Old Drive in/Train Photo

Any historical questions can be posted here. Answers would certainly help as well :)
User avatar
James Sofonia
Grand Traverse Dinner Train 1996
Posts: 1701
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:56 pm
Location: Traverse City, Michigan

Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by James Sofonia »

I'm sure many of you have seen this cool photo taken in a drive in theater as a steam loco passes very close. In 1955, O Winston Link set out to capture the last days of steam railroading in America . He took this photo in 1956 in West Virginia.

Image

I ran across the photo again today and got to thinking if the drive in was still in existence. I did an extensive search of Drive in web sites, Wikipedia, etc. came up with only a Google Earth shot of a semi circle where I presume it existed in sandy huff, West Virginia.

Image

Any of you internet hound dogs want to find something I missed, try to scrape up some info/photos of the drive in and when it closed.

pbmaxno15
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 252
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:47 pm
Location: Caseville, MI

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by pbmaxno15 »

This was the first link to pop up on Google. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/40736

User avatar
James Sofonia
Grand Traverse Dinner Train 1996
Posts: 1701
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:56 pm
Location: Traverse City, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by James Sofonia »

pbmaxno15 wrote:This was the first link to pop up on Google. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/40736
Thanks PBMax, I did see that site, not much there. I was hoping to find it on a site like http://www.driveintheater.com/ which is a great site with thousands of old and new drive in's, but not this one.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

I think the image linked in the first post is showing the wrong location. I found a shot on Flickr from the ground showing where the drive in was: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksuydam/7820507286. In the shot above, you can see part of the location, where the house with the brown roof is near the lower left corner.

I've attached part of an old topographic map that shows the Drive In Theatre somewhere on the south side of Sandy Huff. If you zoom in on the marked location on the map on the link Patrick (pbmax) posted, it's where the driveways for the two homes that were built on the site meet the road.
Attachments
SandyHuff_DriveIn1.JPG
~ Charles W.

User avatar
Michael
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 10805
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:52 pm
Location: Plymouth, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by Michael »

I can't believe that space held 270 cars. It is a great photo, most especially in a time before trick photography.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

The spot is bigger than it looks. There are at least two size homes on the site now, with plenty of yard space surrounding them plus out buildings. I think the screen may have been on the edge of the trees at the far end of the lot, which would allow almost the entire field for parking. Even with a projection/concession building and ticket booth, there wouldn't have been a lot of extra space outside of that needed for each auto, but it would've probably been tight when every spot was taken.

I did find an overhead shot from somewhere between 1996 and 1999 showing just a field in that location, but aside from the lack of houses, there was no indication as to what remained of the drive in or if something else had been in that location after the drive in was closed.
~ Charles W.

User avatar
James Sofonia
Grand Traverse Dinner Train 1996
Posts: 1701
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:56 pm
Location: Traverse City, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by James Sofonia »

Michael wrote:I can't believe that space held 270 cars. It is a great photo, most especially in a time before trick photography.
I'm guessing the drive in people may have cooperated with the photographer as the exit lights on top of the screen are on as well as some lighting behind the camera. Doesn't seem to bother the couple in the first car, they don't notice the train or the movie, just gettin busy. :D

User avatar
Michael
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 10805
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:52 pm
Location: Plymouth, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by Michael »

Pixl wrote:
Michael wrote:I can't believe that space held 270 cars. It is a great photo, most especially in a time before trick photography.
I'm guessing the drive in people may have cooperated with the photographer as the exit lights on top of the screen are on as well as some lighting behind the camera. Doesn't seem to bother the couple in the first car, they don't notice the train or the movie, just gettin busy. :D
Agreed. There is no question it is a posed photograph with extra lighting but he still had to time it right with the train or wait till another day.
I think there are just 6 real drive in left here in Michigan. We have a temporary one setup in a parking lot here in Plymouth but it is not the same at all.

User avatar
MP73point4
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:24 pm
Location: Billtown, MI

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by MP73point4 »

Michael wrote:I can't believe that space held 270 cars. It is a great photo, most especially in a time before trick photography.
Actually Link did use some trick photography to create this image. When the train was passing and he fired all his flashbulbs, it washed out the image on the drive in screen so it appeared just white. He actually took a second photo with the jet on the screen, then combined that negative with the one of the train and the cars to create the shot we see. He just did his trickery in a darkroom instead of in Photoshop.
You kids may need to go look up what flashbulbs are and what a darkroom is. :lol:
If anyone is interested in Link's photography, there is a museum in the former N&W passenger station in downtown Roanoke dedicated to his work. It's worth a stop if you're in the area.
RR Pass Collector

User avatar
AARR
Ann Arbor RR Nerd
Posts: 37905
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:39 pm
Location: Washington, MI

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by AARR »

That's not jet any jet. It's a F86 Sabre. It and the Mig 15 were involved in some tremendous air battles over Korea. The American pilots new how to use the F86's advantages to defeat the Mig's and scored remarkably high.
MP73point4 wrote:He actually took a second photo with the jet on the screen
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

User avatar
Michael
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 10805
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:52 pm
Location: Plymouth, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by Michael »

I did question the timing of the plane on the movie screen but not enough to look up how he did it. So it turns out that part was cheating a little. Still a great shot :D
Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I saw a good shot by JT (I think) of a plane landing at Detroit Metro with a moving train and cars along I-94 all in the same shot.

GreatLakesRailfan
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 4828
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:28 am
Location: Marysville, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

Is there anything to indicate the lights at the top of the screen are actually lit, rather than being lit by the flash from the camera? I would think the screen would be the only thing needing to be fixed in the darkroom, you could go crazy trying to fix all the other things illuminated by the flash bulbs, rather than because they were actually lit when the image was captured.
~ Charles W.

hoborich
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 2992
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 1:05 am
Location: Northern Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by hoborich »

You kids may need to go look up what flashbulbs are and what a darkroom is.
Awwww, darn flash didn't go off. Maybe the batteries are dead. :lol:
"Ask your doctor if medical advice from a TV commercial is right for you".

Dan Cluley
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 2631
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:58 am
Location: Lansing

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by Dan Cluley »

If I remember correctly, he also specifically posed the couple in the foreground in his own convertible.

User avatar
MP73point4
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:24 pm
Location: Billtown, MI

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by MP73point4 »

Dan Cluley wrote:If I remember correctly, he also specifically posed the couple in the foreground in his own convertible.
You are correct on both counts. His car also appears with a posed couple in his photo of an old fellow filling a gravity fed gas pump with a train in the background. If you google O. Winston Link prints you'll easily find it.
Link traveled from New York to West Virginia and Virginia in his own car and at his own expense to take all his famous N&W steam photos. The railroad allowed him access, but didn't purchase/commission his pictures or fund his trips.
RR Pass Collector

User avatar
J T
Hates Supper
Posts: 11367
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:23 pm
Location: Grand Rapids
Contact:

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by J T »

GreatLakesRailfan wrote:I think the image linked in the first post is showing the wrong location. I found a shot on Flickr from the ground showing where the drive in was: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicksuydam/7820507286.
I wish Nick had done an "then and now" comparison shot.
Michael wrote: I saw a good shot by JT (I think) of a plane landing at Detroit Metro with a moving train and cars along I-94 all in the same shot.
Is this what you were thinking of?


Image
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.

User avatar
Michael
Railroadfan...fan
Posts: 10805
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:52 pm
Location: Plymouth, Michigan

Re: Old Drive in/Train Photo

Unread post by Michael »

Yes, that is the one JT. Although I guess it wasn't I-94 in the photo.

Post Reply