[Fwd: Thanks to Street Railway Photograpghers...]

[mrb190]

I think what I was trying to say was that I don't see many books out
there ("Pittsburgh-Then & Now" and the recent book on the "50's", being
the exceptions) that have old photographs in them of the locale, so the
Trolley photographs often serve two purposes: to see the cars, and the
areas in which they ran.  My original comments were only meant to be
complimentary.     

Fred Schneider wrote:
> 
> Is this a wonderful justification for just taking pictures of streets?
> 
> My Dad walked around Lancaster PA in the middle 1960s and took eight
> pictures at each downtown intersection.   Those negatives have never been
> printed but they are a delightful historical record which I should make
> certain winds up in the local historical society some day.   I've spent many
> a day walking around the city just taking pictures of buildings ... its
> amazing how many we still have in Lancaster County that were built when this
> was a British colony.
> 
> I guess what I'm trying to say is:  THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE OUT THERE THAN
> TROLLEYS.
> 
>                 -----Original Message-----
>                 From:   mrb190 [mailto:mrb190+ at pitt.edu]
>                 Sent:   Sunday, March 05, 2000 11:16 PM
>                 To:     pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>                 Subject:        [Fwd: Thanks to Street Railway
> Photograpghers...]
> 
>                 (because of the difference between mrb190 and mrb190+; long
> story, should
>                 be fixed -- djb)
> 
>                 I am still kind of new to this group, so if this has been
> said before,
>                 please forgive the duplication of words...
> 
>                 When I display streetcar photographs to folks around here
> who don't have
>                 the same hobby-like interest in the cars as I do, I often
> hear the same
>                 remarks:  "wow!  I remember that building!"  or "Yes!  I
> remember when
>                 the avenue looked like that!"  or "Is that what our street
> used to look
>                 like?"
> 
>                 In short, to all of railway photographers, past and present:
> not only
>                 have you recorded a terrific piece of streetcar history, but
> also the
>                 surroundings.   I doubt if there are many picture-takers out
> there today
>                 snapping as many pics on Fifth Avenue or Penn Avenue or on
> some urban
>                 neighborhood street of  autos or buses going by.  The
> streetcar WAS an
>                 intricate part of the street and made it all the more
> interesting enough
>                 for photographers to spend a few more dollars on film.   I
> wonder how
>                 many of you realized at the time that you were capturing
> more than just
>                 the trolleys, but also the time and place in which the cars
> did their
>                 jobs.   It's a kick to hear current Pitt students who view
> the photos in
>                 the "Touring Pittsburgh By Trolley" book say:   "The Towers
> (student
>                 housing) are in this picture!  That means you had trolleys
> running here
>                 in the sixties!   What happened to them?"    The Towers were
> apparently
>                 pretty new, and I think they are still the newest dorms on
> campus, so
>                 when you view this particular photo in the "Touring..."
> book, it does
>                 seem like the cars were running down Fifth just yesterday.
> 
>                 So, again, THANKS!
> 
>                 And speaking of photographs, can anyone tell me where this
> Roberta Hill
>                 shot is located?
>                 Ken, do you know?
> 
>                 http://davesrailpix.railfan.net/pitts/jpg/kjpgh213.jpg
> 
>                 Matt