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nist Alexander Craghead and newly named CRPA president and executive director Scott Lothes to help with set-up for the Friday evening welcome dinner. As conference guests began to filter into the gothic-styled banquet hall, they were treated to selections from the portfolio of Michael Froio. Over the last few years, Froio has been exploring the impact made on the environment by the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad in an ongoing project called From the Mainline. His photos were a great lead-in to the evening’s presen- tation by Tony Reevy. Author of O. Winston Link: Life Along the Line, Reevy explored not only the technical mastery of Link’s body of work photographing the steam trains of the Norfolk & Western, but also the railroaders and the people who lived “along the line.” Reevy told me later he had enjoyed my story about getting a birthday card from Link when I was a kid (see May 2012 MARKERS), and we shared our stories of Link’s retire- ment years “post-Conchita.” Early Saturday morning, we assembled in
the McCormick Auditorium for the first of many great presentations. Leading us off was Cate Kratville, who spoke about her fa- ther Bill’s long career in photography, and the opportunities afforded to him. Steve VanDenburgh followed, recounting his ad- ventures in a program titled “California Steamin’: Southern Pacific at Mid-Century.” It was an interesting show exploring sec- tions of SP’s peculiar narrow gauge opera- tion, and in many instances VanDenburgh was able to revisit many of the same loca- tions to show us how quickly nature has erased signs of the railroad’s intrusion on the desert landscape. Following a break, industrial historian Matt Kierstead talked about the detailed paintings and prose of the late artist Michael Flanagan. Stations is a unique col- lection of paintings created by Flanagan in a realistic “trompe l’oeil” (“fool the eye”) style. Kierstead explained how Flanagan wove a complex tapestry of characters and “pho- tographs” into a story with amazing depth that goes beyond the imagery of trains. One of the paintings in Stations is based on a photo by editor Steve Barry (one of the coolest projects I’ve ever been tangentially in- volved in — S.B.). Michael Froio followed with a presentation on his project titled,
“From the Mainline.” Expanding on his Fri- day night exhibit, he explained how the rail- road not only transformed the landscape, but also how power and wealth pushed the groundbreaking engineering accomplish- ments that made the Pennsylvania Rail- road’s main line possible. Froio’s black & white portfolio seemed appropriate for the kind of documentary style landscape pho- tography he was trying to capture. A stroll across the beautiful Lake Forest College campus brought us to an informal luncheon where there was ample opportuni- ty to socialize and discuss the morning pre- sentations. After the break, CRPA president and director Scott Lothes and chairman Bon French updated the audience on the many preservation activities ongoing, including the exhibit Faces of Chicago’s Railroad Com- munity: Photographs by Jack Delano, a col- laboration with the Chicago History Muse- um set
to open in April 2014. This
announcement was an excellent segue for presenter Pablo Delano, who talked about the life and work of his father. Jack Delano was hired by the Farm Security Administra- tion-Office of War Information to document the nation’s railroads between 1942 and 1943, with much of his work focused on the Chicago area. Following a brief break, I was honored to introduce Mitch Markovitz, an artist whom I have admired for many years and worked with me to provide the cover illustration for my book, Forgotten Railroads Through Westchester County. Markovitz gave a lively presentation about his work, much of it fo- cused on railroad subjects (See the January 2013 MARKERS for his brief essay about how his childhood experiences on the South Shore shaped his future career). Assisted by his son Matt, several of his paintings were on display while other pieces from his port- folio were projected on screen. Aside from being a talented artist, Markovitz worked for several Chicago are railroads before con- centrating on his art full time. His coy one- liners also had the audience rolling in the aisles.
Next up, Norfolk Southern company pho- tographer Casey Thomason discussed the railroad’s wildly successful “heritage unit” program, taking us behind the scenes of this highly visible public relations project. We
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PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVE BARRY
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