Allen- Can you make out the speeder photo caption at lower left? I see what appears to be the date, 4-18-14. But cannot get my eyes to focus on the text left of those numbers. mg: Boxcab E50
Historic Cedar Falls, WA photo links Yes, the caption reads: "2293 Masonry Dam 4-18-14" The number must refer to a photo file number the railroad operation served the construction of the new Masonry Dam being built about that time and the date, April 18, 1914. This appears to have been printed off of a glass plate negative, as that corner of the photo appears to have a crack running through it. Allen.
I noticed that crack. Has me wondering of those old glass plates are actually preserved in their files. Boxcab E50
Depends....most of those plates were coated with a mixture of nitro-cellulose (gun cotton) and silver salts. The salts recorded the image, the nitro-cellulose was the suspension material for the salts. (Edit 5/16-I was incorrect on the suspension. Plates did not use Nitro cellulose as a suspension. The wet collodion process used collodion, bromide, alcohol and silver salts. Later glass plates, used extensivelly until the introducvtion of nitro-cellulose film base, used gelatin as the suspension medium. Therefor, plates didn't explode). Early photographic film base was also made out of nitro-cellulose. The problem was, this mixture is flammable and explosive. Stick one of these negatives in your enlarger (Enlarger-a projector that uses bright light (and high heat) to project an image onto photographic paper) and have the light on too long and KABOOM. As the printer is usually facing the enlarger, with their head next to the part that would explode, printing photographs could prove lethal. As these negatives aged, they became more dangerous and prone to fire/explosion. If you have ever wondered why "old" Kodak film had the words KODAK SAFETY FILM on the negative, this is why. When the film base was changed to acetate Kodak used this as both a marketing strategy and to let darkroom technicians know what they were handling. Many, many old glass plates were sold in the 10's and 20's for re-use as glass panes in greenhouses. Many were thrown out. As with all things in America, as glass plate technology faded from general photographic use and was labeled, "old fashioned, outdated, etc." in the Teens, there was a lack of appreciation for the historical value of the work and it was generally disposed of.
Mark- Thanks for the background. I do recall a mention years ago, where some of the precious stuff from the Civil War was used as glass panes, etc. Thus was lost to the world. What are you doing these days? Been out with the camera? Modeling? Boxcab E50
Gardening-IE digging. Have 5 new live trees and one dead one to show for it. Corn, pumpkins and peas are in. The other half of the garden will get turned by Saturday, and I will plant some live stuff this weekend. Still want to wait a week for tomatoes and the other live plants.
