All-
I retract my previous thought that the photo is genuine. The biggest tell is the gauge/size of the tracks at the bottom margin of the photo. They should be very close to the same size. Doing a little bit of overlaying dimension lines on the perspective photo the southbound main is about 75% narrower than the northbound. Pre-Photoshop trickery by the Advertising Department!!!
So Hol and others who thought the northbound shovelnose and consist is larger than the southbound are correct!
Charlie Vlk
All-
While the third version of the TCZ along the Mississippi was faked, why does this photo get that caption?
It doesn’t have any obvious artifacts of perspective or detail manipulation that would be necessary to make it look reasonable.
The fact both trains are on a parallel curve makes it seem likely that the picture, while it might have been altered, was taken on site with the trains.
Charlie Vlk
Photo: A Faked Meet Of The Twin Cities Zephyrs
Purchased photo courtesy of Marty Bernard on Flickr:
Marty comments:
“This is a publicity shot of a meet was made in the darkroom, i.e., it never happened as shown. The trains were built by EMC/Budd and delivered in April 1935. The power cars were diesels and carried a model number AA and, at least initially, could not be disconnected from the train easily. The first A in the model number. I assume stood for first series (the second series were Es) and the second A stood for A-unit as opposed to B-unit. Train 9901 became The Sam Houston Zephyr and was destroyed by fire on 12/19/44. Train 9902 became The Ozark State Zephyr and retired 2/54 and scrapped 4/56. Exact date and location of the picture(s) is unknown but certainly soon after the trains were put into service in 1935 and was taken along the Mississippi River bluffs in Illinois or Wisconsin.”
Bob Chaparro
Hemet, CA