Uncoupling on the Fly, Blue Ridge Grade, Virginia
Artist
O. Winston Link
(American, 1914-2001)
CultureAmerican
Date1958
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 19 3/8 × 15 7/16 in. (49.2 × 39.2 cm)
Overall: 19 7/8 × 16 in. (50.5 × 40.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 28 1/2 × 24 in. (72.4 × 61 cm)
Overall: 19 7/8 × 16 in. (50.5 × 40.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 28 1/2 × 24 in. (72.4 × 61 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated by the artist in pencil on the verso of the print. Artist's Studio stamp on the verso of the print.
Credit LineGift of Susan and David Goode
Object number2021.50.35
On View
Not on viewLabel TextO. Winston Link American (1914-2001) UNCOUPLING ON THE FLY Blue Ridge Grade, 1958 (Series of Five) L2004.11.31-35 In a five-picture sequence made in early September 1958, Winston Link photographed a pusher locomotive being uncoupled from an eastbound train going over the Blue Ridge Grade. In the first photo, the brakeman watches the smokebox of Class Y6 locomotive 2152. In the next image, the pusher has stopped pushing, the coupler has been opened and the locomotive starts to slip away. The third image shows the pusher locomotive well separated, and producing a lot of smoke due to operator error. This is one of the few photos where Link showed an N&W locomotive making smoke. In the second half of the uncoupling sequence, the pusher disappears behind a cut in a cloud of smoke. Edited By: DS Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 07/25/2005Exhibition History"Norfolk and Western Railway Photographs by O. Winston Link," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., July 1 - December 31, 2005. "Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, American and the Railway, 1830-1960," Walker Art Galleries, Liverpool, United Kingdom, April 18 - August 10, 2008; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, September 13, 2008 - January 18, 2009 Published ReferencesPhotographs by O. Winston Link, text by Thomas H. Garver, _The Last Steam Railroad In America: From Tidewater To Whitetop_ (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1995), 61. Ian Kennedy and Julian Treuherz, _The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam_, exh. cat., Walker Art Gallery:National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool, England, 2008, 256-257. ISBN: 9780300138788
