The End of a Photographic Era

[PRR 60]

It seems like only yesterday that a trip could not be taken without an ample supply of film. If you were serious about photography (or just wanted to pretend you were serious), that film had to be Kodachrome. Every drug store, every souvenir stand, every supermarket had a rack of film. You always felt important when you ordered a couple of 36 exposure cartridges of Kodachrome 25. Even the processing was special. The process was too involved and too expensive for small machines in local camera shops. No, this stuff had to be sent away, preferably to Kodak itself in one of those yellow, pre-paid mailers. Then a week or two later, the package would come back and you would finally see what artistic wonders you had produced - or not.

Almost all of us have moved to digital photography. You can just snap away with virtually no limit to the number of photos. If one in ten is a keeper, that's great. There is no wait for processing and the reward is instant. Just transfer to the computer, erase the camera card, and head back for more. No need for a Carousel projector, a screen, and those boring family get-togethers for a slide show of the latest travels.

For me, Kodachrome was just a fading memory of days gone by until I ran into this story. I did not know that Kodak stopped making the film last year. Kodak also stopped making the dyes used in the processing - dyes that made Kodachrome special. And now, the last lab in the world capable of processing Kodachrome is using the last of the dyes they have in stock. Tomorrow, Thursday, 12/30/2010, Dwayne's Photo in Parsons Kansas will stop processing Kodachrome film. When Dwayne's runs that last roll, Kodachrome is finished.

I have not shot a film photo in probably ten years. But, it's still kind of sad. I have boxes and boxes of Kodachrome slides that I have not looked at in years. Maybe it's time to take a look and remember. Remember not just what is on the slides, but the how special those slides themselves are.

A goodbye from CBS Sunday Morning, Sunday December 26, 2010:



Kodachrome: RIP!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

There are many areas of life where I prefer the old way to the new way, but digital photography isn't one of them. The benefits so completely outweigh the negatives that I honestly can't imagine ever going back, even if it were possible. In fact the main thought running through my head when I was done reading your post was "Why don't you scan some of those slides and post them here in digital form?" I guess I just assumed there would be train-related stuff in there. :lol:

 

[PRR 60]

There are many areas of life where I prefer the old way to the new way, but digital photography isn't one of them. The benefits so completely outweigh the negatives that I honestly can't imagine ever going back, even if it were possible. In fact the main thought running through my head when I was done reading your post was "Why don't you scan some of those slides and post them here in digital form?" I guess I just assumed there would be train-related stuff in there. :lol:

I agree with you about digital. I used to do some darkroom stuff, and it would take me hours to get a couple of 8x10's that had the right exposure and color balance. Plus, those chemical were nasty! Now, it all done in a few minutes with a decent inkjet printer, photo quality paper, and some cheap software. Anyone want an enlarger?

I am inspired to root through those old slides and do some scanning. That was one of those "when I get around to it" jobs, and the Kodachrome story has me inspired. And, yes, there should be some train stuff in there. It will be fun to just look at the photos and remember when they were taken.

 

[Alice]

Maybe it's time to take a look and remember. Remember not just what is on the slides, but the how special those slides themselves are.

Speaking from experience, when you do start going through those old slides (a good idea for numerous reasons), be aware that the heat from a projector can damage some of them (it pops them into a 3-D shape). In my family, we decided it was more important to go through many trays quickly than to save every slide, but a few trays were sorted manually on a light table to choose what to scan.

 

[MrFSS]

In fact the main thought running through my head when I was done reading your post was "Why don't you scan some of those slides and post them here in digital form?" I guess I just assumed there would be train-related stuff in there.

I have some train related stuff for you.

I started taking slides of trains in the 1950's in Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago, and a few other places. Fortunately I kept them and recently have been able to scan them and Photoshop the imperfections out to some degree. I have over 150 of them digitized. Here are a few of my favorites that I can almost remember as if they were taken yesterday.

This is The George Washington in Louisville Central station One of my favorites, I also use it as my avatar.

Louisville is where I grew up and in the day I knew almost every L&N engine number by heart. In those days we could roam around in the yards behind Louisville Union Station and no one ever said a word.

Monon also used Louisville Union Station.

One of my rail buddies was Jim Herron, now the owner and operator of Herron Rail Videos. That is Jim in the PRR car in Louisville Central station. PRR hooked one onto The George Washington as a through sleeper from NYP. He and I made many trips to the Louisville stations, to New Albany across the river, and even to Cincinnati, riding up and back on the L&N. Jim has some of my photos on his web site.

I was always a big PRR fan and rode many times between Louisville and Chicago as a kid. Here is a PRR arriving in CHI with a GM&O leaving.

The Southwind, Leaving Chicago Union Station with ACL engines was a rare sight. When it arrived in Louisville I usually saw it with PRR equipment.

See the next post for more pictures.

 

[MrFSS]

Chicago was my favorite place for photos and video.

Roosevelt Road crossed all the major station tracks (except the IC) and I would spend all day walking from one end to the other watching the famous stream-liners arrive and depart. I knew all the times and would be at the appropriate place for each of the trains.

The Empire Builder arriving Chicago Union Station.

An AT&SF arriving in Chicago.

One of the Chief trains ready to leave from Dearborn station in Chicago.

I loved the big dome cars. Looks like the last Amtrak dome.

Another view of the big dome car.

The north side of Union station was more difficult to find a place to watch, but it was possible. Here a Hiawatha train leaves for the north. North bound trains still negotiate these same tracks and the big left turn just north of CHI.

The UP domes were very nice, too. I was able to take one of these trains from Denver to Chicago in 1962 when I was on leave while in the Air Force at Lowry in Denver.

I enjoy very much digitizing slides. I have probably done over 10,000 of them in the past few years. I don't charge to do this, its just a hobby. If you have some you would like done, PM me and we can discuss it.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Wow, those shots are priceless. Not as crisp and sharp [as] Shorpy but the color reproduction is absolutely mesmerizing and greatly appreciated. When I was younger I thought the E/F units were weird oddballs that just didn't look quite right. I used to feel the same way about DC-10's and L-1011's but now I wish they were all still in routine operation so I could observe each and every distinctive trait. I had to keep reminding myself your shots were real and not from a model railroad. Do you also have shots from the interiors of these trains?

 

[MrFSS]

Wow, those shots are priceless. Not as crisp and sharp and Shorpy but the color reproduction is absolutely mesmerizing and greatly appreciated. When I was younger I thought the E/F units were weird oddballs that just didn't look quite right. I used to feel the same way about DC-10's and L-1011's but now I wish they were all still in routine operation so I could observe each and every distinctive trait. I had to keep reminding myself your shots were real and not from a model railroad. Do you also have shots from the interiors of these trains?

Unfortunately I don't have any interior shots. I had a Kodak Pony 135 camera that in today's equivalent would be a $10 point and shoot instamatic!

The slides these came from are over 50 years old. Photoshop can cure a myriad of things but takes a lot of time. The very top picture of the C&O unit has been more heavily Photoshoped than any of the others and you can tell it is much sharper than the others.

Thanks!!

 

[DET63]

There are many areas of life where I prefer the old way to the new way, but digital photography isn't one of them. The benefits so completely outweigh the negatives that I honestly can't imagine ever going back, even if it were possible. In fact the main thought running through my head when I was done reading your post was "Why don't you scan some of those slides and post them here in digital form?" I guess I just assumed there would be train-related stuff in there. :lol:

"The benefits so completely outweigh the negatives . . ."

Remember the negatives—the little snips of exposed film that you could send back for reprints in case you wanted to make extra copies of just one or two pictures? Of course, if they get exposed to too much light or your greasy fingerprints, any reprints might look a bit different from the originals.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

For the past few years my photography has been exclusively digital but I’m glad the slides I took back in the ‘70s were Kodachromes.......now when I scan them.......the sharpness and colour rendition is as good as the day I took them.

Some examples:

 

[MrFSS]

For the past few years my photography has been exclusively digital but I'm glad the slides I took back in the '70s were Kodachromes.......now when I scan them.......the sharpness and colour rendition is as good as the day I took them.

Nice!!!!

 

[lthanlon]

An enthusiasm for railroads was well-represented in Kodachrome's last days. According to The New York Times, a guy from Arkansas arrived at Dwayne's Photo to collect nearly 50,000 K-14 slides that he'd had processed at a cost of $15,798. All his photos were of railroad subjects.

 

[Carter]

Y'all, those are gorgeous. Kodachrome, and it's magic, belongs to the ages now, I guess.

 

[leemell]

You guys have just demonstrated the one of the chief attributes of Kodachrome: longevity. Kodachrome will survive dark storage 185 years with minor loss of color and none in sharpenss. That far outlasts any other color film and so far, any digital media.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

I am probably going to be the last generation to even remotely remember using Kodachrome.

 

[Shanghai]

Great photos. Thanks for posting.