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| "Long Gone." Mamiya C330F twin lens camera and 80mm f/2.8 lens; Tri-X film. (click to enlarge) |
This is the inside of the stationmaster's office in the old Seaboard Airline Railroad train station in Suffolk, Virginia. The station was built in 1885 and primarily served the Seaboard Airline Railroad as well as the Virginian Railroad. Each had tracks on opposite sides of the station.
It had largely remained unchanged and my photograph reflects such. The old oak desk was massive, the wooden chair creaky, the free standing oil stove was hot, the entrance door majestic and the old linoleum floor well worn. I love recording these kinds of places as they no longer exist for our grandchildren to see.
Passenger service ended in 1968 but the station remained open until the CSX Railroad abandoned it. It was then turned into a museum and it remains so today.
A fellow photographer (whose grandfather actually was the stationmaster in the early 20th century) and I used to visit the stationmaster often and listen to his stories. It was quite an education.
Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Nice documentary image. I imagine the stationmaster could roll the chair around to the other side of the double desk and be really warm on winter days.
ReplyDeleteThe Mamiya C330F was an excellent camera. For a while I owned the similar C33, and should have kept on with it. Being young, I was influenced by the ads in Popular Photography and had to have a 120 slr. The entire line of Mamiya cameras were competent cameras and the modern (relative term) workhorses of the typical photo studios. I used the twin lens C33, then the slr's 645 and 6x7. If I were to resume roll film photography, I would choose a Mamiya over the Hasselblad I later owned.
Thank you. I enjoyed using the C330F. I eventually owned the camera, three lenses, the prism finder and the device that would lift the camera up off the tripod to the exact level of the viewing lens to eliminate parallax. I’ve also owned several other Mamiya cameras and their lenses were always excellent.
DeleteSo glad they saved this gem as a museum. Nice composition, Dennis.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is now a museum but they took out all of the old furnishings, old oil fired furnace, the old floor is gone and then they changed the interior to look relatively modern! It now has memorabilia and exhibits reflecting the railroads it served. I like it the way it was. Thanks for the comment, ~Dennis
DeleteA gorgeous image! Monochrome Mondays are a highlight of the week.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bob. I plan on continuing for the foreseeable future. ~Dennis
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