O. Winston Link
Encyclopedia
Ogle Winston Link known commonly as O. Winston Link, was an American photographer. He is best known for his black-and-white photography and sound recordings of the last days of steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 railroading on the Norfolk & Western in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the late 1950s. A commercial photographer, Link helped establish rail photography as a hobby. He also pioneered night photography
Night photography
Night photography refers to photographs taken outdoors between dusk and dawn. Night photographers generally have a choice between using artificial light and using a long exposure, exposing the scene for seconds, minutes, and even hours in order to give the film or digital sensor enough time to...

, producing several well known examples including Hotshot Eastbound, a photograph of a steam train passing a drive-in movie theater
Drive-in theater
A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars.The screen can be as simple as a...

, and Hawksbill Creek Swimming Hole showing a train crossing a bridge above children bathing.

Early life

Link and his siblings, Eleanor and Albert Jr., spent their childhood in Brooklyn, New York, where they lived with their parents Albert Link Sr. and Anne Winston Jones Link. Link's given names honor ancestors Alexander Ogle
Alexander Ogle
Alexander Ogle was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Alexander Ogle was born in Frederick, Maryland. He moved to Somerset, Pennsylvania, in 1795. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1803, 1804, 1807, 1808, and 1811...

 and John Winston Jones
John Winston Jones
John Winston Jones was an American politician and lawyer.Born 22 November 1791 in Amelia County, Virginia, he graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1813. He practiced law in Chesterfield County, Virginia before being appointed Prosecuting Attorney for Virginia's 5th Judicial Circuit...

, who had served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 19th century. Al Link taught woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...

 in the New York City Public School system
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...

, and he encouraged his children's interest in arts and crafts and first introduced Winston to photography.

Link's early photography was created with a borrowed medium format Autographic
Autographic
The autographic system for roll film was launched by Kodak in 1914, and allowed the photographer to add written information on the film at the time of exposure....

 Kodak camera. By the time he was in high school he had built his own photographic enlarger
Enlarger
An enlarger is a specialized transparency projector used to produce photographic prints from film or glass negatives using the gelatin silver process, or from transparencies.-Construction:...

. After completing high school, Link attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
Polytechnic University of New York
The Polytechnic Institute of New York University, often referred to as Polytechnic Institute of NYU, NYU Polytechnic, or NYU-Poly, is the engineering and applied sciences affiliate of New York University...

, receiving a degree in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

. Before his graduation in 1937, Link spoke at a banquet for the institute's newspaper, where he served as photo editor. An executive from Carl Byoir's public relations firm was present and was impressed by Link's speaking ability. He offered Link a job as a photographer.

Career

Link worked for Carl Byoir and Associates for five years, learning his trade on the job. He adapted to the technique of making posed photographs looking candid, as well as creatively emphasizing a point. Some of Link's photographs from this time included an image of a man aiming a gun at a pig wearing a bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest
A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...

, and one eventually known as "What Is This Girl Selling?" or "Girl on Ice," which was widely published in the United States and later featured in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....

as a "classic publicity picture." According to Thomas Garver, once assistant to Link, Link's employ at Byoir's firm "clearly defined a point of view and developed working methods that were to shape his entire career."

With the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 consuming much of the rest of the world and soon to reach the United States, and unable to join the military due to mumps
Mumps
Mumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...

-induced hearing loss, Link left Byoir's employ in 1942 to work for the Airborne Instruments Laboratory, part of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. Drawing on both his university degree and professional photographic experience, Link worked at the laboratory as both project engineer and photographer. The laboratory was then researching a device for low-flying airplanes to detect submarines underwater. Link's main responsibility was photographing the project for the United States' government.

In 1945, with the end of the war, Link's employment at the Airborne Instruments Laboratory also ended. Byoir invited Link back, but Link instead opened his own studio in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1946; his clients included Goodrich
Goodrich Corporation
The Goodrich Corporation , formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F...

, Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...

, Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....

, and Ethyl
Ethyl Corporation
Ethyl Corporation is a fuel additive company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company is a manufacturer, blender and distributor of fuel additives...

.

Rail photography: Norfolk and Western project

While in Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....

 for an industrial photography job in 1955, Link's longstanding love of railroads became focused on the nearby Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....

 line. N&W was the last major (Class I
Class I railroad
A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...

) railroad yet to make the transition from steam
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 to diesel
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

 motive power and had refined its use of steam locomotives, earning a reputation for "precision transportation". Link took his first night photograph of the road on 21 January 1955 in Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010.....

. On 29 May 1955 the N&W announced its first conversion to diesel
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

 and Link's work became a documentation of the end of the steam era. He returned on around twenty visits to Virginia to continue photographing the N&W. His last night shot was taken in 1959 and the last of all in 1960, the year the road completed the transition to diesel, by which time he had accumulated 2400 negatives on the project.

Although it was entirely self-financed, Link's work was encouraged and facilitated by N&W officials, from President Robert Hall Smith
Robert Hall Smith
Robert Hall Smith , a native of Baltimore, Maryland, served as President of the Norfolk and Western Railway from 1946-1958. He was first employed on the N&W during the summer of 1910 as an axeman and chainman on a surveying crew...

 downwards. Besides the locomotives, he captured the people of the N&W performing their jobs on the railroad and the trackside communities. Some of his images were of the massive Roanoke Shops
Roanoke Shops
thumb|250px|[[Norfolk Southern]] Roanoke Shops in 2004.The Roanoke Shops of the Norfolk and Western Railway in Roanoke, Virginia were founded in 1881 as the Roanoke Machine Works. It came under the control of the railroad in 1883. Locomotive production started in 1884 and 152 locomotives were...

, where the company had for long built and maintained its own locomotives.

Link's images were always meticulously set up and posed, and he chose to take most of his railroad photographs at night. He said "I can't move the sun — and it's always in the wrong place — and I can't even move the tracks, so I had to create my own environment through lighting." Although others, including Philip Hastings and Jim Shaughnessy, had photographed locomotives at night before, Link's vision required him to develop new techniques for flash photography
Flash (photography)
A flash is a device used in photography producing a flash of artificial light at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Other uses are capturing quickly moving objects or changing the quality of light...

 of such large subjects. For instance, the movie theater image Hotshot Eastbound (Iaeger, West Virginia
Iaeger, West Virginia
Iaeger is a town in McDowell County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 358 at the 2000 census. Iaeger was incorporated in 1917 and named for Colonel William G. W. Iaeger, whose son, Dr. William R...

)
, photographed on 2 August 1956 [negative NW1103], used 42 #2 flashbulbs and one #0 fired simultaneously. Link, with an assistant such as George Thom, had to lug all his equipment into position and wire it up: this was done in series so any failure would prevent a picture being taken at all; and in taking night shots of moving trains the right position for the subject could only be guessed at. Link used a 4 x 5 Graphic View view camera
View camera
The view camera is a type of camera first developed in the era of the Daguerreotype and still in use today, though with many refinements. It comprises a flexible bellows which forms a light-tight seal between two adjustable standards, one of which holds a lens, and the other a viewfinder or a...

 with black and white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...

 film
Photographic film
Photographic film is a sheet of plastic coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the film...

, from which he produced silver gelatin prints.

Hawksbill Creek Swimming Hole (Luray, Virginia
Luray, Virginia
Luray is a town in Page County, Virginia, United States, in the Shenandoah Valley of the northern part of the state. It is also the county seat...

)
was photographed on 9 August 1956 [NW1126]. Other widely known images include Swimming Pool (Welch, West Virginia
Welch, West Virginia
Welch is a city located in McDowell County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The population was 2,406 at the 2010 census. Incorporated as a city in 1893, it is the county seat of McDowell County.-History:...

)
(1958 [NW1963]), Ghost Town (Stanley, Virginia) [NW1345], Main Line on Main Street (Northfork, West Virginia
Northfork, West Virginia
Northfork is a town in McDowell County, West Virginia, USA, located on US Route 52 between Welch and Bluefield.The population was 519 at the 2000 census. Northfork was incorporated in 1901, so named because of its location on the north fork of the Elkhorn Creek at its junction with the south fork...

)
(1958 [NW1966]) and Mr and Mrs Ben Pope watch the last steam powered passenger train (Max Meadows, Virginia
Max Meadows, Virginia
Max Meadows is a census-designated place in Wythe County, Virginia, United States. The population was 562 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Max Meadows is located at ....

)
(1957 [NW1648]).

In addition to his black and white night shots, Link also recorded the single daytime train on the Norfolk & Western's hilly Abingdon branch, serving the rural communities from Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, USA, 133 miles southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,191 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washington County and is a designated Virginia Historic Landmark...

 55 miles (88 km) south to West Jefferson, North Carolina
West Jefferson, North Carolina
West Jefferson is a town in Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census.-History:West Jefferson was incorporated as a city in 1909, and it is the second-oldest incorporated town in Ashe County. West Jefferson has the distinction of having the only cheese...

. It was also on this line that most of his railroad color photography
Color photography
Color photography is photography that uses media capable of representing colors, which are traditionally produced chemically during the photographic processing phase...

 was done; a selection is included in The Last Steam Railroad in America. His familiar 1956 view of a horse and steam locomotive Maud bows to the Virginia Creeper (Green Cove, Virginia) exists in black and white and color versions.

As well as photographing them, Link was also making sound recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 of the trains, which he issued on a set of six gramophone record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

s between 1957 and 1977 under the overall title Sounds of Steam Railroading. In the railfan
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...

 world he was probably best known by these, and by photographs published in Trains
Trains (magazine)
Trains is a monthly magazine dedicated to trains and railroads, and is one of the two flagship publications of Kalmbach Publishing. The magazine is read both by railroad enthusiasts, commonly referred to as railfans, and those within the railroad industry....

magazine and elsewhere in the 1950s, which inspired others to follow his example. A traveling exhibition in 1983 brought his work to a wider public.

Later life

From 1960 until he retired in 1983 Link devoted himself to advertising. Among notable pictures taken during this period are those recording construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay....

 and other views of New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...

 including the great ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...

s. In retirement, Link moved to South Salem
Lewisboro, New York
Lewisboro is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 12,411 at the 2010 census. The town is named after John Lewis.- History :...

, Westchester County, New York
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...

.

In 1996, Link's second wife, Conchita, was arrested for (and later convicted of) stealing a collection of Link's photographs and attempting to sell them, claiming that Link had Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 and that she had power of attorney. She served six years in prison. After being released, she again attempted to sell some of Link's works that she had stolen, this time using the Internet auction site eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

. She received a three-year sentence. Conchita was also accused of imprisoning her husband. However, this allegation is disputed by some, and it never led to any criminal charges against Conchita.

Link made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 as a steam locomotive engineer in the 1999 film October Sky
October Sky
October Sky is a 1999 American biographical film directed by Joe Johnston, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper and Laura Dern. It is based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the launch of Sputnik 1 to take up rocketry against his father's wishes, and who...

. He was actively involved with the planning of a museum of his work when he died of a heart attack near his home in January 2001.

Museum

The rail photography of Winston Link is featured at the O. Winston Link Museum
O. Winston Link Museum
thumb|250px|[[Norfolk & Western Railway]]'s [[Roanoke, Virginia]] depotThe O. Winston Link Museum is a museum dedicated to the photography of O...

 in Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...

 which opened in January 2004. The museum is housed in the former passenger station of the Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....

. Link's N&W caboose
Caboose
A caboose is a manned North American rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. Although cabooses were once used on nearly every freight train, their use has declined and they are seldom seen on trains, except on locals and smaller railroads.-Function:The caboose provided the...

 forms part of the display.

Nearby in Roanoke is the Virginia Museum of Transportation
Virginia Museum of Transportation
The Virginia Museum of Transportation is a museum devoted to the topic of transportation located in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.A..- History :...

, which includes a special pavilion constructed to house the static display of the Norfolk & Western J Class 4-8-4 611
Norfolk and Western 611
Norfolk and Western Railway's J class steam locomotives were a class of 4-8-4 locomotives built by the Norfolk and Western Railway's East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, between 1941 and 1950 Norfolk and Western Railway. The first batch, numbered 600 to 604, were built in 1941–42 and were delivered...

 and A Class 2-6-6-4 1218
Norfolk & Western 1218
Norfolk & Western 1218 is a steam locomotive that at one time was the strongest-pulling operational steam locomotive in the world. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated locomotive with a 2-6-6-4 wheel arrangement. The Norfolk & Western Railway built it in 1943 at its Roanoke Shops in Roanoke,...

 steam locomotives which were operated in excursion service in the 1980s and early 1990s.

See also

  • H. Reid
    H. Reid
    Harold A. Reid was an American writer, photographer, and historian. Reid is best known for his lifelong love of railroading and related photography and published work...

     (another rail photographer to capture the last days of steam)
  • Richard Steinheimer
    Richard Steinheimer
    Richard Virgil Dean Steinheimer was an American railroad photographer, often called the "Ansel Adams of railroad photography." His work has been published in Trains Magazine, Railfan, Locomotive and Railway Preservation, and Vintage Rail, and more than seventy books. He lived in Sacramento,...

     (another rail photographer to capture night shots)
  • Virginian Railway
    Virginian Railway
    The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads....


External links

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