding its programs, which now include a trav- eling exhibit of Link’s work and secure compact storage in the Scioto Gallery so that all of the museum’s Link prints, including those not on display in the other galleries, are easily available for viewing by interested visitors. The Mu- seum now hosts incoming traveling ex- hibits, and offers photography and camera workshops.
The Link Museum in Roanoke is a fitting tribute to a creative man who contributed so much not only to the world of railroading, but also to the graphic language of photography.
Planning your visit: The Link Museum is located in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, just off I-581, the connector from I-81. The museum is open Monday thru Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m, and is closed Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. For more information, please visit
www.linkmuseum.org.
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