Rupert, I don’t have dates for any of the Fairmont photos. The CBQ X17 image was labeled as #736 when I got the collection, and they go up to 17000+. I know the archives contain over 20000 photos and I think they were numbered pretty much in chronological order, so it is an early photo. The vintage autos say late teens or 20’s. I don’t think the photo was taken by Fairmont. It has the appearance of a photo that had been submitted. The collection contains photos that were submitted showing Fairmont equipment “in the field”. Nothing in the background says Fairmont MN, and there are not visible tracks. Just about all the company photos were staged on the CNW or MILW tracks that ran past the factory, many showing the depots or elevators in Fairmont MN.
Doug Harding
www.iowacentralrr.org