Train No. 17, The Birmingham Special, Passes a Giant Oak, Max Meadows, Virginia
Artist
O. Winston Link
(American, 1914-2001)
CultureAmerican
Date1957
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 15 9/16 × 19 1/2 in. (39.5 × 49.5 cm)
Overall, Support: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Mat: 25 × 28 in. (63.5 × 71.1 cm)
Overall, Support: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Mat: 25 × 28 in. (63.5 × 71.1 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 number2023.26.21
On View
Not on viewLabel TextO. Winston Link American (1914-2001) TRAIN NO. 17, THE BIRMINGHAM SPECIAL, PASSES A GIANT OAK Max Meadows, Virginia, 1957 L2004.11.91 This photograph was made on December 30, 1957, the next to last night for steam powered passenger trains on the N&W's line to Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee. The Birmingham Special didn't stop at Max Meadows, but would have passed here at about 11 PM. Winston Link set up enough lights to illuminate the train, but he may have been most fascinated with the huge oak in the foreground, which stood alone in a meadow. Here's what Winston Link wrote about this photograph: We were hoping to get an owl in the tree, but lighting 360 feet of rail made problems enough. The circumference of the tree was 18 feet, 6 inches, making the diameter very close to six feet! 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. "Norfolk and Western Railroad Photographs by O. Winston Link," Kaufman Theatre Lobby, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA., March 4, 2009 - October 18, 2009. Published ReferencesPhotographs by O. Winston Link, text by Timothy Hensley, _Steam, Steel & Stars: America's Last Steam Railroad_ (New York: Abrams, 1987), 88-89.
